Fallout 3 - Who knew the end of the world would be so much fun? (Fallout 3 (PC))

Member Name: Dejavudreams

Product:	Fallout 3 (PC)
Date:	09/01/09 (28 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Huge, seamless, beautiful world to explore. An FPS, RPG, strategy etc all in one package

Disadvantages: Takes a fairly modern, powerful PC to enjoy to the maximum

Bethesda Softworks have a reputation for going beyond the realms of possibility when creating their games. Morrowind was one of the biggest and most immersive games ever created. Oblivion went beyond even that. Has Fallout 3 managed to surpass these two masterpieces of open-world gameplay? Most certainly.

If you enjoy exploring vast, seamless, beautifully detailed worlds, Fallout 3 does not disappoint. If shooting things with big guns is your thing, Fallout 3 will satisfy you. If you prefer story-driven content and the ability to shape your own destiny, Fallout 3 has it covered. If you like games at all, Fallout 3 should be your next purchase. Even if you don't, give it a try anyway.

There is simply so much to do in this game, it's hard knowing where to start. Although there is a definite storyline here, following it should not be your only goal. If you do so, chances are you'll miss out on 90% of the effort put into this game. Instead of heading straight out of the vault you've been holed up in since your birth and following in your estranged father's footsteps, explore a little. You won't regret it.

My silly examples of the possibilities made available within this game are:

- Go digging through buildings and see what you can find. You may find a skeleton in a strange position, with clues as to why scattered throughout an old house. Similarly, you might find some useful loot in a random toilet bowl. You just won't know until you try.

- Climb up to a high spot and simply enjoy the view (while perhaps admiring the sheer graphical quality of the textures and meshes within this game) before jumping to your death.

- Play a character who specialises in big guns and go around shooting everything that moves, whether good or bad.

- Or specialise in computer hacking and lockpicking and go noseying through things and places you shouldn't.

The options really are endless, and perhaps the best part of Fallout 3, as illustrated above, is that you can make it into your own game, and take the elements of computer games that you enjoy and embrace them in the beautiful yet deadly wasteland of Washington DC, in absolutely any way you please. And this is precisely what I intend to do when I finish this review.

Although you should probably check the systems requirements closely before purchasing Fallout 3, as it requires a rather hefty system to be enjoyed fully, purchase it you most definitely should.

Summary: Bethesda does it once again.