I'll admit, that previously I've been drawn to games with a fairly linear gameplay style. Not linear in the way that there's only one single path and it can only be traversed one way, but linear in the way that the game can baby you and keep you on the right track, even if you're given a decent scope to explore.
Well it turns out that I was just looking for the right massive, open game. Because here you're free to be your own man. Sure, you can tackle the main quest and it's decent. But the real treat is the exploration. There's a positively huge world to explore, and even more underground.
Lets say you have some kind of vendetta against the raiders. They roam the Wastes, pillaging like metal-head versions of pirates, and you don't like them. Maybe out of strong sense of justice, or maybe one of them just looked at you funny. Well feel free to wander around, picking them off from on-high with a rifle, sneaking in to set up mines before tossing in a grenade to stir up some carnage, or put on your power armor and run in, guns blazing.
There's a big town, the first one you're likely to come across, with an undetonated atomic bomb sitting in the middle. You can take it on as a mission from the town sheriff to disarm it, or have the mysterious Mister Burke rope you in to rigging it up to blow. And you're fully capable of doing so, climbing to the top of Tenpenny Tower, and watching the mushroom cloud in the distance as you vaporize the city, and all its residences. It's all up to you. Scurge of the wastes, savior, or anywhere in between. Get into the slave trade business, or shoot your way through the traders' encampment and free the slaves.
The only legitimate complaints I know of for the game are the controls with the VATS targeting system, but you don't even really have to use it. In fact it's often better and more fun not to. Sometimes the game doesn't even feel like an RPG. Sometimes it's an action game, sometimes it's a shooter, but it's always an adventure.
The graphics are... terrific. Sure everyhing's grainy and brown and dark and bleak. But somehow it manages to be pretty anyway. Everything might be ugly, but it's ugly in a really good looking way. I'm trying to think of a celebrity to use as an example, but feel that would be in bad tastes.
The facial animations can tend to be a little robotic, but the voice acting is top-notch and lively, from everyone. And in a game with so much dialog, that's very welcome.
Speaking of sound, I was surprised to end up really loving the soundtrack. And I don't mean the ominous background tracks made for atmosphere, but the 1940s hits played from the game's "Galaxy News Radio". I, being a youngster, never even heard any of this music. But after having it as a constant companion in my fares across the Wastes I grew to love it.
My first time through Fallout 3 I played for over 60 hours, and didn't even do everything (keep in mind I did add four of the add-on packs). And just a few days ago I started a new file.
Speaking of add-on packs, there are five. Broken Steel, Mothership Zeta, Point Lookout, The Pitt, and Operation: Anchorage. Personally, I found Operation Anchorage to be boring and linear. The Pitt was similar, but with a better story and an uglier world to explore. Point Lookout is a valuable addition. And Broken Steel continues the main story and raises the level cap. I haven't played Mothership Zeta, so I can't comment. But I only recommend Broken Steel and Point Lookout (which are offered together on a buyable disc if you don't have access to XBOX Live). The standalone Fallout 3 is the most powerful and by comparison the add-ons fall short in general.
But in all, I found Fallout 3 to be a fantastic game, in my top-ten list of all time. And in a game-playing career of somewhere around fourteen years, that's saying something. If you're on the fence about whether or not to buy, I'd say buy.
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eddie Memes
Muy bueno
Reviewed in Mexico on May 15, 2020
eddie Memes
Reviewed in Mexico on May 15, 2020
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Thomas
Il gioco non è in italiano e non è possibile modificare la lingua
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Hands down, best single-player game I've ever played
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