Bethesda has refined their open-world RPG formula down to a science.
Fallout 3 is certainly the studio's most well-crafted game to date,
giving you a much tighter, more focused and faster-paced experience
than anything we've seen before in Oblivion or Morrowind.
It's also refreshing to play a RPG based in our own world, grounded in
science fiction with strong voice-acting, well-written dialogue,
excellent sound design and a stable game engine. Gone are the days of
having to worry about Quick Saving every 5 minutes out of fear the
colossal Bethesda graphics engine would implode. On an average, modern
computer, Fallout 3 plays smooth with maximum settings. Rare loading
freezes and crash-on-quits were minor quibbles. This is by far
Bethesda's most stable engine yet.
Betheda's is well-respected for creating fascinating game worlds and
lore, and they came to this game with a loaded playbook as the Fallout
universe is easily one of the most compelling game worlds in recent
memory. The rubble and waste around Washington DC showcases excellent
level and world design, not unlike 2007's epic FPS, Bioshock. The
landscapes feel real, the areas feel lived-in, characters have unique
quirks and mannerisms, despite re-using some voice actors.
It's easy to overlook how excellent the world design in Fallout 3 is
because you don't really notice it ... it just feels authentic and
never gets in the way or pulls you out of the game's immersion. This is
a major improvement over Oblivion, though it doesn't quite reach the
level of imagination and curiosity on display in Morrowind. Bethesda's
also backed off of the hundreds of random caves and bunkers. There are
still certainly random locations to investigate, but by and large most
locations in Fallout 3 are quest-related and not random curiosities you
stumble on with little mini-stories to discover inside. Which is a
shame, because Bethesda makes games that (should) reward explorers.
These are massive landscapes, and one of the best achievements in
Morrowind was all the little out-of-the-way secrets and mini-plots
uncovered across the world. Morrowind also made you feel like if you
trekked to the farthest reaches of the world to investigate an
underwater nook, you would find something inside to justify your
travels. From the exploration I did in Fallout 3, it's an uneven
experience. You might find some unique settings, but by and large
you'll find generic locations with monsters to shoot.
When it comes to combat, Bethesda did a fantastic job modernizing the
old Fallout's turn-based combat with VATS. It's a great thrill for the
first half of the game, but after 20-some hours, you'd wish combat
would move faster. It becomes a stop-and-go affair and makes you wonder
if they tried alternate versions of VATS, like the slow-motion
abilities in F.E.A.R. or Max Payne which could give you the same effect
but keep the game moving more naturally. And while it's nice to see
Bethesda got rid of some of Oblivion's annoying design conventions
(rubber-banding creature levels, scaled gear on NPCs, skill-based
leveling) the dreaded degrading equipment makes a return. I wish
developers knew how annoying this gambit is. It was annoying in
S.T.A.L.K.E.R., it was annoying in Oblivion, it's annoying in every
game that punishes you for finding a great new gun or armor and then
worry about using it because it degrades over time. It's no surprise
that the first mod to come out for these games is one that either slows
down or removes item degradation completely.
The last bit I want to touch on is story, and that's where Fallout 3 is
a bit of a mixed bag. It sets up a fantastic storyline and carries it
halfway through with incredible set-pieces and awesome unique
locations, but once you get to the endgame, it's disappointing to see a
bit of repetition in locations and the story doesn't quite reach as
high as I wish it had. It stops quite a few floors below epic, into
Hmm-That-Was-Sort-of-Interesting-I-Guess terrain. This is a challenge
for all game developers, and not many games fully deliver outstanding
conclusions -- Bioshock and Metal Gear Solid 4 are two of the rare
examples in recent memory. Which is unforunate with Fallout 3, because
the talent is clearly there at the studio but maybe they put 90% of
their energy into the first half of the game and 10% into the last half.
As far as Fallout's famous black humor goes, Bethesda did a respectable
job trying to incorporate it into a realistic vision of
post-apocalyptia but it's clear they aired on the side of keeping the
world real and professional rather than really pushing the personality
and human connections. Conversations can feel sterile. You don't feel
deep connections in any relationships, including our own father, and
when the "big" moments happen throughout the game, the emotional impact
is worse off for it. Actually the best relationship in the game -- the
main character and your childhood friend, Amata -- is completely
underutilized. I was expecting (and hoping for) a story that drew these
two people from their childhood through adulthood but it's just never
fully realized.
And that seems like Fallout 3's biggest shortcoming. There is potential
in all these relationships, most notably Amata, but Bethesda fails to
capitalize on them to turn a great RPG into a timeless classic by
showing you relationships developing over time and building human
connections rather than just telling a pretty neat science-fiction
story with guns and leveling.
