Fallout 3

Brief Overview and History

Fallout 3 is a post-apocalyptic, first person shooter, role-playing game from Bethesda, previously Bethesda's most well known and successful title was Elder Scrolls, and being that Fallout 3 came after Oblivion, it really wasn't a surprise that it was built using the Gamebryo engine.  Fallout 3 comes, as you might have guessed, from a series of games, namely Fallout 1 and 2, which were very well received by both critics and players, the two soon became cult classics. The first two games were developed by Black Isles studios but after several disagreements with the publisher and financial difficulties Black Isles studio was disbanded. This brings us to the present...well, kind of. Bethesda acquired the license to the Fallout franchise in 2007, with the the third installment being released in 2008. 
Fallout 3 became a real time FPS RPG game, where as previous games were turn based and featured an isometric view. The game is set in 2277 in the ruins of Washington DC and its surroundings. The player will take control of the lone wanderer from Vault 101 and explore the vast wasteland.    

Story

The game's story focuses on the exploits and adventures of The Lone Wanderer and his efforts to find his father in the 23rd post-apocalyptic century. 
The game begins with the birth of the main character and his/her life in Vault 101, after 20 years of living in the vault James, the main character's father, leaves the vault. This causes a panic among the residents and the overseer, the leader of the vault, and the lone wanderer is forced to leave the vault and look for his/her father. Once the wanderer escapes the vault and enters the wasteland he/she finds out from a nearby town called Megaton that James had left to see the DJ of Galaxy News Radio, the wanderer makes his way to GNR, find the DJ, Three Dog, does a quest for him and goes further to Rivet City where James is supposed to be. Unfortunately the lone wanderer's search continues as Dr. Medison Li tells him/her that James had left for Jefferson Memorial to work on the long abandoned Project Purity of which Madison was a part of. There the player finds holodisc where James says that he needs to find a G.E.C.K. (Garden of Eden Creation Kit) and that he might find one in Vault 112. Once the wanderer makes is there, he/she finds out that James is in a sleeping pod of sorts, and so, the wanderer enters the only empty sleeping pod only to find out that it is a virtual reality simulator created by Dr. Stanislaus Braun, the creator of the GECK. Dr. Braun had went insane, as he had been in the virtual reality simulator for over 200 years, and in order to find and free James the wanderer must preform a service for Stanislaus. Once James and the wanderer are awake, they make way to Rivet City again, where they persuade Dr. Li to work with her team on Project Purity once again. They make way towards Jefferson Memorial where the wanderer must clear it of super mutants, after which the enclave, a pseudo-American militaristic and tyrannical faction wants control over project purity, James unwilling to hand control over to them commences a self destruction sequence, with the wanderer and Dr. Li and the rest of her team escaping to the Citadel, a Brotherhood of Steel fortress. There the wanderer persuades Elder Owyn Lyons to help against the enclave, and he/she is sent out on a quest to find a G.E.C.K. In order to find it the wanderer must first travel to vault 87, and as the wanderer is leaving the vault with the G.E.C.K. he/she is attacked and incapacitated by Enclave troops. The wanderer wakes up in the enclave base where, he/she must fight her way out, during which the wanderer runs into "President" John Henry Eden, who is in fact a super computer created before the war. The wanderer destroys the enclave base and leaves, heading towards the Citadel once again, he finds that a large mass of enclave troops are spread between the citadel and Jefferson Memorial, it is assumed that they are attempting to take control of the purifier. The wanderer takes the fight to them, with the help of Lyons elite, and Liberty Prime, a huge robot created before the war, with the sole intention of fighting Chinese communists. Once at the memorial, the player will face Colonel Autumn, who was trying to persuade James to hand over the project, the player kills him, but a message via intercom by Dr. Li warns the wanderer that the purifier has sustained heavy damage, without it the water will never be clean, it must be saved, the chamber itself is heavily irradiated. The wanderer will have a choice between sacrificing himself, of Paladin Lyons, the Elder's daughter, either way, the game ends after the purifier is saved.

