Fallout 3

Pros:

• -Massive world to explore
• -Nearly endless amounts of gameplay
• -Freedom to make who you want, go where you want, and do what you want
• -Insane amount of content and variety
• -VATS is great
• -RPG elements are deep, expansive, and addicting

Cons:

• -3rd person perspective is clumsy
• -Some combat mechanics are clunky
• -A little buggy/glitchy

Fallout 3 comes from the same team that brought us the amazing Elder Scrolls IV:Oblivion, and while there are definately some similarities, Fallout 3 retains it's own identity and feels like a totally different game. It is packed full of content, addicting gameplay, and exploration that more than justifies the purchase, this is a game you could get lost in and you certainly do not want to miss out on it.

Fallout 3 is the sequel to the Fallout 1 and 2, both of which are fairly older games on the PC, and while Fallout 3 may retain some of those game's charm and style, it plays vastly different, but in a good way. Bethesda has made Fallout 3 far superior to the past installments. The game begins with an intro, "War never changes...." this set's the tone of the game, which is harsh and brutal and violent....very violent actually. You start the game off literally being born, and it is here you will get to choose what you will look like when you get older. The character models are much improved since Oblivion, but you can still see some similarities, which is to be expected as Fallout 3 is on the same engine as Oblivion. You choose your characters ethnicity, hair style, eye color, and many more customization options, and your father takes on a similar physical appearance, which is a pretty cool feature actually.

After you decide what you want to look like (don't worry, like Oblivion, Fallout 3 will let you change anything you are unhappy with later) you will flash forward to the near future where you are now a baby crawling around. You live inside a huge underground Fallout shelter known as Vault 101 with your father and other families, it is here during these early stages where the game holds your hand a bit, teaching you the basics and letting you create your character even more, just before you get sent out into the big scary (but awesome) world that is Fallout 3.

You will grow up bit by bit, from baby to kid, to teenager, to finally young adult. Each of these scenarios is unique and interesting and you never feel bored of it. One of the bigger decisions you will make during the Vault stage is your skill system, this is very different from the skill system in Oblivion. For starters you do not increase your skill by using them, rather you increase them every time you level up, and the only way to get XP to level up is by doing certain actions such as killing enemies, finding new locations, lock picking successfully etc...when you do get enough XP you will level up immediately on the spot (no resting and meditating here) and will be given a number of points to spend into your skills.

You will also get a perk each level, these are very interesting and give much depth to the character development, and the perks are varied. Some will increase your characters weight capacity, others will make give you more AP points to use in VATS (more on that in a bit), and some will even let a Mysterious Stranger randomly appear in combat from time to time and kick ass with a revolver! Each perk is unique and useful, and you will love leveling up. It rewards the player, however you cannot take all perks as the game has a level cap of 20, and there is no going back once you take one, so choose wisely.

Fallout 3 also handles stats a bit differently from Oblivion, you have SPECIAL (which you will learn about early in the game), it is an acronym that stands for Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility, and Luck. Early in the game you will be given a number of points to put into the stats that you choose, you can also take some points away from other stats and put them into others that you prefer. This gives the player total control of how they make their character, you make and play how YOU want, not the game or anyone else. However, much like the perk system, choose wisely as you are stuck with your SPECIAL stats once you leave the vault (the game will let you change it if you want before you leave the Vault; there is also a perk you can take to increase your SPECIAL stats a little).

The SPECIAL stats also affect your skills as well, as in how affective they are and allow you to get certain perks you normally couldn't get. For example Charisma will affect your Speech Skill and give you access to special perks that affect it, such as one allowing you to charm the opposite sex in dialogue options. While Intelligence will make using skills such as Science and Medicine easier and unlock new perks related to those skills such as Hacker or Chem Resistant.

Without spoiling too much, things in the Vault go to hell by the time you are a young adult, and you are forced to escape it. Just before you leave you are given the chance to change anything you want to about your character, this is the only chance you will get in the game to do this, so make sure you are happy with your character before you head out the door. When you do you will be greeted by a blinding light and then eventually a ruined and brown wasteland of what remains of the world. The scenery is quite engaging to look at, but not anything like the beauty and colors that made Oblivion so great to look at. Fallout 3 does it in a different way, but in a way that is just as good, the world is harsh and it shows.

Dust flows in the wind, old cars lie rusting with skeleton remains inside, gun fire in the distance echos across the lonely wasteland. It makes Fallout 3 feel alive! The soundtrack is also quite fitting and atmospheric, making the world feel even more harsh, lonely, and dangerous. It is a great testament that Bethesda has accomplished, they have taken a brown and ruined world and made it interesting to look at and explore. If you loved exploring in Oblivion you are going to love doing it in Fallout 3! From salvaging through old city ruins, searching through what used to be suburban neighborhoods, or just merely wandering across the barren wilderness. Fallout 3 has exploration down perfectly. However the Capital Wasteland is extremely dangerous, so always come prepared and be ready for a fight.

The combat in Fallout 3 is fairly solid, guns feel powerful when they are fired, melee weapons such as knives and bats all swing and crack when they strike their targets. But the combat is not as refined as it could be and it feels a little clunky at times. The target perephrial is not as accurate as it should be, and fighting while in 3rd person mode is a nightmare. But overall the combat system is solid and it's easy to overlook these issues, which are fairly minor in the grand scheme of things. The Combat is playable and enjoyable regardless.

There is also a VATS system you can use, which "freezes" combat, allowing the player to target enemies specifically in certain body parts. For instance, choosing to target an enemies legs will cause them to become crippled and not be able to run away, where as targeting an enemies arms will make cripple their arms and make it harder for them to target you, each body part has a percentage next to it while in VATS, the higher the percentage the more likely you are to hit them. Things like distance from target, weapon condition, and many other variables all factor into the percentage.

VATS works great and adds much strategy to the game, letting players focus on the target(s) they want and their specific body parts to weaken their enemies. Combat is also violent....VERY violent. Heads explode, limbs fly off, bones snap and crack, and there is blood, lot's and lot's of blood. Fallout 3 is a harsh and violent world, and the gore shows it, it adds to the atmosphere of desperate survival.

Much like Oblivion, there are many, many quests in Oblivion, and you are free to do whatever one's you want. If you want to ignore the main quest and just go explore the world, go ahead. The game let's you play how you want. There are not really any guilds like Oblivion, but there are still hours upon hours of quests, each one being it's own unique adventure. One quest will have you helping a small group of other survivors secure their home against mutants who wish to kill them, another will have you deal with a dormant but still active atomic bomb, while another will have you go skulking through deep dark underground subway tunnels to rescue a kid from cannibals. The amount of variety in this game is insane, and it never feels repetitive, and there are more than enough quests to keep you busy for a LONG time!

Fallout 3, like many Bethesda games, does have it's fair share of bugs and other glitches. The PS3 version in particular suffered from a bug that would freeze the game, especially whenever a friend would sign in or out, fortunately however Bethesda has fixed all the issues with the PS3 version. But still there are a few minor glitches that remain, things like dead bodies flying around in the air and other odd glitches. But these are all small and all the big bugs have been patched and fixed. These are easy to overlook and you will have a great time with Fallout 3.

Final Verdict:

Much like Oblivion, Fallout 3 is a huge massive world with an insane amount of content and strong, addicting RPG elements. But Fallout 3 stands on it's own, and it's a very different experience from Oblivion. Fallout 3 is a game well worth your money and your time, you will regret it if you miss out. A must buy not just for RPG fans, but for everyone.

Fallout 3 get's a 5/5