Review: Fallout 3

The first review of your gaming bro's little blog and the featured game is none other than Fallout 3. The Third installment of the fallout series. Bethesda studios has picked up where Black Isle studios left off 10 years ago with this formidable addition to the series.

Fallout 3 caters to die hard fans and newcomers alike. Gamers who have played the previous games will be treated to a whole different but nevertheless intense and rewarding experience. The beauty of Fallout 3 is that you would not require any prior knowledge of the series to enjoy and understand what goes on in the game. New players can therefore go head on into this one just as easily as their Fallout purist peers.

The Capital Wasteland
(Spoiler Warning)

The game is set against the backdrop of a dystopian world after a cataclysmic war has turned the good ol' US of A into a desolate wasteland. However, that's about all you know of the world at the start because your character is born into the safety of one of the Vault-Tec Corporation's shelters, Vault 101. The game starts off small as you create your character at birth and follow him, or her of course, through their childhood. From baby's first steps to the G.O.A.T examination which determines your characters skills. Everything looks to be going well and everyone seems to be happy living in the little hole under the watchful eye of "The Overseer". Feeling a little like an Aldous Huxley novel? I thought so too. One of the more prominent figures during your In-Game childhood is well...your In-Game father of course. Serving as your guide and your conscience during your stay in the vault. Dear ol' dad never fails to remind us that "life in the vault isn't perfect but at least it's safe."

Almost had you believing him too till one day he decides to bust out with no notice. Like a good child, you go running after him, leaving your life in the vault (and a few dead guards if you decided to blast your way out)behind. Now a strapping 19 year old, you are thrust into the Capital Wasteland, formerly known as Washington D.C. Barely recognizable except by the ravaged Washington monument in the distance. The wasteland has a 50's feel to it. Everything from billboards to the music on the radio. A tribute, almost, to the dystopic world view that many writers of the age had. This is there where the real game begins. A journey that will take you right to the horizon and beyond. Literally.

The first taste of sunlight. One of the more majestic scenes in the game.

My Fellow Americans

The Capital Wasteland is home to a vast array of characters and creatures, both good and evil. You could be shaking hands with ghouls, exchanging shots with hulking supermutants or running like a scared child from vicious beasts called Yao Guai. The Enclave is back again too paying tribute to Fallout's origins only this time, their armor design looks a lot spiffier than those impish looking suits from Fallout 2. Perhaps it is better to discover the groups and castes of the wasteland first hand instead of reading about it here. A word of advice though, approach everything with at least a little caution. That feeble looking old man might look friendly until he puts a bullet in your chest. The characters each have their own set of dialogue that can range from disturbing to witty and humorous. Everything you say or do to them has consequences. This brings up a key feature of the game, Karma.

Hey, he deserved it. He said my outfit made me look pokey.

If you do good, good karma awaits and vice versa. For example, talking nicely to a woman instead of calling her a dirty whore would score you a few points in the good books whereas stealing someone's stash of Nuka-Cola might get you the stink-eye or perhaps even shot. Fallout 3's open ended gameplay is a wonderful thing in the sense that you don't have to take crap from any of the characters if you don't like them. Not too keen on that farmer that's been staring at you all day? Let him have it. I've had my fair share of ruthlessness. Although I do feel bad for killing the sheriff of Megaton and stealing his clothes. Certain characters can give you quests and there is a great abundance of them. Although not as many as compared to the previous games, they will still keep you busy for a long time. Quests are a great way to explore the wasteland too if you havent already done so on your own. Be sure to go for the quests before pushing the storyline to the end because once it's over, it's over. Fallout 3 may be a sandbox game but unlike most of them, there's no endgame gameplay which means you'll have to revert to a previously saved game to play again. That's one little drawback but still, all good things have to end at some point.

VATS the magnificent: Battles in the wasteland

The battle system in Fallout 3 handles just like any other first or third person shooter and is nothing too exciting. In fact it can get a bit sluggish especially when using melee weapons. Fortunately, that's where the largely talked about VATS system comes in to save the day.

Introducing the amazing PipBoy 3000!

