Fallout 3

aka: FO3
Moby ID: 37167
Windows Specs
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Description official descriptions

After World War II, rapid technology development carried humans towards a supposedly bright future, fulfilling their eternal dream. But eventually war raged again and in the year 2077, the dream suddenly came to a halt and mushroom clouds dominated the sky. A few communities survived in their underground bunkers called "Vaults"; others mutated heavily. Overall, what was left of the world was nothing more than a nuclear wasteland filled with ruins of a once great civilization. Two hundred years later, the human kind slowly but surely leaves the vaults and reclaims the lands of Earth.

The protagonist is one of them. As a member of Vault 101 in the wasteland surrounding the city formerly known as Washington D.C. and now called "Capital Wasteland", raised under the tight rule of the Overseer and the watchful eye of his father, he doesn't know anything about what is outside. But on his nineteenth birthday, his father unexpectedly leaves the vault. The hero's goal is to find him, learning part of the truth about what the Overseer concealed all these years on the way.

Fallout 3 is a role-playing game with elements of a 3D shooter. It retains many elements of the previous games in the series, while somewhat shifting the emphasis from social interaction and ethical role-playing to exploration of an open, continuous 3D world and combat. The player is free to explore the game's world from the beginning, visiting many optional locations, talking to characters and completing side quests. The main quest line, however, is largely linear, posing moral choices to the player only during its final phase.

Character creation and customization are similar to those of the previous games. The player shapes the main character by allocating points into the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. (Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility, and Luck) attributes. The skill system has been mostly carried over from the preceding installments, including weapon specializations (small and big guns, energy weapons, etc.), and active skills such as Science, Repair, Lockpick, and others. Passive skills, particularly Speech, play a lesser role than in earlier Fallout games. A few skills have been removed completely. Skill points and perks are acquired when the protagonist levels up.

Combat system has undergone a major overhaul. Tactical turn-based battles from the previous games have been replaced with two different combat modes; the player is able to switch between them at any time. The simpler system of these two is action-oriented, nearly indistinguishable from traditional 3D shooter combat. The player character equips a weapon (ranging from a baseball bat to the destructive mini-nuke-launcher) and attacks enemies with it; damage calculation is based on the participants' statistics more than on the player's dexterity, though the latter plays a role as well. In addition, the player can opt to switch to Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System (V.A.T.S.) combat mode, a real-time system that allows the player to pause the game at any time and target specific regions of one or more enemies until the available action points are used. After all the actions have been assigned, the game plays them out in a slow motion.

The Karma system from the previous installments is back, keeping track of the main character's actions and decisions made by the player throughout the course of the game. Ethically unacceptable actions reduce the player character's Karma points.

Spellings

  • 異塵餘生3 - Traditional Chinese spelling
  • 辐射3 - Simplified Chinese spelling

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Credits (Windows version)

473 People (446 developers, 27 thanks) · View all

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Average score: 90% (based on 144 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.7 out of 5 (based on 281 ratings with 12 reviews)

Prepare For The Future

The Good
Fallout 3, the game that I have been waiting for since I finished Fallout 2. Why back in 1998. Some 10 years later, and Bethesda finally makes good and releases Fallout 3 upon us. After so many false starts, can this be true at last? Am I really writing this review. Or am just dreaming that I am a man writing this review?

Oh sorry for my metaphysical meltdown just now, I haven’t slept in days. When I first heard that Bethesda was making Fallout 3, I felt elated yet not. I mean it could have been worse, what if Square soft had made it? It would have spiky haired goobers, teenage melodrama, kindergarten philosophy, and gasp, a contrived plot.

Can Bethesda’s unusual style of games live up to the classic imaginings of Black Isle? (And am I crazy or is everyone stealing my use of casual asides?-MM-)

To say that I was intrigued would be a bit of a misnomer. I preordered the game, the special edition, and went to the midnight launch. I did not sleep much that night, I can tell you.

