By Cody Webb



A few weeks back you may remember me talking about a game titled I was hoping it was a good game and I had such high hopes for it. Well, I’m glad to say that my hopes have been fulfilled. Fallout 3 may be one of the best RPG-style games I have ever played. Is it worth your time, though?

Fallout 3 was created by Bethesda Softworks, the masterminds behind the popular Oblivion. It’s rated M for a very good reason, this is definitely not a game for the kiddies. It’s available for the PS3, Xbox 360 and the PC, although there does seem to be difference between available items in each version. That’s just my opinion, it may not be true.

Bethesda did an excellent job of keeping the Fallout series’ dark humor intact, from the brilliant writing, to the speech choices you can pick from. They crafted a very good and very interesting storyline, with a beginning that will make anybody teary. Although the ending was a bit of a let-down, I won’t spoil it for anyone who hasn’t played it. The NPC’s even have their own personalities, like the out-there Moira Brown or the kind-but-timid feeling you’ll get when you talk to Gob.

The game begins rather interestingly, literally at the point where your character comes into the world. From here, you’ll pick your name, ethnicity and what you’ll look like when you grow up. After all of this, your father takes off his doctor’s mask and reveals a face very similiar to your character’s. You’ll go through a tutorial cleverly designed as you’re aging from a baby to a teenager. And after a brief chase from the Vault, you’re released onto the Capitol Wasteland.

Fallout 3 is, simply put, gorgeous; from the wreckages of buildings to the ripple effect of water if you shoot it. You can tell the team at Bethesda really put their all into the game’s scenary. Cars explode into lovely mini-mushroom clouds, and you can actually feel like you’re wandering about a desolate wasteland. The enemies and characters even look great, although it tends to be a pain to get a good look at something that’s trying to kill you. The Ghouls will even gross you out with how well they’re rendered, missing patches of skin and mold growing on them.

The shooting mechanics tend to get just a little bit off from time to time, but whenever you feel that your aim isn’t steady, go into the new VATS mode. This is where the game will pause the action while focusing on your targeted enemy, giving you the ability to aim at different parts of their body. You can cripple their arms to make their aim worse, or make them limp by crippling a leg. Or you could just go for the quick kill and put all of your shots into their heads. Be sure to keep an eye on your Action Points, though, these are needed to dictate how many times you can attack per VATS use. They recharge when you’re not in VATS though.

So is this game worth your time and hard-earned dollars? Yes, very much so. If you love RPG’s, Fallout 3 has an incredible story for you to step into and tell. If you like just shooting things, well, there’s plenty of that here. I definitely recommend this game to anyone who’s interested in it, it’ll make a great Christmas gift for any young adult!