Geek vs Life

So, I’ve been wrapped up in RPGs for longer than I can remember. Games like The Shin Megami Tensei and the Final Fantasy series make my heart go all aflutter. Therefore, you should believe me when I say that Fallout 3 being one of the better RPGs I’ve played in a long time says something. Now yes, I am willing to accept that it is just a post-apocalyptic version of the Elder Scrolls series, but honestly, what the heck else do you need? However, aside from a really cool story and a well set up system of play, there are a few pitfalls that Bethesda snuck in here again.

Let’s start with the pitfalls, since is never fun to build someone up just to break them down. (Worst of all, you never call baby when you say you will… say you will) First and foremost, there is an issue with glitches. Now, everyone who has the next gen systems, and is worth their gamer score, has played Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion. Of course, everyone who did noticed the annoying fact that if you stepped behind the wrong piece of scenery wearing the wrong kind of armor or holding the wrong weapon, got stuck in a frustrating bubble where time stops and you don’t get to move anymore. Inevitably, you are also in the middle of some ridiculously long quest and you just happen to be ALMOST to the end. This happens and it results in thrown controllers and broken flat-screens. You’d think after Oblivion’s released in 2006 and all the critics bashing the glitches, they’ve fixed some of them. Is it as bad? No, but one place in particular to watch out for it is in Rivet City, between the two decks, you’ll know it when you get there. My only other problem is was due to the game’s size, load times can be kind of a pain. The black screen glitch also rears its ugly head in both the 360 and PS3 versions. This is where you are in the middle of loading the game freezes under its own weight, and again with the controller throwing.

Other than that and another few small annoyances, the game is pretty solid. The story is awe inspiring, and the characters, though they are kind of one dimensional most of the time, have a lot of great moments hidden in the dialogue trees. My favorite part is how they work the tutorial segments in to the story. See, in most games, they attach a flimsy way of showing how the controls work with the ever useful floating text boxes. Now this game has those too, but it builds the whole thing as a “first-few-years” of life set-up. When you’re born and you pick your face, your “father” explains to the “mother” that they can show her what her son or daughter will look like; learning how to walk and interact happens when you are a year old; and the social aspects show up when you are having a birthday party. To be quite frank… it’s really neat. I know that this statement is a little 1950’s but that’s life.

All and all if asked what I thought of Fallout 3, on a scale of 1 to 10, I would ask you to stop tying down games into numbers and actually just play them. However, this is a review so I’ll give it an 8.5. Game of the year 2008? Maybe not. Game of the Month for October? Definitely. Oh, and special mention to the PS3 for having better shadows, shading, lower load times (though not by much), AI that is better than I am, and draw distance.