Fallout 3

Throughout the past couple of weeks a lot of amazing games have come out. Modern Warfare 2, Uncharted 2, Borderlands, Arkham Asylum, Assassin's Creed 2 and Left4Dead 2 to name a few. Even before these came out I was deep into games like Fallout 3 and Nazi Zombies. Sadly I spend a lot of time with Nazi Zombies. 
 

• Anyways, let's start with Modern Warfare 2. The day this came out, my school exams started. This was definetley not good for me, I'm forbidden to buy new games during exams!!! I was looking at 3 weeks of not having Moderns Warfare 2. This troubled me, deeply. By day three I was foaming from the mouth in anticipation. Browsing on Facebook that day (Saturday) I saw my friend was online. I also saw that HE HAD MODERN WARFARE 2!!!!!!!!! I sent him a message saying that one of my friends and I were coming over to play  it. Right now. He said come in an hour. I was giddy with excitement. I waited around until I was due at his house in 15 minutes. Now this guys house is pretty damn far away, and my bike was locked up in the garage, and I lost my key. No one was at home with a car and I was freaking out. I went to the last resort. I literally put inline roller blades on and skated about 3 kilometers to this guys house. It was totally worth it for 4 hours of beautiful 2 vs. 2 on Modern Warfare 2. My friend and I got there, to see that he (let's call him friend B) was playing MW2 with his dad. They challenged us to some team deathmatch, actually saying out loud how badly we would lose. My friend and I looked at each other and smirked, we were masters at Call of Duty 4. We totally kicked their asses for 4 hours straight. MW 2 is extremely awesome, I even got to snowmobile race! Anyways I absolutely love how they haven't changed any of the core gameplay. The game is just as awesome as Modern Warfare is. I haven't yet played any of the single player, and still won't for 2 weeks :(
  
• I did pick up Uncharted 2 just before exams started and it really is mindblowing. The visuals are insane! I can't stress enough about how good this game looks. The story is good enough alone and the gameplay is about as satisfying as it gets. I have no idea how Naughty Dog will be able to make the third installment better than this one. They'll just have to settle with it being the same I guess. No spoilers please because I haven't finished it yet! 

I am moving to Australia in Jan. Should be interesting, trying to game there. But my internet here sucks so bad I can't upload videos so in Jan. I will start putting up some video blogs. Till next time guys.
 
BUCK

I want to begin by saying thanks to all the people who've continued to read my blog. It's really nice to know I have an audience for this and I'm not just doing this for my own sake. Thanks so much everyone! Observant people may have already caught a glimpse of the next game I've set my sights on, Assassin's Creed II. I should receive my copy from GameFly tomorrow and I hope to have my review of the game up fairly soon, so look for that. Now, onto the bulk of what I'm here to write about.   
 
My recent completion of Persona 3 FES' The Answer has made me think about video game epilogues. The epilogue seems to be something more and more games are adopting, and I'm not sure I'm comfortable that. With the advent of paid DLC, it's easy for game companies to add content to the single player adventure. It's a great way to expand on the story, add some cool side mission, or maybe clear up some confusion with the story. It can also be used to 'expand' on the conclusion of the game. Two recent examples I can think of are Fallout 3 and the most recent Prince of Persia game.  
    
I want my games to be complete right out of the box. I don't want to have to purchase some extra content to understand the end of the game. DLC seems to be one way developers are trying to combat the rampant trading-in of games. Fallout 3's ending was an example of how not to end an open world game, yet I don't think how they 'fixed' it worked any better. In fact, I think they made the ending worse. The content was good at least and, in that case, that's what mattered. What scares me, though, is the idea that a developer may leave a game without an ending on purpose in the future, just so they can sell you DLC. I really hope this never happens, but I wouldn't put it passed a company like Activision. Game publishers seem to be getting more and more greedy, and I'm not sure where this is going to end. I'm tired of being nickel and dimed with my games. I guess I'm part of the problem, because I have a GameFly account, but that's better than trading in my games to GameStop each time, right? It's the only way I can actually afford to play all the games that come up. Games are just too expensive. I love concise games, but I can't justify paying $60 for something that might end up being a 4-6 hour experience. I do still buy games, though. If I love a franchise or developer, or if it's a game I know I'll spend 20+ hours on, I'll pick it up. 
        
