Fallout 3

Fallout 3 is a first-person role-playing game set in the Capital Wasteland, a radioactive hellhole created during a nuclear war. It's bleak, brutal and nightmarish. You can choose to go along with it, and be as savage and unforgiving as everyone else, or you can try to be a beacon of hope in a hopeless world. Or both.

I'm currently on my third play through Fallout 3.
I think it's one of the best games ever made. But I have to ask myself, how can I recommend a game where the main quest broke?

Allow me to explain. During the story quest, there’s a point where you have to install a satellite dish onto the Washington Monument (long story). On my second play-through, the quest broke. I was supposed to go back and see the guy who gave me the quest, but the game locked his building and I couldn’t complete the quest. For a first-time player, it might have been a game-breaker, but fortunately, I knew where to go next.

And that’s not all. Later on, you meet some adorable morons who call themselves “the Regulators”. They’re the lawmen of Fallout 3. They wear cowboy jackets and chaps, and if you’re a bad guy, they’ll ambush you outside metro stations. If you’re a good guy, you can take body parts off bad guys and trade them for good ‘karma’ and cash. Tragically, but admittedly not surprisingly, this part of the game is also broken. I travelled back to Regulator HQ to find their leader fighting a scorpion. Eventually she got scared and ran away. I chased her for a bit, but lost sight of her. Then the game advised me she was unconscious. I couldn’t find her, I couldn’t trade in any more body parts, and the game had auto-saved just before her ill-advised scrap with the scorpion. I found myself less than impressed.

Then there’s the voice acting, which in the grand tradition of Morrowind and Oblivion, is absolutely gash. Liam Neeson does the voice of your character’s wayward father, which you might think is a good thing, but sadly he sounds bored most of the time, besides which he’s only in the game for about eight seconds before he disappears. The other characters sound annoying, retarded, drunk or bored, in equal measure.

Fallout 3 boasts a system of good and evil, known as ‘karma’. In theory it works, but if you think about it, karma systems in games are a bit weird. A lot of games have the same problem, (Knights of the Old Republic springs to mind). For example, in the opening stages of the game, I must have killed pretty much everyone I stumbled across. Then I went to a town and fixed some pipes, and I was somehow a good guy. Now, I don’t know much about Buddhism, karma, or the stages of enlightenment, but I’m pretty sure a spot of light plumbing work doesn’t make up for murdering all your childhood friends.And do I really need to hear the bad karma “ooh you’re naughty” sound effect every time I steal somebody’s barbecued iguana? Look, I know stealing is ‘bad’, I’m doing bad things on purpose.

Another problem is the skill system. Sure you can choose whatever you want, but unless you specialise in Lockpick, Repair, Science and Small Guns, you’re pretty screwed. Later in the game, half of the ammo stocks are locked with Medium, Hard or Very Hard locks.

You need Repair so you can keep your guns in order, unless you want to pay a trader to fix things for you. Also the traders can only repair things to a certain level, and you can do better yourself.Science is all about hacking. You need l33t haxxor skillz to access some of the coolest things in the game, so unless you want to miss out, you’d better pour some points into it. Admittedly, sometimes you can choose between hacking and picking, (ie a safe controlled by a nearby terminal), but you still need one or the other.And you need Small Guns because that’s all you find in the first half of the game. You could jam some points into Big Guns or Energy Weapons, but try finding any rockets or lasers before Hour 10.

To round it all off, you’ve got the intense annoyance caused when:
# You get stuck on ceilings and have to load an old game
# You give your companion the best weapon in the game, but it glitches and they try to use a sword to fight a Deathclaw
# You have to turn off the radio because of repetitive radio stations and some hideously irritating songs
# Your companions get lost and you have to wait for them
# Your companion gets killed by something and you have to try and carry all their gear

That’s the bad stuff out of the way.

On the bright side, it’s immersive and vast, and Bethesda have really captured the feel of a bleak, post-apocalyptic world. Visually, it’s really rather good, and the Wasteland itself is very smoothly realised. Dust, junk, pits of radioactive death. Sometimes it feels like you’re in a Mad Max film, or the skeleton-covered futuristic hell of Terminator 2.It’s also thought-provoking. Fallout 3 is brimming with 50s sci-fi madness, and some topical references to national paranoia and xenophobia. There are moments when you’ll really feel the desolation and hopelessness of the Wasteland, like you’re the only one left after the end of the world.

The combat is excellent. Whether you prefer real-time or the VATs system, it’s exhilarating and graphic. The slow-motion system is breathtaking and the cinematic deaths are gruesome and satisfying. You can go long-range and devious, or close-up and brutal. Either way, the game rewards you with some truly spectacular sights.

Fallout 3’s skill system is just deep enough without turning full-on dungeons and dragons maths exam, and there are some truly unique Perks such as Cannibal, where you can eat human flesh for a health boost; Mr Sandman, where you can murder people in their beds for extra experience points; and Mysterious Stranger, where Humphrey Bogart appears and blows people away with a 44 revolver. There are even Perks that make you power up during day or night, where your character is fuelled by the sun or the moon.

So can I recommend it? I don’t know. Make your own decisions. Remember when we used to do that?
Thanks for listening, childrrrrrren.

