RSS
Home
Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition review
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
Game cover
Every once in a long while, a video game comes out that the gaming community simply can't ignore, no matter how hard they try. They could lock themselves in a bunker, twelve feet underground, clothing themselves in blindfolds, ear muffs, and hide under a blanket screaming 'I'm not listening!"; and this game would still find its way in, and it would demand attention. With a plasma gun. Good luck ignoring that, champ.
The third main game in the legendary "Fallout" franchise was released last fall (2008), much to the relief and excitement of role playing gamers the world over, and it was received with thunderous applause. Now, nearly a year later, the evil geniuses at Bethesda have released the "Game of the Year" edition; which contains all of the main expansion packs that they've generously released.
For those of you that haven't played Fallout 3 yet, hell I might as well of just say "for those of you not yet born", here's the gist:
Fallout 3 takes place a few centuries after a two hour long world war completely ravaged every conceivable area of the planet; leaving behind a dusty, desolate, and deadly environment that the player must traverse. The main story begins inside a heavily fortified bunker known as "Vault 101". You go through the childhood of your character (made to your specification by a face editor) from the very beginning (I mean very), up until you are a fully matured teenager. One morning, you wake up to chaos and panic throughout the vault, with screams of murder and gunshots ringing out around every corner. Hell has found its way into the vault, and your father seems to be involved; and everyone, in turn, is hunting you down. Here, the player makes his or her way out into the open world of Fallout 3, where they must track down their father and solve the mystery of his departure whilst surviving the war torn ruins of the Washington DC area.
Finding a complaint about this game is possible, but the few complaints are definitely not large enough to degrade the game in any way. First of all, the facial editor isn't exactly up to par. No matter how one tweaks the facial details, it almost always seems to look the same. The only major complaint that I could see being detrimental is the straight first person shooter firing mechanisms. The guns in that game aren't exactly what one would describe as accurate (the guns are two hundred years old, come on) and straight firing isn't effective in the slightest bit. This is where Bethesda's genius spilled all over their beautiful creation. With a system calls "V.A.T.S.", the player enters a slow motion shootout style cinematic in which one selects the body part they would like to eviscerate, with beautifully gory results, and unleashes an armageddon of accurate gunfire onto their poor enemy's body. If you play the game the right way, you will rarely shoot a gun or swing a sword (that's right , there are melee weapons) outside of V.A.T.S..
The five, that's right, five, full length expansions are all included within the "Game of the Year" edition, and each adds an unbelievably large amount of content to an already nearly perfect game. Viewing it objectively, I can only imagine that Bethesda's office must look like pre- historic Egypt; with office managers whipping at the developers as they cry out in agonizing pain to make this game as perfect as possible, because I can't see any other way these geniuses would have the time to do this.
The five expansions, Operation: Anchorage, The Pitt, Broken Steel, Point Lookout, and Mothership Zeta all entice a player back into the beautiful world of post apocalyptia with promises of super weapons and endless goodies. For starters, the expansions boost the level cap from twenty to thirty, enabling the player to reach near godly powers as they shoot their way through hordes of new enemies. Each offers hours upon hours of extra play time, meaning you have another excuse not to have a social life (other gamers will understand, I promise), and none of them fail to impress at nearly every level. Whether it's helping (or hindering) the Brotherhood of Steel fight off the militant regime of the enclave, or fighting your way out of an alien spacecraft, Fallout 3: Game of the Year edition is a must have for any gamer interested in FPS or RPGs. Honestly, this game is like the Reese's Peanut Butter of video games. If you don't have it, go get it!
P.S. Watch out for Super Mutant Behemoths.
Overall: 9 out of 10
Playability- 8.0 out of 10
If not for the incredibly shoddy first person shooting, this easily would have scored a perfect 10. Honestly, though, when you run out of V.A.T.S. points, you will have to shoot, and it will frustrate you.
Entertainment- 9.5 out of 10
The entertainment value is astonishing. No matter what, there's always something to be doing in the wide world of Fallout 3. If you're not entertained, you're probably not playing the right game. Either that or you're not human. Said it.
Sound- 9 out of 10
Every bullet sounds like a bullet, every explosion rocks your speakers. The voice overs, unlike some of Bethesda's previous games, is spot on. Backing the game are a slew of songs from the 1940's, brought to you buy a charismatic radio host named 'Three Dog".
Graphics- 10 out of 10
The visuals in this game are more an artist's life work than simply graphics. If the end of the world looks this good, I say let the bombs drop.
Replay Value- High
Initially, I'd like to say you absolutely will play this game multiple times through, but honestly, it probably won't happen. I'd say a person may play this twice; once with a good character and once with an evil one. Not due to lack of quality, quite conversely. This game is overloaded with quests to a point that playing through multiple times WILL sap you of your life.
Related Articles:
Comments
