Hello to all you cats out there in the capital wasteland, it’s me Three do... Sir Robert with your lowdown on the ghoul ravaged wastelands.
A game like Fallout 3 only comes around once in a long time. A game with this complexity is usually adored by the gaming elite and kept in the vast “vault” of nerdom. However, Fallout 3 has been adopted by the vast spectrum that makes up the gaming community.
Let’s start with the rich storyline that this game follows. Set in a post apocalyptic nuclear wasteland, you follow the life of the young lad from Vault 101. The opening scenes are a flash back to the first moments in life for the young vault dweller. This is where you begin to choose your path by flipping through the bright and colourful book of your attributes and choosing which way your character will learn throughout the game. The game follows every step in Vault 101, until the day your father, voiced by <i>Liam Neeson</i>, leaves the Vault mysteriously. Since he is the only parent you know, as your mother died during labour, you leave the vault to explore that bright and radiation soaked land that lies at the door of your humble abode.
Much like other Action/RPG games, you follow a complex quest driven storyline. Every action you take in the game determines the outcomes. A karma based system helps to determine how evil or good your character is. When I say every action, I mean every action; from Nuking a city to stealing a tin of food will determine your “street cred” with the other characters throughout the game.
Game play wise, it is very similar to Oblivion, another <i>Bestheda</i> mammoth, only this time you get guns. Not only do you get guns, but you can modify and create your own. Weapons range from pistols to alien blasters, which used in the right situations, could leave you walking away with more experience points and new sense of self satisfaction. The main player in game play is the <b>VATS system</b>, standing for Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System. This system allows for you to momentarily freeze the game play to focus on certain areas of your foe. Depending on how much AP, or attack points, you have you can select specific parts of the body in which you would like to aim for. Even though you have selected it doesn’t mean you will hit the target. To actually hit your target you need to upgrade your gun skills so you can gain power and accuracy out of your shots.
This game has mood, and nothing creates the mood more than the eerie soundtrack that comes with the game. There are two main radio stations in the game, first being a station with a call to arms speech by the Enclave President John Henry Eden, voiced by <i>Malcolm McDowell</i>. The reason this adds to the mood is that it is a loop of the speech, which means it doesn’t determine to the player if he is still alive or how long this call to arms radio has been playing. The second and perhaps the most mood creating is Galaxy radio. This station spews out 1940’s/50’s post war big band and jazz music. Which when you are walking through a nuclear wasteland filled with mutants and other people with a bad disposition towards life, it creates a surreal atmosphere.
With a few big name actors and a few not so big name actors, the voice acting is phenomenal. From names already dropped in this review like <i>Liam Neeson</i> and <i>Malcolm McDowell</i>, add the polish that the game gives off. Not only is the acting polished, but the graphics are definitely living up to the potential of the current generation consoles and PC hardware.
Even though there are hours upon hours of mutant slaying game play, the team at Bestheda have released multiple expansions as downloadable content. The first release was Operation Anchorage, which follows the simulated battle for Anchorage, Alaska during the invasion from China. The other piece of Fallout downloadable content is The Pitt. This chapter takes place in the enslaved Pittsburgh of the future, which follows as you fight your way to release all the enslaved humans from the enclave. And the last released is the Broken Steel, which is a continuation of the original story line where you finally rid the wasteland of the Enclave menace.
So if you find yourself in a post apocalyptic future, where everything is out to get you, it’s time to pick up your PIP-boy 3000 and your hunting rifle and do your part for the sake of humanity.
