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Fallout 3

User Rating:

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/

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By: Jarno Kokko Nov 06, 2008

Performance

Minimum requirements of Fallout 3 are surprisingly low and you can actually play with something as ancient as Radeon X850 (yes, we tried). Of course you have to drop down the detail level to low, play at a low resolution and still get only about 20fps outdoors with draw distance so short that you might get shot by enemies that you can't see - but it's possible. In practice we cannot really advise playing like that.

YouGamers minimum system suggests a more modern video card (Radeon X1900 series or GeForce 8600 GT) as the practical minimum to allow you to bump the detail level to Medium for somewhat acceptable visuals. On the high end, you'll need a fast card to run the game at Ultra High, and even then you'll get some dips to sub-30fps in large open spaces from time to time, so the YouGamers recommended setup goes for Radeon HD 4850 or GeForce 9800 GTX(+) and you do get noticeable benefits with a faster card.

Low (outdoors).	Low (indoors) - runs on the publisher's minimum system but looks ugly.
Medium (outdoors) - playable on the YouGamers minimum system.	Medium (indoors) - note the greatly improved lighting.
High (outdoors) - note the added texture detail.	High (indoors) - runs fine on most modern systems.
Ultra High (outdoors) - mostly adds extra detail at distance.	Ultra High (indoors) - playable on the YouGamers recommended setup at 1920x1200.

You can play with a system that falls somewhere in between these two extremes, but you'll have to trade visual effects or resolution for acceptable framerate. Fallout 3 does run (in theory) with 1GB RAM, but in practice it gobbles up almost that much on it's own, so we cannot recommend playing without 2GB RAM.

Achievements

Fallout 3 also includes Games for Windows LIVE support. There is no online play but you can collect achievements just like with the XBox 360 version and the friends lists and other LIVE features are available while you play. It's still "old style" Games for Windows LIVE (a rumored upgrade to the LIVE interface on Windows should be coming with GTA IV) but at least it's all free these days - no monthly fees for Windows users.

Achievements also give you an additional incentive to explore the area for extra quests. You get only about 300 points for completing the main storyline and the bulk of the GamerScore is awarded from completion of optional quests. Achievements also entice you to replay the game differently as GamerScore is also awarded at level 8, 14 and 20 based on your karma - one achievement for Good, one for Bad and one for Neutral.