Fallout 3 is a great template for what a modern RPG should be like. Funny, dark and chilling, it really picks up on the legacy of previous games in the series. However, one thing that must be said is that you shouldn’t buy this game if you hated The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, as the two are very similar in their structure.

Set 200 years after a nuclear war between China and the USA, Fallout 3 provides a great backdrop for the story to develop. With “surface” society nothing but people scavenging off what they can find in the Washington D.C. wasteland, many people had locked themselves away into radiation proof bunkers, called vaults. Within these vaults people live sheltered lives, much detached from the reality of the surface. The character you play is a "vault dweller" and leaves, struggling to adapt to, what is basically, another world.

The actual gameplay of Fallout is very similar to TES: Oblivion in terms of first person perspective. One major difference is obvious though. Guns, and lots of em. You can choose to play the game as a straight up first person shooter (which would be hard), or use the fuckin’ awesome “V.A.T.S” targeting system. This system allows you to pause time and target each individual part of the body, before unpausing the game and seeing the results. Even if this does simplify the combat somewhat, I loved it. Its conception could truly be one of the best things to happen to RPG combat systems ever.

If you played TES: Oblivion, you would know Bethesda’s love of big-ass, open worlds. This love continues to live on in Fallout 3. The D.C. Wasteland offers up to 70% of the square mileage of TES: Oblivion. This may sound disappointing, but considering a larger chunk of it is populated than was in Oblivion, and there are fewer load times, there is reason to be happy. Just as a note, the rad fast travel system from TES series is still in (phew!).

One thing negative thing that can be said about Fallout 3 is the ending. Whilst I know there are multiple endings (I’m sure I will get around 30 emails reminding me of this), the one I saw seemed to be nothing but an evaluation of what I had done, rather than an actual ending to the story. Imagine my surprise then, when Bethesda announced an add-on pack coming in 2009 that “Continued the story mode”. This was not only disappointing because I felt like I would have to pay for a proper ending, but also because it isn’t available on the PS3 version.

However, this disappointment aside, Fallout 3 dishes out some really fun gameplay, backed up by a typically brilliant Bethesda storyline. I promise that if you liked TES: Oblivion, and fancy a bit of post-apocalyptic fun, then you will love this.

9/10

Matt

Labels: Fallout, Matthew, Matthew Meadows, Review

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