Fun and Profit in a Post-Apocalyptic Wasteland

So, I borrowed Fallout 3 from a friend and have been spending the, oh, last nine days wandering through it. I must say that my venture through the Capital Wasteland has been rather fun and enjoyable. Only got stuck in places a couple of times, but fast travel helped fix that, had a single freeze up, and then had that stupid stuck button bug kill my right stick, which made things really interesting.

All-in-all, I found the game to be a well-done example of a western-style RPG and I want more. The DLC will be very welcome. I'll probably end up buying the DLC for this like I did for Mass Effect and Lost Odyssey despite not having the game.

Likes:
V.A.T.S. - It's a pretty cool system that I find to be particularly nice, especially when I get close-up head shots with the shotgun, head go boom! Definately a nice system that would be cool to see something similar in other games.

The Wasteland - It's massive, the sheer amount of places I could go were really, really awesome. Over 100 locations that can be discovered made the game really, really great. And, despite the fact a lot of places looked pretty similar, they were all just a little bit different in the way they had decayed or had been changed by those who survived.

Voices - What can I say, I'm a fan of Malcom McDowel and Liam Nieson and I happened to love the parts they had. In general, all the voice work was done very well and there weren't any voices that I really hated. About the only one that started to annoy me was Moira. Much like Mass Effect this game is a game that should be used as an example of how cast your voice actors.

Liberty Prime - Yeah, it's kind of a silly mention but the robot was freakin' hilarious for his entire part of that missiomission.

Dislikes:
What's Emotion? - While I loved the general story it just seemed kinda, well, flat. I can't really put my thumb on it but the thing was just kinda... emotionless in some parts. Things mattered but everyone pretty much reacted to everything in a fairly even way. Even at the end, I picked the sacrifice, the emotion there was muted and it was kinda, well, annoying.

Limited Inventory - Yeah, I know that the limited inventory makes for a more strategic selection of what you take with you but, to be completely honest, it became a real hassle, especially considering that your armor, especially the power armor, fits into that equation. I liked how the Ammo didn't matter unless it was grenades or mines but if I equip a set of armor I don't want it to count against me for inventory space, especially the freakin' power armor because that stuff should, logically, be able to carry itself when you're wearing it.


At the beginning of the game, I was very much a Fallout virgin. I had heard about the games in the past but wasn't all that interested in them at the time, I was also quite a bit younger when they were released too. Fallout 3 captured my attention in a way a few games have, Mass Effect being one of them, and I'm quite happy to have played it. While there are nitpicky things about the game that did bother me a bit I'm quite pleased with the game overall and feel that it is well worth a play. I'll definately get Operation Anchorage and The Pitt when I can and am happily anticipationg Broken Steel whenever it is released.