Ah the PipBoy 3000. If I had to wear a watch I'd pick this one any day. It comes fully equipped with a GPS, item organizer, radio, stats monitor and of course, powers the Vault-tec Assisted Targeting System. VATS is a throwback to the previous Fallout games in which time could be brought to a standstill where AP or action points can be used to target specific parts of the enemy's body. So, you can choose to blast your opponent straight in the face or cripple its limbs one by one. This also slows up the fast paced FPS action to that of a turn based attack system. VATS definitely makes the battle system in Fallout 3 a lot more user friendly. It also allows for some of the most enthralling and wonderfully gory cinematic moments in the game. Nothing like seeing your bullet meet with an assailant's head and knocking it clean off in slow motion. That is unless of course you miss, which would happen a lot if your gun skill is low. The probability of hitting each target in VATS is clearly indicated along with the potential damage of the shot. A handy tool for anyone finding it hard to deal with a crowd of pesky raiders.

Facing an approaching Raider in VATS.

With the incredible range of weapons in the game, the possibilities with VATS are endless. Whether you wish to turn your enemy into a pile of ash with a laser rifle or have at them with a flaming sword powered by gasoline, all's fair in the wasteland.

S.P.E.C.I.A.L Perks

Like every RPG, Fallout 3 comes with a level up system. At the beginning of the game, you get to choose basic stats like Strength, Agility, Intelligence, Perception, etc. The kind of stuff every RPG has, each affecting future skills (Strength for example determines the effectiveness of melee attacks). Besides the basic stats there are skills that you can assign your character. There's a wide set of skills available like lock-picking, speech, science, small guns, big guns and energy weapons just to name a few. Each type of weapon has its own skill, so if your energy weapon skill is high, you'll be better at using plasma and laser rifles whereas the big guns skill allows for greater efficiency with missile launchers and other such weapons of larger girth. Other skills determine how your character progresses through the game. You could get information by wowing the characters with your amazing speech or hack into computer terminals using the science skill to extract what you need. The lock-picking skill also grants entry to areas otherwise inaccessible.

Perks are another set of traits you can assign to your character which grant bonuses to skills and basic stats. The iron fist perk grants bonus points to unarmed efficiency and the thief perk does the same for pick-pocketing and lock-picking. There are also perks that just make the game a whole lot more fun like the bloody mess perk that allows you to make your opponents explode into exactly what the title says.

Overview

Fallout 3 is an immense game that will definitely keep you entertained for a long time. Replay value is huge, the gameplay itself is far above average and the soundtrack is a breath of fresh air. It's an interesting experience, listening to "Let's go sunning" while in the heat of battle. Though the radio shows could get a bit repetitive after a while, you could always turn it off and enjoy the subtle background music and sounds of nature. Or whatever is left of it that is.

Graphically, Fallout 3 has some flaws. There is some noted graininess in certain textures for the PS3 version which makes parts of the game look like it came from the previous generation. There are also some glitches I noticed that resulted in characters losing their facial features for a few seconds and looking like empty rubber masks. Either that or their heads were replaced entirely by black squares. The PS3 loses out to both the 360 and PC in terms of graphics for Fallout 3 as proven by pictures like these. The graphical inferiority however can be overlooked because basically, the game still looks beautiful regardless of which system you are using. You can enjoy a pleasant wasteland sunrise in all its glory on a PS3 just as well as on the PC. That is unless you're extremely finicky. There are lots of moral concerns with the overt violence and use of drugs in this game that got it some bad press in places like Australia but its not like a post apocalyptic world can be filled with hugs and sunshine now can it? As long as you know the difference between the game and real life and don't start chasing your neighbours with uncle bob's shovel while shooting Jet, then you're good to go. Fallout 3 is a great game and is not just Oblivion with guns as some might think. To fully experience the quality of the game, the best way is just to play it for yourself and explore the diversity of this title. Though I won't go as far as to say that Fallout 3 is the greatest game of 2008-2009, it's definitely a candidate.

The return of the Fallout series indeed did set the gaming world on fire and has rekindled the flame in fan's hearts.

My rating for Fallout 3: 9/10

9-10: GYEAHHH!

7-8: Pretty good

5-6: Should've been better

3-4: Good for a laugh

1-2: Waste of a Blu-Ray disc

0: What has gaming come to?