Set about 20-30 years after the events of Fallout 2. We find that the wastelands are in worse shape than ever. Humanity has made little progress in turning back the tide, and reclaiming it’s past. Things really are worse than ever.

It is into this cruel world you are thrust. Will you help man’s progress or hinder it? Or maybe you don’t care either way.

Fallout 3 starts out very interestingly, and oddly it starts off with you as a baby. With simple objectives like “walk to dad”. It continues as you grow up in a Vault. Until on your 19th birthday, the game begins in full.

Your dad has gone missing. And Vault 101 is in uproar. Some of your friends are dying and the Overseer blames you, for the troubles, this leads to one of your first moral choices. You eventually make into the harsh wastes, leaving behind all you knew. Your goal is simple to find your dad. From here things get more complicated, at the fate of humanity will be on your hands.

There are tons of quests in the world of Fallout 3. Besides the main ones, there are a good number of large ones, from the world spanning, Nuka Cola Challenge, to helping, Moria complete her “Wasteland Survival Guide”.

There are also a slew of other things to do. From finding as many of the mini-encounters that you can. To collecting bobble heads, killing all the super mutant behemoths, the list goes on. Furthermore the Capital Wastelands are huge. And to see all the game has to offer will take quite a bit of exploring.

The setting is interesting as well. Instead of the West Coast of the USA, it takes place in the ruins of DC, the “Capital Wastelands”. Having walked those same streets myself in the real world, I found Fallout 3, chilling. Particularly when walking down Pennsylvania Ave. I have also been to the west coast, and did not find it invoked the same feelings. Perhaps because Fallout 3 just had better graphics, or perhaps it is because you do not see any real world places in Fallout 1&2. You can even travel to Bethesda, MA!

Fallout 3 takes place in an alternate reality. In which technology is largely based on nuclear power. Yet everything still has that 40’s-50’s art deco thing going on. This installment also keeps the series dark humor in tack. From the ridiculous notion of the coin-operated bomb shelter, the stupid grin of Vault boy, or the slogans like, “When the world ends, your life doesn’t have to!”

Now I would like to talk about V.A.T.S., and Fallout 3’s combat system. No V.A.T.S. is not a strange cult that worships a dead sci-fi author, or a special interest group, or a new age diet. It is the Vault Assisted Targeting System. Or VATS for short.

V.A.T.S. plays very much like the turn based system of the previous games in the series as well as Arcanum. During combat you can pause the action, and enter how many shots you want to take and what parts of the body you want to target. Head shots can kill the quickest. But a well placed leg shot can cripple your enemies, an arm shot can greatly reduce there aim. The amount of shots you get is based on your AP, which is based on your level, more on that later.

There is also standard FPS style combat, which is much more challenging that the V.A.T.S. And does not include to wicked cool death animations. The boys at Bethesda, took the Burnout franchise’s concept of realistic damage, and transferred it from cars, to super mutants. These animations are fun to watch and never get old. What better way to finish off a pesky mutant, than by blowing it’s head off, and seeing his eyeballs fly off. The gratuitous violence reminds me of the old skool shooter, Rise Of The Triad.

But wait there’s more! With the plasma gun you can turn your foe into a pile of goo! Fun for the whole family!

There are tons of guns and weapons in Fallout 3. There are of course the standards, like pistols, machine guns, and shot guns. Which are all fun to play with. But it is the absurd weapons that steal the show. Like the Fatman launcher, which fires mini-nukes. Be warned that there is a limited number of the mini nukes in the game. The is also the shiskabob, a flaming blade, that will slash and burn some super mutants. Other favorites of mine include the rail spike gun, which does exactly as it’s name implies, and fires rail spikes. And of course the junk gun, which fires well junk. These last three have to made on one of the workbenches found in the game.