The story's overall concept is great, providing free and clean water to the post-apocalyptic wasteland, but unfortunately, due to the direction of most main quests, the story takes a few hits. The motivation of characters is explained in two-three dialogue screens as are the player's objectives, the search for the G.E.C.K. is something Fallout 2 players shouldn’t be unfamiliar with, as such it seems that the game takes random events to progress the story, and that the writers may have gotten somewhat lazy. That being said, Fallout 3's story is by no means great, but it's not bad either, it's simply there to allow the player to have some meaning behind killing hordes of Super Mutants and Enclave troops. The story of side quests on the other hand is much more enjoyable, as a lot of them I've found to be truly great. It's a shame that the general plot didn't live up to the amazing gameplay, atmosphere and setting of the game.    

The Universe, Atmosphere and Setting

As mentioned Fallout 3's setting is  in the nuclear-war ravaged ruins of Washington DC and its surroundings, this area in the game is known as the Capital Wasteland the game is set in 2277. It's truly an awe-inspiring sight, from the rubble of the once great city, to the barren desert like terrain surrounding the more urban areas. If an all out, nuclear total war does occur, I'd imagine the world after would look like it does in Fallout 3, ravaged, scavenged, pillaged, destroyed, a very bleak future, filled with skeletons and ruins. The way humans interact also contributes to the game's atmosphere. From greedy, only-looking-out-for-number-1 types, to raiders that will outright kill anything that moves,  humans greed, cowardice and the primal instinct for self preservation is a common theme within the game, and yes, there are even cannibals, hell, you can even be one. And yet, there are still hard-working, decent folk out there, trying to make a living and help others whenever they can. 
The game's universe follows that of Fallout 1 and 2, even though the first two games were set in California and a part of Nevada, Fallout 3 continues in some major points of the franchise, like being set in a retro-futuristic universe and the Great War. The Great War was a devastating nuclear war set in 2077 between the United States and China as well as their allies; it is presumed that there are wastelands like the one in and around Washington all over the world (the NPC, Dukov came from the remains of the USSR himself). The game features pre-war propaganda posters, derelict cars and remnants of pre-war technology and robots, such as the iconic Mr. Handy that appeared in the first two games. The enclave and Brotherhood of Steel were factions featured in the first two games as well, and they continue their respective roles in Fallout 3 as well, the Enclave being an evil faction that believes that it's the last form of government on Earth and successor to the United States government. The Brotherhood of Steel is trying to preserve pre-war technology as well as trying to figure out how it works. Of course, a Fallout game without vaults is not a fallout game, and there are many vaults, the lone wanderer himself is from a vault! Vaults were social experiments launched by Vault-Tec, they were passed off as places where families will be safe, where the greatest mind of humanity would be saved, but in reality many people were killed, and the vaults destroyed themselves due to the social experiments, it's yet another great part of Fallout lore.
The post-apocalyptic atmosphere that Fallout 3 has, continues the excellent atmosphere of the first two games, as a franchise, in my opinion, Fallout is the best post-apocalyptic game franchise.    

