Game Review: Fallout 3

From Bethesda Studios, the minds behind the brilliant Elder Scrolls series, comes the long awaited next instalment in the Fallout series: Fallout 3. With Bethesda's proven pedigree with RPGs, it was difficult to imagine Fallout 3 falling far short of brilliance.

Instead of launching you straight into the wilderness, Fallout 3's beginning is a little more gradual. Starting from birth, you'll play through all the key events in your character's early life inside a secure vault; including learning to walk, your birthday party, and sitting the G.O.A.T exams (which is hilariously referred to as "Taking the goat"). This doesn't just serve to teach you the basics of the various aspects of Fallout's gameplay in a manner both concise and intuitive, but it managed to bring depth to various characters before the game has even chugged into second gear.

Everything then kicks into full throttle, as your childhood friend reveals that your dad has left the vault, and with him being the only family you've got you'll follow in hot pursuit, and take your first steps into the big, wide world. Now, it's worth pointing out that Fallout 3's take on a post-apocalyptic Washington DC is nowhere near as pretty as the worlds Bethesda previously created for Oblivion or The Shivering Isles, and it still pulls the same tricks of copy-pasting certain blocks of environment between the more important, detailed locations to feign a greater sense of scale. But, despite it being a barren pallet of grey and brown, it's still awe-inspiring regardless. The level of detail in the areas that Bethesda didn't copy and paste is immense, and as soon as you see the decrepit remains of the Washington Monument looming eerily over the mutant infested ruins of DC that's it: you're immersed in this world and there's nothing you can do about it.

Even though it's impossible not to become immersed, the Washington Monument is always going to look like a penis

This is because immersion it what Fallout 3 does best, and this is not only evident in the game's world but in the sheer amount of detail available when developing your character. Like with most RPGs you'll gain experience from completing tasks and killing the various creatures you'll meet in the wasteland, but once you gain enough experience to level up you'll realise just how intricate and immersive developing your character is. As well as the usual attribute and skill distribution that any RPG player will be very familiar with, there are a selection of perks that become available when you meet a certain criteria. Each perk will effect your experience with the game in a different way; some simply improve your skill with a certain weapon, another will allow you to blow up enemies with a single bullet. Choosing which of the unique perks you want to customise your character with is, without fail, going to draw you even further into Fallout 3.

I never thought I'd be lucky enough to play something that made Gears of War look tame

As well as the role playing elements, Fallout 3 is also part shooter, and can boast one of the greatest arsenals of weapons out of any video game on the 360. Any game that offers you the chance to wield a modified vacuum cleaner and launch a stockpile of dinner plates and teddy bears into the faces of bewildered onlookers is, quite simply, an experience that nobody should be without. The other weapons, while hardly comparing to the genius or innovation of the aforementioned vacuum cleaner, are still exceptionally designed, making up a collection of weapons so diverse that, even if you've only specialised in one type of weapon, there will be enough diversity between within that type that you will rarely find yourself at a significant disadvantage.

How you actually use these guns won't feel like anything new at first, until you start using the V.A.Ts targeting system. V.A.Ts bring the world to a standstill, allowing you to pick and choose your targets before you watch your chosen actions being performed in brilliant slow motion cinematic sequences. Thanks to Fallout 3's copious amounts of blood and gore, this will never get old. Ever. There will always be something deeply satisfying about watching enemies gratuitously explode into a thousand little bits with a single bullet. Although, as satisfying as they are, because you're constantly popping in and out of real time to use them, V.A.Ts tend to break up the flow of the gameplay. The effect isn't quite as staggering as the constant pausing you had to do to use the abilities in Mass Effect but it's hardly ideal, especially as you'll find yourself relying on them most of the time. This also serves to takes the edge right off Fallout 3's shooting element; having you rely on percentages rather than actual skill. Don't get me wrong; V.A.Ts are, without a doubt, incredibly satisfying, they're just a little bit broken when it comes to actual gameplay and not just the raw visual display.

I knew that Maths GCSE was going to come in handy

The thing is though, even with the niggling issues - and they are niggling, the only reason I've had to talk about them so much is because there is so little to criticise - Fallout 3 is never going to stop drawing you in, at least until you develop the willpower to save it and turn off the console. This is one of those brilliant games that you find yourself coming back to over and over again, and with all the downloadable content lined up (no word on whether it will contain armour for your dog yet, just cross your fingers and hope), you're going to be absorbed in the world of Fallout 3 for a long, long, long time.

9/10

Ooh, and Liam Neeson and Malcolm McDowell are in it, and you can get a dog, ooh and, and... I really wish I had room for an extra paragraph. Bloody word limit.

Ran out of synonyms for "really really good" a long time ago - tomdoodle16@live.co.uk