Love / Hate
I never really got into the Fallout series until a few weeks ago. I remember purchasing Fallout 3 with some friends at release - not knowing a thing about it - and returning it a whooping four days later. It wasn't because I didn't like the game but it was more because after emerging from Vault 101 I just didn't have any incentive to run around an open world. Now, don't get me wrong I loved Oblivion and it starts almost the exact same way with you escaping the sewers, but Oblivion also didn't look all post apocalyptic and bland. In Oblivion (or any Elder Scrolls game for that reason) everything seemed to be on a bigger scope and the capital just blew me away with it's colossal size and presence. Fallout was just a wasteland to me and that's why my character ended his adventure just outside of Megaton and EB gained another copy less than a week down the road.
Now, let's jump ahead to a few weeks ago. I needed a game to play and a friend just happened to have it sitting around: so I borrowed it. I only did so because I thought it would be a game I could play without putting a lot of thought into it. Basically a game I could just put on, V.A.T. some enemies and shut off without a care. Well that changed fast. I started to get into the story and into the sheer story of the game. I fast realized I had given up on a spectacular story and franchise way too early. The game itself - and the story that surrounds it is amazing. It's pulls you in and can have that feeling on a gamer that extends past the hours you sit in front of the game. I would randomly think about situations and quests at work or while out with friends and when I was playing the game I was glued tight. I'm roughly 50 hours in so far and I still have so much to go. Which is both a blessing and a curse.
I say this because even though Fallout brings a great playing experience it also brings some "controller smashing" moments. There are so many bugs and glitches in the game that take away from the experience as a whole. I found myself often getting stuck in the environment, being unable to finish quests because of items falling through the map (which is prominent in "The Pitt" expansion with a problem with the 100 ingots achievement / trophy) and with having save files erase or conflict with autosaves. For every 3 great experiences I had in the game there was 1 thing that made me cringe and get so frustrated to the point where I've wanted to just put the game away and fool around on Just Cause 2 again.
Overall here's my verdict.
I'd rate the game a 7.7 / 10
With rating it around a 9 for story and content and a 6 for gameplay and experience.
It's fun, it's a game you can sink a lot of time into but at the same time it's terribly bugged and broken.
