PlayExclusive: Fallout 3

Fallout 3 is an amazing addition to it's series, falling under the category of "3rd/1st person shooter RPG", a sometimes awkward, but throughly enjoyable genre.Set in the post apocalyptic future of 2277, you are among a group of survivors that have existed in an underground bomb shelter for over 200 years. Through a series of events, you are forced step out of the underground vault, in search of your father and into the open, irradiated world that was at one time, Central D.C. Of the U.S.A.

Everything is set in a (Post-apocalyptic) 40-50's Art Deco style, with fission powered cars, home helper robots, happy pictures and other amusing "world of the future" references gone wrong. The overall atmosphere is drab and desolate, but has some dark humor to cheer things up.

Most of what you'll be seeing in post Apocalyptia

Crisp graphics come in at 720p, and many of the games features and animations are reminiscent of Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. However, as soon as you leave the vault, and step onto the scenic outlook hill in front of the Vault entrance, and gaze out into the beautiful (albeit desolate) wasteland...

You can stare on for MILES and clearly see destroyed highways, burnt out towns, and other remains of a massive war. If you've played ES IV:O, you will instantly realize that this will be a totally different experience altogether.

The opening sequence lets you mold your character from the tried, tested and true “S.P.E.C.I.A.L.” Stat system, with each letter corresponding to a statistic each. That and 13 skills pertaining to different abilities, like weapon handling, or stealth and other areas of gameplay, make for a very customizable game depending on how you would like to play through. Whether as a beefy gunslinger with a handlebar mustache or a stealthy thief, the choice is yours.

A rich cast of characters bring the desolate world to life with some big name voice actors behind them, like Liam Neeson (Qui Gon - Star Wars Ep. 1) as James, the Main Characters Father, and Malcolm McDowell (Mr. Linderman - Heroes) as the voice of President of the USA. Sadly, like Oblivion, some voice actors have done multiple characters, making most generic characters sound alike, but it's certainly less noticeable this time around.

multiple characters, making most generic characters sound alike, but it's certainly less noticeable this time around.

The combat is duked out in real time, switchable from first or third person view. There's plenty of freedom to choose with your weapons placed into categories for close combat with Melee Weapons like the baseball bat or Unarmed (Brass knuckles and other dusters). And if that isn't your style there's plenty of ranged weapons to choose from, like Small Guns (pistols, shotguns), Big guns (Gatling guns and mini nuke launchers) and yes, even Laser Weapons.

Explosives like mines and grenades play small but explosive part in not only combat, but stealth as well. A well known tip amongst stealth oriented players, is to sneak up to unsuspecting enemies, pickpocket them and place a live explosive, like a grenade or mine, and watch the fireworks. It's a sure kill, and an entertaining alternative to the usual shootouts!

Though a shootout in the wasteland is a rush, the real gimmick in this game is the Vault-tec Assisted Targeting System or V.A.T.S. for short.

V.A.T.S. in action.

It allows you to slip into sort of a turn based combat system while in the heat of normal time battle, and sets up an interface that lets you select which target what body part, how many shots you would like to fire at said part, and in what order, all according to how many "Action Points" you have. This allows for not only a quick breather but also a degree of strategy in how you damage the enemy, like forcing them to drop their weapons by firing at their arms, or disabling their ability to charge at you by crippling one leg.

As satisfying as it is taking your enemies down piece by piece though, another carry over is the chance to have your enemies struck body parts to explode in a shower red paste. Fun, but it may be a bit much for casual gamers or small children.

I feel that the only issues with the combat system is the fact that when you press L1 to aim better at the target, it induces a small zoom, but annoyingly doesn't bring up iron sights to help line up the target. It's just a minor design choice, but it won't ruin your game.

Secondly, everything is set to auto aim. Although it's not dumb enough to target the wrong enemy, it sometimes forces all of your shots into a completely random direction, sometimes making even the weakest enemies very difficult to put down. Thankfully V.A.T.S. Eliminates the problem completely.

The entire game is a mish-mash of different gaming genres that, in each category, it does adequate. As a whole, however, it's got a driving story that MANY 1st person shooters lack, a decent 1st/3rd PV combat system that casual, RPG oriented gamers can find themselves comfortable with, an open world with many missions to complete, and a skill customization system that anyone could agree with. This is a game that almost any gamer, as long as you're not some hardcore 100%, FPS, RPG, or Fallout 1/2 purist, could get into.

As long as you don't mind a dark, gritty (drugs, alcohol, sexual content, overly violent content, general creepyness), and overall fun game, then Fallout 3 is most definitely worth a playthrough.

Fallout 3 is available at ETA Games @ Cineplex, The Mall Gadong.

Reviewed by Johar Aston, The LAG.

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