We hardly EVER get a game like this which is why you must buy it.
Therefore playing this game was a privledge not something I HAD TO DO because I spent my money on it. If it was terrible I could have just unregretfully thrown it aside and played something else. As it stands today however, I have clocked well over 130 hours on this beast of a game.
I think it is safe to say that I love this game.
You all know about Fallout and it's predecessing games on the PC aswell as you know about the plot and basic details of this game so I won't talk about that, again as in all my reviews I will talk about WHY this game is AWESOME.
GAME SIZE MATERS:
To start I will say how huge this game is. Ok there I said it, this game is HUGE. Ok well to get into more detail, if you took your nearest city, surrounding areas and general nearest towns. Imagined a post apocalyptica tone, placed yourself as the main character. What would you do in that situation with that square footage. Exactly. Anything you damn well wanted with enough space to do it in while still having miles upon miles of places to hide when it all goes wrong.
I have played through 3 times fully and I am on the 4th time now, I still have about 1 quarter of the places to discover, some places I have discovered but have had no interaction with them or very minimal. There is just not enough time to absorb everything in one run through and give it the credit it deserves. If you were to run around and fully complete 100% getting every detail out of that area 100% it would take you about 2 months to complete the entire game and you would feel like you actually did it all. Not to mention the fact that your immersion would be ruined and it would feel more like a slog rather than a pleasure.
That is why it requires a few run throughs to get at everything and pay attention. of course the more you run through the easier it becomes and the more stuff you get done. The repeatable value however, is emmense. It is that HUGE you could always find something you have not seen before, seriously.
SKILLS, PERKS AND COMBAT:
Combat involves a mixture of what you normally do in an FPS (running, shooting from the hip, crouching, aiming) and what you normally do in a turn based RPG (pause, think, act). It can eitehr be a nice mixture of both as you see fit or you could lean more towards one way.
I refer of course to V.A.T.S. which is freaking awesome.
Usually in an FPS, where you point your crosshair is where the bulelts fly to with perhaps a slight miss rate. In FAllout 3 your skill with said weapon affects how the bullets fly. If your skill is low your spread is larger. With VATS you get the chance to pause the combat and select a body part to shoot at, and the game gives you a % check towards each area depending on the range, weapon and your skill level.
I think this is a smart great way of introducing something new into a game. FEAR did it with the 'slow motion super reflexes', Crysis did it with the 'bodysuit o'drugs' and Fallout 3 does it with 'Vault-tec Assisted Targetting System'. Combining your characters traits in various skilled areas with the right weapon, the proper amount of thought in a combat situation and Fallout becomes less of a mindless shooter and more of a tactical fresh approach to FPS games. If you are looking for something that is above the standard shoot-em up, Fallout 3 has your answer.
Leveling up each weapon class is a joy, testing out tactics is a joy, seeing the result of a well played out ambush against greater odds is an orgasm of self marvel. You will love VATS and you will wonder how you ever got by without it.
Some reviewers comment on how it removes the immersion, I say it gives you valdidity on your kill and lets you savour your thought process.
Besides, if you don't want to use VATS you don't have to, jsut level your skills and fire the weapons like any other game.
IT'S IN THE DETAILS:
So much to talk about, this review would be gigantic if I went on about the thousands of tiny things this game presents. Small parts like seeing a pair of burned skeletons spooning on a bed caught in a nuclear blast, finding a note from somebody trapped in a closet, holotapes about the conditions in a mine, emails on computers from loved ones, rooms upon rooms of stuff. The game has more detail in than any game I have ever seen.
The people responsible for this deserve recognition because without these layers, the game's soul becomes less.
As if the game is not big enough, it has to toss a bunch of bits into your face to peek your curiosity, to find out why that is there, why it has been done. Sometimes it can be distracting because you are always thinking if the love letter, for example, will lead to something now or later or never. Is somebody looking for this dead wastelander with the slaver note? Should I seek out this person mentioned on the holotape?
It gives the game so many more layers that you can not possibly see them all with clear eyes. Overwhelming is another word for all of this. Your curiosity and senses get so wired in that you find it hard to maintain focus on your objective, even if that objective was minor, you can lose track of what it was you were going to do.
IN CLOSING:
I would like to write more but it is hard to think of everything, the game really is just massive and will keep you occupied for aslong as you want it to. There is no call for you to look into every book on the shelf or find every toy car in the game but it is there if you want it. The details and layers and absolutly stunning action moments are worth your money alone, we hardly EVER get a game like this which is why you must buy it so please do. Oblivion is great yes, the original Fallout games are also great but this stands alone from them and needs your attention.
Best game of 2008 for the vast majority of mainstream AND indy gamers out there, that is saying something, but don't go with the masses. Go with your own sense of adventure, this game will deffinetly appeal to you no matter the type of gamer you are.