Post on 12-Jun-2018
Fallout3
-Review By Thomas O’Hara | 26th October 2011
Concept Art Image taken from http://www.videogamesblogger.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/fallout-wallpaper-8-1680x1050.jpg
Publisher
Developer
Platform
Released
Bethesda Softworks
Bethesda Games Studios
PC, XBOX360, PlayStation 3 30th October 2008
This concept art image portrays the ruins of
one of the still surviving cities called ‘Rivet
City’ that is set in side of the air craft carrier
stranded in the Washington River that are
around in the wastelands of Fallout 3’s world
allout 3 an Open World Action
RPG released on 30th October
2008 developed by Bethesda
Game Studios, set in Washington D.C. in
the year 2277 where the world has been
destroyed by a nuclear apocalypse. In
the Fallout series Fallout 3 is set 36
years after Fallout 2 and 200 years after
the world fell to the nuclear fallout that
shaped the world that the player
ventures around with different enemies
to face and different allies to side with.
The world in Fallout 3 is a huge
landscape; from the massive city of
nuclear radiated Washington D.C. and its
many land marks, to the surrounding
country side area. It is certainly a game
where the player could lose themselves
with the amount of main missions, side
quests and relations, not to mention its
replay-ability and many DLC’s.
The story starts as the character the
player play as throughout the story of
the game is born; the character is a
resident of Vault 101 the place where
the beginning of the story plays out until
one day your farther runs away from the
Vault to the outside wastelands of
Washington D.C. The story’s character
follows the farther out into the
wasteland to search for him and to know
why he abandoned the character in Vault
101. Through doing this the character
meets different people and quickly has
to adapt to the new environment around
him which is all pretty much dangerous
and hazardous to humans. The main
story continues with the player of the
character deciding different things along
the path they have chosen which gives
Fallout 3 a new way to interact to the
player giving them choices. Those
different choices can affect the
interactivity the character receives in
different parts of the wasteland and they
could have a certain reputation that
could help or hinder them as the story
progresses. Generally the story of
Fallout 3 is a very immersive for the
player and grabs them into it try to
make sense of everything while
surviving the harshness of the
apocalyptic nuclear wasteland. The
different aspects give the player
emotion, which in turn dives the player
into the game itself making the story
that much in depth.
F
This concept art image shows the Capitol
Building destroyed by the nuclear warheads
that hit America, and one of the many land
marks found around the wastelands of
Fallout 3’s world
This screen shot shows
one of the factions
infantry guarding the
Washington Monument
Concept Art Image taken from http://i.neoseeker.com/ca/fallout_3_conceptart_rx8Eq.jpg
Screen Shot taken from
http://simplegfx.net/cache/BestofWallpapers08_63C6/wallpape
r_fallout_3_07_1280.jpg
The overall presentation the game
gives off is the environment, buildings,
creatures, human survivors, land marks,
monsters and feel to everything the
player might encounter is a part of this
new world ravaged by nuclear war. The
environment itself is a marvel; the detail
in how the world would look and feel if it
had been destroyed by a nuclear
apocalypse is incredible although the
textures could be a little more
believable. The problem with the
environment was that you could only see
so far due to the game loading textures,
that meant that the enemy could be in
front but you would not know so carry
on into an ambush. This made the game
less realistic and enjoyable as enemies
would fade in, in front or behind and
attack you making this annoying for the
player at times when around the games
massive playable map.
The inner city and other building
landscapes where themselves as good as
the environment and very well put
across and believable which brought the
player into the story and setting much
better. The monuments of Washington
D.C. made to look battered and
destroyed by the nuclear warheads
made the setting more investing
because the player themselves could
have been there or seen them which in
turn will make the player feel interested
in the story.
Although yet again the textures could
be better and the fade aspect could have
been improved the accuracy with the
detail of the buildings is nothing short of
impeccable. The whole massive map of
Washington D.C. was made with detail
and believability in mind and Bethesda
Games Studios did indeed create an
immersive world where the player could
put themselves into because of the
attention to detail throughout. Saying
this through my own experience through
playing this game some appearances in
both the environment and buildings
happened. Sometimes the colour of the
sky and water could become multi
coloured or creatures would morph into
the ground, the main problem being the
spawning rates of the creatures and the
amount of them was too much. But
overall the playability of Fallout 3 and
the detail out shines the problems it has.
This concept art image shows the
wastelands that is seen throughout the
Fallout 3 game and what the apocalyptic
world would probably look like.