Leveling up in Fallout 3 is your more standard system. You gain experience, and when enough is gained you level up. Each new level you can pick what skills you want, as well as a new perk. You gain perks quicker this time around. You can also supplement your levels by finding magazines. Guns & Bullets, raises your small guns skill, Lying Congressional Style, increases your charisma. And Grognak: The Barbarian, raises you melee skills.

There is also the Karma system. But fear not it goes beyond the good and evil thing.(Hey I’m philosopher and don’t know it!-MM-) There is good, bad, and neutral karma. Which lead to different perks, as well as different endings. There are also special perks which are quest related.

The graphics in Fallout 3, run on a modified Oblivion engine. And it’s looks fantastic. The world of Fallout is bleak, and terrible, yet beautiful, at the same time. (It’s like Detroit!-MM-) And the lighting effect are superb. As is the overall design. From the humans and non-humans of Fallout, to the places, you will go.

The sound and music excels as well. From the music composed for the game, to the licensed music. It’s all from the 40’s and 50’s and like Bioshock, fit’s the game wonderfully. A lot of reviews claim that the voice acting is not that good. How can that be when Ron Perlman, and Liam Neeson, and Malcolm McDowell, all lend there talents? I think what these reviewers meant to say was that all the minor characters do not sound that good. (Have these people played Final Fantasy X? They could not have if they think that this is bad!-MM-)

And that is not even entirely true. It is not that they do not sound good. It’s more to do with that you hear the same voices over and over. There is only one voice for the ghouls for example.

Another nice little effect is the radio. During the game you can hear Three-Dog, the non fascist radio personality, recount your heroic endeavors.

The Bad
For some reason Bethesda decided, that the level cap would be Lvl 20. Why? By mid game I was already maxed out! And the non-VATS combat tends to get a little clunky.

Venturing the seemingly endless subway systems gets old. The good news is once you have already discovered an area you can just zip there via your fast travel.

The A.I. can act oddly at times. And the bugs do not help. But they are not as bad as some may want to believe.

Exploring the wastes is not as fun as it should be. At least later in the game. When giant rad-scorpions ambush you constantly. And the enemy re-spawn rate is way to high!

The Bottom Line
Overall, Fallout 3 was worth the decade long wait. And while it is not the same as the other ones that is kind of the point, to re imagine the Fallout universe for today’s game market. If your PC can run it, or you have a Xbox 360 or a Playstation 3, you are required to play this game! Seriously, I know where you live!

Here to Fallout 4, not taking another 10 years!

Xbox 360 · by MasterMegid (723) · 2010

A gaming legend gets a new lease on life.

The Good
Fallout 3 is a game that I have been waiting for from the moment I finished Fallout 2.

Of course, back then I never visualized anything like Bethesda's Oblivion-like treatment of the game. I was thinking of - and wanting - another iteration of the classic 2d isometric game style. And if that is what we had gotten, then I would have been ecstatic.

When I found out that it was Bethesda which was going to make a new Fallout, I was somewhat apprehensive. I had played the stuffing out of their last two Elder Scrolls games - Morrowind and Oblivion. However, I have to admit that I was finding their formula a bit stale. In particular, Oblivion is a game which I gave an earnest effort to getting into, but never found compelling enough to complete.

The worry which I had was whether Fallout 3 would remain true to the series or simply be Oblivion With Guns. Well...the good news is that it is true to the series. The bad news is that it is also Oblivion With Guns.

The Fallout series had its start back in 1997. Game wizards Black Isle developed the title, as well as its later sequel Fallout 2, for publisher Interplay. Heavily influenced by classic DOS title Wasteland, the plot involved people living in the aftermath of a massive global nuclear war which almost destroyed humanity. The player, known as the "Vault Dweller", was among a select group of people who had been living in underground protective vaults since the apocalypse. Your vault, number 13 (a number which hints at the dark humor of the series), has run into an emergency when the computer chip controlling the water purification system needs replacement. Armed with a weak pistol, an even weaker knife, and dressed in a spiffy blue jumpsuit, you are dumped unceremoniously into the bitter wasteland to save your people. In the process, you find out that there is something much worse than a water purification crisis facing the world. So the legend of the vault dweller began. And from the quirky 50's/futuretech stylings of the world to the visceral combat, gamers loved it.

