Bethesda did a great job making the word feel like Fallout. It doesn't have the "magic" that the Black Isle games did, but they've paid tribute to the first two games and brought the series into the new generation. I'll be looking forward to more Fallout games from Bethesda.

An epic game with lots of content and atmosphere. There's plenty of intrigue and mystery to go around. But the magic does where off relatively fast, when you realise how you're virtually invincible after a certain point and the mechanism behind exploring. The combat is decent, but sometimes a bit stiff. You really feel like you're there while playing it, trying to survive. Stumbling onto an old ruined building and exploring it is always cool, finding some mutated zombies in the basement is always a plus. How cool this game is will stick with me, and I'll remember a lot of the expiriences I had. Maybe I wouldn't buy it on console though; these types of games have more replay value on PC.… Collapse

Fallout 3 was certainly a new twist on the classic series. Gone is the turn-based combat system and in comes the real-time, V.A.T.S. combat. It does a good job incorporating little things from previous titles that players of the originals would recognize. The wasteland atmosphere is done very well, but the black, brown, and gray atmosphere gets really repetitive after a while and you wish you were looking at the lush, green forests of Oblivion. But Bethesda did a great job in creating a "post-Apocalyptia" atmosphere. Overall, the game is a joy to play. It gives you plenty of options to try and there are tons of sidequests to tackle. If you don't believe me, go pick up the strategy guide, it's over an inch thick and the map included has dots all over the place which mark places to go and explore. While the old Fallout games ended after the story was completed, I was kind of hoping that Bethesda would drop that and allow for a more Oblivion-esque feel and allow you to play the sidequests you didn't complete and explore the Wasteland some more, but unfortunately, it didn't. That was my sole complaint with the game. Had there been a post-main storyline ability to play, I would have given the game a 10.… Expand

This game just blew me away. From its amazing graphics to the awsome AI's. this is a game that almost any gamer needs. it is very good from how the enviorment changes as you move along and how everyone has a different veiw of life that you can help or somewhat change. This is not like anyother good vrs evil game its a game to chose who you follow or who follows you. u choose the path for yourself and the world.… Expand

Honestly anyone who gave this game lower than a 9 is clearly slightly autistic and probably shouldent even own a next gen system... this game is almost perfectly made there are few glitches and lets be serious what game is 100% perfect... every game has glitches so dont bash this game for the few it has. This is one of the most in-depth games you will ever play and theres a reason why its game of the year. Playing this game for 3 hours will serve the game no justice, so if you played for 3 hours and gave this game a bad review you should just sell your system cause your probably a moron. Anyone who gets this game will most likely end up never wanting to put it down.. Obviously if you buy this game and try to compare it to COD or Halo you should be shot since its not an FPS. Then again, this game isn't for everyone but that doesn't mean you give it a bad review just because its not for you. All in all this game is amazing and everyone i have recommended it too hasn't been able to sleep without thinking about it.… Expand

I took some time to go through the bad reviews for this game since i was curious to see what sort of stupid reasons people had to give this game bad reviews, just to give an example of one, "Fred F. gave it a 0: This is a crap game on the XBOX as I have had nothing but problems with it either hanging or rebooting the console. Tried it back at the store and it works fine so they will not refund. It may be my XBOX playing up again. My mate has it on his PS3 and he loves it. My warranty has run out on my XBOX so I will not be able to get it fixed again. Might be time to bin it and get a PS3 or a Wii." Okay.. Fred you just acknowledged the fact that your xbox is the problem and you gave the game a 0, what the hell is wrong with you? there are plenty of other stupid bad ratings that make no sense, all a bunch of retards that have nothing better to do than find and "create" every little flaw with a game they possibly can. This game is incredible and i think most normal people will spend plenty of time playing this game. This game will always be a 10 in my book, but dont take it from me, just go through and read the bad comments left for this game and you'll realize that there is so much more good stuff to say about this game than bad.… Expand

Brilliant. Enjoyed every last bit of it. Best game in my opnion on the 360. Not terrific graphics but good and it captures the feeling of post nuclear war and isolation very well. Although I finally have the 1000 gamerpoints there remains much to see and do - the replay value is high. It is quite rough around the edges with respect to NPC's, scenery and storyline glitches but considering its such an epic and ambitious game it isnt so bad. It is a game best played slowly - if you rush through to the finish much of the game will be lost. Its not a Halo type boom-fest so some will lose patience after the slow start.… Expand

Near as perfect as a gaming experience can be. Oblivion is similar, however Fallout 3 has that 'real' feel about it, which I particularly prefer. The feeling upon walking down a road within the wastelands, with that slow atmospheric melody, the sun setting as the road glistens, you feel a sense of lonliness, isolation and being cut-off, feeling like you have to find your way in any way you see fit. Few games can match this type of realism, scale, and sense of emotion. This may not be for everyone, but for the people that feel these things, and others, this is surely the best experience a game can give in so many different instances.… Expand

I personally love this game. The story line is great and the gun are fun to use, but my biggest problem is how unlike oblivion you are not able to continue the game after you beat the last mission. other then that the game is good, just don't skip through the story line like i did the first time or the game will get boring because of how fast you beat it.

