Rarely does a game give so much freedom of choice in the way that a player can go about his objectives. Bethesda Softworks have managed to comply with this in their latest role playing game, Fallout 3.As you progress through them game you are given many choices that reflect your good or bad side on your journey through the Capital Wasteland of Washington D.C. The year is 2277 and you begin the game living in the “apparently” safe and friendly community of Vault 101 along with your father. This first stage is the main backbone of the game and acts like a tutorial level which allows you to create your own unique character with dozens of vivid customizations. Suddenly your father leaves the vault without a trace to everyone’s shock and you are left to fight your way out of the vault to go in search of him. The adventure really begins once you escape from the vault and are left to fend for yourself in the deserted post-apocalyptic city of Washington D.C. From here, you really have a feeling of limitless freedom in a huge sandbox environment.

There aren’t quite as many quests in the game as there were in previous games by Bethesda but they have become far more intricate and complex in Fallout 3. The main Quest will probably take you about 20-30 hours but there is still plenty of fun to be had after you have done this. Lots of side quests will keep you occupied for hours and it is very exciting to just explore the uncharted wastes of Washington D.C. Since all your actions have consequences, you will definitely want to replay some of the missions again and go about them differently than you had before.

In the decaying district, you will find some small sub-urban settlements where you will find new quests help locals with their problems or going on a killing frenzy and slaughter everyone in sight. You will even get the opportunity to decide the fate of a town and all its residents. Out in the wastes you will find evil in all kinds of mutated ways from, ghoulish zombies to raiders.

Karma is what the game uses to balance out the good and bad acts committed by the character. If you do or say something good (e.g., give water to a beggar) you will be rewarded by an increase in Karma. The opposite will happen if you do something bad like commit a crime. Some extras in the game will require you to either have a high or low level of Karma. This system lets the player choose what kind of person he wants to be and gives him a sense of virtual morality that defines his unique character.

Fallout continues to live up to its series’ usual character development system which allows the player to us a set of attributes and skills to customise his character. In this case the S.P.E.C.I.A.L scheme is used again and this fortifies the players in-game attributes such as strength and endurance. Whenever you reach a higher level; by gaining experience points from battles and defeating enemies, you are given the chance to invest these points in several of your major skills to increase your skill level in that field. Afterwards, you can also choose a perk which can add effects to your skills or give you new abilities to try out.

The game can be played from a first-person and third-person perspective. Both can be accountable in their own ways but you get a closer feel in combat and exploration in the first-person one. Due to its varied combat system, Fallout 3 does not quite fall into the neighbouring boundary of a first-person shooter. There is a good range of melee and ranged weapons such as swords and laser pistols which affect certain types of enemies more than others. Weapons and armour degrade over time and with excessive usage and this makes them valuable to the player so that he would not want to go on a shooting spree. Once a weapon has broken, you will either have to repair it or discard it. If your repair skill his high enough and you have the correct schematics, you will be able to fix the weapon yourself. If not, you may have to pay someone to repair it for you if you are that desperate to keep it.

In terms of combat, Fallout 3 is a very bloody and gory game. This can be seen to full effect when using the Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System (VATS). This allows you to pause time in combat and spend action points to target specific parts of the body to attack. It gives you an accuracy percentage of how likely you are to hit the target. By targeting selected parts of the body, you are able to cripple them and even shoot or cut off limbs. Do not expect that you are immune to these effects either. Medical devices such as stimpacks will partially heal you and cure you if you are crippled. After mangling your foes up in battle you can then indulge in the bloody mess as it unfolds in slow motion over the screen. Unfortunately, you will be doing this quite a lot and it will get slightly repetitive but still just as rewarding.

Fallout 3 shares some of its features with the Elder Scrolls series more than it does with previous Fallout games. You are able to wait and sleep for several hours and you can also fast travel to any location that you gave discovered. It is a far more spirited and intense in terms of combat and action. You will probably notice that the movement is a bit robotic but this is easy to forgive considering how the game devotes its main qualities to other areas of play.

To sum things up, Fallout 3 is a fantastic game which will keep you involved in for hours on end. It can be replayed in many different ways and is definitely a considerable game worth getting.

+ Superb free roaming environment.

+ Unique VATS combat syestem.

+ Lots of interesting and engaging quests.

-  Frequently run out of ammo.

- Character animation could be improved.

9.0/10

By Ian Ratledge Posted Sunday, March 15th, 2009 5:08 pm