Video game review: Fallout 3

A toxic crusade which oozes sheer brilliance

Given that it's been nearly ten years since the last game in the series, Fallout 3 has become one of the most anticipated games of this year - on any platform. As is often the case with hype and the attempt to follow past successes, the final product seldom delivers in quite the way it should. Let it be known from the very beginning that this is not one of those games.

Fallout 3 tells the story of a newly-escaped resident of one of the many fallout shelters in America after a devastating nuclear holocaust has ravaged the continent. As one of the dwindling population of Vault 101, your character takes it upon himself to venture for the first time into the radioactive wastelands in search of his father. A vast, barren yet also beautiful landscape awaits you, teeming with untold horrors and rousing opportunities in equal measure.

Shedding the stigma of its predecessors' geeky turn-based roleplay, Fallout 3 is instead a curious hybrid of both action and strategy. And rather than seeming like a weak compromise between the hardcore fans and the newcomers, this feels like a fresh and unique experience altogether. It is, in a word, spectacular.

One of the first and most obvious reasons for this is, surprisingly, the tutorial levels. Without wanting to give too much away, your birth, weaning and adolescence inside the bunker is all charted through a series of playable levels. Departing from the usual two minute gauntlet-style crash-course in basic moves, each of your initial skills is taught to you by a doting father, a stern schoolteacher and a beloved mentor respectively. From the tender age of nineteen, you're swiftly left to your own devices to work out the rest. And while there's an absolute myriad of information to take in, the ingenious nature of this game allows you to indulge in as much or as little as you wish.

Fallout 3 is, fundamentally, a first person shooter. You can run, you can gun, and you can pick up health packs and ammo refills stashed in crates. You're free to play it as such, but by doing so, you'll be shooting yourself square in the foot, as it's everything else you do in this game that makes it so worthwhile. For example, the way you interact with characters in the story is a kind of game in itself. The more you talk to them, the more you learn to how to use your responses to convince and manipulate your friends and your enemies alike. Similarly, your physical abilities are infinitely trainable, from learning how disarm bombs and mines to learning how to create contraptions to help you and others you may meet. Even the simple things bring a sense of real involvement: only today, we found our character desperate for sleep and, finding it too expensive to turn in at a hotel for the night, we ended up furtively trying to persuade a sweet old lady to let us use her spare room just for the night. It's strange to think that you can really invest in something that seems so arbitrary on the surface, but for some reason it just works so well.

The V.A.T.S combat system is a new feature that appears at first to be a very puzzling concept. It essentially pauses the game to give you the opportunity to plan your attacks during a fight, be it with a gun or a lowly tyre iron. You're able to select from your different assailants and their respective body parts, and you're offered a probability of a successful hit with your given weapon. As mentioned earlier, the strategy fans will adapt to this much more quickly than the rest, but once mastered, it's a hugely entertaining way of fighting. From the first time you cripple a raider by shooting the revolver from his very hands, you'll be baying for your next Jack Bauer-style crackshot takedown. Beware of switching to the third-person view however, as it can make combat a lot trickier, and doesn't look quite as pretty or well implemented as the rest of the game's features.

Although the game manual gives you a comprehensive roster of your skills and abilities, the fun really comes from picking things up as you go along. In fact, you'll quickly find that a lot of the joy derived from Fallout 3 is in the innumerable discoveries you'll make. We worked out how to hack a computer terminal in a disused supermarket to release a helper droid which then drew enemy fire while we escaped. We also stumbled upon a poor settler being beaten senseless by thugs behind a water station, and although failing to save him, we still managed to scavenge valuable spoils. Every event feels thoroughly organic and unscripted, and will play out completely differently each time, giving each player a genuinely individual experience.

Developers Bethesda also take this attention to detail and apply it to the sumptuous 1950's styling of the game. There are countless nods to Ed Wood-style B-Movies, Cuba-crisis panicmongering and 50s retrofuturism that never miss their mark. From the quaintly ironic public service posters on nuclear safety to the Grand Theft Auto style tunable radio stations featuring hilariously hammy two-bit radio plays, no brass is left unpolished.

It's uncharacteristic of us to gush so openly about a game these days. There's so many titles released week on week that aren't even worth the disc they're printed on. It's with great chest-swelling pride then, that we can say this to you with absolute confidence: If you buy only one game this year, make sure Fallout 3 is it.

Link: Fallout 3

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