I suppose I should talk about what brought this post on, Persona 3:The Answer. I went into The Answer with great trepidation. I was afraid that all the emotional impact of the original ending would be ruined. A lot of what made Persona 3 in amazing in the first place is missing in this installment. Their are no daily events and no social links. It's a much more straightforward experience. You have a lengthy intro and you proceed to grind and fight until you reach the next cutscene. Repeat until the end. The strength of the characters did carry me through the grind-filled 25 hours. Aigis' sister, Metis, is the only new addition to the cast. Though she starts annoying, I found her to be an amazing addition to the cast, both in battle and part of the story. She's as well thought out as all the other characters and, honestly, may be my favorite part of The Answer. 
 
  Was the epilogue really necessary? No, but it does a lot to help expand on the ending of the game. Persona 3's ending was very abstract, and I can see people having problems with that. Even for those that fully understood what happened, The Answer does really add a lot. it gives closure to all the other characters in the story that didn't really get it in Persona 3. The story does an amazing job of showing all the characters going through the grieving process in their own way. It's really a tale that could only be told as an epilogue. I really respect the job the writers did with the story. They did a great job making sure the people that remained were given a happy ending, without ruining the emotional impact of the main character's story. They didn't take the easy way out and try to reverse the slightly unpopular ending they had with Persona 3, and I respect them for that.

After having what may well be the worst morning I've lived through in recent memory, I'm in a pretty bad mood. The kind of mood where I want to bitchslap everybody I see because the mere sight of them seems to do me some grave injustice. So, I'm going to try and dispel all the nastiness by writing this blog. Hopefully I'll be at least moderately successful in this endeavour. Thankfully, I have a lot to blog about. The topic of choice today is Fallout 3, that other open-world free-form first-person RPG developed by the dudes what made Oblivion. I finished the game up yesterday, snagging my first ever S-rank on Giant Bomb in the process. This blog will be focused on my opinion of the game, and will also document my thoughts on all five of the DLC packs in simple YES-NO terms. With those facts laid out on the table, let's quit the jibber-jabber and press on with the matter at hand.
 

Fallout 3

There's not much that I can say about Fallout 3 that hasn't already been said in earlier blogs. I think it's an awesome game. You all probably know that I think it's an awesome game. Yesterday, after sixty-seven and a half hours of traversing the Capital Wasteland, my stint with the game came to an end. Rather than showering praise on the game in the style of a review, I'm going to focus more on the little things that both made and broke the game for me at certain points. 
 
The biggest selling point for me with Fallout 3 was the sense of atmosphere and the immersion that the game managed to convey (most of the time). The richly detailed world of the Capital Wasteland, and the colourful cast of characters that inhabit it, are what really made my Fallout 3 experience. Call me crazy, but I liked the game's desolate environment, probably because the whole post-apocalyptic setting is something that really set the game apart from other RPGs of this generation. I also loved the whole "retro values in a futuristic environment" concept. I guess it all boils down to this: Fallout 3 has a distinct personality, and it's a personality that I can really identify with. With regards to immersion in relation to Fallout 3, I know this is a hotly contested issue. For me personally, it's quite hit-and-miss. When I was wandering across the gameworld on my own from a first-person perspective, simply seeing what there was to see and discovering cool stuff for myself, I lost hours. In that respect, it's immersive. 
 
Fallout 3's quests ranged from being awesome (The Replicated Man) to pretty dire (The Nuka Cola Challenge). I think it goes without saying that I had a lot of fun questing in Fallout 3, and one of the main reasons for that was the sheer amount of options the game gave me to play with. Right from the off I opted to build a good karma character specialising in ranged combat and social interaction, later deciding to branch out into stealth after maxing out my key stats. The result was a game experience that constantly presented at least two (but usually more) ways of dealing with the vast majority of problems. I elected to play a diplomatic game and tried to resolve things with words before resorting to bullets. At higher levels I incorporated stealth into my combat strategies, making some of the later fights real heart-in-mouth affairs. This multitude of approaches really helped in preventing the game from growing too stagnant for me, which is probably just as well considering I invested nearly seventy hours into my playthrough.
 
