Wednesday, December 22, 2010

What I think of Fallout 3

I was going to have a full Fallout 3 review ready for today but I've been to busy playing the game to write about it. So yes this one will be shorter than the other review I did.

Fallout 3 was released in 2008 by Bethesda Softworks. It was a real game changer to the series being the first game in the series to use real time combat and not turn based. The story overall is relatively simple, wander the wasteland and survive as best you can. However each individual quest is quite detailed and really immerse. I think its best to think of the game as a collection of short games put together rather than one big game. The game takes place in the Washington D.C area in 2277, 200 years after the great war (Which is a war that lasted for 2 hours in which time America, China and Russia fired their nuclear missiles at each other) and 36 years after the events of Fallout 2. You play as either a boy or a girl (the game lets you choose at the very start in a rather interesting manner) whom is born in vault 101, a nuclear fallout shelter.

The gameplay is fantastic. It is easy to pick up and play, which is what I like in games if it has a pain in the arse learning curve just to figure out which button does what I won't play it. All though unlike previous games in the series which were turn based which gave you time to think and plan your next move, Fallout 3 is real time and you have to think on your feet. However if you want to pause and think V.A.T.S (Vault-tec Advanced Targeting System) will pause the game and focus on your target and you can plan your shots. This method will suit many different playstyles.

I'm playing it on the Xbox 360 (purely because that is the copy my friend lent me) I have seen the PC version and gameplay in that regard really depends on if you are a PC person or a console person. The one (and I reckon only) disadvantage to the console version is no mods. If you want to mod your game (to which there is no disadvantage because there is no multiplayer aspect to the game and in fact modding is encouraged by Bethesda with them releasing a free editor which can be found here) buy it on the PC. Otherwise if you don't really care get it on the 360.

The graphics great. You really see the contrast of post-apocalyptic wasteland and the sterile conditions of the Vault you first start the game in. While at the same time you can see the remnants of the superpower that America was. Real philosophical art-house stuff. All the NPC's in the wasteland are dirty and really give you the sense that it is hard living in a post-apocalyptic world.

Not much to say on sound. The sound track is fantastic and I highly recommend you get it if you can. But the other sounds are ok. Guns sound as they should but you can tell that there are like four voice actors for all the NPC's not related to the main story. Otherwise can't complain.

I'm disappointed that there is a lack of a multiplayer aspect to this game because there is a lot of fun to be had taking the game online but I hear there is a Fallout MMORPG in the works so stay tuned for that.

You know I really understand what people mean when they say they have that "Fallout feeling". Espically when your friends tell you to "shut up about Fallout already!" I can see why it got game of the year in 2008, I'm completely addicted to it.

9 out of 10

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