Since no one reads my lengthy reviews anyway, I'll just say this.

It's good, you should play it, if you don't you're missing out.

End.

Yup bought it yesterday, its awesome.

I read 8-(

Alright, the abridged version then.

Basically, Fallout 3 plays like a Bethesda RPG and the Fallout series had a baby, and that baby became the savior of the Oblivion engine.

If you weren't that big a fan of Oblivion, don't fret you'll still most likely like Fallout. Like previous Bethesda titles, Fallout 3 allows you to play the game the way you want to play it, the decisions your make in game will change the outcome of your game. A karma system allows you to keep track of how famous or infamous your character has become. Playing the game as good or evil will obviously result in different dialogues, different perks, and in some instances different cities being nuked (sometimes by you). Also, like in previous fallout titles, certain followers will only affix themselves to you if your karma is aligned with theirs. Playing one way or the other isn't necessarily harder, its just different, so obviously there is alot of incentive to play through the game multiple times (or play it like I am with 2 different characers at once trying out different dialogues and methods for accomplishing my goals).

Characer development is slightly different in F3 than in previous betheda titles. Like in other Bethesda games, you'll assign your initial career points in stats in the direction you want your character to play in. There are a few preset type classes, or you can simply choose to mix and match your points in whatever skills fit your playstyle. Unlike morrowind and oblivion, your skills won't level up by swimming in one direction for hours, or hopping everywhere you go. Instead when you level up, you'll simply be assigning points into the areas you wish to improve. There are many different skills in this game, each one allows you to play the game slightly differently so really... there's almost infinite replay value to this game as long as you have the stomach for it.

The world is beautifully realized to say the least. It looks every bit as impressive, depressing, creepy, and intriguing as you could possibly imagine a post nuclear apocalyptic world would look. There are tons of optional side quests, which are deffinately worth doing if for no other reason than it sends you to areas on the world you wouldn't normally travel to and really helps you to explore your surroundings. I really never get tired of just exploring the world. I could wander around for hours just looking at shit and dying to random high level wasteland dwelling enemies. The wastelands really just feel very alive, and eerily realistic. Being caught outside city gates after night fall definately invokes a feeling of dread. The Wasteland feel every bit as wild and untamed as a lawless land of raiders and super mutants should feel.

Combat in the game is extremely fun. It plays out almost like a first person shooter, except your range, accurracy, and damage with certain weapons is mostly dependant on your stats. On top of this, they've also implemented the VATS system, which allows you to freeze time and target specific limbs of your enemy's body. Doing so uses action points, which recharge over time. The NATS system is nostalgic of the old turn based combat from the previous fallout games, additionally killing someone in this combat mode is very graphically rewarding. For example, getting a direct hit on someone's head from close range with a shotgun blows it off. Getting a critical hit with a lazer incinerates them into a pile of ash. The slow motion death animations almost never get old.

Overall, the game is just excellent. I have my copy as an indeffinate rental for the time being, but i can deffinately see myself adding it to my collection after i''ve played through it once.

(maybe not so abridged)

heh get bloody mess and watch corpses explode into gibs.

Question: Is this going to be one of those games where I have to do 50,000 different missions for 10,000 different folks who all of 1 of 4 voices?

Friend of mine was asking about this, and was giving me the "bleh" face when he realized it was on the Oblivion engine. I explained that just because it is on the Oblivion engine, doesn't necessarily mean it will play anything like Oblivion, it just means you can expect the same graphics and technical issues… But I'm kinda wary that I made that defense, as it does kinda sound like another "run about and do errands" game. (Seems to be a popular genre these days.)
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"May your holy endevor be remembered better than mine. I, remembered, not as a messeenger, not as a reformer, not as a prophet, not as hero, not even as Sabastian. I, remembered only... As 'Jack'." - The inquisitor, B5
Thothie

Yes, yes, and No.

The whole point of a game like this is the ability to go off and explore, find places and quests associated with them. the main storyline is maybe 8 hours total start to finish. there is a good 50h+ of additional stuff to do.

The upside is that the voices aren't anywhere near as similar or repetitive as Oblivion was. There are a few non-interaction NPC's that have similar voices that spit out a line when you talk to them, but anybody you can actually interact with has their own VA or at least varied enough that you never find yourself going "hey, that sounds like..." more than once or twice all game.

There is a lot of run and do errand work involved, but it's pretty well varied. I mean, RPG's basically are just go there and do something type games, so you kind of have to expect that sort of thing, to an extent. Oblivion just doesn't force you to do them in a given order.

Stuff is varied in that most of them don't have a single set outcome path. (ie: Go there and kill everything) Much of the time you can go about doing things several different ways, and they don't just degrade into variations on one item.

For example, there is a location in the game that doesn't like ghouls. You can use your verbal abilities to convince them the error of their discriminating ways and allow them in peaceably, or you can agree to eliminate the ghoul problem for them, or you can help the ghouls break into the building and take over, or you can simply eliminate everybody in the location. You know, for fun. Most side-quests have several means to the end, and it's not always the same end.

I wonder when that got to be part of what defines the genre. Granted, back in the day RPG was defined by grinding monsters in dungeons, basically, so I suppose it's a lesser evil.

I kinda reject that *has* to be an element to an RPG though. I mean, there's nothing saying you can't make an RPG ala Half-Life2's "Move now or you die!!11!!" philosophy, with an action packed linear plot, or stack on a strategic element where you have to help build and defend a fiefdom, but yeah… That would be thinking outside of the box.

I tend to stick my nose up at SP games, but I shall inform my friend of the various mitigations of the "Oblivion syndrome" he so dreads.
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Thothie

It is still the oblivion engine, so the little annoyances he had with oblivion will probably still be present, just as an fyi.

I personally like the game, but hat may just be because I can pickpocket somebody and leave a live grenade in their pants......

SOLD!

Hey, did you by chance set the nuclear bomb in megaton to explode or did you disarm it?

lol yes, its so funny to stick the frag mine or nade in someone.

Disarmed it on first run, will blow it up on my second run to see the purdy boom.

Yeah that's my plan too. So it actually does explode then eh? That's pretty cool. I wish they had made big weapons a more viable skill to spec in.

Blew it up on the second run, was pretty cool, do it at dusk/night to get the best effect. Travel back to the town to see the aftermath, you will see a couple of interesting things.