For the most part, I enjoyed the combat in Fallout 3. The gunplay, while not exactly stellar, was broken up enough by the other aspects of questing that it never began to really grate on me (at least not in the main game, but more on that later). One thing I can say in the game's favour is that I found most of the guns in the game to be incredibly memorable, something I can't proclaim of many shooters that I've played. Most of the guns in Fallout 3, particularly the unique ones like Lincoln's Repeater and the Mesmetron, practically have personalities of their own. The other thing I loved about the game's combat was the extreme sense of satisfaction I got whenever I heard the "ka-ching!" and saw the on-screen notification that accompanied experience gain. So much so, in fact, that when I hit the level cap and stopped receiving experience points, the lack of notifications took a lot of enjoyment out of the game's combat for me. It's a silly little thing, I know, but after fifty-plus hours those sounds and notices became quite comforting, and it was difficult to adjust to their absence. 
 
The most disappointing thing about Fallout 3 for me was its storyline. After the pretty promising start with your father's escape from Vault 101, the story seems to stagnate and doesn't really go anywhere meaningful. Maybe it's because of the game's free-form nature, which kept me distracted from the main quest line for prolonged periods of play, but I found it very difficult to care about what was going on with regards to the game's plot. Maybe I was just expecting more after the comparatively stellar storyline of The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, or maybe I wanted a greater scope from a game I spent nearly seventy hours with. Whatever the reason, Fallout 3 just failed to deliver on the story front for me. 
 
So that's my position on the game itself, but what about all the downloadable content packs Bethesda put out post-release? Fear not, ladies and gentlemen, for Dan has formulated opinions on all of those too! Presenting dankempster's Comprehensive Fallout 3 DLC Summary!

Operation: Anchorage 

YES 

• Awesome Rewards - The Winterised T-51b Power Armor stayed equipped on my character more or less from the end of the DLC right through to the end of the game. 'Nuff said.
• Welcome Change Of Environment - The snowy cliffs of Anchorage, Alaska were a world away from the desolate Capital Wasteland, and made for a nice vacation.

 

NO 

• Too Much Combat - Operation: Anchorage was a very combat-focused DLC pack, and the gunplay-heavy action did begin to grate towards the end.
• Lack Of Lore - For a DLC pack that professes to deal with a major event of Fallout lore, the subject isn't explored much in Operation: Anchorage. I was hoping for more nods to the background that made the main game so memorable. 

    

The Pitt 

YES

• Grey Moral Choices - Gone were the black-and-white, blow-it-up-or-disarm-it, clear-cut choices from the main game. Upon completion of The Pitt's storyline, no matter what course of action you choose, you don't come out of it feeling like you've definitely done the right thing.
• Great Quest Line - I found The Pitt to have the best story of all the DLC packs. From the introductory segment leading you to the train tunnel, through the arena fights and culminating in a dramatic stand-off, The Pitt spun a pretty good yarn.

NO

• Artificially Lengthened - While it's not obligatory, the collection of one hundred Steel Ingots in The Pitt feels like a cheap attempt to artificially lengthen the DLC's play time. At least the Bobbleheads in the main game took you to different locations, and there were only twenty of those!
• Uninspired Setting - While it was certainly a different kind of locale to the Capital Wasteland, The Pitt was a pretty drab place. With the exception of the bridge leading into The Pitt, there was nothing particularly memorable about the environments in my eyes.

 

Broken Steel

The Heavy Incinerator will always have a place in my inventory, and in my heart... 

*NOTE* -  I never finished Fallout 3 before downloading Broken Steel. Opinions may therefore be affected accordingly.
 

YES

• Raised Level Cap - Although I never maxed out at that point, Level 20 seemed like far too low a level cap for the game. Level 30 seems like a much more reasonable cap, especially in light of the additional content provided by the DLC packs.
• Memorable End Game Quests - Had I completed the game before downloading Broken Steel, I think Take It Back! would have been quite the anti-climax. Who Dares Wins is a much more memorable conclusion to the game's campaign in terms of set pieces (although the story is still considerably lacking).