As classic as the first Fallout games were, the combination of key staff members going elsewhere and a lack of success with spin-off games made it so that fans of the series eventually saw a third game as unlikely. So it was that the news that Bethesda Softworks had acquired rights to the IP sent an electric shock through the gaming world. Strong opinions abounded, as they still do, about whether or not it was a good thing that a company known for a very different style of RPG would do justice to a series which was so iconic.

Fallout 3 is, if nothing else, a loving homage to its predecessors. From the Pip Boy character to the use of the Inkspots for the opening music, there is a great deal of classic series nostalgia here. There is no doubt that this is meant to be a continuation in true spirit.

While the first two Fallout games took place in California, Fallout 3 takes place in the wasteland around Washington D.C., including southern Maryland and northern Virginia. The player character grows up as the son of a brilliant scientist in one of the underground protective vaults - Vault 101. It is in this environment that the player gets their first experience with the game, going through a few different stages of early life while working out their initial stats, looks, and such. Some parts, like the GOAT exam, are reminiscent of the old Ultima series where you would be asked a series of situational questions to determine what your character would be like. However, if this is not for you or if the test gives you results contrary to what you wanted, you can adjust things accordingly.

One of the most important aspects of the Fallout tradition is the "S.P.E.C.I.A.L." system for stats. In my earnest opinion, it is one of the finest roleplaying systems ever created. The system is based upon the primary statistics of Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility, and Luck. Each of these has possible scores from 1 to 10 and in turn effects a variety of derived statistics. Then there is a large set of skills, from combat related abilities to speech and bartering, which are influenced by the primary stats as well as points applied directly by the player. SPECIAL is essential to the full experience of Fallout. Bethesda knew this and reproduced it mostly intact. The few changes they did make I have to say I enjoyed. Having new perks - special bonuses or abilities - every level more than made up for the removal of the two starting traits from the first games.

All seems to be going reasonably well in the placid but slightly uneasy atmosphere of the vault until one day everything falls apart in a hurry. Suffice it to say that your father has left the vault and you need to go after him, starting the game in earnest and beginning the main quest line. And once you enter the outside world, you find that it is a place where even if you are skilled with words, some things have to be solved with a bullet (or a sledgehammer...or a missile...or a laser bolt....or a power fist.....etc)

The variety of weapons in Fallout 3 does not disappoint. You can choose from small guns (eg. sniper rifles, assault rifles, pistols), energy weapons (eg. laser rifles, plasma rifles), melee weapons (eg. sledgehammers, swords, baseball bats), big guns (eg. missile launchers, miniguns, a tactical nuclear bomb launcher), explosives (mines and grenades), and "unarmed" (which actually includes things like brass knuckles and power fists). Within each category there is a decent selection of options, each with different strengths and weaknesses. The assault rifle puts out a lot of bullets, but does not have very impressive critical strike performance. Meanwhile, the sniper rifle has a higher chance to cause a critical strike and packs a punch when it does. Different weapons have distinct situational uses as well as play style uses.

There are also schematics available to craft your own weapons from wasteland salvage. It is a nice way to use all that clutter which you are constantly wading through in the game. All I will say about the specific weapons is that firing the railroad rifle is very satisfying.

Combat itself is a mixture of real time and turn-based, as compared to the original turn-based style of Fallout 1 and 2. You can play entirely in real time if you wish and some weapons work much better this way - especially those with high rates of fire. However, aiming is not quite like a normal FPS where things go pretty much where you aim them. Rather, the RPG engine is underneath the action calculating your accuracy and effectiveness based on a variety of factors.