Whilst reasonably good for the first half dozen hours, this game, simply put, is boring thereafter. Rank story, truly atrocious. A 5 year old would have a better imagination. If you have played Oblivion, the same putrid glitches in that game plague Fallout 3. In fact, i think the stuttering framerate is even worse in fallout 3. To me this is unforgivable, and why this game is showered with such high praise is completely beyond belief. Even the graphics are just plain dull. Weapons look so crappy that i failed to find ONE which was fun to use. VATS is ok but just an addition that by no means saves this game from being mediocre at best. What the hell happened to games? I thought they were supposed to be fun. BORING!!… Expand

I played the original Fallouts. Heck, I played the CGA game Fallout was based on back in the 80s. They were all classics: well-written, atmospheric, and they just gelled well. Unlike most diehard Fallout fans though, I also thought Oblivion was a masterpiece, albeit for different reasons: huge and beautiful gameworld, lots of options, lots of fun stuff to do just tinkering around in the sandbox. For my money, Fallout 3 is weaker than either the original two Fallout games or Oblivion. It really is pretty much "Oblivion with guns", which I would have been fine with, except a lot of what made Oblivion so enjoyable is missing here. You can explore all you want, but real, meaningful choice is very nearly as absent in this game as it was in Bioshock. There is only one way for the main story to proceed -- there are console-style artificial barriers placed at key moments in the story to prevent you from disrupting the narrative. Furthermore, in the original Fallouts, you could play as a diplomat OR a hacker OR a gambler or whatnot -- there were almost always meaningful *alternatives* to shooting. In this Fallout, you have to have Small Guns AND Repair AND Science AND Lockpicking to get anywhere -- they aren't alternatives, they're all mandatory -- and usually there is only one way to handle a problem. The primary radio station just sounds like a broken record. VATS isn't a turn-based alternative to real-time combat, it's just like a "special attack" system to add targeted shots onto FPS combat (if you use only VATs, you'll only get to shoot about half as frequently as if you alternate between FPS (while your APs charge) & VATS. Etc. In summary, lots of problems here. Be that as it may, expectations were pretty insane for most people, and resurrecting a classic franchise is dangerous business, and for a first effort at a Fallout game, I think Bethesda did OK. Not great, not awful. The game does have its moments, no question, and I'm optimistic that with another iteration, Bethesda's Fallout will become more polished and (importantly) differentiated from Oblivion and take on character of its own. Worth playing, but don't get your hopes up too high.… Expand

One of the best games i have ever played. It is mostly true to the old games, sharing the same feel of the wasteland. It has trimmed some of the old features, and invented new ones. The V.A.T.S. aiming system is as entertaining to use the millionth time as the first. The variety, size and replayability of Fallout 3 will ensure entertainment for possibly hundreds of hours.

-Nick B.

Hugely ambitious game? Yes! Full of annoying issues? You bet! I really wanted to like this game, but it just has too many tedious and annoying flaws. For example, if you want to be true to a FPS style and forego the V.A.T.S. system... GOOD LUCK. You'll waste all your ammo and be very frustrated at how slowly things die. Secondly... why does ammo no have any weight, but everything else does? At one point I was overburdened and couldn't run anymore... so what did I do? I dropped a single PAPER CUP from my inventory and viola... I'm running again. I was like WTF? you can't be serious!!! Also, I couldn't stand the fact that it autosaves in the worst possible spots, forcing you to restart the game if you forget to manually save every few minutes. I kept getting stuck in the middle of a fire-fight where I would die and then re-spawn in the the middle of batter, unable to run away or survive more than a few seconds. It was ridiculous and I had to restart the game just to recover from it. Very annoying. After a while, all these little issues started adding up to the point where playing was even fun anymore... it was just tedious and annoying.… Expand