NO

• Albino Radscorpions - The designer who thought that the inclusion of these bastards would be a great idea needs a slap upside the head.
• Half-Arsed Perks - To me, with the exception of Puppies!, most of the perks beyond Level 20 seemed like they weren't really given much thought. Consequently, most of them didn't seem to be of much use.

 

Point Lookout 

YES

• Best Quests - Point Lookout has the best quests of any DLC pack from a gameplay perspective. A healthy mix of combat, exploration and character interaction ensured that the gameplay in Point Lookout didn't stagnate.
• Longevity - In terms of length of content, I think Point Lookout is the DLC pack that most justifies its price tag. After clocking six hours focusing solely on the main quest line, with a little sight-seeing and one side quest cleared, I believe that Point Lookout could very easily hit ten-plus hours with some thorough exploration.

NO

• Hard As Nails - I went into Point Lookout at Level 25 with most of my combat-related skills maxed out, and within the first hour of play had my arse handed to me by the "residents" no fewer than three times. I didn't expect a pushover, but man, combat in Point Lookout was tough.
• Janky As Hell - With the exception of a couple of VATS-related incidents in The Pitt, I hadn't run into any problems with the other DLC packs. Point Lookout crashed on me a grand total of seven times. Not cool, Bethesda.

 

Mothership Zeta 

YES

• Best Concept - Alien abduction. Close encounters of the third kind. Crazy extra-terrestrial technology. 50s B-movie sci-fi influences. Outer space. Mothership Zeta definitely boasts the most awesome setting of all the Fallout 3 DLC packs.
• Alien Weaponry - Most of the guns in Mothership Zeta were wonderfully unique and a lot of fun to use, not to mention pretty damn powerful. This, plus the addition of the wonder-material that is Alien Epoxy, means I'll probably be using my Alien Disintegrator fot a long time to come.

 

NO

• Is This DOOM? - For all Mothership Zeta's awesome aesthetics, I couldn't get past the fact that it seemed to be little more than a two-hour long corridor-based shooter.
• Sally - If I'd have been playing the PC version of this game, I'd have downloaded the Killable Kids mod within thirty seconds of meeting this annoying bitch.

 
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...Whoa, that's a whole lotta blog. Thankfully the whole cathartic aspect seems to have paid off, because I'm feeling a lot better now. Anyway, I guess I'd better sign off. Thanks very much for reading, guys. I'll see you around. 
 
 
Dan 
 
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Currently playing - Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony (X360)

Don't get me wrong - I love the gameplay, the exploration and the atmosphere of the game. I hadn't played Fallout 3 before this, and based on the game content alone, it would have easily been the game of the year for me.
 
However, as my game progressed, I started noticing the game freezing, or even crashing. It wasn't bad at first - maybe once in every 5 hours or so. But yesterday, I had to reset my PS3 at least 4 times when the game completely froze. Once, the game simply booted me out to the XMB. Another time, I got so frustrated with the choppiness of the game that I decided to quit - only to have the game freeze on me when I was loading up the title screen. The title screen.  All this happened in about 3 hours of gameplay.
 
So, I hopped online and found that my frustrations aren't mine alone - people have been venting on Bethesda's forums about this. And I have to agree, there simply isn't any excuse to release a game in this state. Bethesda has not responded at all to any of these concerns, even to say that they know the problem exists and they're trying to fix it. Poor form, Bethesda.
 
The funny thing is, before Fallout 3, I played Oblivion GOTY with no problems whatsoever. Ran as smooth as silk, never crashed on me. So I don't know why Bethesda could not get this one right. Or maybe, judging from their non-response, they just don't care.
 
What a pity. I was ready to walk away from this game saying that it was the best gaming experience I've had this year, and maybe more, but the sheer frustration of it all prevents me from saying that. When I get around to building a PC, I might get around to buying the PC version of Fallout 3 and modding it simply because I love the actual game so much. But, Bethesda, it's going to be buyer beware for me from now on - you screwed up on this version of Fallout 3, so my expectations for your quality assurance process will be appropriately low in the future.

 Since Fallout 3 has been out for a while and I’ve had ample time to reflect upon my feelings of the game. I thought it was time I finally published a full on review for it.