Along side the real time action, there is a turn based mode known as V.A.T.S.. Hitting the VATS button causes the action to pause. At this point, the player can choose to target various parts specific locations on one or more enemies with ranged weapons, depending on how many action points are available. Melee, unarmed, and grenades can also use VATS but they cannot target specific body locations. I found that this setup was gracefully instituted in general. It works very well for quick and accurate head shots or, when facing a powerful enemy, for tactical attacks on limbs. And shooting a grenade while it is still in the enemy's hand is always a great moment.

Combat in general is visceral and brutal in the game. Slow motion critical strike take-downs can be quite entertaining. In the tradition of the earlier titles, deaths can get gruesome, with blood and gore spilling out liberally over battlefield. Adding the infamous Bloody Mess perk just ramps up the carnage.

Using the same engine as Oblivion, the graphics in Fallout 3 to be technically excellent. The overall sense of devastation after a nuclear war is impressive and leaving the vault for the first time is one of the best moments of gaming, no doubt. The models and textures that are used are all very well done.

Character interaction was somewhat faithful to the earlier games. There are some genuinely fun characters in the game.

As far as quests, the side quests are really the shining point of Fallout 3. Most of the smaller quests and side quest lines are fun to play and some are quite memorable I think that I had the most fun with the character of Moira and the quirky missions she sends you on in order to complete research for a book. But that is just the beginning. Exploring the wastes, you find yourself rescuing mercenaries, retrieving historical documents, dealing with costumed crazies, and more.

While you are taking care of business, your exploits are announced to the world via one of the in game radio stations - Galaxy News Radio. In general, GNR serves as an extra soundtrack, providing a list of old big band and jazz classics, including the iconic "Maybe" by the Inkspots. During interludes between the music, DJ "Three Dog" will make news and public service announcements. Being able to hear about your adventures over the radio is one of the coolest ideas I have seen in gaming. Bethesda gets a big thumbs up for that one.

Thanks to the release of the modding utility, a robust modding community has now sprung up around Fallout 3. They have introduced a variety of possible changes, extensions, and fixes to the game which can significantly improve the experience. I highly recommend checking out what is available.

The Bad
As I said, Fallout 3 is Oblivion With Guns in many ways.

To start out with, I have always found that in Bethesda games there is a strange sense of things being incomplete regarding how people react to your accomplishments. For instance, in Morrowind, I was head of the Fighter's Guild and yet when I needed to hire them to guard my new house, I still had to do quests for the Fighter's Guild.

In Fallout 3, I found myself disappointed that when I finally did return to the vault briefly, no one really noticed that I had come back as a seasoned wasteland warrior in a suit of power armor. I might as well have been walking in wearing my vault suit and carrying a baseball bat for a weapon.

Repetition is another major issue. Just like in Oblivion, while Fallout 3 is massive, the set of models and textures is just too small. After exploring for awhile, the continual sameness of many of the locations saps away some of the life of the experience. Variety is the spice of life. Bethesda needs to get a bigger spice rack.

Now I will stop here and say that I do realize one could say the same for Fallout and Fallout 2. Absolutely. But those games were made a long time ago and, furthermore, were not 3d first-person games. As soon as you go into that realm, any sameness becomes much more noticeable.

I would much rather have a smaller world with more interesting places to see.

For contrast, look at Bioshock. Yes, Bioshock is much smaller. However, every place had a very strong sense of reality to it and was distinct from the others. Exploration of the Bioshock game world was extremely rich because every location was fully unique.

Also the same are NPC's - both in models and vocalizations. There were a few big name actors who, naturally, provided good work to the game. However, most of the voice work for the minor characters in the game sounds as if Bethesda had something like five total voice actors available. Indeed, as far as I can tell, there is only one male and one female VA for ghouls period. And, unfortunately, the dialogue often sounds unnatural and stilted.

It became quickly tiresome to run into the same voices and models all the time. And, worse, it destroys immersion and makes it harder to take the characters seriously.

