This game is so awesome, it will make your head explode.
I generally play games at a glacial pace — it takes me weeks to finish most titles. So when I had to review six or seven November releases — triple-A titles, all — I tried my best to speed up a bit, so that I could get to each title as quickly as possible.
However, it’s December 5th, and I haven’t been doing so well.
What’s the hold up?
I’d say it’s cause I’m lazy, but c’mon, these are video games I’m talking about. Laziness is probably a virtue when it comes to playing hours and hours of Gears of War 2, Banjo Kazooie, the Last Remnant, and any of the other recent releases.
So I’ll fess up. It’s all Fallout 3’s fault.
My belated review is after the break.
The Good:
It’s f’ing huge: Like many of the best RPGs, Fallout 3 is a game that a player can get absolutely lost in. The game takes place within the ‘Capital Wastelands,’ a post-apocalyptic recreation of the Washington D.C. metro area. You can walk from what was Virginia, through the ruins of DC, into Maryland, and back again.
It’s preposterously deep: Though the main quest can be plowed through in around 10 hours, the best part of Fallout 3 is the absurd amount of non-essential content. The game invites you to aimlessly wander the Wasteland, prompting you to discover dozens of locations filled with hundreds of people you can meet, talk to, steal from, and dismember (if you’re so inclined). You can choose to accept or deny dozens upon dozens of tasks, both big and small, and if one of the NPC’s looks at you funny, you’re also given the choice to, say, plant eight frag mines in their beds and watch them splatter into a million bloody pieces. Which is just awesome.
The aesthetic is fun: Everything I’ve mentioned can also be found in Bethesda’s last sprawling RPG, Oblivion. Yet, I couldn’t stomach playing that game for a few hours, while I’ve sunk at least 40 into Fallout 3. The reason? Among other things, the tone of the game is more inviting. There’s something about scouring the irradiated remains of America’s capital, encountering robots and blowing their faces off with mini-nukes that is more fun than the medieval trappings of Oblivion. It’s a matter of personal taste, I guess.
Look! Asian characters that aren’t ninjas!: Asian gamers will be happy to find a vast variety of characters in Fallout 3, many of whom are Asian, and none of whom act like Fu Manchu. That’s refreshing.
The Bad:
Navigation can be a real bitch: When exploring the metro tunnels or abandoned supermarkets of Fallout 3 (performing what is essentially old school dungeon crawling), you’ll find that the navigation help — a little arrow that points towards your next destination — is a bit lacking. You’ll end up walking around in circles a lot, especially in poorly lit environments.
It’s very… brown: It makes sense that there’d be little color in an area decimated by nuclear warfare, but the mostly monochrome environments will definitely wear on you some. Bethesda makes up for it by making the world exquisitely detailed, but I’d have liked to see more variation in the art design.
The Grade: A
Fallout 3 is the best game I’ve played since Bioshock. And with enough content to fill up 100+ hours of gameplay, it also gives you excellent bang for your buck.