The wasteland was never this immersive.
Game Case: The game case itself is your typical thing, however a very nice new trend for PC gamers, the case is the standard DVD case, not the double-wide versions we've been seeing for a while now on games like Oblivion. The front of the Case sleeve filler has the Armor clad character on the front, the game is clearly marked with the M rating from the ESRB, it has "Fallout 3"
written above the art of the character, as well as Bethesda's logo in the right lower corner. The top gives the information that it's a Games for Windows title, that it's a DVD and that it uses the LIVE feature. The back of the case has three screen-shots in the center, as well as the short description, bullet points of interest, art, and E3 "Winner, game of show" awards from IGN, Game critics award, and Gamespy. As well as all the legal stuff, the epilepsy warning, all the reasons the game got it's M rating and the system requirements are in easy to read boxes. Overall the games basic case is well designed, like Bethesda's other case designs.
Manual: Keeping with the "You're a Vault Dweller" motif, the front of the manual has the Games for Windows Live info at the top, and "Vault Dweller's Survival Guide" as the title. The back has Fallout 3 written on it and the legal information. Opening the 40-ish page manual, you will see a clean presentation, with easy to read information about the game. To keep even the manual in the game's feel, the manual has excerpts from a survival guide if one existed, like "be sure to wear safety goggles if you leave the vault for the first time." It's actually very clever and makes the manual worth looking at if just for these excerpts.
Game DVD Disc: The disc is fairly simple, but does it's purpose in the package. The Games for Windows LIVE logo once again hangs at the top. The design is a "Please Stand By" TV test screen, with Fallout 3 at the bottom, the legal text on the left, and Bethesda's logo, the M rating, and the DVD logo on the right. Simple, yet effective.
Next we shall look at the items that come in the CE, starting from the box it all comes in. The sleeve covering the box won't be explored, because aside from it stating it's the Collector's edition, the info on the back is the same from the case.
Vault-tec Lunch-box: The CE of Fallout 3 comes in a tin lunch box that is designed to look worn and old, complete with Vault-tec's mascot on the box. This piece obviously functions well as a case for the set, but also as a mood setter, as the trailers had the same box, as well as the actual game has them in it as well, same design. It's very neat to have this piece of collectable goodies.
The Art of Fallout 3 (Art Book): The CE comes with an art book. This 96 page, hard cover book is a bit small, being it has to fit in the lunch box, but the 95 pages of art (the 96th is credits) inside are all great to look at. The book is nicely organized starting from paintings of a destroyed DC (that look almost like photos at the amount of detail) and ending with story boards for the first teaser trailer, and part of the game intro, complete with commentary at the beginning of each section. To me, this alone warrants the $20 extra it costs to get the Collector's Edition.
Making of Fallout 3: This added goodie is a DVD with an almost 50 minute long documentary (mostly staff members talking about) the making of the game. There are very interesting facts contained in this film. Along with that, there is some concept and poster art, as well as the first teaser trailer and the main trailer. The one downside for some (as all the goodies are the same for all 3 versions of the game) the making of, and all the features on the DVD are NOT HD. The sleeve for the disc is cleaver, marked with "VDSG HOLOTAPE, Historical video footage of the development and implementation of the project." As well as "Historical Series (Volume 1)" and even "Restricted - Do not remove from the archival room. After usage, to avoid dust contamination, immediately place this holotape back within its sleeve." Along with a stamp of "VAULT 101 Archive room." The disc itself has a label designed to look like (and does a good job of it) an old film reel, complete with reel numbers and what is on the "Holotape."
Vault-tec Vault Boy Bobble-head: The final piece in the added goodies is the bobble-head of the mascot. Made of PVC, the figure is actually well detailed, and is a higher quality bobble-head then what I usually get. Place it on your stand, or in your car, and at least one thing will always be smiling happily.
Overall on Packaging: Fallout 3 costs $50, ($60 for consoles) for just the core game, for $20 more, you can get the Collector's edition, which comes with all the above listed added goodies. For whatever system you have, this is one Collector's edition I recommend anyone pick up, as the swag that comes with the game well worth the extra money.
And now, the feature presentation...
Opening Statements: Fallout 3 is Bethesda's latest creation, their last game, being "The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion" was heralded as the best RPG (and by many places) the best game of 2006. Fallout 3 uses an upgraded engine, a new world, and a new combat system to play with. With all said and done, is Fallout 3 worthy of it's title, or just another spin-off or wanna-be?
