12. Fall Out 3 (2008) – PC
“I don’t want to set the world on fire. I just want to start a flame in your heart.” This 1941 song by The Ink plays as the game opens, the camera pans backwards out of the skeleton of a disintegrating bus, and we are shown the nuclear wasteland that once was Washington, D.C. This is the tone the game strives for, encapsulated here in the opening moments, a self-conscious self-criticism of society gone terribly wrong. That’s not to say the game is a spoof, it is deadly serious, but subtle wit and humor is scattered across the gameworld, giving the story some satirical depth.
The story begins much like Plato’s Analogy of the Cave. Because you get to name your own character, I named mine James. It’s a solid name and assists with the immersion. James is born in Vault 101, an underground bomb shelter that was designed to keep a population alive for hundreds of years, while waiting for nuclear fallout to dissipate. The first bit of confusion arose when I realized that my father is also named James (and played by Liam Neeson). Anyway, the idea here is that for some undetermined reason the shelter has been kept locked way longer than necessary, and civilization has been confined to the vault for generations. Vault 101, its teachings, philosophy, morality, and skills are all James knows until he turns 18. James, his father has left the vault mysteriously and disappeared, and now James, his son, most leave the confines of his world to track his father down. A lot more is at stake here than James initially realizes, but I will keep those secrets safe for now.
Having left the vault, there is a whole world to explore which is populated by thieves, bandits, lawmen, androids, giant insects, and mutants: people who have been exposed to absurd amounts of radiation and are grossly mutated. These mutants are an interesting character class, as they are, for the most part, peaceful people that are feared and subjugated by the normal folks. Racism analogy? All this life fits in naturally to the gargantuan environment, and all the origins of cities and settlements can be deeply explored and understood along the way. Part of the fun is in exploring the dilapidated cityscape. You will only discover the majority of locations by diverging from the main quest. Some of the highlights are a cavernous dwelling ran entirely by children, a mansion where a once-wealthy socialite looks after two attractive young ladies who are there at his pleasure, and a town held captive by a feud between a renegade army of robots and a man in an ant suit who commands an army of large, mutated critters.
There is so much attention to detail in this world that it is impossible not to become completely immersed. One of the first things you’ll notice is that your vault suit comes with a FM radio receiver, when you leave the vault you will pick up Enclave Radio: a station produced by the remains of the American government and hosted by a man (voiced by Malcolm McDowell) who claims to be the president. The broadcast is over-the-top patriotism filled with motivational monologues and marching music. More enjoyable is Galaxy New Radio, a station that plays a wide variety of oldies, all carrying apocalyptically-themed lyrics. The deejay reports wasteland news, constantly updated as you further your quest. If you are kind of an asshole, than the deejay will relay stories about how there is an escapee from Vault 101 who is terrorizing the innocent, but if you are nice and save people, you may be referred to as an avenger and savior. It’s a neat gimmick, and easily makes GNR my frequency of choice, although you will find many more stations along the journey.
The gameplay is filled with morality choices, some more difficult than others, that give a karma rating. This rating influences how characters react to you throughout the wasteland and will give you multiple endings predicated upon your actions. The first major dilemma you encounter is in Megaton, a town constructed around an undetonated atom bomb. It just sits in a pool of radioactive waste at the center of the town; while some gather around to pray, others just ignore it. A shady character approaches you and solicits you to detonate the bomb, killing everyone in town. You are promised plentiful rewards for this despicable deed, but on the other hand, you can choose to disarm the bomb and win the admiration of Megaton’s townsfolk. It goes without saying that detonating the bomb results in a rather steep drop to your karma rating.
You can treat the action like a first-person shooter, but that would be a crime because Fallout 3 has a truly unique and gloriously more graphic way to retire enemies. It’s called the V.A.T.S. system. You simply pause time, choose which area of the enemy’s body to target, and then resume for an automatic, slow-motion beat-down. You can sever limbs, decapitate, or eviscerate any enemy with fantastically bloody explicitness. This is half the fun.
The main journey may not be as epic as other RPGs, but like most RPGs the real fun is in exploring the gameworld. Few games could ever hope to meet the high standards that Fallout 3 sets in this regard. There is so much to do, so much to see, and so many people and creatures to meet that you can’t help but admire the work that must have gone in, even at the conceptual stage, to make it all work. This game took 3 years to make, six times longer than most movies. It’s nice to see that all that work paid off brilliantly.