Additionally, while I loved GNR, the same small list of tracks plays over and over again until you start to become really tired of it. For an A-List title, I really find that problematic. And the fact that there is no built-in utility to have a custom playlist (as there is in the much lower tech Grand Theft Auto games) is a sever omission. However, the modding community has come to the rescue on this with custom playlist mods and even a wonderful library of classic music to extend the GNR library by as many as 100 songs. The latter mod is called More Where That Came From and it greatly enhances the game experience.

In general, I did not find the plot of the game to be as well put together as that of Fallout 1 and 2. There were some severe holes, especially in the ending (which thankfully was changed by the Broken Steel expansion), and it was too short. Further, some things in the game seemed too gimmicky, which also hurt the overall sense of narrative.

Finally, there are numerous bugs, including quest breaking ones. Things like character walking off of high ledges and falling to their deaths should not happen in an A-list title. Even with patches, things are still messy and that is unfortunate.

The Bottom Line
Fallout 3 is a very enjoyable and engaging action RPG with a classic post-apocalyptic setting. A must-play for Fallout fans. But it is not without its flaws.

Windows · by Steelysama (82) · 2009

Fallout 3 isn't really a true Fallout game, but if you can forgive that, it is still an incredible game.

The Good
Fallout 1 & 2 are the best games ever. When I heard that Fallout 3 was being developed, I crapped myself in anticipation. Sadly, even though the Van Buren demo provided some morsels for us fans, Black Isle Studios was bought out and shut down. It was canceled. Years later, Fallout 3 would resurface helmed by Bethesda Studios. When I heard this, I was mixed. I knew from the start the game couldn't touch the first two games, yet I really liked Daggerfall and Oblivion so I wasn't really outraged.

In the end, I was completely right: Fallout 3 is not a true Fallout game. Sure, it has the Vaults, radioactive scorpions, brahmin, a pipboy, and it is set in a big desolate wasteland, but everything that made Fallout unique is stripped away here. But in the end, if you can forgive this and if you like Bethesda's work, you will still find what is arguably their best game since Daggerfall.

The graphics may not "Wow," but character models are very good and the art direction is superb and lends the game a perfect post apocalyptic look.

Gameplay is much like Oblivion, although it improves upon Oblivion by having a larger number of enemies as well as improving the acting and other areas that made Oblivion somewhat lacking in the immersion category. Obviously guns play a bigger part here instead of swords and spells like in Oblivion. With said guns comes the "V.A.T.S." system, which allows you to freeze time and pick off body parts with greater accuracy and a Michael Bay camera shoot. VATS uses action points, and different weapons modify how many action points you can use and naturally each different enemy has different shapes and body parts, affecting what you can shoot based on your location.

The game is gory as hell, and while I would've liked to see some actual pre-rendered death animations much like in the original games which made deaths seem a little more... erm, "painful" and creative, as the physics system is fairly rudimentary, it is still fun to watch and is ridiculously over the top. Splitting apart a raiders chest and then watching his limbs fly off is a simplistic joy.

The game sounds great too, the acting is VASTLY improved from Oblivion, and characters sound a little more distinct and into their roles than in that game. Weapons sound good and unique, and enemies make good sounds as well, be it in their life or in their death. The game also has a radio which plays fancy old tunes from the 30s/40s/50s as well as funny comments from a snarky D.J. as well as the occasional adventure of Herbert Daring Dashwood, which are funny and fun to listen to, although I wish there were more episodes.

Although the role playing system is dumbed down (See the "What I didn't like" section) and doesn't offer as much variety or replayability as previous Fallout games, the game still has several side quests and a genuine need to survive, which really immerses you in the role.

There are lots of different weapons and armors to discover, which all have different affects and values. You can also gather parts to create weapons, each one unique and cool, although it doesn't get much funnier than the Rock-It-Launcher; a gun that shoots random crap you pick up in the wasteland. Sending a milk bottle through a super mutants head and watching it break apart in 3 pieces or slaughter a group of raiders with toy cars is absolutely fricken' hysterical. Schematics are expensive and often hidden, and there is incentive to find multiple copies, as it improves the usefulness of the weapon you wish to build.

