How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb

STORY

You are in a delivery room, having just exited  the womb of your mother who later dies on the table. You are delivered into the hands of your father.  Time flashes forward and you age to manhood within 30 minutes. During this time, you realize that you are a citizen of VAULT 101, a special nuclear fallout shelter designed as a last respite to whatever humanity managed to survive the nuclear holocaust .   It is said that people will be born in the vault and they will die in the vault -  no one may enter or leave.  VAULT 101 is governed by the overseer and his security forces who maintain order. You’ve never seen the sun and never will. You’ll never leave the vault because there is nothing outside but the nuclear torn remains of Washington D.C..

Suddenly, without warning, your father disappears and you are informed he has left VAULT 101. You head out after him, but, must first fight your way out of VAULT 101.  Once outside, you meet up with a world in chaos. Ants, rats, roaches and other fauna have been mutated to triple their original sizes. Water holes are radiated, the sky is dust and bleak .   Humans have turned to lawlessness and crime as raiders who travel as nomadic killers, or have attempted to garrison desolate supermarkets as homes. As the government is extinct, you now deal currency in bottle caps and barter items such as alcohol and fresh water.

Do you play the good guy?  Do you search for your father helping those in need?  Or, do you kill everyone who gets in your way, side with slavers or mercenaries to make money? 

Fallout 3 is a very deep Role Playing Game.   In Fallout 3, all of your interactions with the countless people found in the game is governed by a simple subtext menu which allows you to choose how carefully or angrily you respond to them.

Example…

Civilian:  Give me 100 caps for this medicine and its yours

You:  
a)  go to hell
b) I’ll kill you and take it,   
c) ok, here’s 100 caps, 
d) that’s ok, no thanks.


The dialogue system of the game is very deep and changes depending upon your situation, your items carried or your skill status.  A lot of the dialogue has been thrown in with a lot of humor – filled with expletives - in order to keep the game interesting. It works very well and helps to keep the open-endedness of the game from feeling boring.

If you talk too slick to someone, you may end up in a gunfight that you can’t win. Perhaps you can develop your “charisma” and “speech” and “barter” skills  in order to make people like you and give you low prices on weapons. There is even a skill that helps you make friends with children faster. That very skill can be used to get them to help you find new items or, to trick them into the hands of local slavers.

What you do, is totally up to you. 

If you choose to go the "ninja" route, you can make your attributes evolve into a stealthy assassin who picks door locks, pickpockets everyone and snitches on people you plan to rub out later on.

 Of course, the point of all this is the consequences. Say the wrong thing and people will hate you and not help you at all. Its also possible to talk yourself into corners where its hard for you to proceed because  people won't give you necessary items. Kill the wrong people and you'll make lots of enemies who'll accost you at every turn.

If you're a nice guy, and your "charisma" level is high enough, people will take to you and offer you helpful items when they can.

The game has a typical objectives menu to show you what you are expected to do next - as well as optional missions, but, i wish it was more like GTA's because sometimes, you can get very, very lost in this game and unsure whether or not you should keep exploring or return to complete an objective. Fortunately, places you have been to previously can simply be highlighted on the map screen and traveled to at the push of a button, but, the waypoint indicator and the waypoint guide arrows can sometimes be very confusing since the game's indicators are all stylized. Its not as easy to manuever around as, say, Call of Duty.   But, this game wasn't designed for you to beat. It was designed for you to explore. The designers obviously want you to test out their leveling system in multiple ways to see how you enjoy playing it. The problem is, is it immersive enough to keep you going back for more?  



GRAPHICS/SOUND

Though most reviewers have been raving about Fallout 3’s graphics, I believe the PC offers the best experience.  The XBOX360 version looks about the same as the wasted levels of Gears of War.  The Character models are equally detailed. However,  if you don’t play on an HDTV, the game can be overly blurry.
The graphics are a sight to behold. Everything is desolate…it really looks like the aftermath of nuclear holocaust.  Cars are torn to shreds, houses blasted to nothing more than frames and everywhere you look:  soil, rock and sand. It’s a dead world out there.

The 50+ square Kilometers of D.C.  explorable post-apocalyptic terrain coupled to the somber tones and whipping winds are designed to instill a constant theme of the wild wild west. Staying nearby villages  or territories ensures your safety, but if you wander out alone - your on your own. Whether the desert raiders or the wild, mutated animals kill you depends on how well you level up and the sophistication of your weapons.

You will rarely encounter the same enemy twice since the game has a model editor that has countless modifications of faces, armor and apparel.  The character models look decent most of the time, but strangely, a lot of their eyes are glowing mysteriously and they look out of place on the regular human models.  Its really creepy.  Some of their lips don't move when they speak.