The memorable Fallout 3 introductory cinematic paints a grim portrait for the apocalyptic future the player is intended to investigate. The gritty, “War never changes” preface, which has since long ago become a Fallout staple conveys the significance to the player that they are not being thrust into a gracious world, but a universe that, given the chance, is always trying to kill them. Opening with the birth of the player-controller character in Vault 101 the game immediately sets the player to work customizing the character. As you grow older, you are introduced to other residents of the Vault prior to your father escaping, which inevitably spurs your character to desire departing as well to endeavor into the Capital Wasteland. A main quest line, side quests as well as unmarked or repeatable quests see to it that the player will be significantly busy for sometime. Moreover, the player can leave the main quest at any given time and pursue alternate objectives, leaving a vast, open world that invites exploration. While the narrative of the main quest is strong enough to stand on its own, the side quests do at times feel arduous. However, during the course of exploring I noticed I was completing objectives for quests I had not even accepted yet. The main mission remained solid throughout and several of the side quests were enough of a pleasure that the prospect of downloadable content to expand upon Fallout 3 even further is enticing enough to aspire for playing through the title a second time.

The introduction level of the title, being in Vault 101 was remarkably well done by Bethesda. Allocating points to various traits by reading a children’s book, telling the player how special they are or taking a test to determine what job they’re destined for in the vault are just a couple of ways the immersion takes hold. Additionally, starting the game through the eyes of a child, whose birth causes your mother to lose her life and being raised by your father James (Impeccably voiced by Liam Neeson), impresses a connection to the character. As you grow up and are given the chance to wander the vault, the sterile environment feels both eerie and welcoming at the same time. However, this is before the player has ever set foot in the wasteland. Eventually, James makes his escape for reasons unknown and when the answers you receive are not enough, you leave as well. Prior to doing so, the game affords the player one final opportunity to change any specification about their character before opening the door leading into the bright, hostile world. As the player takes their first steps into the world, the pivotal moment is defined by the characters eyes seeing sunlight for the first time as the player’s screen fills with lens flare. Checking your Pip-Boy 3000, you realize as a player that you really have no idea where to go, and ultimately head towards the first settlement you see.

Upon entering Megaton, you’re faced with the opportunity to experience the first of many relative moral choices. Ambiguous or not, you are either tasked with destroying the city via the unexploded atomic weapon at the center of town, disarming it or simply ignoring it. Each choice sways the karmic standing of the player’s character towards the good, neutral or bad. Karma, in essence, relates what kind of person you are to the rest of the world and serving as a prime factor in whether you can activate certain perks, group with certain followers or how certain wastelanders acknowledge your presence. Furthermore, karma choices ultimately are illustrated during the final cutscene and contribute towards what ending the player obtains. While at times, it may seem beneficial to lean towards moral ambiguity, sometimes it’s just better to play through and be the good guy.

Moving from Megaton to Rivet City, and on to Arefu and The Brotherhood of Steel Citadel built inside what remains of the Pentagon, the entirety of the Capital Wasteland is worth exploring. Before I do that though, I will caution that this title is not for everyone, and I’ve stated that before. However, Bethesda is notorious for being adaptable at creating immersive games that have overall been fun to play and Fallout 3 is no exception. While taking the reins of the Fallout series, there have been mixed feelings in regards to the reception. Where Fallout was traditionally a dungeon crawler series, Fallout 3 has taken a page out of Oblivion and it shows. Being able to play the game from first or third person in addition to being able to shoot in either V.A.T.S utilizing action points or shooting without any assistance and hoping for the best, this is just scratching the surface. What really kept me playing though were the various narratives. The main quest was interesting, however, the side quests kept me coming back for more as they took a life of their own, giving the game a distinct Pulp Fiction feeling as all the stories in one way or another tie together giving way to a satisfying conclusion. But with the massive amount of downloadable content made available by Bethesda, the game doesn’t end there. Five different episodes, each capable of four to five hours of additional gameplay see to it that Fallout 3 maintains its longevity and keeps the players who really love the game coming back. Operation: Anchorage, The Pitt, Broken Steel, Point Lookout and Mothership Zeta all offer up a different unique flavor relative to the universe in which they exist, and I can’t wait to explore them.

