So I’ve not blogged for ages. Normally this would be because I’ve not been playing any games, but in this case I have been playing; a lot. I’ve been playing Fallout 3 since early Jan and last night I finally finished it (well not really but more on that later)
Fallout 3 is a action RPG set in an post apocalyptic future where America and China have had an all out nuclear war, and there’s not much left of the world. Despite it being the year 2277 culturally America is locked into a 1950’s like era, you know that kinda of future-retro thing.
The game is vast and open ended, once you escape the Vault you’ve been brought up in and clamber out to the wasteland – you really can go anywhere and do anything you want. This is probably where I will lapse into gushing praise, but I can’t help it. This game is incredible in it’s scope; the sheer amount of places to explore, things to find, people to meet, stuff to do; far exceeds any other game I’ve played. I spent over 100 hours on this game and only found a fraction of the game had to offer. Now often this “embarrassment of choice” can be overwhelming in a game, but not in Fallout 3. You don’t have to worry about doing things in the correct order or playing it the “right way”, the game permits you the freedom to do what you like. See that interesting looking building over in the distance? why not check it out. That bloke you met that mentioned an android? sound more interesting than what you are doing now? why not investigate.
Getting sidetracked is part & parcel of the experience. I’ve mentioned before my love for games that reward the player for going off the beaten track, Fallout 3 is positively the pinnacle of this idea. Going off the beaten track you won’t just find some ammo and bits and bobs, but you’ll find an whole new town or set of tunnels filled with people and quests – as a reward for your curiosity
The main storyline is fairly short, the bulk of Fallout 3 is taken up in general exploring and doing sidequests. I estimate than at least 90% of the games content is entirely optional it really takes balls for a developer to do this. Detail is lavished on every little nook and crany, despite the fact that the majority of players might never stumble across it. I fell completely in love with this game, I’ve never spent anywhere near 100 hours playing a game before, that fact alone shows how much the game absorbed me. This is definitely one of those games you don’t want to end, but ultimately I got to the point where I felt it was time to move on, or at least take a break for a while.
There are still 3 chunks of DLC (Downloadable content) to play though, of which only one has been released so far. I might pick up the game again once they are all out
In summary games like this get made once every 10 years, it really is a work of art, it’s easily in my all-time top 5 games.
Buy it, Play it.
For a true ode to Fallout 3 see Consolevanias “review” of it here
A couple of gameplay videos to give you a feel for what the game is about
Not wishing to pour water on a glowing review, especially as i have also racked up many many hours on this beauty, but one thing sticks in my mind about Fallout 3.
When i first started hearing about this game, a particular preview somewhere stated that Fallout 3 was ‘ like Oblivion with guns’. This was strongly refuted in later reviews, saying that Fallout 3 was a vastly differant game to Oblivion.
I however, after many in game hours, feel that the difference is largely cosmetic. Fallout 3 is indeed a vast, beautifully crafted game, with an excellent sense of adventure, as said previously, rewarding the player time and again with its hidden underworld, shanty towns and pockets of civilisation. But likewise, Oblivion rewarded the intrepid explorer with countless dungeons,ruins, forts and so on. Small Hamlets are scattered around in the same way FO3 uses camps, towns and sewers. The quest system is virtually identical in both games, as is the loot system. Npc’s make desicions based on how they feel about you, using a Karma system in much the same way the player could earn trust in Oblivion. Coin often smoothed the way in Tamriel and now a bottle of water given to the needy will raise your Karma.
In FO3 the combat uses the same 1st or 3rd person system, ranged and melee with the exception of FO3’s excellent V.A.T.S system. Coupled with V.A.T.S is an entirely different leveling system, much more in tune with its RPG heritage. This is a vast improvement over Oblivions somewhat ‘lazy’ leveling system.
But aside from these two points, as important as they are to the FO3 experience, and the obvious changes in story and setting, for me FO3 was indeed ‘Oblivion with guns’.
The weapon crafting system for FO3 isn’t that far a cry from the alchemical process Oblivion used to create potions,spells and enchantments.
However,
just to reassure any potential post apocalyptic 101’s out there, FO3 is a fantastic, rewarding often brutal and often funny game. But for former adventurers of Tamriel,I personally feel, not that different.