Very average game. The world is big, yes, but that's about the only good thing about this RPG. The main problems are: low res textures and jagged surfaces everywhere; bland looking faces and horrible animations; horribly bland and repetitive environments; equally repetitive quests; completely forgettable characters; below average voice acting of most of the in-game characters; the game has countless bugs such as pop-in and game freezing and things that disappear in front of you; the third person view (optional) is the most horrible 3rd person view I've ever seen (even most homebrew games do this better) you will get bored having to open thousands of random containers in the game just to discover they are empty or contain something useless; the enemy AI is horrible, they just run at you and shoot; the weapons are for the most part very boring and contain no upgrade system aside from how your own stats affect them and the fact that they (very annoyingly) degrade; you are forced to use a roll-the-dice type system to shoot something as shooting from FPS view just doesn't work; most characters in the game all look and behave the same... I could go on and on. Mass Effect was an incredible game -- huge, with a great storyline and great action and characters you got to care about. Fallout 3 is nothing of the sort. Bethesda should have given the money they spent on making this game to another developer... almost any other developer could have done a better job than this with the amount of money and time that was spent on it. I do not understand why the gaming press decided this was such a good game. Believe me, it is not, unless your idea of fun is wandering around a huge world opening things to see if they have things of interest when 99% of the time they do not, and doing pointless quests following forgettable prompts by cardboard characters. I did play this game all the way through, and it did have a few enjoyable moments like but it was mediocre fun at best. The ending was just as anticlimactic as the game itself. Strongly recommend a rental if you are still seriously considering this. If you haven't already and like action RPGs, buy Mass Effect, the most underrated game on the 360, instead.… Expand

I REALLY wanted to like this game and had no idea I would end up despising it. I hate this game for a couple reasons. 1. After playing this game for a few hours, mostly unimpressed (except for the behemoth I fought, that was pretty bad ass, and I also liked the 50s music) I made my way to whatever that ghoul town in the museum was called; at this point I'm getting bored, but hell I spent $60 so maybe it will get better. Anyway, I get the contract for the slave, go talk to him, he says he has to take care of something (I'm pretty sure what it is), he walks over to his previous owner's bed as he (the bartender) is getting up to go to work...... and the former just continues standing at the bed. I go to melee (forget which character) and all hell breaks loose so I run away and autosave decides it's important to remember that. So at this point I can't go back to the ghoul town for provisions I require for the mission as they all want me dead... super. 2. There are sever other game ending glitches in this game which is damn inexcusable. I don't understand how this Bethesda can stand behind this product and furthermore, can't understand how it gets such great reviews. 3. Boring landscape, inappropriate invisible boundries 4. Villian graphics were cool, everything else was ugly and bland. If you can overlook all of these superficial flaws, there's also the crappy dialogue and drab storyline to contend with... but if you can overlook all of THAT, this is clearly the best game ever. 4.… Expand

This is one of the few game where you actually get your $60 worth. A huge map, great graphics and very interactive gameplay make it a great buy. While I can see how the many side quests and VATS combat system isn't everyone idea of fun, anyone who gives this game under a 4 is crazy.

Once you get past some of the more annoying glitches and game freezing, this is one of the best RPG's ever made. At first it can take a little bit to get used to the VATS system, but after an hour or so you'll be enjoying nearly every moment of the game.

Variety of play and diverse characters need more games like this one. I've had enough of same old shoot'em up crap. Lets hope Bethesda ( or other ) creates another similar or Fallout game.

Some people are completely idiots about this game. THIS IS NOT A SHOOTER!!!. this is an RPG! people are giving it bad ratings because the fighting doesn't compare to COD. the fighting is only a quarter of what this game really is. there is so much in this game that people who hate this game don't see that because there stupid. trust me people, if you love rpgs and/or oblivion, BUY THIS GAME!… Expand

Dude, I shed tears of joy and extreme happiness when I play this game! Aside from HALO It is my all time favorite. I can't even go into breaking it down and listing it's attributes. Everything in it is just completely awesome. I wouldn't even know where to begin. Just rest assured that once you start you will be completely hooked. Did i just say hooked? I mean flippin' ADDICTED!!!!… Expand

A very entertaining game. I had fun playing it. I am sure I would have scored it higher except that I spent much time on side quests, getting to level 20 (max) before getting very far with the story. What a disappointment when I found out you can't level up from 20. I kind of felt that my time was somewhat wasted and it killed the game for me. Don't do what I did, focus more on the main story, you will have more fun!… Expand

This game was simply amazing. I played Bioshock, Halo 3, REd Faction Guerilla, and Left 4 Dead, and Fallout 3 is by far the best game I have ever played. I only own 2 games, out of the 15 I have played and beaten. Left 4 Dead was my first purchased and kept game, and Fallout 3 was my second. Once I played Fallout 3, i could not put down the controller. The game sucked me into a world of chaos and wonder, and had me keep going to explore new places, events, and more. This game has to be the best game I have ever played.… Expand

This is a game that is unlike it's brother, Oblivion. What Oblivion provided (mainly lots of dungeons, lots of quests, and lots of cities) Fallout 3 ignores to the bone!

