Fallout 3 Reviews

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Written by BuckGB on November 15th, 2008

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Bethesda has won me over; Fallout 3 is highly addictive and very entertaining. The beginning was a little rough but once the game clicks, you're in for one hell of a ride. Unfortunately the main quest isn't that great but the story and atmosphere of the world is very intriguing. As you explore the wasteland you'll find dungeons and people that will flesh out the world. Very rarely does anything feel random; it all has a purpose for being there. People may try to approach this as a first-person shooter; it is not so you won't be killing everyone in one blow to the head. You'll be spending most of your time in the surprisingly good VATS system which makes combat feel good and rewarding. The lock picking and hacking minigames are pretty good and it's nice to see special conversation options based upon your base attributes. The graphics are pretty good, especially the draw distance. Unfortunately dungeons and cities still do not feel very distinct and can cause you to feel lost. The sound has to be the weakest link in the game, everything else is pretty much stellar and while the variety and wealth of dialogue options are nice, it would've been nice to have some voice acting on the same level. Overall though Fallout 3 is not Oblivion, it's far better. Bethesda clearly went back to the drawing board after that game and fixed most of the issues I had with it and have produced an awesome immersive game worthy of your $60.

The world of Fallout has clearly been a labour of love to Bethesda venture into ruined villages and what impresses most is the attention to detail throughout, as the true horrors of the nuclear war that has destroyed the world hit home. Fallout 3 is a bleak, sombre, affecting experience at times, and the irradiated wastelands that become your new residence offer the most significant emotional punch of the Fallout experience.

Of course no game is perfect and this holds true for Fallout 3 as well. Going through the adventure you will tend to notice some graphical glitches. They can be kind of annoying, however, with a game this ambitious and expansive it's not a surprise. It should also be noted that once you finish the main storyline, you can no longer do anything else in the game. Therefore, be sure to have a separate save file before you complete the final mission. Be sure to get all of the side quests done that you want to do beforehand. This isn't something necessarily wrong with the game itself, it is just a poor design decision. You can play this game in either first or a third person perspective which allows for some more variety. I generally tend to play in the third person perspective. If you attempt to play it as a straight FPS you will likely be disappointed as the shooting at times isn't really that competent. However this title wasn't created to be a first person shooter title so not as much time was spent in that area. The enemy difficulty also tends to scale, so enemies that were tough a few levels ago, can still be tough now. While some people enjoy that constant challenge, others weren't that big a fan of it in Oblivion and probably won't be here.

Intangibles: Hey, Bethesda. MAKE SURE YOU TEST YOUR GAMES BEFORE YOU SHIP THEM! I do not appreciate sinking seventy hours into a game only to have it break at the end.

Fallout 3 is in good hands, but different hands than the first two Fallout games. As a game, it shares a setting without exactly mirroring the sensibilities of the original. Fallout 3 helps the franchise grow (unlike, say, the action-heavy Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel), while making so many fantastic nods to the earlier games that everyone will be won over. Even from the opening moments of the game, seeing familiar artifacts like the vault door and overseer's desk rendered in 3D helped bring the older games to life.

Unlike a lot of reviewers, I didn't think Fallout 3 has such great graphics. I know everything is supposed to look apocalyptic, but there was just too much Grey and brown colors, even a lot of the characters looked Grey, especially the raiders. I just think that Fallout 3 could have done a better job with the graphics.

Inon Zur's music for the game has a bold, heroic voice when necessary the game's opening anthem, incidental combat music but is often a poignant, sombre counterpart to the picture on screen. Throughout the game you'll be able to tune into various radio stations still broadcasting in the wasteland, which serve up classic American tracks from the 1930's and 1940's, a Fallout trademark and an ironic counterpoint to the bleak reality of the world. For fun, I popped the soundtrack to Escape From New York on a flashkey for my travels through downtown D.C., but to be honest the quality of the game's music begs to be heard. Music in RPG's typically gets terribly repetitive after ten or twelve hours of game play, and Fallout's play length, which is in the '˜sweet spot', and the quality of the tunes, means this is one time you likely won't be reaching for the Xbox Guide blade to squelch the game tunes.

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