snyperdud

User Score
9.3

Presentation - 9.0
Gameplay - 9.2
Value - 10

 Fallout 3 is one of those games that comes around every so often, that will simply astonish, and blow away, at what it accomplishes as a game.

  The game begins as your character being born, literally. As you are birthed into the Fallout universe, you are given character customization options that Bethesda has been known for in their past games (The Elder Scrolls franchise). Of course, these options are deep and you are free to customize your characters looks, and style of play, throughout the game.

 At this point, you are introduced into the Fallout 3 world. You go through stages of growing up in a "Vault" (An underground bomb shelter/community) and are made aware of how dangerous the outside world(A.K.A. The Wasteland) is. Eventually, you must leave this Vault for reasons that I won't discuss in this review. In these stages you are introduced to the Combat mechanics, and the dialogue system.

 The combat is handled in two ways. The first of which is a manual way of shooting/meleeing foes, which is a pretty standard affair. You aim, and shoot/hit your enemies. The second, is an automatic, precise way of dealing with enimies called V.A.T.S.. This system allows you to aim for a paticular body part. This allows for different types of strategy. For example, using V.A.T.S., you can aim for an enemie's leg, thus, crippling them for reduced movement. The system is governed by AP (Action Points) which determines when you can or can not use V.A.T.S.. This all blends in perfectly well with the game, making combat fun, and different other RPG's.

 The dialogue system is basically what you have seen in past games, such as, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and Mass Effect. You will come across different characters that you will need to converse with, and the game gives you a list of choices you have to respond with, depending on how you play the game, you may have different choices than other players. This system allows for a whole other dimension to the game and opens up for manipulation of characters and may open up different scenerios for different occasions. It adds to the game in such a way that Fallout 3 simply wouldn't be anywhere near as good as it would be without it.

 Graphically, Fallout 3 is very impressive. It features detailed environments, and character models. It simply looks great for an open world game. The animations are a vast improvement over Bethesda's previous games. They are for the most part fluid and well done as a whole. However, Fallout 3 is not flawless in this category. There are a number of graphical glitches, framerate issues, and occasional freezing that I experienced. However, considered how large, and open the game is, these issues are excuseable and not game-breaking in anyway.

 The sound design was put together extremely thoughtfully. Very early in the game you will recieve a device that features a radio. This radio picks up many different signals that broadcast, music, messages, and even "news". Throughout your playthrough this can be used at practically anytime you desire, which helps because sometimes exploring can be quite boring and the music helps with at keeping a little more entertained. The voice acting is top notch, and even features a few celebrity voices including, Ron Pearlman and Liam Neeson. The sound definitely adds to the atmosphere to Fallout 3, without sound design of this caliber, the game would have felt a lot less complete than what it actually is.

 To put simply, the game is astonishing, there is a ton of content and side quests to keep you playing for hours on end. The presentation is top notch and it features the graphics, sound, gameplay, and overall design that would match any game released this far, and then some. I can't reccomend this game enough, play it.