Fallout 3 Review

Ah, Bethesda. We meet again- this time with Fallout 3. Following the hugely successful Oblivion, I am not surprised that most games did not release in the same week, or even in the week after yours. I am also not surprised that I need to go to Costco for more batteries soon.

For those unfamiliar, Fallout 3 chronicles the story of a boy (or girl) who leaves the safe confines of an underground facility called "Vault 101" in search of their father. The year is 2277, the location is a wasteland marred by nuclear warfare: Washington D.C. Fallout 3, much like Oblivion, allows the user to more or less guide their own destiny in this alternate reality. Obviously, there are rewards and consequences to both playing the good Samaritan and the evil bastard- and there are choices (as well as fitting rewards and consequences) for everything and everyone in between.

The good:

- In game choices. Lots of choices. One of the most difficult things about a game is creating the persona of main character. Whether people know it or not, players project themselves unto the hero, and Bethesda has provided a suitable arsenal of dialogue, violence, and everything in between to allow a player to "create their own story." And in this market where players desire more, Fallout 3 brings far more to the table than most other games (console or otherwise) do.
- A shooter for newbs and pros alike. Mobs (monsters) in this game are scaled to player level (at least along the main storyline), and provide a decent challenge even to veterans of the FPS/3PS community. You'll find that the mobs in this game vary with individual weapons, all the way from pipes to missile launchers; and you'll find that dealing with a group wielding all sorts of weapons requires some thought in the approach (unless you enjoy using a large number of stimpacks or getting a ton of rad damage from irradiated food). The good news for people new to the whole FPS/3PS scene though is the Vault-Tec Assisted Targetting System (VATS), which is also good news for veterans too. What VATS does is it pauses the game in or out of combat and brings up the calculated probability of success for attacking each body part of a monster (generally head, torso, arms, legs, wielded weapon). The amount of attacks you can assign to VATS is determined by your agility, and probability of success is determined by range, weapon, weapon skill, obstructions, etc. This is good for obviously a couple of reasons: 1) if you're terrible at shooters. 2) it makes targetting enemy weapons easier, thereby easier to knock them out of their hands, making them less dangerous-ish. 3) you can easily queue attacks on the legs of enemies that are running away, to prevent them from doing so. 4) saves a lot of ammo. 5) it lets you see the projected amount of health your enemy will have left AFTER each attack.
- Character customization is done fairly well. You can be the asian kid with chubby cheeks, blue eyes, a homeless man's beard and an afro if you wanted to. Aesthetically speaking, I was satisfied with the extent of customization allowed. I'm sure some would prefer an even larger selection of hairstyles, or beards, but I liked what was offered and went with it. The real meat of the customization came from the stats, skills, and perks that you could put points into to help you play your character the way YOU wanted to play him/her. Like to talk and shop? More points in charisma, speech, and barter. Perhaps you want to be the Grinch, and take peoples' shit? More points in agility, sneak, lockpicking, and maybe even science for hacking. Or maybe you're worse than the Grinch? Reverse pickpocket a mine into a person's inventory, and set it off to watch them blow up into a bloody mess.
- Exploration. I have clocked 50 hours in Fallout, and I haven't visited 80% of the available locations yet. This world is huge, and if you allow it- this world will consume the one you're living in. Theres a lot to see, and a lot to do. Quests can be found at most places, as far as I can tell- or serve as bridges to the next place.
- Voice acting in the Fall-Out universe is fairly well done, and for me not to have any complaints (thus far) about the voice acting means it's definitely pretty good. And the fact that your dad is voiced by Liam Neeson? That's just all sorts of badass.
- The Pip Boy 3000 comes fully armed with a radio that you can listen to anywhere you want, provided you have the wavelengths to turn to for content. There really isn't anything like walking around the wasteland listening to Galaxy News Radio while shooting super mutants. For those who haven't given it a try, try it. You'll see why this is under "Good" section. For those who have done some quests, Galaxy News Radio host Three Dog will also talk about you and your deeds in the wasteland if he hears of them (it might be a little narcissistic, but I like hearing about the things I do).
- Music: Expect a solid OST from Inon Zur. You can preview some of the tracks at the official site here. But should you need a change, the radio is always available.

The Bad:

- Exploration. Unlike Oblivion, where it was truly an "open" world, Fallout requires you (at times) to navigate through tunnels and subways to reach your destination. Some areas are only accessible in this fashion, and while sometimes you might explore and say "hey, that's cool," there are those times it's easy to get lost and wonder "where the hell am i going?"

Overall Impression:

Bethesda Softworks is one of the few studios to step up to a challenge that is presented by a game like Fallout 3. Personally, I feel this is a very well blended mix of RPG and FPS/3PS, and the execution of which is also worthy of praise. However, the challenge here is how to best please players of different perspectives. I'm not just talking about what the game can provide for the player, but rather how to approach gamers with different mindsets. This is somewhat unique to Fallout 3 because most games can be classified as a Shooter, RPG, fighting, or what not. This is a game that has elements of both, and can truly be played as either or if the player chooses. But, in my opinion, those who play this game in the mindset of "this is just a shooter" will not enjoy the game as much as the person who plays this game in the mindset of "this is a RPG." It most definitely feels and plays more like an RPG than it does a shooter, as it should with the game built as it is. Having said that, I very much enjoyed the game looking at it from both a RPG player's perspective as well as a shooter's, simply because it provides a breath of fresh air in both formats. Either way, you can choose to run-and-gun your way through the game and the main storyline if it pleases you; or you can take your time and enjoy everything the Fallout 3 universe has to offer you. After all, the choice is up to you.

- Jack