Ultimately though, as with any game, what it boils down to is whether or not the title was fun. I can assure you, that the game was fun and at times you’ll forget why because you are having so much fun. Ideally, it’s the exploration, combat and narrative that at the very basic level continued to intrigue me throughout the entire title, never making me feel like any of my fifty hours of gameplay were being wasted. The controls were tight and solid as I only found myself very occasionally fumbling with the controller enough where I would be forced to reload a save as a result of my error. The graphics are spot on, with very minute glitching, also easily fixed by loading a save. Sounds were ambient and created an atmosphere that put me in the Capital Wasteland and didn’t let go, while the overall playability offered a title that would welcome many gamers, but would be slightly off putting to any newcomers to the genre. Finally, with the ability to play through the game as good, evil and neutral and still not having explored every single location on my Pip Boy’s world map, I’m convinced that Fallout 3’s replay value is assured.

In the meantime, I would suggest anyone curious to checking out the original Fallout and Fallout 2 and see just how interesting these predecessors are in addition to the current iteration because while “War never changes”, exceptional games do to adapt to the times and I’m satisfied to keep Fallout 3 in my collection for a very long time to come.

Hey Guys!
 
Another update from Matt and Jamie today. As previously stated in our "New Purchases" and "I Just Got The Call..." Blogs. You'll know we picked up some more games including Dragon Age: Origins and Army of Two as well as Modern Warfare 2 Prestige Edition for Matt and Modern Warfare 2 Normal Edition for Jamie.
 
Achievement/Trophy wise I haven't done too bad. Again, Jamie has been too busy dealing with the H1N1 clinics around Ottawa while I hand the pandemic floor at the Hospital. 
 
Matt (IceColdGames)
 
XBOX 360
 
Fallout 3: GOTY Edition
 
The Power of the Atom - Completed "The Power of the Atom" - 20G 
 
Total Fallout 3: GOTY Score: 60/1550 (5%)
 
 
Left 4 Dead
 
Man VS Tank - Single-handedly kill a Tank. - 30G
 
Quick Power - Restart the generator within 30 seconds of it shutting off in the Crash Course campaign. - 25G
 
Stomach Upset - All Survivors complete a campaign without being vomited on. - 20G
 
Total Left 4 Dead Score: 715/1250 (65%) 
 
 
Dragon Age: Origins
 
Bloodied - Completed an origin story without the main character ever falling in battle - 10G
 
Last of Your Line - Completed the Human Noble origin story - 10G
 
Educated - Used a tome to improve the main character's attributes, talents, spells, or skills - 15G
 
Total Dragon Age: Origins Score: 35/1100 (5%)
 
 
PS3
 
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
 
Novice Fortune Hunter - Find 10 Treasures - Bronze
 
Enthusiast Fortune Hunter - Find 15 Treasures - Bronze
 
Intermediate Fortune Hunter - Find 20 Treasures - Bronze
 
Skilled Fortune Hunter - Find 25 Treasures - Bronze
 
Expert Dyno-Might! - Kill 3 Enemies With 1 Explosion 5 Times - Bronze
 
Grenade Hangman - Kill 10 Enemies With Grenades While Hanging from a Ledge - Bronze
 
Survivor - Kill 50 Enemies in a row without dying - Silver
 
50 Kills 92FS - 9mm - Kill 50 enemies with the 92FS - 9mm - Bronze
 
20 Kills Desert - 5 - Kill 20 Enemies with the Desert - 5 - Bronze
 
30 Kills MP40 - Kill 30 Enemies with the MP40 - Bronze
 
50 Kills M4 - Kill 50 Enemies with the M4 - Bronze
 
30 Kills Dragon Sniper - Kill 30 Enemies with the Dragon Sniper - Bronze
 
50 Kills Moss - 12 - Kill 50 Enemies with the Moss - 12 - Bronze
 
50 Kills SAS - 12 - Kill 50 Enemies with the SAS - 12 - Bronze
 
30 Kills M79 - Kill 30 Enemies with the M79 - Bronze
 
Charted! - Easy - Completed The Game In Easy Mode - Silver
 
Charted! - Normal - Completed The Game In Normal Mode - Gold
 
Total Uncharted: Drake's Fortune Score: 37 Trophies (29B/7S/1G/0P) (70%) 
 
 
 
That's all for now...I'm sure the next update will be an unboxing video of "Modern Warfare 2: Prestige Edition"
 
Happy Gaming!
 