The game encourages exploration, and there are tons of eerie, strange places to explore as you scavenge and become a wasteland denizen. Sometimes the most fun the game has to offer is to try and find as many unique areas as possible, and see what secrets they hide within. It is very satisfying to stumble upon something hidden and uncover a side quest, a unique item, or just a strange random encounter.

Scaled leveling makes an appearance here, but it actually works in this game. Normally I am against the concept, but considering that Bethesda didn't make a large variety of monsters and since raiders rarely have unique characters in their ranks, scaled leveling makes sure that you will always fear what might lie around the corner or behind that ominous door.

The Bad
The biggest problem is that the role playing system from Fallouts 1 and 2 are extremely dumbed down. SPECIAL hardly affects your character anymore, in the first two games it was extremely important and each trait would be completely different based on the points you put into them, in Fallout 3, the effects of those stats are barely noticeable. The Tag skills system isn't dumbed down quite as much as the other areas, but the various permutations and numbers crunching in the background have been significantly reduced and tag skills have no affect on SPECIAL or traits like they did in the old games. Optional traits have been shuffled into the perks system, and perks are no longer granted every so often, they are granted every level. They are hardly "Perks" if you get them all the time. Several classic perks return, albeit changed greatly and like the rest of the stats, they've been dumbed down. This hurts the replay value, and unlike in the first two games where each character felt unique and different, most of the characters you create in FO3 will feel the same.

The karma system is busted beyond belief. You can be a thieving serial killer who eats his victims and then uses their body as a toilet, yet if you remember to give all your purified water to a bum you can have a high karma level. The game claims that karma and "Choice" play a big part, but they do not. There are a few interesting "choices," but it is annoying that they either make you the second coming or make you the devil, and if you make a "Choice" that karma is permanent, there's no altering it ever again. It constantly flops around, and has no real affect on the game except for the way the DJ talks about you, and if you are REALLY good people in Megaton might give you stuff, but that's it. Karma has no affect in the game whatsoever.

Although most of the graphics are nice, the animations are even worse than they were in Oblivion, and characters always look like they are skating on thin air with rocket powered jet skates.

Since the game has a habit of "Dumbing down" things, another thing that the game dumbs down is radiation poisoning. Radiation poisoning in Fallout 1 & 2 was a real threat, but in FO3 the worst that may happen is you won't be as fast or strong. It can kill you, but rather than killing you slowly like in the first two games, it only kills you if your geiger counter maxes out. I actually found times where I had severe radiation poisoning and had no idea, because my character seemed to act the same way.

The storyline, while it has moments, is relatively lame and the ending is possibly the worst ever. The ending is an anti-climax, and the final boss couldn't even contend with the calculator from Fallout Tactics. Hell, he's actually one of the weakest characters in the game, even if your arms, torso, and head are all crippled and your perception, strength, and agility are all nil you can tear him to shreds with a pistol that is about to break after one use. You also can't continue past the final quest, which is annoying because I did not want to have to create a brand new character just to continue exploring and find more quests. This was remedied in Broken Steel, but it is still a fault with the game. The main quest line is also ridiculously short and easy, it can be completed in a mere hour without much effort put into it, unless you've never played a shooter before and can't find out which button is the trigger.

VATS, while fun to use at times, is not really much more than Bullet Time with a shaky camera. It claims to be unique when it really isn't. On the same line, guns feel somewhat clunky and inaccurate, although they are still fun to shoot.

The monster roster is a little slim and I wish there were more. Although most of the more famous monsters, such as the Death Claws and the radscorpions, make appearances there isn't quite as much variety in them and some monsters are clearly just palette swaps. It is also annoying that Bethesda added radroaches and bloatflies, these monsters are extremely pointless as they barely do any damage and after level 1, you don't even get experience for killing them yet they appear as an arbitrary MacGuffin to make sure you can't sleep or travel and Bethesda makes sure they appear in a swarm so you have to beat tons of them and since there's no experience reward for killing them and the fact that they are no threat at all, it simply isn't fun to have to bash them just so you can be on your merry way.

