Wow - after a long hiatus, I finally feel that I have played enough of Fallout 3 to give a reasonable opinion on it. I haven't finished the game yet (in the sense that I haven't completed the main story quest) but considering this is an open world RPG, I don't think finishing the main story is all that important (although I definitely intend to do so).
Stuff I liked
Atmosphere
Bethesda have simply done a fantastic job in creating a post-apocalyptic world for you to explore. From the opening cinematic all the way through to the music and graphics, the game not only feels like a wasteland but it also captures the feel of the original Fallout games perfectly. And this isn't just in terms of graphics or sound. What makes the atmosphere in Fallout 3 superb are little touches of how things are placed.
For example, in one of the museums is a demo of the vaults. Basically, it was built by Vault-tec so that they could show people the amazing new vault technology that they had developed. Inside this demo is a skeleton with a mop and bucket next to him. On the ground by his hands is a beer and a snack. Looking at that, you can just imagine the janitor sitting down to enjoy a quick snack just before the bombs hit. Little touches like this really make the game come alive.
VATS
Before I played this game, I really wondered how Bethesda would be able to pull off the VATS system in a real time FPS style. This really isn't an easy thing to do considering that VATS was a system initially designed to enable aimed shots in a turn based game. And I have to say that this is another area where Bethesda have done a good job. They have managed to capture the feel and style of VATS superbly.
Deaths
Another area where the game is hilariously funny are the death animations. I naturally picked the gory death perk as soon as I could and watching people explode into component parts when you get a sneak attack critical just never gets old. If you have played the original Fallout RPGs, then you would know that this is a holdover from those old games and I'm very glad that Bethesda included it in Fallout 3.
Stuff I didn't like
Party or tactical combat
All too often, it seems like your choices are to either have a group or to have tactical combat. Fundamentally, the game does give you lots of options to setup tactical encounters. You can sneak around and set mines. Or you could drop off a grenade in someones pants (which is hilarious).
However, all of those options become moot if you have a group. I have a high sneak skill so I can creep around undetected. My group (currently consisting of dogmeat and the Star Paladin) don't. What this means is that by the time I spot an enemy, they often spot dogmeat or the Paladin at the same time. At this point, dogmeat charges forward to engage in melee. Unfortunately, this also stops me from getting a clear shot so I have to strafe sideways until I can get a clear shot otherwise I end up shooting dogmeat in the arse.
The game tries to cater to this by allowing you to order your group to stay behind. Unfortunately, this isn't easy to do as you have to individually engage each one in conversation and ask that they stay behind. And then, when you want them to regroup, you need to individually engage each one in conversation and ask them to follow you again. Not fun.
I actually thought about ditching the party altogether. The problem is that there are enough instances where you come up against groups of supermutants that you sometimes really do need the extra body count so that the enemy can shoot at someone else instead of directing all their fire at you.
Stupid AI
Bashing a Bethesda game for bad AI - I bet you never saw this coming...
As with other Bethesda games I have played, I'm a little underwhelmed with the AI. In particular, one incident stands out in my mind. At the time, I had dogmeat and Charon in my group and while wandering around the Capital Wasteland, I came across a large raider base. What made this raider base impressive was the fact that they had somehow managed to capture a super mutant behemoth and trap it within some kind of electrically charged cage.
So what does Charon do? He charges into the cage and takes on the behemoth at point blank range. Despite the fact that he is normally perfectly happy engaging enemies at long range with his combat shotgun. Despite the fact that the behemoth is stuck in there and can't come out.
At this point, it doesn't take a genius to work out what happens next. With the amount of hitpoints that a behemoth has, it was able to flatten Charon before we were able to kill it. I thought about reloading but in the end, decided that the stupid twat deserved to die and just kept on going.
Story
Bashing a Bethesda game for its story - I bet you never saw this one coming either...
In some ways, its a bit unfair to pick on Bethesda for this. It is well known that their strength is in creating a fascinating open world for you to explore. In fact, in previous Bethesda games I have played, I have always enjoyed the game more when I deviated from the main story. But at the end of the day, this is an area which could be improved and they should continue to be called on it until they get it right.
Controls
I played Fallout 3 on the PC and in some ways, I wish I had played it on the X360. The issue is that the controls are clearly optimised for a gamepad and the PC version does occasionally suffer as a result of this.
For example, you can assign weapon hotkeys so that you can access different weapons quickly instead of having to go into your inventory each time. Unfortunately, you are limted to only 8 hotkeys - the numbers 1-8. What happened to numbers 9 and 0? The answer is obvious when you look at how the hotkeys are setup around the eight points of the compass which nicely correspond to what the X360 gamepad can handle.
What annoys me about issues like this is that there is simply no reason for the developer not to allow you to use the number 9 and 0 on your keyboard. Its not like they are being used for anything else and even if they were, keyboard mapping on PC games would easily resolve the issue.
Game Breaking DLC
I bought the GOTY edition which came with all the DLC. Initially, I was planning on playing the DLC much later but I accidentally stumbled across the Operation Anchorage DLC while wandering around. Seeing as I was there, I decided to go ahead and complete the DLC.
One of the items you get after completing Operation Anchorage is Chinese Stealth Armour. This armour is awesome in that it acts like a permanent stealth boy provided you are sneaking. At first, I was having a great time sneaking around and headshotting mutants. However, I very quickly realised that the armour actually breaks the game as it becomes too easy to sneak.
Case in point, I now have 200 stimpacks simply as a result of most enemies not having a chance to damage me (and my meager reserves of bloodpacks and ice-cold nuka colas being enough to deal with the minor damage I do get).
Closing Comments
I have to admit that, despite the large number of complaints I have listed above, I do like Fallout 3. It is a good game and it deserves a thumbs up from me as well as the critical acclaim which it has received.
However, one thing which I realised as I played through Fallout 3 was that I really miss the turn based group combat of older D&D games. I really miss those old RPGs where it was really important to have a balanced group able to handle a multitude of situations instead of 1 uber PC who can handle everything. Those kinds of RPGs have a very different feel to them and for me, come closest to the days when I was playing pen and paper RPGs.
After I finish with Fallout 3, I intend to play through Hitman: Blood Money on the X360 (which I borrowed from a friend) but after that, I will probably go buy Temple of Elemental Evil (or maybe go through Icewind Dale).
