'Fallout 3' Retrospective
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War. War never changes. That has been the theme of the Fallout series since its inception. With the show on Amazon Prime bringing more eyes to this wasteland survival role-playing series, many people are experiencing these games for the first time. Let's look back at arguably the first modern Fallout game, Fallout 3.
Gameplay
The gameplay of this installment marks a drastic shift from previous titles in the series. Instead of being a top-down turn-based affair, this title opts to go in the action RPG direction. You play as the Lone Wanderer from Vault 101 and explore the wasteland in search of your dad. Along the way, you interact with several people in the wasteland, some good and some bad. Of course, you can choose to kill either but will get repercussions for killing the “good guys” in the form of this game’s karma system. You get titles based on your karma, such as “Vault Guardian” or “Harbinger of War.” Combat in this game differs from previous installments and has more in common with a shooter game or a game from The Elder Scrolls series than its turn-based routes.
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However, it’s a welcome change, as going through the Capital Wasteland shooting down raiders, super mutants, and ghouls is an exhilarating feeling. It can sometimes be difficult to aim, but V.A.T.S (Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System) helps. There are plenty of side quests to keep you occupied during and after the main quest (assuming you have the Brothers of Steel DLC). Plus, with a rich modding history, there’s something for every player.
Graphics
The graphics have aged quite well for a game from 2008. Artistically, it has a stylized realistic style. While it certainly shows its age at times, the details are quite impressive, especially regarding the facial animations. The game especially cleans up nicely on the Xbox Series X. Furthermore, the environments are incredibly detailed and show the effects of nuclear warfare rather well. There's so much to explore in this game, and it's nice that everything looks as it should in the Capital Wasteland.
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Story
The story is fairly straightforward. Fallout 3 begins at the beginning of your character's life—literally. For the first part of the game, we go through the Lone Wanderer’s first 19 years of life in Vault 101. Everything is fine, until their father, James, escapes the Vault, leading to a rather chaotic situation. Now, the Lone Wanderer must venture out into the Capital Wasteland and search for their father. Along the way, they will encounter several people and communities from all walks of life, and the player's actions will influence the outcome of the game's main plot. Will you be the Lightbringer or the Devil? The choice is yours.
Of course, there are plenty of side plots to keep you occupied, and there's plenty of lore as well. Overall, the story of Fallout 3 is vast and varied.
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Music And Audio
Lastly, let's take a look at the music and other audio that fills the wasteland. First, a huge highlight of the music is the licensed music. Featuring artists such as Cole Porter, The Ink Spots, Roy Brown, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Bob Crosby, and others from the Atomic Age definitely set the vibe and tone of the game, but Inon Zur’s score is also quite impressive. Complimenting the score is an impressive combination of foley and ambient sound that can either aid in your play with audio cues or scare the Nuka cola right out of you.
Lastly, the voice acting is excellent. The cast features A-listers such as Liam Neeson as James and Malcolm McDowell as President Eden in addition to several talented voice-over talents. Erik Todd Dellums as Three Dog, of course, stands out amongst the cast not only because you hear his voice most often on Galaxy News Radio but also because of his energy and emotional range. Overall, the music, sound design, and voice acting really help to immerse the player in the world of Fallout 3.
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Pros And Cons
Let's begin with the pros. The gameplay loop is fun and addicting, and you can easily get sucked into the game, playing it for hours on end. It perfectly merges gunplay with RPG elements, making you truly feel like you're living in this world. You can truly get lost in the world.
This leads to the first con. You might often get lost in the world and have no idea where to go. This isn't helped by the small amount of landmarks you encounter outside of the DC area. This is a minor gripe, admittedly, but a major gripe is the trouble getting the game to work on modern PCs. Admittedly, I didn't get a chance to explore the PC version as much as I wanted to mainly because of how much of a hassle it was to get working. This was even before adding mods. The current Steam version of Fallout 3 does not work with most mods, so you will have to either downgrade somehow or install a patch to get around it. Once you do, though, the game should run fine on most systems.
The last con has to do with the glitches in the game. Often, you will just get stuck behind something that you think you should be able to walk past, or radio routines may loop for a long time. This is a Bethesda title, so glitches are par for the course.
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Verdict
Fallout 3 may have walked so Fallout New Vegas and Fallout 4 could run, but it's a pretty fun game on its own as well. Mixing shooter gameplay with various RPG elements, Fallout 3 is an action RPG that you can really spend hours playing and just get lost in its world. However you decide to play it, it's sure to be a fun stroll through memory lane….and the wasteland.
Rating: 9.5/10
Developer: Nintendo EDP; Publisher: Nintendo; Players: Single-Player; Released: October 28th, 2008; ESRB: M for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drugs; MSRP: $9.99 Standard and $19.99 GOTY Edition on Steam, $9.99 Standard and $21.83 GOTY Edition on Xbox
Review played on PC and Xbox Series X
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