By Peter Walsh
War never changes, but consoles do, and with a skip and a jump comes Fallout 3 crashing into the current generation. To say that this game has been a long time coming would be a gross understatement, and in terms of ‘on-again/off-again’ production cycles it’s only outdone by Duke Nukem Forever. Thank the gods then that it’s a.) arrived and is b.) living up to expectations.
Set in a world gone rather a-wry, our history branched from that of Fallout back in 1950, and while we weathered the buffets of the Cold War the Fallout universe never did. Huge nuclear bunkers were built out of the paranoia of a pending nuclear holocaust, and sure enough when the bombs hit only the lucky survived. Born and raised in the underground village of Vault 101 your character is forced to leave the bunker to find his own way in a world scarred by the ravages of nuclear war.
Built on the engine of orc/rat/elf-slayer Oblivion, developers Bethesda have taken the lessons learnt from their previous fantasy epic to make one slick RPG-action game. Experience isn’t gained from hoping around on one foot, but from the simpler model of awarding experience points for successfully achieving stuff. Like killing, lying or perhaps even picking locks. Or if you’re of a more saintly inclination just for helping people.
Stats and ‘karma’ are definitely at the core of this game, and while ‘every action has a reaction’ the game isn’t quite as morally black and white as other RPGS. Conversations generally offer positive/neutral/negative options, yet for those with added charisma stats your powers of persuasion to get your merry way with things. Only the other day I convinced a druggy to kick his habit, and in gratitude for helping him back onto the straight and narrow he left me to ‘get rid of’ his stash of stat-enhancing substances. As it turns out I found them quite handy when I needed to clear a suburb of fire-breathing mutant ants.
Because that’s how things in Fallout 3 roll along. Whereas certain missions and side-quests in Oblivion could feel endlessly dissociated from everything else, events in Fallout 3 genuinely feel quite consequence laden. Sometimes in the short-term, affecting how you operate (eg. getting lots of drugs) or perhaps in the long-term (by helping someone else kick the habit).
Beyond corrupting and/or healing the community you encounter, the actual business of interacting with hostile characters and beasts is also tremendously rewarding. Melding the hack-n-slash action of Oblivion to the turn-based combat of Fallout 1&2, this third iteration makes use of the V.A.T.S. system. Not associated in anyway to consumer tax, this specialised targeting system freezes action and allows you to focus your assault on any one enemy, and any one of his/hers/its’ extremities. If you’re close enough you can try to debilitate them with a shot to the head, or maybe even crippling a limb or three. It may sound contrived, but it’s beautifully implemented and intuitive.
Action and interaction aside, the brilliance of the game is the vast world you’re left to explore and exploit. Taking the ‘ten’ graphics of Oblivion and just edging it up to ‘eleven’, the nuclear wasteland of Fallout 3 is tremendously realised and detailed. Like Bioshock, this game drops you into a distorted version of our own universe and not some contrived wizards and wands never-neverland of many moons ago.
Immense in its scale, the moral grey-zones of this game will have you coming back to it again and again, and that despite the first play-through holding a solid 50+ hours. It’ll remind of what RPG’s should be about; looting, killing and not actually finishing the storyline. Brilliant.
[Out of Five]
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