Fall out of your normal life all over again.
1997, the year that Black Isle would release a great game of open exploration, gore and deep character creation. Fast forward to 2008 and Fallout 3 would be released. The fan boy inside of me was giddy for the chance to reenter a world I loved so much and become anybody I wanted. After picking up a copy for my PS3 I rushed home to load it up and jump right in. The back drop for the game is post apocalyptic DC in the year 2277 full of giant mutated cockroaches, super mutants, radiated water sources and burned out towns.
Fallout 3 was picked up by Bethesda Game Studios and they took the game in a great new direction by adding 3rd person and 1st person perspective instead of the typical top down 2D/3D view from the original games. This change allowed for new and old players to see the game like never before. The game begins like all the others with the character emerging from a Vault. This time the creators used this section as more of an interactive tutorial on how to play the game within a confined structure. Everything from character creation to movement to combat is shown in a very story friendly environment that makes it seem more like part of the game rather then a user manual on your TV.
The game is simply stunning in all aspects. The world seems so alive even after nuclear war has ravaged the land. From burned out towns to decaying national monuments, the game is never with out something new and fun to look at. But don’t let the visuals fool you the game is not with out its flaws. Huge game stop glitches will put your fast track to glory to a screeching halt within even the first few hours of game play and seem to happen even later in the game. Most errors can be fixed with a quick reload of the last save file but still take you out of the game quicker then a slap to the face. Users of the Xbox 360 system don’t seem to have as much trouble so potential owners may look to that system until patches are unloaded to the community.
I am still trucking through the game at a nice pace and hope to finish the main quest and then go back to unleash fury on the numerous side quests that make up the world. The quest system is basic and in depth while not bogging you down with the same equation time after time. Investigations, hit orders, escorts and retrievals make sure the game doesn’t get cardboard thin with originality. And when in doubt of what to do next, save your game and blow everybody away, become the king of your castle and steal what is rightfully yours. Using the most advanced and primitive weapons known to man there is never a moment where you don’t have a way to creatively kill your enemy (or friend). From boards with nails to laser Gatling guns, baseball bats to mini nuke launchers and everything in between, you can even create your own weapons.
The depth of this game almost seems endless and the replayability makes it seem like several games in one. With glitches and errors aside the game still shines as a gem for all PS3 owners to experience if only by watching someone else play. You won’t be disappointed with what this game brings to the table and what we can expect future games to aspire to be.
Reviewed on PS3, also available on PC and Xbox360
Tags: Bethesda, Black Isle, Fallout, Fallout 3, pc, Playstation, PS3, xbox360
November 12th, 2008 at 12:06 am
This is by far one of the best games to come out in quite some time. The need to explore the refreshing demolished Earth makes me want to keep going back to it. The main story is very captivating and I have trouble deciding on whether I want to explore on my own or do the storyline and see where it takes me. Amazing, amazing game.
November 12th, 2008 at 12:07 am
Oh and yeah it crashes probably every 2-3 hours on average on my computer. Yay for pirating and not being able to patch, eh?
November 12th, 2008 at 7:04 am
The crashing finally stopped on my PS3, seems to be more frequent on the PC side I’m sure.
December 12th, 2008 at 10:47 am
I’m about 80 hours into the 360 version, and I would estimate it’s crashed about 10 times. Thankfully the autosaves (and the desire to save often) are frequent enough that I’ve never lost more than 20 or 30 minutes of play time. I know for a fact that many people have put the game down to wait for a patch, however.
All that said, Fallout 3 is truly brilliant. This coming from a gamer that didn’t at all care for the Elder Scrolls series. If you’re holding back for the same reason that I almost did (general hatred of western RPGs), give it a shot.