Fallout 3

"A Incredible Game - I readily prepare for the the future!"

Okay, here we go! I'm going to start simple. A Game must really only meet 3 standards:

1.It is fun and engrossing when you play it.
2.It does not contain too many glitches and/or mistakes
3.It has a decent story you can follow and understand, whether you must follow it or not.

It does not have to hold on to traditions or be a clone or its predecessors. In other words, when deciding on this game, old fans forget the past, and beginners ignore old fans! If this can offend people, where were the angry mobs or Ratchet fans when Deadlocked came out? I thought so. Even though its off track, it was good, so no one cared, same with this game!

Gameplay:
This game is good. Really good. It has the perfect balance of FPS and RPG elements. It never feels clunky or hard to use, and although there are many things to keep track of it doesn't give you that overwhelming feeling of too much to handle. The weapons are excellent and varied, and the game's biggest feature "choice" comes through better than anticipated. Your choices really do affect what might happen to you later, whether you gain riches through stealing or helping someone or whether you are attacked for your morals or sins, what happens to you is determined by what you do, which brings me to my next point. This game will work with you no matter how you play it. You can shoot everything that moves, act on impulse, try and be a outstanding citizen, or just steal whatever you want and talk people into doing your bidding. But don't be fooled; the game does give boundaries that you well know if you have played Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Some NPCs cannot be killed, they will only fall unconscious, and although you will rarely hit them, being it is only a game there is only so far you can go before you hit a "invisible wall" and the game says you cannot go that way. And to wrap this up I praise the game one more time. Even though it would be better without a limit, the leveling design is done brilliantly. And you don't even have to kill anything to level up! Just another way the game just steps back and says: "This world is yours, go through the obstacles in it in the way you choose."

Graphics:
Sheer Beauty, but ironically put into a barren wasteland. With the sheer size of the map the fact that they managed to build such well done terrain is incredible, but trust me when I say the graphics are flawed and odd at times. people feel unreal even though an insane amount of detail was out into them. They stand perfectly stiff and still when you talk to them and have this "android-like" feel to them. There are dodgy areas where the landscape could have been tuned up and there are a few "fake hole" effects.

Sound:
I never really thought there is much you can say about sound, and I can describe the system hear in one sentence. With a good enough system, the sound is good enough that you can play blind if you had to, but I wouldn't recommend it. Every now and then sounds will be late.

Story:
Here I have to admit the game SHOULD have taken a hit. An average story at best. You start as a person who was born and raised in a Vault by your father in the post-apocalyptic ruins of D.C. in the year 2277, but everything looks like it is from the 1920s. The reason the game probably should have suffered for this is that while all the motives of you and your dad are explained well you have no need whatsoever to follow said story or even care. In their quest to give you freedom, the designers basically made the story just so their game had one. Even if you were to remove the story and say that the Vault resident you play as just wanted to see the outside or something the game would still be just fine! That is why the story does not harm it, although it really doesn't help.

My finals words are simple. This game is a must-buy, fans should really stop whining that the game had a complete face lift and is a 100% different game, and yes, when you strip away the story this is Oblivion's twin brother, but don't be fooled; it surpasses Oblivion on almost every level.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10 | Originally Posted: 02/13/09

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

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