Preface

Everyone has an opinion. There’s a rude saying that compares opinions to a part of the human anatomy that practically says one’s opinion is worthless. So why read any reviews? If you’re not a terrible cynic you may be able to pore through a handful of reviews, develop and understanding for what sort of lens the reviewer sees games with and define some sort of truth from the fluffy words of praise or harsh criticisms that would have no tangible value.

You might be thinking, “Get to the review already!” or “Stop wasting my time and give me your score!” but without a preface you may not understand the “lens” I see games through and how to get what you need from my opinions. If you really can’t stomach anymore though feel free to jump ahead and read the review.
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What ho, vault dwellers. Having a buggy time in Fallout 3? Well, no matter what your version of it is, things should be looking up right about now, as Bethesda has just released a very big patch update for the post-apocalyptic RPG. Yes, they just released it yesterday, and it fixes whatever flavor of the game you’ve got: the PC, the PS3, and even the Xbox 360 one. It’s also available in five different languages (English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish) and will be required to play the upcoming DLC pack that’s slated for January 27, Operation: Anchorage.

Here’s a list of the fixes:
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If you haven’t heard of the Fallout series then you’re really out of touch with the PC gaming world. Welcome to the present! Have an assault rifle. Anyhow, There’s been a lot of static about Fallout 3 since it was announced, most of it came from No Mutants Allowed, or NMA, which are a group of Fallout fanboys that were brought to tears upon hearing Bethesda was developing Fallout 3. NMA was afraid that Bethesda would tinker the formula that Black Isle (the original developers of the Fallout series) had made. To be clear, Fallout was an instant classic for it’s dark humor and dynamic gameplay and brought you different endings based on how you played. Does Bethesda live up to the previous Fallout games, and if it does, is it a good game? Let’s see. (continue reading…)

But that is not necessarily a bad thing.

The Fallout 3 title screen.

Fallout 3 was developed and released by Bethesda Game Studios. It is the third installment in the Fallout series, which puts players into a post-apocalyptic world reminiscent of the 1950’s “World of Tomorrow”. Unlike previous Fallout games, Fallout 3 incorporates first person shooter interaction with action-role play mechanics such as character leveling, attributes and enemy targeting. Your player starts out being born in Vault 101. Vaults are nuclear fallout shelters that are supposed to protect people from the war between the U.S. and China, and in this particular one nobody is allowed outside. Once your character’s father escapes the Vault for unknown reasons, you are forced to also escape and find your father to figure out why he left. When you finally get out, you are thrust into the world of post-apocalyptic Washington D.C.

Before the fanboys get their nostalgia goggles on, let me just say that due to unfortunate events, this ISN’T the Fallout sequel we all were hoping for.  In order to actually enjoy the game and not just bitch about “WELL THIS ISN’T HOW FALLOUT SHOULD BE”, one must have to remember that this isn’t a true Fallout game, it’s Bethesda’s take on the series.  You have to view this as an improvement to The Elder Scrolls series and NOT the Fallout series.  Fallout 3 is so fundamentally different from previous Fallout titles that it’s the only way to make sense of it.

V.A.T.S. targetting

Compared to Oblivion, Fallout 3 improves on things greatly.  The targeting system is something that was needed in introducing guns into the engine.  V.A.T.S. opens up a whole new layer of tactics to gunfights with its ability to target specific parts of the body.  Close-range and need a kill?  Aim for the head.  Need to stop your target from running away?  Take out their legs.  You can even target the weapon they’re holding to potentially break it.  Dialogue has been improved upon with good and bad responses, although most of the time they don’t affect how things play out.  With item decay and repairing, instead of learning weapon smithing, it’s more of a scavenger hunt.  The player is able to repair their almost-broken weapon with a better copy of the same weapon, combining item health and improving the damage done.  Guards are mainly removed from the game and even when they do appear, they’re far less intrusive.  Quests are abundant and the map of D.C. is slightly smaller than Cyrodiil, but there is still plenty to explore.  The karma system is interesting but a little useless, with only two or three instances where it actually affects you.  The Pip-boy 3000 is a wrist computer that basically acts as your Inventory/Map/Stats guide.  Flicking between it and realtime is still simple and effective.

Bugginess plays a role in some loss to character immersion.  For instance, when you are in communities, if you kill everyone in the room and no one comes from outside, you can walk back outside and talk to people and guards like nothing happened.  Pathing for enemies is somewhat lacking.  With all the debris sticking out of the ground and rough terrain, I’ve had several times where enemies get stuck and then picking them off is a breeze.  There’s also very few types of enemies to speak of, mainly separated into mutated animals, mutated people, raiders, and super mutants.  Since maps are illustrated in a sort of technical blueprint, they’re sometimes hard to read.  I recall two or three times where I was trying to get through a building and kept on turning around in circles because of the map.

Fallout 3 is a well-done game and deserves the kind of attention it’s been getting, but sadly doesn’t represent  what hardcore Fallout fans were looking for.  If you’re a fan of Oblivion and previous Bethesda titles, definitely pick it up.  Even if this isn’t the same Fallout, fans of the series should look into it.