This screen shot shows the VATS
system that can be used in the
game
Screen Shot taken from
http://images.wikia.com/fallout/images/b/b7/VA
TS.jpg
Concept Art Image taken from http://i.neoseeker.com/ca/fallout_3_conceptart_eW5OI.jpg
The gameplay of Fallout 3 differs to
that of its predecessors in the Fallout
series, instead of having a top down
view format that Fallout 1 & 2 used;
Fallout 3 used a First Person or Third
Person view format depending on the
player’s preference. This brought a
whole new interaction to the player and
the way they brought themselves to play
the game by being told by the game that
they are the character within the game
and it is their choice. This in turn made
the Fallout game a massive
improvement and creating a new
experience for the followers of the
series, not to mention the amount of
people who though this game was the
future for Action RPG’s. The way the
story is told to the player is probably
more of a non-linear narrative story,
meaning there are many ways the
character can come to the end. This
creating a much more in depth and
innovative direction the game can be
played, because the player could choose
multiple ways of concluding to the same
ending making the re-playability much
more assessable. The way that the flow
of the gameplay feels would be very
fluid to the player playing as the
character and going around the
wastelands of Washington D.C. Although
at some points in the missions the
directed way could be wrong, making
the player turn back because you took a
wrong turn, this could affect that fluid
flow of the gameplay.
The controls of the game also add to
the experience of this unique concept for
an Action RPG, having to choose from
First Person or Third Person is a player
preference, and could add to the way
the player will ultimately play the game.
The in game ‘Pit-Boy 3000’ is probably
the best tool to use and utilise the way
the game is played, as all weapons,
armour, health kits, ammo and more is
stored and the ‘Pit-Boy’ is used to access
it all on the characters wrist. The main
flaw with using the ‘Pit-Boy’ within the
game is that it will disrupt game flow
making it much easier to assess the
situation at hand. With that said the
‘VATS’ controls also do the same but are
meant to make accuracy and detection
easier in the vast world map of Fallout 3.
The rest of the controls all work like they
should and makes the controlling of the
character for the player very easy and
for a more enjoyable game.
This screen shot shows
one of the factions
vehicles called the ‘Verta
Bird’ seen in the game
This concept art image shows a
place in Fallout 3 called ‘Paradise
Falls’ where the player can
venture to
Concept Art Image taken from http://i.neoseeker.com/ca/fallout_3_conceptart_rFL4H.jpg
Screen Shot taken from
http://images.fragland.net/screenshots/2139/639775517.jpg
The overall graphics of the game are
very spectacular to look at throughout
the roaming around the massive
playable map Fallout 3 involves. From
the sky to the ground and surrounding
environment of the tress and rocks, not
to mention the buildings and other
structures around the map; everything
is tailored to look and feel like it is a
nuclear ravaged world. The creatures,
monsters and enemies around the area
of the playable map are also tailored to
look as if it would after 200 years of
radiation and destruction due to the
nuclear warheads.
The graphics themselves go hand in
hand with the sound, as the player
would be walking through the wasteland
of Fallout 3, the wind of the sand
storms, music of the radio’s that play
old-timey music from the 1940’s. It is
brought together giving the player an
enhanced experience of playing the
game, getting hooked onto the story and
just playing through it the game itself.
Compared to the sequel or some have
said spin off to Fallout 3, ‘Fallout: New
Vegas’ it is much better in the sense
that in Fallout 3 everything was done
right and to the right effect to keep the
player enjoyed and immersed in its
game. Whereas Fallout: New Vegas did
not give off the same effect that the
tailored design of Fallout 3 did, which
made the experience of Fallout: New
Vegas lacking where Fallout 3 succeeded
against it making it overall the better
game for the player and enjoyment.
The appeal for the game will
probably last for a while since 2008
when the game was released it kept its
place until this year within the RPG
genre just for all the reasons that made
this a great experience for the player.
Overall this game created an unique
stamp on the games industry and
created many enjoyable, immersive and
innovative experiences for all who
played through the game and it
deserves its place on the shelf.
This concept art image shows
another of the land marks in
Fallout 3 that plays a vital role in
the campaign’s story
Concept Art Image taken from http://www.arts-wallpapers.com/desktop_wallpapers/games/fallout3/images/fallout-wp3-1600x1200.jpg
Concept Art Image taken from http://www.360style.net/wallpapers/232/232_1600x1200_1.jpg
This concept art image portrays
the destruction of the nuclear
apocalypse that fell upon the
world 8 / 10