Fallout 3 Review: The most loved post-apocalyptic war game out.

10 years in the wasteland since the last great Fallout,

now Fallout 3 finally returns.

by darkmurder

©2008 Noel Schneider

Click any image for full rez view

War, war never changes… had Bethesda not picked up the Fallout IP, chances are the much loved post apocalyptic war games would never have changed and remained unfinished at its most brilliant, that being Fallout 2.

Fallout 3 takes place 30 years after Fallout 2 and has changed substantially in both the way that the game is played and also in the setting. The nuclear war that tarnished the world began when the earth finally ran out of vital resources, with America, China and Russia all becoming involved in trying to secure the depleting resources of the world which lay in Alaska.

The mystery over who fired the first nuclear missiles is not known, but the world was left in disarray and nuclear ruin, making habitable conditions an extremely rare occurrence. Fortunately many people survived by living in man made constructions called Vaults, these Vaults are sealed off from the outside world.

That included you, with Fallout 3 taking place in Washington DC, It opens with a scene that depicts your birth and also your short but entertaining stint in the Vault. Upon hearing the tragic news of your father’s mysterious disappearance, you immediately attempt to escape the Vault to search for him. In the process of escaping, you can see just how flawed the idea of the Vault is, as you unravel the many dark secrets that lie surrounding the Vault concept.

The Gamebryo engine which was previously used in Bethesda’s other major titles “The Elder Scrolls III & IV”,  is now used in Fallout 3. Like Oblivion, the initial impression once you leave the vault is one of awe. The sheer open-world beauty is immediately present.

As your eyes adjust to the barren landscape, an immense open-world of ruin that has been lying in wake for over 200 years, stretches before you.  The draw distances are far superior to Oblivion’s, with far reaching views and textures containing far more detail.

Facial textures are a large improvement over Oblivion’s, who’s stagnant and wrinkled faces were quite repetitive and didn’t give characters any diversity (much like the voices).

The enemy models have had a lot of thought put into them, with an abundance of different characters from small to large and various types of mutations. The environments, unlike Oblivion, all seem to have a distinct personality to it, indicating a lot of care has gone in to making the surroundings appear unique.

Ultimately,  the graphics have never been the true strong point to Bethesda’s games, with the game play taking the top priority in terms of an engrossing and rich gaming experience. The original Fallout games by Black Isle were role playing games that took on an isometric bird’s eye view of your character and featured turn based combat.

The combat would revolve around your “Action Points” (AP) and depending on how many points you had, you would be able to attack a few times every round until you were forced to wait and replenish your points. This was the number one worry for fans of the original Fallout’s, how could this feature be implemented into a Western RPG that has both third and first person views?

The answer was VATS (Vault-Tec  Assisted Targeting System), a system which would be able to use the Action Points feature from the originals with a  simple click of a button, whilst keeping the gory humour that the originals where famous for. Using perks and traits, you are able to shape your character into a certain career path or just become a cold hearted murderer, the choice is yours.

Where Fallout 3 exceeds is in the way that it is able to carry on the Fallout canon whilst keeping the original addictiveness and immersion from the Elder Scrolls series. Characters now have distinct personalities unlike in Oblivion where everyone had the same voice and same opinion, now the speech options and the way you can alter missions by using your speech have far reaching implications.

Whilst the seemingly endless possibilities aren’t as big as in Oblivion, there is still a large range of different quests and exploring to be done. Where Fallout 3 succeeds is that characters do not level up with you, making exploration far more risky and precarious.

The music takes on a creepy sense of nostalgia, featuring music from the 1940′s and 1950′s on the radio stations, the game takes you back to the Cold War era whilst adding in its own sinister background music by Inon Zur. The characters are now far more varied vocally, with each different character now displaying unique dialogue, which increases the immersion.

The game also takes the previous sound effects from the original Fallout and includes them into the newest iteration, it is a welcome gesture for the fans. Liam Neeson plays the role of your father and does an extremely good job of playing the caring role, whilst Ron Perlman returns as the narrator.

Fallout 3 was a game that had mass anticipation surrounding it, yet a lot of fear about whether the Fallout series would be tarnished. Fans badmouthed Bethesda prior to release, now they will need to eat their words as this is truly a brilliant RPG that exceeds all expectations.

However, be warned, this is a hardcore RPG and newcomers to the genre may find that it is very easy to become lost in. Much like Oblivion, this game requires time and devotion, when these two formulas are thrown together the result is a brilliantly engrossing, sadistic post apocalyptic war game.

©2008 Noel Schneider

“9.4/10

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