Fallout 3

The Good
The exploration that you can do in game could keep you amused for hours, there is just so much to see and people you can meet. Add to that the amount of side quest's you can do just add's to this. Most of these are acquired from the people of the wasteland, who you could enjoy talking to a lot.

One of the big plus points of fallout 3 is it's diverse range of weapons (and customised one off's you can find) can be a joy in itself. They are so varied, just about everyone has they're favorite. and there is just about one for every type of situation you will encounter in the wastelands.

One of the most interesting and unique features is the V.A.T.S targeting system. It do have limited usage of it, but is such a help, and so fun to use, just from a visual stand point.

The Bad
It's main quest line suffer's from a plot that is not exactly very original, but this is not a major bone of contention.

The ending, however is. Put simply, it's so rubbish, it ended up getting patched as part of the DLC.

The only other annoying feature is it's autosave. Or to be exact, how it won't save after you have just walked across the wasteland. Especially frustrating when you were killed by something like a lone raider or a landmine.

The Bottom Line
Worth buying. It is one of the current generation of consoles greatest games.

The Good
Fallout 3 continues the great non-linear gameplay of Fallout and Fallout 2, while adding much-needed innovation to the series. The first or third person viewpoint is a much more immersive experience than the isometric point-and-click interface of the earlier Fallout games. Unlike other sandbox RPGs, Fallout has breadth and depth in the same game -- you feel like your character is really changing the world that he/she inhabits, and there are few quests that aren't worth trying. Contrast this with Bethesda's Oblivion, where a lot of quests were clearly just filler for a fun, but ultimately empty gaming experience.

VATS is a fun way to add precision targeting to the game without turning it into an FPS. It makes combat more strategic - you can spend Action Points (which regenerate slowly during combat) to freeze the game and target specific body parts to cripple the enemy's movement or attacks (or just to get in that glorious headshot).

Finally, Fallout 3 distinguishes itself with attention to little details. Some examples: Galactic News Radio, the main radio station, repeats news of your exploits to the whole Capital Wasteland when you finish an important quest. Characters talk with each other on topical subjects, and comment on your actions or warn you if they think you are going to steal the Mini-Nuke on their store shelf. Most importantly, settlements and ruins exist within the context of the game's setting, that is, I never felt like a ruined town was just there because the game designers needed to fill in space on the map.

The Bad
The control system was sometimes difficult to use. Even after scanning through the manual, I only found out how to turn my flashlight on by mistake. VATS is a great system, but it can sometimes be hard to get the game to select the body part you want. I would often move the left stick in every direction and manage to select every body part BUT the one I wanted to target.

The graphics are well done, but there is a distinct lack of variety in the settings. There are only about 4 different types of places in Fallout 3: wasteland, ruined sewers/subways, ruined buildings, and Vaults/high-tech buildings. The color palette of the settings (with few exceptions) is brown, light brown, and black. Another graphical failing is the poor animation of your character in third-person view, where you look like you are skating or floating above the ground, not walking upon it.

The character advancement system is fun, but I was level 20 before I finished even half of the main quest.

Finally, the main plot of Fallout 3 is not as interesting as some of the preceding games. The side-quests (with one notable exception) are actually more fun than the main quests.

The Bottom Line
Fallout 3 is a post-nuclear sandbox RPG set in the ruins of Washington, DC and the surrounding area. Using a combination of real-time and turn-based combat (whichever you prefer) in a first-person or third-person view, you battle, explore, discover, and make difficult choices to influence the world around you.

The Good
True enough, it offers almost limitless freedom of actions, perhaps more than Oblivion ever did. You explore huge devastated city, with no chance to ruin something for yourself if you get there ahead of time. Nice implementation of VATS - they found use for those old turn based action points, to placate old fallout fans no doubt. Amazing soundtracks and 2008 graphic at its best. Voicing isn't bad either, at least much better than Oblivion is.

The Bad
None so far, beside little accidental crashes, but happens VERY rare. Some small items a little bit easy to miss, but I guess it's part of realism.

The Bottom Line
98% of people will love it, as its unmistakably best mix of RPG and FPS yet, but then again, those 2% who like the pure genre (skipping through talking, or finding it to be too much of an action game) will absolutely hate it. Oh and don't let anyone say it's short, there is no way one can skip through it in 7 hours unless maybe they sit with a guide in their lap and skip all conversations in mindless effort to pass it in record time (and even then I doubt it possible without cheating). Absolutely worth time spent - hopefully they will release add-ons, it seems to be build pretty much like Oblivion, with .esm files loading at start.