Harken82

Just a note about the combat.

Everything has an arbitrary hitpoint pool, and critical shots aren't quite as critical.
I think my character had a proper sneak attack critical on someone's head, using one of the pistols.

Instakill, BOOM HEADSHOT style?

You'd think, wouldn't you?

No, the guy turns around, and calls for his buddies, who promptly turn around, and fill my face full of bullets.

VATS is a nice touch for those of us who were brought up with Fallout and Fallout 2s turn based system, but at the same time, it's rather useless without Death's Sprint (or whatever the perk is called), as you end up using your 4-5 shots, and having run away while it recharges.

Any of the weapon perks aside from Small Guns are again, largely pointless, as you either have overpowered weapons without the perk, or can never quite find enough ammo with it.

Good game? Yes. A lot of solid points, but it's no GOTY, by any standards.

You guys just suck at this game. I have plenty of ammo for all my guns (except the E-MIRV, which is understandable since it fires eight Mini Nukes at a time), my game's glitched once, and never during a quest, and I find much of the dialogue to be freaking hilarious. Also, I don't know what companion you had Harken, but if you wait for the really good ones, like Fawkes or Star Paladin Cross, there won't be any of those weapon issues you mentioned.

Small guns are insanely overrated. All you can find? Go hand-to-hand, you nancies. Pick up a couple o' Iron Fist perks and have at it. It's even better when you pick up a Power Fist or make a Deathclaw Gauntlet. You could go the Melee route, but none of the weapons are really good until you either make a Shishkebab or if you get into the Op: Anchorage and finish it so you can find Jingwei's Shocksword.

Fallout 3 is bugged to fuck, and anyone saying otherwise has obviously never played it, like, ever.

Take a look at ANY page on ANY Fallout 3 Wikia/guide/walkthrough, and at the bottom it will mention bugs that may occur, depending on how the game feels.

Not saying its not a frigging amazing game, cos it is. But its broke as fuck.

Totally agree Nubnos, there were far too many times I had an A1 awesome 100% critical insta-death shot lined up, and it didn't work. Some of those headshots should have SMOKED dem fools.

You don't necessarily have to 'run away' while VATS recharges, just cook em Doom style *boom* "ROAR!", click click *boom* "ROAR!".

I do feel like Small Guns is essential, which isn't really fair in a game that claims to be an RPG.

That being said, Fallout 3 is my GOTY for 08, (Arkham for 09 and who knows for 10).

Smokey, mad props to you for being really goood at Fallout 3. Personally I've only played it through four times so I don't really know what I'm talking about!

I also had plenty of ammo.

My game glitched all the time, I didn't ask anyone else, it didn't seem to matter to my review.

I didn't like the dialogue, which I think is fine for me to say as it's just an opinion, but by all means I'll retract that comment if others take offence to it.

I had Clover as my companion, because she had (IMO IMO IMO IMO) the best personality. I found Star Paladin Cross a bit snarky and annoying. I love Fawkes, but with him you don't get much of look in with combat, cos he turns them to lasagne too quickly, (also IMO).

I don't remember Clover. Where do you find her? As for Cross, yeah she kinda is, but she's pretty good with a Super Sledge. And I don't think your remark about Fawkes is an opinion, that's ironclad fact. I either had to snipe people before he saw 'em or leave him behind for a bit to get in close and punch 'em in the junk. Unfortunately, the last time I left him, I forgot to come back for him, and I can't remember where I left him now.

You get Clover at Paradise Falls, you can buy her for (I think) 1000c. There may be a way to get her without money but I was rich, RICH I TELLS THEE, by that point. She's a blonde tart and a bodyguard for Eulogy Jones.

I was heartbroken when she died. I was tempted to load the game but I wanted her sacrifice to mean something
She charged a dozen high level Raiders with a sword (despite having my Xianghuai rifle and 1000 rounds). It was an AI fault but I chose to see it as reckless courage! LOL

Oh, I remember her now. Too late for me this time around, as I already slaughtered all the Slavers in a bid to free the slaves (some of whom I was responsible for putting in there, but hey, I got 'em out, right?). Oh well.

The companion I was broken up about was Dogmeat. Damn Raiders ran across where I told him to stay while I finished off another bunch and blew him up with a Missile Launcher. Suffice it to say that I didn't leave any of them intact.

I miss you, Dogmeat.

Yeah they put in a Perk to replace Dogmeat if he dies.

I reloaded the game when mine died -- don't know why cos I only ever left him locked in the house (I found he messed up all my sneaking attempts).

Must have a bash on Fallout 3 again at some point -- I have two or three achievements left and I'll have 100%, and it'll be my first 100% ever.

You played COD: World at War? I reviewed that as well:
viewtopic.php?f=56&t=3905

Dogmeat Perk?

These...these are tears of joy, my friends.

Swear to God these last two achievements are a nightmare.

Level 30 with Neutral Karma -- is just taking ages cos my highest save was L28.
Collect all the audio tapes -- because I've already done Mothership Zeta once, I'll have to go through again. And MZ is a ball ache.

But at least I'll get my first 100%.