Nuclear holocaust is one of the most frightening thoughts in the modern world and the game Fallout 3 gives us a look at what could have happened if history had unraveled in a different way. The Fallout universe diverges from ours after WWII, the technology advances but the 1950’s mentality sticks, robots and fusion cars are staples of the world by the mid 21st century. However the Cold War did not end in 1989, instead it continued until it reached a culmination point in 2077 where China shot off nukes at the US and in about 2 hours the world as we knew it was gone. Fallout 3 takes place 200 years later in the wasteland that is Washington DC. You play as dweller of Vault 101, around your 19th birthday your father leaves the vault and you are forced to follow.
This is where the real gameplay begins, you have the option to traverse the massive open world that is the Capital Wasteland, doing good or wreaking havoc, the choice is yours. But anyway you play it the wasteland is a dangerous place to live; you will encounter bands of raiders, ruthless mercs, feral ghouls, super mutants, mirelurks, deathclaws and the enclave (the remnants of the US government) to name a few.
To combat these foes (and keep you alive) there are a wide variety of weapons, armors, food, stimulants, health packs (called stimpacks) and other things to find so it’s a good idea to open every cabinet, desk, box, and footlocker in a given place to stock up. All of these items can be sold for caps, the currency of the future. You can then use caps to repair equipment, buy new weapons, ammo, or anything else you want to, the choices are vast.
The combat is unique in that you use the VATS system (Vault Assisted Targeted System) to fight enemies. You can fire weapons with the right trigger using a crosshair but the VATS system lets you decide where to shoot your enemy to try and deal the most damage. It also slows the game down and lets you strategize, when you press the right bumper it enters the VATS screen and the enemy is zoomed in on. The game pauses and you can toggles through targets on the body of the enemy and each part has a percentage that shows the likelihood that your shot will succeed.
Your Pip-Boy 3000 (a wrist computer that acts as the pause screen) is essential to the game and it is where you do all of your interactions such as equipping weapons, using stimpacks, and listening to audio tapes. You can also listen to radio stations and sometimes “Three Dog” of Galaxy News Radio will reference you and your exploits. You actually get to meet him in the course of the main storyline.
One thing that the game does exceptionally is show how America never left the 1950’s and everything that is still standing in the wastes is a throwback to the 50’s. Even the hairstyles of the characters and the clothes mirror the styles of 1950’s America.
This helps you get immersed in the game’s fantasy timeline and it makes everything seem more possible because of how close it is to reality. This game really makes you wonder what would have happened if the USSR hadn’t collapsed and the major world powers fought a nuclear war. It is a rare “deep thought invoking” game that while it does make you think it is still fun and simple.The game features an experience system, just like any RPG, and the max that you can get to is level 20. Along with the experience system is a karma system that acts as a good/bad meter, helping people gets you positive karma while hurting people gets you negative karma. There are different achievements for reaching xp levels with a certain type of karma so it’s up to you. The scale of this RPG is one of the biggest I have ever seen, you can spend hours just traversing the landscape and checking out what is left of Washington and its surrounding areas. Discovering locations on the map and exploring can be very lucrative so every now and then just get lost and see what you can find.
I could talk about the story and the sidequests for hours and literally write a book detailing my experiences with this game but that is an experience that is best left to each individual gamer. The story itself is solid and you actually feel like you are making a difference when you save a town from raiders or find a home for a little boy who has just lost his parents.
The game performs well technically with load short load screens (relatively for an RPG) and very little framerate slow up. The environments are impressive from a distance but can be blurry up close, however that is to be expected in a game that has this much content. The night to day transition is nice a fluid and the pace of the day seems to be just right, it isn’t real time but the days don’t zip incredibly fast.
Overall Fallout 3 is a fantastic open world game that incorporates stellar gameplay with an awesome story, an incredibly vast number of plot choices, and a convincing post-apocalyptic world. I would highly recommend this title to anyone that has the time to commit to it because you won’t want to put the controller down once you pick it up.
Gameplay: 9.5
Story: 10
Replay Value: 10
Graphics: 8.5
Overall: 9.5
No comments:
Post a Comment