A whole lot world thats missing a little bit of emotional appeal, but nonetheless a game worth its asking price!
This game offers something new that most games have not done yet. That is creating a world where not only can you interact with every object and person around you, but it is a total harsh wasteland where the unexpect is expected in a world that is plaqued with radiation. The game is the GTA IV of sci-fii action games, but this time not cars, just your wits and your acquired skills, and maybe a dog and a 'ghoul' for safe keeping. The game does a good job at making you feel vulnerable to mutant ants, scorpians, zombies, human wolf dogs, etc. The games variety in monsters is quite overwhelming and welcome because each thing has it own characteristic which makes it seem so much crazier than next type of monster until you finally meet that 'other' monster. Image trying to kill a million ants the size of your sister to end up fighting a queen ant the size of Europe in real life. If you rather not, but want to see what it feel likes, this game offers it. Unlike Dead Space and Resistance 2, the in game soundtrack is not that strong, but it is enought to an atmosphere that is full of confusion and disparity. The best thing this game does is offer you limitless ways at completing the main agenda, which is finding you father. Just like in real life, if you are dropped some where new and vast, getting lost is easy until you get help from local people. This games does a good job at creating that "I'm lost, but I will continue my journey" feel. I love being able to have a conversation with any one about anything. You can be good or bad and it will affect your story and people around. Fighting monster in abadoned train stations were the hightlights of this game because they are just creepy and actually feel scary in a world that is supposed to be scary. I think the thing this game did outstanding was create a world that feels real. You can interact with everything and everyone. There are just a million towns to explore. Some are caves, train stations, abadoned cities, lively cities, etc. The game has so much going on inside of this game that it will blow you away. You can interact with every thing and everyone. Finally in a game if some character gets on my nerves I can just kill him, but of course it will mess up the game progress, but at least I have the choice. The graphics are top notch especially for a game of this type. Definiately on the level of Dead Space considering this game is as big a GTA with the addition of load times, but that is not a big deal. The story is quiet interesting and learning the in-depth truth about the wasteland is a nice experience. The way you play the game is up to you.
Now a game like this can not be perfect. First the shooting system is just boring and long with the VATS system. Without using this as an aiming system, hitting an enemy accurately is far from perfect. It does not make since that a shot gun blow to the face does blow someone heads off immediately. Another thing is the characters move so unreal and slow on this game that it begins to feel like a game, but it is not that bad, but then again you do not need that in a game like this. Another thing is ammo is always low until the middle and end and it can be very hard to find your father when people have you performing a lot of missions, that send you clear cross the world and back fighting every monster from your nightmares, so you can find out information about where he "might" be. An the game can be quiet dry at times because running to one location to the next is quite lonely until you have to fight mutant dogs, etc which do not die from one hit, but one hundred fifty. This is a joke, but at the same time it is a inconvience and strategy becomes key, but it takes so long that you just do not really care anymore. Another thing is this game does not feel as scary as it should be, but more or less just a game with mutants running around that want you dead and you either have to stay out their way or kill them. No Dead Space feel at all, but like I said, the game does a great job at creating a abadoned and lonely and sometimes creepy atmosphere.
The game overall is worth a buy, instead of rent, due to the fact that their is just so much to do from disarming bombs to saving kids from slave owners to killing giant ants. The game is all over the place which is it best quality, but sometimes the expansive landscape and game world road blocks make free roaming long, boring and annoying at times. But nonetheless, if the game had more emotional appeal and better combat, it would be trully perfect, but compared to most of the games on the market, this is definitely a perfect game. Spoiler Ahead if you have not played the game: When I saw my father die in the game, I can say I did not feel a thing because my charater did not react to it and there was no real dramatic music to show something sad had happened. It just felt like something happened and now it was time to move along in the story and complete the mission. Fallout 3 can learn a finger or two from a game such as MGS 4. Besides that, Fallout 3 is a reward I have never experienced in gaming, and I have played alot of good games.
Actual Score: 9.6