Bethesda is ready to reintroduce the gaming world to Fallout and boy is it an amazing experience. While the world isn’t as colorful as say Katamari Damacy, it’s at least an equally beautiful game with its rundown and hazardous environments. So let’s dig deep into one of the most satisfying games of 2008.
 |
 |
|
| V.A.T.S. battle system is always fulfilling... |
... and gives pleasurable gore moments |
Fallout 3 begins with having gamers create their character while they run through an expedited childhood in Vault 101. It’s in this vault that you’ll find the comfort of a brotherhood looking out for one another but little do you know the secrets that lie outside the vault. The Overseer of the vault doesn’t permit anyone to leave or enter the vault, so when your father makes a break for it, it surprises everyone and you also must escape or face being killed by the Overseer due to your father’s choice to leave. Once you leave Vault 101, you’ll be thrown into an unfamiliar world that is full of raiders and super-mutants ready to tear you to shreds.
The world that Bethesda presents is one full of turmoil that begs for players to be evil and selfish. To survive, you’ll have to look out for yourself and worry about no one else’s safety because the moment you do, you’ll be exposed and vulnerable to betrayal. There’ll be quests where you have to decide the fate of an NPC, so be prepared to pick between life or death. The majority of the time, if you let an NPC live, you’ll be able to pick up a quest or two from them and benefit from the rewards they have for sparing their life. Even with your saint-like methods, don’t expect anyone to be so kind to your emergence from Vault 101.
When you begin exploring Capital Wasteland, you’ll soon begin to realize how massive the world of Fallout 3 is. Survival will be tough, but with the aid of your handy Vault-Tech Assisted Targeting System (VATS), you should be able to stay alive. VATS allows players to pick which enemy they would like to target, which body part they would like to hit, and how many times they'd like to shoot depending on their action points (AP). You can target the head, chest, legs, arms and the weapon of an enemy when you activate the VATS. Once you start using VATS, you’ll never want to go back to fighting in real-time because once you see an enemy’s head decapitated after a shotgun blast to the head, you will be hooked.
The combat is downright enjoyable to the bitter end. The first-person perspective is the way to go for the entirety of Fallout 3 due to the lack of time put into developing an enjoyable third-person perspective. The walking animations and action isn’t that interesting when you switch over to the third-person perspective. But back to the first-person perspective; it allows players to see the action up close and see all the dirty details of the world they are exploring. Even fighting a mole rat or rabid dog is interesting in the first-person perspective since you’ll see how ticked off they are to live in such a cruel environment.
 |
 |
|
| Welcome to the wasteland |
In reality, you're not too warmly welcomed |
Speaking about the environments, they are fully detailed and impressive. They are the best attribute of the graphical portion of Fallout 3 while the character models are somewhat above average. The diversity of environments to explore and the items scattered throughout them help create a unique world to explore. The load times are on the average side in terms of length and don’t do much to better the experience. Also, the framerate does drop from time to time but nothing substantial.
For the role-playing aspects, players will be able to level up through the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. (Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility and Luck) system. On top of that, they will be able to pick skills they can specialize in such as melee weapons, energy weapons, medical care, and much more. If that isn’t enough, there are perks to add bonuses to your character such as better damage with small weapons and the ability to persuade children to give you information. There’s a lot here to tinker with, so be prepared for a lot of chances to create your own unique character.
If you’re a fan of having people joining you on your quests, Fallout 3 permits NPCs to join you as an ally and embark on missions. You can pick up an ally depending on where you stand with your karma, so not everyone will aid you on your quests. Don’t expect an ex-raider to join with you if you’re a good-doer – it just doesn’t work like that. Also, you will be able to get a canine friend to join you on your journey through Capital Wasteland.
Another big aspect that will please role-playing fanatics is that Fallout 3 doesn’t include enemies that level up with your character. In different areas of Capital Wasteland you’ll encounter harder enemies to take down, especially super-mutants. So don’t expect to waltz right into the subway tunnels and be able to tear through hordes of ghouls if you aren’t a high enough level. Concentrate on leveling up your character before you go adventuring into unknown territories.
 |
 |
|
| Dematerialization in progress |
Some mercenaries wont join if your karma is too high |
Perhaps the best features of Fallout 3 are the monstrous weapons. From the Rock-It Launcher to a switchblade, there are literally dozens of weapons to use within Fallout 3. Beware though, if you use a weapon too much, its condition will worsen and its effectiveness will wear down. You can fix your weapons and build new ones if you find the blueprints and parts to make them. There’s a wide array of weapons to pick and choose from, so you won’t become bored too fast with the weapon gameplay of Fallout 3.
FALLOUT 3 VERDICT
Fallout 3 is a stand-out RPG that offers a heaping amount of replay value and entertainment. The NPCs that fill the world are natural jerks and it makes the experience all the more entertaining as they are humorous and nihilistic. The voice-acting helps take the game to new lengths and the VATS defines how players will think about Fallout 3 long after they complete the title. Fallout 3 is an outrageous game that’s a joyful ride until the closing minutes of the game.
TOP GAME MOMENT
Loading up your Rock-It Launcher with a mini-nuke and blowing a super-mutant to smithereens.
