Fallout 3 (Xbox 360)

Lastly, it’s a post apocalyptic world out there so it’s not like Oblivion where every NPC is almost the same. There are plenty of unique characters waiting to be discovered and you’re going to have to keep a close eye on the condition of your armour and weapons if you want to survive. Fortunately a high enough repair skill is a life saver and can allow you to repair your equipment by using parts from another weapon/armour of a similar type.

Bethesda have crafted a stark and beautiful post apocalyptic world with Fallout 3, placed numerous hidden locations (including their own offices) and stacked them with refuse, hand-placed trash and every underground dungeon/building has something to discover even if it is a new form of monster to vent your aggressions upon. The character graphics are much better than Oblivion and this new iteration of their engine has shown just what Bethsoft are capable of when they truly put their minds to it.

The exterior location of the Capital Wasteland is an incredibly atmospheric place that has been carefully constructed, it’s broken, desolate and there are the occasional settlements and remnants of life that cling to the surface of this post atomic nightmare. Settlements like Megaton, built around an unexploded atom bomb and that serves as your first true safe zone in the game when you’re out of Vault 101. The graphics for the exteriors and the interiors are loaded with atmosphere and grungy design.

The textures and the lighting are excellent; they really bring to life the broken world of Fallout 3. Bethesda have delivered on the graphical front in spades, the character design and animation are leagues ahead of the engine’s humble Oblivion roots and it feels like a much bigger game both in terms of scope and creation. There’s a real sense of wonder when you gaze out across the wasteland for the first time and a feeling of immersion as a slight pang of fear sets in, just where do you go?

Fortunately all of your information is tracked by the Pip-Boy 3000, an arm mounted device that lets you interact with your in-game menus. Manage your health (restore crippled limbs), see how many Rads you’ve accumulated and use your inventory items. It has quest notes, maps and is constantly updated when new information becomes available. It also functions as a light and is an invaluable tool when you become lost in this massive post-apocalyptic rpg.

It can also be used as a radio, once you’ve found the right signal. The radio stations cunningly bring me onto my bit about the game’s audio and music. The Fallout 3 score is epic in scope and has some perfectly designed audio segments that really work with the various locations. It becomes tense and forbidding when you enter an underground location in the game. Megaton has a kind of wild-west theme to it and the Capital Wasteland is full of trepidation. I just hope there’s a stand-alone score to this game since it deserves it.

Then there’s the in-game radio dialogue, which perhaps repeats a few times too many with various comments from the one DJ: Stray Dog. The music is perfectly chosen however and with tracks like Butcher Pete and I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire playing along as you explore, you can’t help but smile. The voice acting is much better than Oblivion and Bethesda have managed to get acting talents like Liam Neeson (as your father) and Ron Pearlman (narrating the start) along with Malcolm McDowell (President Eden) and few others to do great roles. Add to this the extremely well crafted ambient and spot sound effects, weapon sound effects and you have a perfect audio package.

Fallout 3 suffers from a few odd glitches however; it has a few lock-ups and crashes now and then. It has long loading times in some places. The save system makes up for it, since it’s quick and fast to save and load a game respectively. I recommend until Beth fixes these problems, save frequently and save often. All in all though, Fallout 3 is an incredibly deep and open-ended game which allows you to play the kind of character that you want, every action has a consequence and there’s more than one way to actually solve most of the quests.

It’s a worthy addition to the Fallout series in every way.