Fallout 3 is an FPS-RPG staged in the post-apocalyptic wasteland of Washington D.C. 200 years previous to the beginning of the story line, the Cold War took a very violent twist. After events similar to "The End of the World", survivors who had the cash to do so found themselves in underground vaults to survive the nuclear winter. And so your story begins.
After witnessing your own birth (and creating your character) you are thrust into the realm of the three-year-old child. Your biggest worries here include: escaping your playpen, wandering around the room, and setting up your talents in the "You're Special" book. This is all cleverly disguised as a kids' book, but has a moderate amount of effect on your character later on. Only after some banter with your father are you then teleported to your ten-year-old self's birthday party. It is here where you are introduced to the conversationalist elements of the game. Eerily similar to Oblivion, the dialogue is nice at first, but you realize after the thrid or fourth runthrough of the game that the NPC's responses are worded in such a way that you can respond in any number of ways, and receive the same answer everytime. But now I'm just nit-picking... You, after going through a few of these "life stages" are now set to enter the Fallout world in it's entirety. You awaken to find that your dad has somehow escaped the institution of Vault 101 and ventured out into the Capital Wasteland. Now you are being sought for charges of conspiracy by pretty much everyone in the Vault for merely being your dad's son. It is here that you are forced out into the open world after an escape from the machine that is the vault.
And alas, through the brilliant white light appears a landscape straight out of "The Sum of All Fears". A battered and bruised Capital Building lays ahead of you, miles into the distance. The now transparent Washington Monument is still standing, a testament to American perseverance, it would seem. It is now that the player gets an idea of just how big this game really is.
Only after staring into the abyss for five minutes in awe of the sheer size of the game do you venture down into it. Generally, players will find themselves wandering straight into the walls of Megaton, a refugee settlement created from scrap in a crater left by an undetonated nuclear bomb (which still resides in the town). Mingling with these folks is where you get your first tasks assigned, and the story takes off from there and divides into so many facets as not could be covered in such a review as this.
The game itself plays well on the PC. The controls are tight, and there are very few camera issues. The game looks fantastic, and my poor little mobile 8600 GT was struggling to keep up when I cranked everything up to "ultra" settings, so I had to tone things down to high, where playability was restored. The game's downfall, however, are the bugs that were released in the original copy of the game, and still exist in light of a small patch. Random crashes, slowdowns, and graphical glitches absolutely plague this game, at times bringing it to it's knees. A patch has yet to be released to address these issues, and I really wish that Bethesda would have waited until they had fixed these issues to release the final game, it would have made this a perfect experience.
There are some unique gameplay elements to be found in Fallout 3. Weapon and item degradation becomes a major problem overtime, and can cost you a lot in damage dealt and received. It's a welcome addition to the gameplay as it is well-done, unlike most titles that have something similar to this, forcing the player to repair after every skirmish with a small poodle. Items are repaired by having the skills necessary to repair the item to a certain point (you can repair everything, but up to a point depending on your repair skill) and combining two of the same things to make one fixed item.
One other gameplay element that is unique is the VATS targeting system. Essentially, the player is able to stop time and select the location and sequence of shots fired at an enemy. It is nice, but even when everything else is running at 40 FPS, entering the VATS system dramatically decreases framerate. It is this single factor that is enough for me to call it an annoyance, rather than a feature.
As with almost any Bethesda game, there is a skills system. I found it interesting how these skills were so very well implemented in the game. The player finds him or herself focusing in on one or two key skills that he/she thinks they will need to extract the most success out of the game. A high science skill will allow you to unlock eletronically-locked doors and safes, but so will a lockpicking skill, in different locations. A high explosives skill will grant you access to one of the coolest things I've seen in a video game to date; the Megaton explosion (see the above pic), where you detonate the above-mentioned nuke residing in Megaton's center. It's exciting to see a game that allows the user to choose where they will see their benefits from choosing to emphasize a certain skill, and it is here where I feel the game really excels.
Combat is effective enough, but it's not anything spectacular. However, another one of the most satisfying elements of this game is the amount of ways that you can finish an enemy off. The VATS gives you an idea of how much health an enemy will have after the player has selected their target points. So, if the finishing shot is to the head, the enemy's head will explode into many meaty (yet disturbingly identifiable) pieces. Getting enjoyment out of such an obscene and horrendous death seems almost psychotic to the player at times, but it becomes second nature after a while.
Overall, this game is probably the best game of 2008, sans the technical problems. If Bethesda would hurry up and solve the performance issues with this software then I would have no doubt in my mind. The game is a work of art. I would highly recommend a purchase.
Gameplay: 8/10 Due to performance issues
Sound: 9/10 Great sound, good understated soundtrack that adds to gameplay, not overpowering it.
Graphics: 10/10 Looks fantastic! Textures, shading, draw distance, all of it is wonderful, and this is one efficient graphics engine!
Controls: 10/10 Spot-on controls combined with the mouse and keyboard experience we all know and love make this game control better than most others.
Presentation: 10/10 This game is truly epic in scale, and it knows it. Vast expanses of open wasteland, terrifying and dark tunnels, and an amazing story line make this game amazing.
Performance: 4/10 This game runs very well, when it's not crashing... PATCH NEEDED SOON!
Overall: 8.5/10 An amazing game plagued by bugs, both intentionally and unintentionally...
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