Sound is excellent. The grade-A dialogue and lonely sound effects to show off the desolation of the world around you.  A lot of the sentimental ambient music being played through the radios is 1940’s with a groaning backdrop score - similar to the atmosphere of  Bioshock.    It all works and I definitely think Fallout 3 could easily be game of the year on whatever system.
This is the answer to all those countless magical Japanese RPG's.





COMBAT

Primarily, you are given a choice between a typical 3rd person shooter view (behind the back of the character looking forward), or, you may tap [LB] to change to a 1st person view.   I found the 1st person view to be the most helpful in judging distances to enemies, but, in open areas, 3rd person view works equally well  for judging direction based on your surroundings.
The game is primarily designed to be played like a 1st person shooter, but, because of the implemented RPG elements, it  does not control  like the typical 1st person shooter.  Changing weapons, armor or using medical kits must all be done by hitting (B) to see your personal inventory. When fired multiple times, guns degrade from wear & tear, or run out of ammo fast when you get into a shootout with enemies.  

Since when does it take more than 1 shot to the head to kill a human enemy without a helmet?    

In order to maximize your weapon efficiency, there is a innovative combat system called “Assisted Targeting system” (V.A.T.S).
When used, you get a close view of the enemy, and the percentage possibility your weapon will hit the specific part of their body targeted. Some enemies have helmets but not chestplates…therefore, you forgo the headshot and aim for the heart. When you choose your target, your character will aim and shoot while a bullet time event plays the action in the 3rd person view.
V.A.T.S  helps to make the repetitive battles not feel stale by getting close up for gory head splatters  and even vaporizations with high powered energy weapons. In order to keep you from abusing it, you have an action points meter which determines how many shots you can get off in V.A.T.S.  Leveling-up in certain manners can increase both your accuracy in V.A.T.S and the number of times it may be used.

You may shoot enemies in their legs to immobilize them, or shoot their weapon to damage it beyond repair, but, the problem I see is that weapons don't seem to have the same take down power they have in a regular FPS game - and if you do go blasting away at enemies, your gun may jam.
What's strange is that its actually easier to go after most enemies with a baton or baseball bat because your health bar (on normal mode) allows you to take ludicrous amounts of damage in many circumstances.

Weapons are very varied and fun to use. There are standard pistols and six-shooters which are easy to find. Later you can find hunting rifles, gatling guns and assault rifles being carried by mutants or Raiders. Nearer to the end of the game you can find laser weapons and the devastating plasma cannon.  There are also hidden weapons such as the mini-nuke launcher and even two alien death rays in a crashed alien ship.   The  alien "Firelance" not only vaporizes flesh but causes enemies to burst into flames !

Weapons in the game degrade with constant use and are prone to breakage if hit with gunfire. Therefore, you must find as many spare guns and armor pieces as you can. If something breaks, you go to the menu and hit [repair] to scrap one spare device to fix the main device you want to use – cannibalizing parts. You must improve your repair skill to be able to repair guns efficiently. You may also ask merchants to repair your items but they charge heavily and some items are too sophisticated for them to fix.

If you're carrying too many items,you will slown down until you dump off extra weight. You also become hindered by the weight of your belongings if you are badly injured. Your body parts can take damage just as the enemy's can and too much damage will disable a limb causing you to limp and lose mobility and accuracy.

Your vision also fails if you take too much damage to the face, or if you're coming off the highs of an addictive drug. If you do become addicted to stimulants, you'll need a Doctor to cure you.




SKILLS

You get XP for killing. When you reach level goals, you are given choices of which attributes you wish to level up.  The main attributes are skills such as small weapons handling, large weapons handling, explosives handling, aptitude in science (for hacking computers),  aptitude in repair (for repairing items),etc.   This system, reffered to as "S.P.E.C.I.A.L" provides overview of all your combined skills such as “Luck” - which improves the possibility of you hitting targets,  “Perception” – which helps you see threats on radar and “intelligence” which makes you better at repairing, hacking and Medicinal healing.   There are lots of skills and also perks which follow the same lines. You can even gain skills in “sneaking” and “lockpicking” – which are self explanatory.

The XP used to gain new skills are tied directly to your effectiveness in combat, but, many of them must be used to meet special mission objectives. In one early mission, you must defuse a nuclear bomb. In order to do so, you must have 25 XP with explosives. You started with 16…you need to kill until you level up in order to meet the objective. There are other ways to gain XP such as meeting simple objectives but combat is the fastest method.

In addition to your XP and skills, you’ll need to be careful of radiation – expressed in “RADS”. If you come in contact with radiated sources of water or radiated food which you find in the wasteland, you’ll become irradiated. Too much radiation = death.  There are drugs which decrease your radiaoactivity poisoning and increase your resistance to it: "Rad-Ex" and "Rad-Away"

You’ll also need to ensure you get a good rest. In plenty of parts of the game, there are beds you can sleep on to rest – which also restores your life meter.   Not being well rested negatively effects accuracy. You can't sleep in a bed or cot if enemies are nearby.