Matt and Jamie!

Hey guys. It's been a pretty hectic week here at Dan Towers, what with essay deadlines coming in thick and fast. Nonetheless, I've still managed to break free from my busy schedule and write up a quick update on what's happening with me.
 
The main point of conversation right now with regards to what I've been playing is obviously Fallout 3. In between my excursions into the Capital Wasteland I've played some Rock Band and a little Geometry Wars, but for the most part Fallout 3 is where it's at. Things have really come along since my last update, so I'll do my best to fill you in on my adventures across the wastes. My character is currently at level 25, with a focus on both combat and social skills that seems to have served him pretty well so far. I'm a fair way through the main quest line, having just finished the quest The American Dream. I've also finished up quite a few of the side quests in the game and played through two of the DLC packs, namely Operation: Anchorage and The Pitt. I've just decided to break away from the main quest yet again and head over to Point Lookout. I'll be giving a much more thorough account of my opinion of Fallout 3 (including all the DLC) when I eventually finish with the game, so stay tuned for that. In the meantime, I'm still having an awesome time with the game and can't wait to see what Point Lookout has to offer.
 
But it's not all Fallout 3 on the agenda as we come close to the end of the year. There are a few other games that I'd really like to spend some time with and hopefully finish before 2009 comes to a close. So, with a new year (and a new decade) on the horizon, I proudly bring you...
 

The Official To-Do List - 2009 Edition  

	1. Fallout 3 I received Fallout 3 as a Christmas present last year, and played the hell out of it back in January and February, but never actually finished the main quest line. Now armed to the teeth with all five DLC packs, I've returned to the game with hopes of clearing out everything I didn't manage to do first time round.
	2. Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City Actually this only refers to The Ballad of Gay Tony. I downloaded it on release day, and I intend to play through it before the year's up. Grand Theft Auto IV is my favourite game of all time, and I loved The Lost and Damned, so I'm really looking forward to getting stuck into this second piece of episodic content.
	3. Lost Odyssey As a huge Final Fantasy fan, Lost Odyssey delivers where Final Fantasy XII left me feeling a little short changed. I'm currently at the start of Disc 3 of this mammoth game, but I'm confident that it'll get finished before we see in 2010.
	4. Pokémon Crystal After playing through Pokemon Yellow earlier this year, I decided to give in to my nostalgic urges and finally picked up a second-generation Pokemon game in the form of Crystal. With seven badges under my belt right now, completing this before New Year shouldn't be a problem.
	5. The Secret of Monkey Island I've never played an adventure game before in my life. However, I've heard so many great things about this game (largely from that dear departed hustler, SuperMooseman) that I felt compelled to buy it on Steam. I intend to pop my point 'n' click cherry before the end of this decade with this little piece of history.

  
In other news not related to those video game things, I went out with my girlfriend last night to a comedy night on the University campus. This wasn't a spur of the moment decision, mind. I bought my ticket almost a month ago after finding out who was headlining the show - my favourite stand-up comedian, Jon Richardson. As a long-time listener of his BBC 6 Music podcast, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see him perform live for a mere four pounds. I think I identify with Jon because we have such similar outlooks on life - we're both grumpy young men who've adopted the philosophy: "The world is shit, so you might as well laugh about it". His set was ruthlessly funny, as he poked fun at relationships, student life and politics in his trademark fashion. At the end of the show, I even got to have a quick chat with him and shook his hand. To draw a comparison in the gaming industry, I suppose it'd kind of be like shaking hands with Gabe Newell. Or maybe even Jeff Gerstmann. All in all, it was an awesome night that I shan't soon forget.
 
I think on that note, it's about time I wrapped up this blog. I have a hungry girlfriend who I suspect is expecting me to cook dinner tonight. Thanks for reading guys. Take it easy, and I'll see you around.
 
 
Dan 
 
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Currently playing - Fallout 3 (X360)

Sketched this to the tune of the battle music (a lot of the strokes went with the music as I sketched). I rarely draw environments of any kind so this was a fun break.