“I don’t want to set the world on fire. I just want to start a flame in your heart.” This 1941 song by The Ink plays as the game opens, the camera pans backwards out of the skeleton of a disintegrating bus, and we are shown the nuclear wasteland that once was Washington, D.C. This is the tone the game strives for, encapsulated here in the opening moments, a self-conscious self-criticism of society gone terribly wrong. That’s not to say the game is a spoof, it is deadly serious, but subtle wit and humor is scattered across the gameworld, giving the story some satirical depth.
The story begins much like Plato’s Analogy of the Cave. Because you get to name your own character, I named mine James. It’s a solid name and assists with the immersion. James is born in Vault 101, an underground bomb shelter that was designed to keep a population alive for hundreds of years, while waiting for nuclear fallout to dissipate. The first bit of confusion arose when I realized that my father is also named James (and played by Liam Neeson). Anyway, the idea here is that for some undetermined reason the shelter has been kept locked way longer than necessary, and civilization has been confined to the vault for generations. Vault 101, its teachings, philosophy, morality, and skills are all James knows until he turns 18. James, his father has left the vault mysteriously and disappeared, and now James, his son, most leave the confines of his world to track his father down. A lot more is at stake here than James initially realizes, but I will keep those secrets safe for now.
Having left the vault, there is a whole world to explore which is populated by thieves, bandits, lawmen, androids, giant insects, and mutants: people who have been exposed to absurd amounts of radiation and are grossly mutated. These mutants are an interesting character class, as they are, for the most part, peaceful people that are feared and subjugated by the normal folks. Racism analogy? All this life fits in naturally to the gargantuan environment, and all the origins of cities and settlements can be deeply explored and understood along the way. Part of the fun is in exploring the dilapidated cityscape. You will only discover the majority of locations by diverging from the main quest. Some of the highlights are a cavernous dwelling ran entirely by children, a mansion where a once-wealthy socialite looks after two attractive young ladies who are there at his pleasure, and a town held captive by a feud between a renegade army of robots and a man in an ant suit who commands an army of large, mutated critters.
There is so much attention to detail in this world that it is impossible not to become completely immersed. One of the first things you’ll notice is that your vault suit comes with a FM radio receiver, when you leave the vault you will pick up Enclave Radio: a station produced by the remains of the American government and hosted by a man (voiced by Malcolm McDowell) who claims to be the president. The broadcast is over-the-top patriotism filled with motivational monologues and marching music. More enjoyable is Galaxy New Radio, a station that plays a wide variety of oldies, all carrying apocalyptically-themed lyrics. The deejay reports wasteland news, constantly updated as you further your quest. If you are kind of an asshole, than the deejay will relay stories about how there is an escapee from Vault 101 who is terrorizing the innocent, but if you are nice and save people, you may be referred to as an avenger and savior. It’s a neat gimmick, and easily makes GNR my frequency of choice, although you will find many more stations along the journey.
The gameplay is filled with morality choices, some more difficult than others, that give a karma rating. This rating influences how characters react to you throughout the wasteland and will give you multiple endings predicated upon your actions. The first major dilemma you encounter is in Megaton, a town constructed around an undetonated atom bomb. It just sits in a pool of radioactive waste at the center of the town; while some gather around to pray, others just ignore it. A shady character approaches you and solicits you to detonate the bomb, killing everyone in town. You are promised plentiful rewards for this despicable deed, but on the other hand, you can choose to disarm the bomb and win the admiration of Megaton’s townsfolk. It goes without saying that detonating the bomb results in a rather steep drop to your karma rating.
You can treat the action like a first-person shooter, but that would be a crime because Fallout 3 has a truly unique and gloriously more graphic way to retire enemies. It’s called the V.A.T.S. system. You simply pause time, choose which area of the enemy’s body to target, and then resume for an automatic, slow-motion beat-down. You can sever limbs, decapitate, or eviscerate any enemy with fantastically bloody explicitness. This is half the fun.
The main journey may not be as epic as other RPGs, but like most RPGs the real fun is in exploring the gameworld. Few games could ever hope to meet the high standards that Fallout 3 sets in this regard. There is so much to do, so much to see, and so many people and creatures to meet that you can’t help but admire the work that must have gone in, even at the conceptual stage, to make it all work. This game took 3 years to make, six times longer than most movies. It’s nice to see that all that work paid off brilliantly.
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