Sat 27 Aug 2011
Playstation
Fallout 3 Review
Fallout 3 is a finely tuned masterpiece that draws a number of parallels with games like World of Warcraft and Bathesda’s very own Elder Scrolls game, delivering fusing the ever popular free roaming experience with a more realistic and terrifyingly plausible reality, nuclear Fallout. What has made the Fallout franchise so fascinating and so popular is it vividly portrays what was once a very plausible outcome of human dissent and in many ways still is in a very realistic and believable way. Fallout 3 is a free roaming game in which your choices and actions affect not only the dystopian world in which you are a part of but your entire playing experience. For instance if you help somebody out or perform an action to the benefit of an NPC, you will receive good Karma and people will like you, likewise if you partake in something such as cannibalism you’ll get bad Karma and people won’t help you, they may even attack you. Fallout 3 is a truly interactive game and everything you do in Fallout will affect your overall playing experience.
Although Fallout 3 has an engaging story that could easily become a Hollywood film (*hint *hint, I’m talking to you Hollywood), this is an a RPG game and part of the appeal of any RPG is watching your character progress and grow throughout the game. Bethesda's Fallout 3 mechanics and engine are far simpler than its other equally polished franchise Marrowind. What you’ll notice first is unlike Fallout 3’s predecessors the default camera mode in this game is First person as opposed to the Diabloisque bird’s eye view camera that the previous Fallout games had, you can still however zoom out to a third person view if that is your preference. One of the coolest new aspects of this game is what is abbreviated as the V.A.T.S – the Vault tec Assisted Targeting system which allows you to select a body part of your choice and witness your enemies limbs go flying across the screen as your bullet flies out in slow motion. The mechanic is both original and very well implemented. Despite the fact that many players will relish in the depictions of their enemy’s being shot at, I personally found the mechanic took away from the realism of real time gameplay but keep in mind I’m not a fan of turn-based RPG’s either, more fond of the real time hack a slash.
Fallout is very impressive visually, the environments are all finely detailed, the character models as well as the character variations are simply astounding, extraordinarily diversified to the point where they feel almost human. Each character has distinct mannerisms. You never feel like two characters are alike or your just talking with programmed characters. However where Bathesda could have done a better job is with the way the characters move, when running the characters kind of ridiculous, almost like they’re gliding across the map, their footsteps don’t appear to land on the ground so it looks like they’re hovering towards you . Also I did find that there were occasional camera faults, most notably when you’re accompanied by a computer controlled ally. Also despite Fallout 3’s colossal size the game doesn’t offer enough variety in terms of the enemies that are available, not only is this a game where you’ll generally only fight a small amount of enemies at a time but all the enemies you fight tend to take the same linear and stupid approaches to battle. Ie. They charge at you, despite the fact that you have a gun, so unfortunately the combat does become redundant and doesn’t feel particularly next gen.
Although Fallout has a few faulty mechanics and minor technical issues, the huge sophisticated world will keep you hooked regardless and the game feels like a very polished FPS shooter. Characters occasionally run a thin line bordering on funny and just plain raunchy adding to the post apocalyptic, anarchic, anything goes sort of feel. The game is riddled with hedonistic overtones that are often associated with the collapse of societal mores and norms. Some of the quests were just plain twisted and you really got that sense of degeneracy within this post apocalyptic environment.
Fallout 3 does a good job of getting across that feeling of isolation and loneliness, despite the existence of other characters who are also experiencing the same aftermath as you are. However IT doesn’t glorify nucleur fallout rather depicts the ruined world as a bleak and terrifying wasteland, it does however contain a lot of darker humour and features brief Cold War mock nuclear fallout commercials. Fallout 3 manages to retain an overall solemn and sincere feel while maintaining a humorous overtone. Whatever minor faults Fallout 3 has aren’t particularly relevant nor will they deter fans of the game from enjoying it. Fallout 3 is a powerful and solid game that succeeds at translating the classic Fallout franchise to the PS3. This is not a game you want to overlook.
Rating – 94%
Pros:
very impressive visually, the environments are all finely detailed
Diverse and believable characters
Plenty of depth will keep you playing for hours on end
Cons:
The enemies are very repetitive and all attack in much the same way
Characters look like they’re floating or gliding when they’re moving towards you.
Although Fallout 3 has an engaging story that could easily become a Hollywood film (*hint *hint, I’m talking to you Hollywood), this is an a RPG game and part of the appeal of any RPG is watching your character progress and grow throughout the game. Bethesda's Fallout 3 mechanics and engine are far simpler than its other equally polished franchise Marrowind. What you’ll notice first is unlike Fallout 3’s predecessors the default camera mode in this game is First person as opposed to the Diabloisque bird’s eye view camera that the previous Fallout games had, you can still however zoom out to a third person view if that is your preference. One of the coolest new aspects of this game is what is abbreviated as the V.A.T.S – the Vault tec Assisted Targeting system which allows you to select a body part of your choice and witness your enemies limbs go flying across the screen as your bullet flies out in slow motion. The mechanic is both original and very well implemented. Despite the fact that many players will relish in the depictions of their enemy’s being shot at, I personally found the mechanic took away from the realism of real time gameplay but keep in mind I’m not a fan of turn-based RPG’s either, more fond of the real time hack a slash.
Fallout is very impressive visually, the environments are all finely detailed, the character models as well as the character variations are simply astounding, extraordinarily diversified to the point where they feel almost human. Each character has distinct mannerisms. You never feel like two characters are alike or your just talking with programmed characters. However where Bathesda could have done a better job is with the way the characters move, when running the characters kind of ridiculous, almost like they’re gliding across the map, their footsteps don’t appear to land on the ground so it looks like they’re hovering towards you . Also I did find that there were occasional camera faults, most notably when you’re accompanied by a computer controlled ally. Also despite Fallout 3’s colossal size the game doesn’t offer enough variety in terms of the enemies that are available, not only is this a game where you’ll generally only fight a small amount of enemies at a time but all the enemies you fight tend to take the same linear and stupid approaches to battle. Ie. They charge at you, despite the fact that you have a gun, so unfortunately the combat does become redundant and doesn’t feel particularly next gen.
Although Fallout has a few faulty mechanics and minor technical issues, the huge sophisticated world will keep you hooked regardless and the game feels like a very polished FPS shooter. Characters occasionally run a thin line bordering on funny and just plain raunchy adding to the post apocalyptic, anarchic, anything goes sort of feel. The game is riddled with hedonistic overtones that are often associated with the collapse of societal mores and norms. Some of the quests were just plain twisted and you really got that sense of degeneracy within this post apocalyptic environment.
Fallout 3 does a good job of getting across that feeling of isolation and loneliness, despite the existence of other characters who are also experiencing the same aftermath as you are. However IT doesn’t glorify nucleur fallout rather depicts the ruined world as a bleak and terrifying wasteland, it does however contain a lot of darker humour and features brief Cold War mock nuclear fallout commercials. Fallout 3 manages to retain an overall solemn and sincere feel while maintaining a humorous overtone. Whatever minor faults Fallout 3 has aren’t particularly relevant nor will they deter fans of the game from enjoying it. Fallout 3 is a powerful and solid game that succeeds at translating the classic Fallout franchise to the PS3. This is not a game you want to overlook.
Rating – 94%
Pros:
very impressive visually, the environments are all finely detailed
Diverse and believable characters
Plenty of depth will keep you playing for hours on end
Cons:
The enemies are very repetitive and all attack in much the same way
Characters look like they’re floating or gliding when they’re moving towards you.
