Fallout 3
RPG of the Year?
It has been many years since we have had a Fallout game that has been considered to be very good and then it was only on the PC. So when Interplay sold the single player rights to Bethesda, so they could start the third title in the Fallout series there was much rejoicing and even some fear on the part of fans of the original games. People were worried that Bethesda would fail to keep the magic and dumb down the game. But fear not if you enjoyed Oblivion you will love Fallout 3, this is the darker, grittier, more mature cousin of The Elder Scrolls Oblivion.
I am a huge fan of the first two Fallout games and Fallout Tactics, but I did realize that the series needed to evolve in a new direction because the game could not use the same gameplay mechanics in this day and age. After playing through Fallout 3 twice now I can honestly confirm it was the right thing for Bethesda to take over this series and bring it into the modern age.
Fallout 3 has a great story and one we have not seen too often in a video game, but I will not talk about it because beyond starting out in Vault 101 and searching for your Dad across the wasteland in and around Washington D.C. (very common knowledge), the rest of the story is not known, but is one of the best game stories in a very long time. You start out literally popping out of your mother’s womb, hit A to cry, and then you name your self, pick your sex and how you will look. Then through a series of interactive and important flashbacks you learn about yourself, your family and the people of Vault 101.
Once you leave the Vault the game opens up for you, you can travel where you want, act how you want and help or hinder the people of the wasteland while being who you are in the game. Amazingly how the world around you reacts to you is based on your actions, with some factions even wanting to help you and others trying to kill you just based on a key choice you made during the game. In the end though Fallout 3 is not a game you will want to finish just once, but several times just so you can see and do everything in this incredible and one of the best RPG’s of this year.
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