After 20 hours of playing (and being partially impressed at this point, a few fun quests, a few sight seeings, ect) I checked my Data log. Only 20 quests completed!

That can't be right, I went to all of Fallout 3's main cities, which isn't hard because there are only like 4 of them. And only 3 of them can be actually called cities. First off that is BS because the wasteland is so boring that without cities we have no quests or interesting people to talk with.

Paradise had 1 person to officially do a quest with, the rest were just generic "slavers" BORING.

Megaton, the first city you go to has only 2-3 quest givers. With one of those asking you to disable a bomb (which takes 1 second *boring*) and another asking you to fix leaky pipes. Again, very very boring.

The side stories were fun, like the run away android, but despite all the talk the quest could be done really quick.

I didn't like this game. The wasteland was incredibly boring with little side quests that made it worth while. I'm thinking Bethesda's thought process was just giving us the bare BS with weak main story quests and giving the rest up as DLC. lol… Expand

When I first got oblivion I fell in love, I would spend hundreds of hours making my character perfect. The one problem with oblivion was if you changed the difficulty the only difference was the damage ratio between you and your enemies. On fallout you CAN kill hard characters, not by just hitting them over and over again, because of the skill and leveling systems you can win with skill. 10/10 but it still deserves more.… Expand

Fallout 3 is a good game but certainly not the great game people are claiming it to be. For the most part, the story is average, not in the leagues of Mass Effect and Half-life 2. But it does not border on pretentious either. The gameplay is a mixed bag, part of it is the great V.A.T.S system that Bethesda incorporated which is simply brilliant. the other is the very poor shooting mechanics when not using the V.A.T.S system. The shooting controls are sticky and unresponsive. As far as the graphics go, they are impressive for a open world game. The dialogue is smart and funny at times, although when it comes to making decisions it wont matter which one you pick as the story wont be strong enough to make you care. on a positive note however, this game will keep you occupied searching every place in the wasteland for valuables and weapons.… Expand

The best game of 2008. The combat system could be improved, but it was much better than Mass Effect's. I can't name another Xbox single player that I've played that compares to this experience.

Truly awesome game. My favorite RPG since the original KOTOR. I've seen some reviewers upset because the combat isn't Halo. If you want an action shooter, play Halo or COD. This is an RPG. It's about the story, the choices you can make, and the immersion into it's world and getting to decide what your character is like and how they will interact with those they come in contact with. The best thing I can say about the combat is what I can't say about every other RPG I've played since KOTOR; the combat doesn't detract from the game. With Jade Empire or Mass Effect, I thought the combat was so lame and such a pain in the butt(Dragon Age, too) that I couldn't wait for it to end every time it popped up in the game. With this game, the combat is certainly not a selling point, or a reason in itself to play it, but it doesn't detract from the experience either. You can choose between the turn based, traditional RPG method in VATS mode and target individual body parts and watch some cool gratuitous slow-mo gore as you attack your opponents, or you can just try to aim the cross-hairs and pull the trigger as fast as possible. Both can be effective depending on the situation. I haven't felt so fully immersed in a games' world in, well, maybe never. The game also has an awesome dark, dry sense of humor going on, both in the dialogue and in some of the ridiculously over-the-top things you can do in the crazy lawless post-nuclear apocalypse setting. I've played it for over 60 hours and I'm still not finished with my initial play-through, let alone the 5 expansions included on the second disc of the game of the year edition, so the amount of bang for your buck you can get is unbelievable for a one-player game. I've heard that you can rush through the game if you focus on the main quest, but I've spent my time searching and exploring the world. I've barely even scratched the surface of the main quest. My only gripe about this awesome game would be the amount of time that one spends looting and searching through rooms and boxes. It really does account for probably 60% of my gametime, if not more when I add in all the time I spend on inventory management, but I can pretty much sum up what makes this game so great like this: I have yet to sit and play for 3-4 hours and not stumble upon something awesome, whether its a ridiculous settlement, plot-line, new ability, weapon, etc. Sure, I can spend an hour or two wandering aimlessly, but in the end it always seems to pay-off. A super cool game, not for everyone, but one that most RPG fans, especially ones with a little bit of a dark sense of humor and an appreciation for the odd and the absurd, will probably love.… Expand

