Fallout 3

"Bethesda is my new Rockstar!"

I've been gaming since Pong. (That's from the 1970s, for you youngsters) In all my long, long years of gaming, so far only one developer has satisfied me—that's Rockstar. The Grand Theft Auto series alone has been enough to warrant them in my personal Hall of Fame, and then they throw out other fun little goodies from time to time (like Bully.) The reason they've always held such a high status with me is because the Housers seem to intuitively know what gamers want. We want good controls! We want intriguging characters! We want to explore lots of options! We don't like loadscreens, bad framerates, checkpoints instead of in-game saves, freezes, and sloppy controls or cameras. So far, Rockstar was the only developer to consistently deliver on my "wish list."

And then I played Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion.

Oh, joyous rapture! GORGEOUS open environments, no loadtimes, no freezes, TONS to do (I bought it in October of 2007, and I'm STILL not done!), and true in-game save! Oh, happiness! :-) (Not to mention, Sheogorath was hilarious.)

Needless to say, I was waiting for Fallout 3 on pins and needles. Well, Bethesda's done it again! It will take you FOREVER to finish Fallout 3, just like Oblivion. And in today's tough economic times? That kind of game-dollar stretching is NOT a bad thing, kiddies! The game is, again, gorgeous. (Well, gorgeously RENDERED, at any rate. If you find decay and destruction to literally be beautiful, you may have a problem!) The menus are easy to pick up and sort, each mission is a good length, and each is also challenging enough to make you feel like you accomplished something without making you pull out every hair on your head. I LOVE the "Followers" you can pick up to help you. (Fawkes is coming in QUITE handy when I need an extra strong back to carry stuff.) True, you could take followers with you in Oblivion as well, but 9 times out of 10 they would die from the first enemy swipe, so the Fallout Followers are much handier to have around.

All in all, this game (like Oblivion) is as close to "perfect" as I've played so far. It has a couple of things that irk me, but those are really more personal hang ups. For example, Bethesda is guilty of something I call " The Glitch Twitch." You know how when you kill something (or someone), sometimes the body will lie there "twitching?" Uhhhhhoooooh, no! Creepy, man, creepy! I know it's just a programming thing, and they don't MEAN to do it, but when it does…uuuuhhhhhhhhh!!! That just creeps me out 'til no end! So, like Oblivion, I've already experienced a couple of Glitch Twitches in Fallout 3. Other than that, I can't think of anything I don't like about Fallout 3. It's almost perfect. I mean, sometimes all of the gray decay and destruction around me gets a little depressing, but that's when I take it out, put in Oblivion, head to the Shivering Isles, look up at that gorgeous SKY, and go, "Ahhhhhhh."

Great work, Bethesda! You've done it again! I'm sooooooo glad you decided to come on over to consoles; PC gamers should not be the only ones to experience your great attention to detail! Thank you!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/17/08

Game Release: Fallout 3 (US, 10/28/08)