Gameplay

The gameplay, after the atmosphere and setting, is the next best thing about Fallout 3 in my opinion, it's not that the gameplay is bad, it's excellent and beyond but it really would be hard to top the atmosphere and setting. That being said, the gameplay is truly jaw-dropping and arguably the best part of Fallout 3. Players will start the game by choosing a race, gender and configuring the appearance of their characters, the game does not feature a class system. The role-playing element of leveling and experience is very similar, if not, exactly the same to most other RPG games. The player will complete quests, kill enemies and preform other actions that will grant him/her experience points, once players accumulates enough exp, they will earn a new level. What sets Fallout 3 apart from other RPG's is the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. system, it is in fact the attribute system used within the game.
Strength - Determines the carry weight and melee damage
Perception - Determines when enemies will appear on the radar
Endurance - Determines hit points
Charisma - NPC disposition and the ability to charm and persuade
Intelligence - The amount of skill points gained per level
Agility - Action points used in the V.A.T.S. system
Luck - Critical chance
Each attribute also contributes to a certain skill, for example the Intelligence attribute increases medicine, where as Charisma increases the speech skill.  And there are quite a few skills in the game they range from combat skills such as big guns or energy weapons, to secondary skills like lockpick and repair and social skills like barter and speech.
On level up, the player will have to distribute a set amount of skill points among skills, as well as taking a new perk that has a wide variety of effects, from increasing damage done with certain weapons, to increasing health or increasing skill points gained per level, these are just very few effects of 3 perks, each perk has its own unique effects. Some perks have attribute and skill requirements and some of them have several ranks that can be taken, unlike previous Fallout games where perks would be taken every three levels, the perk rate in Fallout 3 is once every level. The trait system that was a part of previous Fallout games was not featured in Fallout 3. In combat the player can use melee, or ranged weapons as well as mines, the ranged weapons available range from explosive, small guns, big guns and energy weapons, efficient use of melee weapons is determined by the melee weapons skill, the player may even use his bare fists, the damage being determined by the unarmed skill. 
In combat players may utilize the V.A.T.S. system (Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System) as long as they have enough action points, which are determined by agility and some perks. VATS freezes time and allows the player to target certain areas of the body, head, right/left leg, right/left arm etc. While using VATS the main character will be very hard to kill as his damage resistance reaches very high levels and the chance for a critical hit is increased by 15%, unfortunately, each part of an enemies body will have a chance to hit, depending on the distance, weapon proficiency and body part type, head shots can be particularly difficult, chance to hit is capped at 95%. When using melee or unarmed weapons the chance to his will always be 95%, but only the entire body may be targeted.  
In terms of gameplay there are many things a player may do. Finish main quests, side quests, exploring locations, killing enemies, searching containers for loot, trade with traders all around the capital wasteland, search for unique and powerful weapons and armor, interact with a huge number of NPCs and objects, recruit companions of which there are several, all these activities are just to name a few.  
The time that takes to complete the original game (without any DLC) may range from around 6-7 (just completing the main quest) to 60-70 if the player explores the wasteland and completes secondary quests. 

Sound effects, voice acting, music

Sound effects are descent, though the sound of firing some weapons can be downright awful (10mm pistol), the voice acting ranges from good to excellent, with the great Ron Pearlman returning from Fallout 1 & 2 with his famous, memorable line: "War, war never changes." Other voice talents included are Liam Neeson and Malcolm McDowell as well as the memorable Wes Johnson who also voiced Lucien Lachance in Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. The original soundtrack is composed by the talented Inon Zur, and it really depicts the bleak post-apocalyptic future of Fallout 3, but in my opinion the best music featured in the game is the licensed one. It’s perhaps unfair that Mr. Zur is put up against the Ink Spots, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Bob Crosby & the Bobcats and many other 30’s-40’s era great musicians, whose music fits perfectly with Fallout 3.

Graphics

Simply put, there were very little to know improvements over Oblivion, which came out in 2006. The graphics at release was good, but nothing spectacular, and obviously, it didn’t achieve the “bang” Oblivion’s graphics had at the time of release. The great thing about Fallout is the universe itself, it doesn’t matter that the graphics aren’t top of the line, as the wasteland gives such a bleak and dark charm, those trees without leaves, the ruins of the city, that skeleton that’s laying next to that assault rifle. It’s the detail, so even though Fallout 3 might not have been the best looker even on release, the detailed environments as well as the bleak atmosphere more than make up for it.

Conclusion

Fallout 3 may not have revolutionized anything, but it’s certainly looked upon as one of the best post-apocalyptic games on the market, an amazing RPG, and a worthy successor to the first two games, a successor that revived the Fallout franchise. 
If you’re looking for a truly great post-apocalyptic RPG game, then look no further, as Fallout is the only answer! 
5/5 Easily.