Fallout 3
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ESRB:
Blood and Gore,Intense Violence,Sexual Themes,Strong Language,Use of Drugs
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks Genre(s): Role Playing Game Home Page: http://fallout.bethsoft.com/
The Story So FarFallout 3 is set in the Capitol Wastelands, what's left of Washington D.C. and it's suburbs. 200 years has passed since the bombs fell and while the city has been reduced to ruins, there is a thriving society of sorts living in the area. Not that you know about any of it in the beginning as you start out in Vault 101, a self-sustaining bomb shelter with a society of it's own, living it's own life sealed off from the evils of the ruined world outside. But let's not get too far ahead... you start from the beginning. In fact, Fallout 3 starts from the beginning of your character - literally. Initial baby steps teach you the basics of the UI and as the story fast-fowards through your early years, you grow up and learn the important bits about the Vault you live in. As you get old enough to be considered a full member of the society you also get your very own Vault-Tec Pip-Boy 3000.
Character creation is nicely tied to the early bits of the storyline and you get to build your character by taking the G.O.A.T. or Generalized Occupational Aptitude Test, with an option to override the results of the multiple-choice test should you want to roll a specific type of character. As you gain levels, you can allocate points to a number of skills and select perks that give you special bonuses and abilities. Main stats don't really change, except via perks, but that's not really an issue - your character is mostly defined by your skills anyway. It's a Dangerous World Out There Megaton - the local hub next to Vault 101, complete with a dud nuclear bomb worshiped by the local church. I'd hate to spoil anything about the excellent storyline, but obviously you will soon end up outside the idealistic world of Vault 101 and have to start roaming around the Capitol Wastelands in search of your father who has left the Vault. The initial storyline to find your dad takes you through the major bits of the game world and introduces you to numerous side stories that you are free to follow or ignore. What impressed me most is the fact that many of these are linked, and seamlessly react to whatever you choose to actually do. Almost every step of virtually every quest has at least two ways to resolve the storyline. There is the obviously good and the obviously evil way, but more importantly in most cases there are multiple ways to get what you need for the storyline. Some are just dialogue choices while some offer you wildly varying ways to proceed. As an example, you are sent to investigate a local supermarket (well, what's left of it). You can just skip the trip and lie that you went there, you can sneak in and bypass all the Raiders infesting the place and grab the stuff you came for and return, never firing a shot, or you can just go bonkers and shoot everything to teeny bits - and even then you have an option to hack the local security terminal and (ab)use the dormant security droid to do part of the dirty work for you.
Almost every place has an optional trick or two involving locks, computer terminals or stealthy movement. In some cases you need to find a key or a terminal password - unless your skill is high enough to just override the obstacle. Killing is also often a choice - you can play just fine as an obsessive murderer, resorting to violence as the solution. Alternatively you can try to emulate a saint and only shoot the evil mutants and help everyone else with all their little problems. Sometimes the choice between good and bad isn't obvious and shades of gray in the story can be seen. The freedom to do almost anything you want is very impressive and it's hard to resist the urge to constantly reload old saves and re-try different solutions to the problems you face. In some cases the end result differs only slightly, in others you can get a completely different result and reward. All this gives Fallout 3 some much-needed replayability. The Ruins Of Washington D.C.
 Only way to travel to most of the places in the actual city area is by the complex subway system. When you get to the actual ruins of the city, at first it's easy to get lost in the maze that is the partially collapsed subway system, but once you figure out how the local map and compass indicator provided by the Pip-Boy 3000 works, it's easy to reach your destination - just set the quest you are trying to complete, make sure you can find an indicator on the local map showing where you should go to reach your destination and then follow the indicator on the compass to find your way through the maze. It can get frustrating if you ignore the help Pip-Boy 3000 can give you, so you should take the time to figure the system out. Once you have done the trip once, you can always return instantly by using the fast travel option on the world map - just click your destination on the Pip-Boy 3000 and assuming you are outdoors and there are no enemies near you, you'll instantly travel there. It's actually nice to have an area to explore that takes a while to figure out and you always have the compass system in case you actually can't find your way.
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