Story: War... War never changes. In the year 2077, the world found out how devastating war can be, when in under two hours the planet's surface was blown away, creating a nuclear wasteland. It wasn't the end of the world, as some of the United States population hid in large underground vaults. On the outskirts of Washington D.C., lies Vault 101. It is here, you are born, where you learn to walk, where you receive your pip-boy 3000, where you find out your future. It is here, that you must escape from, find your father, and learn that war... war never changes.
Design: The premise is simple, you go through your first nineteen years of life in Vault 101 (which is the game's character creation mode), learn how the various systems work, and after that, you're released into an open world to explore at your leisure. There's a main quest to go on (which should take around 20 hours to complete) but there are a variety of side quests which, combined with the sheer amount of interesting stuff to see and do, can bring that adventure up to 100 hours of game-play. The side quests are all fairly long themselves, usually taking several steps and various ways to accomplish them. The game has an unique approach to combat, combining skill based combat with VATS (Vault-tec Assisted Targeting System) where at the press of the V key (default), will zoom in on an enemy and you can pick a body part, select how many times to shoot at that part (or target multiple shots, as determined by the AP on the lower right corner of the screen), press E, and you're treated to a 3rd person, cinematic view of the action in slow-mo. The game gives you the choice to be good or evil based on what actions/quest directions you take over the course of the game. Very few games give you this much bang for your buck.
Gameplay: The controls are almost exact to the ones found in Bethesda's previous game, "The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion." The only difference here, besides VATS control, is the switch of the space and E keys. Space now jumps, and E is action (by default). Combat, though slow (as this is NOT a shooter) at times is usually satisfying, and the VATS cut-scene like fight sequences are always a blast to watch. The pip-boy, Fallout 3's version of Oblivion's journal, basically controls in a similar way, though things are a bit better organized. One downside to the PC version, is the lists for bartering, the Pip-boy, and various other menus have text that is needless large on the system, obviously not changed from the console versions. The controls are tight, and the game is flat out fun to play. The game can draw you in when things click, like wandering around the wastelands in search of random things to explore. The game does have bugs, so it's not perfect, I've experienced on my old rig crashes every 2 hours or so, and that's it. I've seen the list of noted bugs, and I'm thankful I have not had most of them, so my view on the game is almost un-tainted by these bugs.
Presentation: For the sake of this review, this section will be broken up into two categories, Graphics, and Sound...
Graphics: This game is leaking at the scenes with atmosphere, every detail tuned to give you the feel you're walking through an old, totally destroyed world, and for the most part, it works, and works well. The random stuff you find is all neatly modeled and textured, from weapons, characters, buildings, to the lunch boxes and books. Some things will be recycled, but in a world like this you must expect such, but most areas are unique, and interesting to look at. The characters, for the most part, animate fairly well, better than Oblivion. The third person camera is useless in battle really, but is great for just wandering the wasteland for a cinematic flair. VATS battles are interesting, as, if you do enough damage you will see limbs fall off, heads explode (complete with flying eyes and things like that) that, for what they are, look well and add an over-the-top, almost humorous style to the violence. The art here screams Fallout, and it made the jump to 3d very well. This game is really impressive to look at from beginning to end.
Sound: Like the graphics, the sound leaks atmosphere as well. The sound effects are all appropriate for their weapons, footsteps, water, wind, underground, etc. In a surprise turn for Bethesda, the NPCs have greatly varied voices, with only a few that sound the same as others, this adds to the immersion as well, as you aren't finding two NPCs talking with the same voices to each other anymore. The script is usually fairly sharp and the voice performances get the job done in a believable manor. The musical score is also to that fine Bethesda quality, and fits the mood of the environments and situations well. The Pip-boy's radio also helps here, as it blasts quite a good selection of tunes from the 30s. The complaint here is not enough songs on said radio, and in a surprise move, the song "Dear hearts and gentle people" that plays in the trailer for the game (that has been pulled by the ESRB for reasons of which are not known to me) is not part of this radio play-list. Overall though the sound only enhances the experience that much more.
Final Thoughts: A franchise changing developers is rare, and usually ends up a failure. Fallout 3 has been coming in one form or another for ten years, and finally has been released. Bethesda has managed to bring out a game worthy of the Fallout line, and earns it's place in the numerical series. Though not perfect by any means, what's there is great by all standards. Don't dwell on the small things, and enjoy the game. Don't let your through-the-roof expectations ruin it either. Times change, and so does gaming, Fallout 3 has gone where it needed to go to keep the series alive and well, and all the better for it. Fallout is definitely going to be a nomination for Game of the Year this year.
Score:
Story: 8.4
Design: 9.3
Gameplay: 9.6
Graphics: 9.5
Sound: 9.7
Overall: 9.3