Fallout 3

– PS3

Fallout 3, the brainchild of famed production studio Bethesda Softworks, is a sandbox FPS RPG. Yes, you heard me correctly, a sandbox style first person shooter role playing game. Trust me its possible and in this case, its very well executed.

The Fallout series has been well established and has a rich storyline. This is the third instalment, with the story picking up 30 years after Fallout 2 and nearly 200 years after the Great War (the nuclear war that laid waste to the world). You are another anonymous Vault resident that is drawn out of the protective underground community, this time to search for your recently departed Father.

True to the other Fallout games, this one continues with the sandbox game play. You are free to follow the main storyline from quest to quest, or you can venture across the Wasteland meeting new NPC’s in far off towns and complete tasks/objectives for them. You are often rewarded for stepping off of the beaten path and typically gain a better understanding of the overall story and setting.

I mentioned Fallout 3 is part FPS (first person shooter) and I must clarify this a bit. FO3 is not a FPS like Quake or Doom is a FPS, its pace is much slower and the enemies are much more sparse. There are times where you find yourself in a damning fire fight though. The equipment management is totally different from your typical FPS as well. For example..

Ammo is extremely hard to come by. The enemies of the Wasteland do drop some shells from time to time, however they do so in batches of 5, 10, and if you’re lucky 15 rounds. Using V.A.T.S. you can typically down a Super Mutant with 3-4 shots (depending on your weapon selection) but with 20 rounds on you and a room full of three Super Mutants.. you do the math.

Armor options are limited to body armor and a helmet. The protection provided degrades as they take damage, so you must keep an eye on their condition after a few skirmishes. Some pieces degrade slower than others, but as a general rule of thumb you should take a peek often. You can repair your armor “in the field” if you find a like item and your repair skill allows it, otherwise you must spend precious caps (the FO3 currency) to have someone in a town repair them for you.

Weapons are separated into different categories, including hand to hand (baseball bats, tire irons, brass knuckles), small guns (conventional weapons like pistols, assault rifles, hunting rifles), big guns (rocket launchers, miniguns), and energy weapons (lazer blasters, alien weaponry). These too degrade over time and will lower their damage output if not maintained. Like armor, they can be repaired by finding other similar items or by a repairman in town.

The atmosphere in Fallout 3 is really the shining star. From the vast openness of the Capital Wasteland, to the Metro subway tunnels, to the bombed out and decrepit monuments of the D.C. area, each quest takes you to different surroundings highlighted by perfect lighting, sound, and NPC placement. Numerous times I’ve been sprung from my seat screaming as I ran around a corner and came face to face with a ghoul ready to tear my face off.

After nearly 40 hours of game play I’ve only put a dent in the main story. Granted, I’ve taken the time to complete one of the add-on packs, Operation: Anchorage. Since I bought the Game of the Year edition I have all five add-on packs, so I will be playing this game for a majority of the summer.

My one sentence summary for Fallout 3:
“Think of Oblivion, with guns, in a different setting.”

This one nets a solid 8.5 / 10