Fallout 3 (PC Games, 2008)

Graphics: Breathtaking 9/10
Sound: Great – 8.5/10
Gameplay: Spectacular – 9.5/10
Replay Value – High (for a single player only game) 9/10
Overall – Near Perfect 9.5/10

Please note: I have never played any prior Fallout Titles, and this is from a n00b prospective.

Graphics: Breathtaking 9/10
The graphics are make you look twice – When you first exit the vault and see the landscape, you think to yourself “what next”? The graphic interface, use of PiP Boy and the movements really show that Bethesda took the time and care to make this well worth your hard earned money.

Sound: Great – 8.5/10
The sounds, music, effects, and voices take you immediately into the game. The time specific music, the radio channels, and the voice acting are all A+. The reason for the slightly lower mark is the repetitiveness of the radio, some of the sound effects, but overall, a lot of time, and thought, went into putting in effective music, voice acting and emphasis, and surrounding wasteland. The best, yet simplistic feeling is when you first turn on this gam for the first time, and all you hear is the old 50’s radio sparking on with the tube. Well done.

Gameplay: Spectacular – 9.5/10
Smooth animations, huge world design, and interactive and smart A.I. This game can be streamlined to do the main quest, or you can help the citizens of wasteland in their personal affairs. The single player game takes a lot of chances, but succeeds, in making the player make hard choices and customizing the game to their own path. Some find out too late that it is important to make hard choices to choose which attributes to build up. This aspect alone warrants multiple play times.

Some critics and players are commenting on the ending (no spoiler), but I must say that for the amount of customization a person can have in this game, it goes right along with the story.

Replay Value – High (for a single player only game) 9/10
Even without multiplayer, this game has replay value with the limitless ways you can play as – via good, bad, neutral, thief, etc. This did not feel like an RPG to me, and was well done to the point that I am on my second playthrough.

Overall – Near Perfect 9.5/10
I am not a fan of RPG’s, nor long drawn out games over 30+ hours, but I was swept away in this post apocalyptic wasteland. This holiday season is rough with the shear amount of great games, and this is definitely in the Top 5 for contention of game of the year.

This would normally be a game I would run from, but I rented it, and then bought it. It is so engrossing that others will want to watch you play and help you make those hard choices.

The game is not perfect, but close to. The story flows, as with the action, and it makes you feel as if you were there with your character trying to survive.

It has elements taken from genres such as RPG, puzzlers, action-adventures, but is not pigeonholed into this experience and to say it is an RPG is gives too little credit. This is an experience that should be played by any hardcore gamer.