There are also drugs used by junkies in the game that can be snorted, inhaled or shot. You may use the drugs, but, if you do, you will gain some attributes (such as sharper vision) but, lose them as you come off your high, which can also drain your life bar or cause you to become dizzy at an innoportune time.

All of what you do is monitored in order to reward you with experience points, or to reward/punish your moral choices by adding/subtracting “karma”.
“Karma” can be added by doing good deeds or  subtracted by “stealing items”, “killing innocents” or generally, “talking smack to people”.
Karma affects the way you level up. If you are a "good" person, you'll more likely unlock good skills like communication, friendship with strangers,etc.  If you are evil, you will unlock evil skills.
One such skill, "contract killer"  places a bloody ear on every body you kill. You collect the ear and take it to a bounty hunter and you get paid !

As i mentioned, early on in the game, you are given a choice to defuse a nuclear bomb or...you can activate it - to nuke the city its in - killing the inhabitants.




ALLIANCES

Because new game developers wish to instill in the player a sense of freedom, moral choices and consequences, as i have previously stated, Fallout 3 is an extremely deep game in the matter of alliances. You can become a slaver, a thief, a killer  or you can simply be a roaming repairman who wanders from town to town  doing errands.

Along the way you'll meet up with "The Brotherhood of Steel", a band of self governed soldiers who mimic the knights of medieval times. You'll also come across the Brotherhood's main enemy, the "Enclave", a group of technologicaly proficient, pseudo-government soldiers run by an A.I. Supercomputer.  There are even 50's styled robots built by the military, who roam the land in search of the Red Chinese Communists they were originaly programmed to defeat - but, they'll settle for shooting you instead !

The wild animals in the game are especially frightening. There are mutated humans, mutated scorpions the size of cars, mutated roaches the size of cats and mutated rates the size of bulls. Everything is hostile.   There are also brute men lurking about, who will be your primary enemy early on. These 8 foot tall Hulk-green beasts are profficient with weapons and love to use melee sledgehammers on you.


OVERALL

I started playing Fallout 3 not knowing what to expect. I bought it simply cause it was a top ranked game. I didn’t even read the manual before starting – as most newer games train you how to play from the get go.    That was a bit of a mistake. This game is very deep and there’s tons of information you need to know to understand how to go about winning combat scenarios and to go about using your skills and attributes to solve problems and complete missions.

The atmosphere of the game is perfect. It truly feels like a dead world and it truly feels like you and those you encounter are doing best to survive it.   Along the way, you’ll need to fight enemies, salvage whatever you can, search corpses for valuables and take all that junk to pawn shops in order to rack up on currency for later.   There is also “Galaxy News Radio”, one of the few surviving radio stations, which you’ll need to listen to for hints and tips.

My only problem with Fallout 3 is that, despite the multiple possibilities for game endings, the main game is relatively short.
You aren’t just exploring the war torn world. You have a mission -to find your father and that supersedes all other objectives.  
GTA:IV has a main goal with multiple side missions to complete after the game end, Fallout 3 ends with the main quest. Its such an easy world to want to continue to explore in order to continue to level up that you may find yourself not sure what you want to do next.

Another problem is that you'll have to complete the game thrice - once as an evil doer, once as "neutral" and once as a good guy - in order to possibly get all achievements because many of the achievements are based on Karma.  The hardest to get is "neutral karma".

 Do not complete the main quest right away

If you beat the game's main quest, you’ll end up having to reload from an earlier save point in order to  get more replay and  form different level-up experiences. 
In fact,  the ending for this game is right out of "Star Trek II"  so you should be sure that if you do complete the main quest, you save right before the final mission's  climactic choice - and then replay the game to see both endings.  Fallout 3 is so deep on consequences that your choices can end several different game endings.
CHOOSE WISELY

You may also need the FALLOUT 3: Strategy Guide because, again, this is an extremely deep game – especially when you start battling larger enemies such as mutants and ghouls.  You’ll want to know the benefits of advancing your skills in certain skill trees to maximize your gameplay in the direction you want.  There were also a few instances were I was so unsure how to proceed that I needed to go to the internet guide on IGN to get help. No game should ever require that.

For example, I was trying to escort a doctor and 2 civilians to safety and at a certain point, they refused to move anymore. I somehow missed a key part of her speech that she wanted me to go get 5 medkits to heal the civilian before moving along. I ended up reloading a previous save in frustration and then checked IGN.com to see what to do.  If I hadn't checked online - I'd still be stuck.
(Had the key civilian been killed in the previous firefight, I wouldn't have had to wait for him at all and we'd have just moved on.)

I played this game non stop for 5days straight. By the time I was finished, I felt like I was an escapee of Vault 101 as I left my television. Fallout 3 is the kind of game that makes you forget to eat as well as the time of day. It’s a great game but, I sincerely wish the designers had left the game open ended.