It's once again time to assume the role of a vaultdweller.
Fallout 3 is a sequel to the legendary Fallout 2. The game series has a very loyal fan base, and Fallout 3 has faced lots of skepticism and critique because it eschews some aspects of the previous games and introduces new. It appears that at least some of this has been justified.
Unlike its predecessors Fallout 3 lets you play from the absolute beginning meaning you start the game as a baby and the game lets you play through various events until you are an adult. This might sound like it's got a lot of depth but all you really do is select what kind of character you want to become, and this is done through answering various questions. It's exciting at first but all that excitement quickly fades away although it's a cool concept and with a little tweaking it would have made a bigger impact.
As a baby however you place your points into various attributes. These will then change your character depending on what you chose. Later on you get to answer questions in the so called "G.O.A.T" test, this also serves as a character building event which is a rather clever way of implementing this into the game without actually making the game come to a halt.
After answering the questions you are given a job at the vault which represents what abilities your character has - if you are not into roleplaying you can just change it to whatever you want and custom pick your skills like the previous Fallout games.
The gameplay is best described as a first person shooter game with some roleplaying elements mixed in, which is most unfortunate since the previous Fallout games was very heavy on the roleplaying aspects. This change isn't automatically a bad one, it gives a completely different pace and it's much easier to get into as it's much more user friendly. While the game still relies on the various roleplaying elements such as how good of a shot you are or how much of a smooth talker you are - it's all there but much more in the background this time around.
While wandering the wasteland you often encounter various wildlife but also various factions and gangs. Most of them want you nothing less than dead however. The game has an excellent exploration feeling to it despite the fact that it seems that you are constantly being chased by something, there is a ton to explore and discover which is definitely something that makes the game last longer.
While exploration is a huge part of the game the biggest part is the combat and in Fallout 3 it's played in real time like any other first person shooter - however you are given the "V.A.T.S" which is the "Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System". This allows you to freeze the game and aim at various body parts on your target, and when you are satisfied with calling the shots, the game pretty much plays by itself and as this happens you are given cinematic camera shoots of your character and/or whomever you are firing at in slow motion as you take the shots. It looks cool and it's very useful and even helpful most of the time but it can slow down the gameplay a little and it sometimes tends to get annoying and long-drawn-out, but at least you are given the option not to use it and it's great how they worked in the targeting system from the older games into this one. However the famous groin shots are taken away. The combat feels a little unfinished at times but for the most part it's fluid and smooth. Something that does work in this game unlike its predecessors is the way your character becomes crippled in combat as your body parts have their own health bar. These rules apply to everyone meaning you can cripple others as well. This is a nice and welcomed feature and it works very well in Fallout 3
Another well polished aspect is the dialogs which play out flawlessly and they work similar to the previous games. You choose what to say from a given list and you get an answer which leads to you asking more questions and so forth. It's been done before but it works, but what makes it more interesting in Fallout 3 is the fact that you can get additional questions and options to choose depending on how you play. There is an attribute called karma, and whether it is high or low is taken into account as well as your charisma and speech skill when speaking and socializing with others. This part of the game works wonders and makes characters that focus on just these attributes and skills much more interesting to play.
Graphically the game really stands on its own but it could of course have been better. The game mostly looks wonderful and it's not dragged down by hundreds of inordinate shader effects. The level design is definitely something that captures you from the very beginning as it's what later becomes the one thing that keeps the game interesting.
As expected from a game developed by Bethesda, it's got a lot of voice acting which is well done, while a bit stiff at times it's still a great addition to any game. The sound effects enhance the game even more as they are also well done, but what didn't make an impact this time around was the audio tracks as they felt too generic and forced onto the game rather than being carefully worked into the game.
What this game offers is a different take on the Fallout series, but this time around you get to explore the wasteland to a much bigger extent. The game has a couple of flaws and it's got a whole bunch of bugs that makes the game crash etc, but the flaws are easily overseen however as the game is very enjoyable over all.
Though the game is extremely short and does not have any replay value. But it tries to make up for these weaknesses by having side quests, and those in turn can keep you busy for several hours. In short this is an all right game with some great features and some flaws. The ones that enjoyed the previous games in the series this might be a bit disappointing solely due to the reason that it's not as roleplay heavy and the feeling is different. But even then it's something you want to play through and judge later rather than miss it altogether.