The Bottom Line
Despite the fact that it is not truly a sequel to Fallout, and is not even in league with those games, Fallout 3 is still a great Bethesda game. It has their mark, and it's easily comparable to Oblivion, but as mentioned before it is truly much better than Oblivion. The game is highly immersive and fun to play, and exploring this game will reveal it is truly greater than the sum of its parts. Many secrets await for you in the Capitol Wasteland, and if you can ignore the relatively lame main quest line, there are many rewards to reap in the desolate wastes.

Windows · by Kaddy B. (777) · 2009

[ View all 12 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
BOS-in-a-BOX bubbleman1987 Dec 9, 2012
(no subject) bubbleman1987 Sep 5, 2012
Minor complaint time! *spoilers* Simoneer (29) Feb 19, 2011
Melee character? BurningStickMan (17916) Jan 8, 2011
Teh Ultimate Fallout 3 Mod Guides! Slug Camargo (583) May 13, 2010

Trivia

1001 Video Games

Fallout 3 appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Australian release

Fallout 3 was originally banned in Australia in July 2008, but an edited version was re-submitted to the country's Classification Board. Funnily enough, this is also the version that was released in all regions.

German version

In the German version all blood and removed limbs were removed. This includes robot parts, e.g. the arms of Mister Gutsy.

References to the game

Fallout 3 was parodied in an episode of "Die Redaktion" (The Editorial Team), a monthly comedy video produced by the German gaming magazine GameStar. It was published on the DVD of issue 02/2009.

Awards

  • 1UP
    • 2009 - "Digital Delivarence" Award for Best DLC in 2009 (Editor's Choice)
    • 2009 - "Digital Delivarence" Award for Best DLC in 2009 (Reader's Choice)
  • GamePro
    • February 2009 (issue 245) - PC Game of the Year 2008
  • GamePro (Germany)
    • February 26, 2009 - Best Console RPG in 2008 (Readers Voting)
  • GameStar (Germany)
    • February 26, 2009 - Best PC Game in 2008 (Reader's Voting)
    • February 26, 2009 - Best PC RPG in 2008 (Reader's Voting)
  • Gamespot
    • 2009 - Best Downloadable Content/Expansion in 2009 (Reader's Choice; for the DLCs)
  • GameSpy
    • 2008 – Game of the Year
    • 2008 – PC Game of the Year
    • 2008 – Xbox 360 Game of the Year
    • 2008 – PC Game of the Year (Readers' Vote)
    • 2008 – Xbox 360 Game of the Year (Readers' Vote)
    • 2008 – #2 PS3 Game of the Year
    • 2008 – PC RPG of the Year
    • 2008 – Xbox 360 RPG of the Year
    • 2008 – PS3 RPG of the Year
    • 2012 – #10 Top PC Gaming Intro
  • GameTrailers
    • December 25, 2009 - Best Expansion/DLC in 2009 (for the DLCs)
  • Golden Joystick Awards
    • 2009 - Ultimate Game of the Year
    • 2009 - PC Game of the Year
  • IGN
    • 2009 - Best Xbox 360 Aftermarket Support in 2009 (Reader's Awards; for the DLCs)
  • Machinima 2009 - Best DLC in 2009 (for the DLCs)

Information was also provided by Big John WV, PCGamer77 and piltdown man

Analytics

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Sicarius.

Xbox One added by MAT.

Additional contributors: Katakis | カタキス, Jeanne, Apogee IV, Carl Ratcliff, Solid Flamingo, Zeppin, Paulus18950, Lizzy Carft, Patrick Bregger, Starbuck the Third, Plok, FatherJack.

Game added October 31, 2008. Last modified March 7, 2024.