This Game doesent only live up to the hype it build up since Bethesda previously created Oblivion it Blows up the hype it is just an incredible experience. So many choices every little thing you do will come back to help or haunt you. Either finding a dog to assist you in the wasteland or finding secret weapons that will own the bigger guys... If you have a choice between fable 2 and this masterpiece. it is Fallout 3. Now before you go praising gears of war 2 like it is a epic masterpiece just put it next to fallout 3 and it is an absolute Failure. Go get this game right now.. - The Broken Gamer… Expand

I have a feeling a lot of the idiots on this board scoring this game low were against it from the very beginning, and it might've been hand-delivered from God (or whomever you want) and they still would treat it like used toilet paper. I've been playing Fallout since it came out in 1998. I've been playing games since Zork. This game is incredibly immersive. It is not without fault. But it exceeded my expectations, and it is the most fun I've had on the Xbox.… Expand

A great game. Although not perfect (I don't consider any game "perfect") Fallout 3 offers an experiance unlike any other game in it's genre. The perk system is genius, The story is great, and the V.A.T.S. system comes together perfectly. It's near endless exploration and hours of side missions will have you playing it for weeks on end. Fallout 3 feels and plays like only one other game: The Legend of Zelda.… Expand

Once again a game is hyped up so much that reviewers have no choice but to give this a great review. Ill be honest though, i haven't even played this, at least i admit it. My point is though i read about this and ign pretty much said it was the second coming of crist. So i watched videos of it hoping to be blown away and what i saw was an rpg that made shooting an afterthought. I guess we cant expect every shooter to be as smooth as CoD 4. The world looked all the same color to me too and as cool as the time place sounds, walking on rubble in a massive world doesn't look like a blast to me. So i am not really hating on the game despite what you may believe, it just makes me mad with all the hype around games. Gears 2 looks like Gears one but it will get great reviews when any other game is considered unoriginal. I am most disappointed in ign though. Lately their reviews seem so biased its laughable. Consider their scale for this game 90 = 0 100 = 10. They gave it a 9.6 so i consider it a 6 because there was no way they were going into it with an open mind. Who knows maybe this game will grow on me in time but i have learned my lesson with hype. Knights of the Old Republic taught me that lesson, what a joke. my prediction= Amazing story, great graphics, average AI, terrible target system that pauses gameplay, below average shooter. Hm.. has a lot of qualities like Mass Effect and Bioshock.… Expand

This is a crap game on the XBOX as I have had nothing but problems with it either hanging or rebooting the console. Tried it back at the store and it works fine so they will not refund. It may be my XBOX playing up again. My mate has it on his PS3 and he loves it. My warranty has run out on my XBOX so I will not be able to get it fixed again. Might be time to bin it and get a PS3 or a Wii.

Bethesda is misleading gamers into thinking this is a shooter. It is not. It is a RPG with a sloppy shooter element added on. V.A.T.S. is an interesting concept but it should not take two point blank headshots to kill someone. Free aim is sloppy. The graphics look washed out even in high def and the skin tones are off. Animations are stiff and when speaking to one character, none of the other characters move and thusly look like a painting. If you like RPG's you will like Fallout 3. If you are expecting even a half decent shooter, look elsewhere.… Expand

Probably the best game I've played so far, definitely the best game of the year. The graphics are superb, the world is expansive and incredibly detailed (you can literally see for miles...), story is so immersible, the gameplay is actually enjoyable, very enjoyable in fact (unlike Oblivion), the style and dialogue is very good, and the theme is so friggin awesome (yes it's supposed to be dark, gloomy, and various shades of gray and brown, it's a post-apocalyptic world you idiots!) There's so much to do and not enough time to do it. I've been playing it for close to 30 hours, not close to finishing the game, and I'm still hungry for more.… Expand

I went into Fallout 3 expecting the perfect game. I did not find a perfect game but I found the closest thing to a perfect game since The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. This game has so much depth and gameplay that if anyone was talking about depth and gameplay, Fallout 3 could be used as a reference. From the amazing plot line to the creative and addictive ecstasy that is VATS, and from the dialogue to the leveling system, this game has perfected nearly every aspect of an action RPG. The world may not be as massive as Oblivion, but it has so less wasted space. Nearly every inch of The Capitol Wasteland has some location, some vault, metrostation, or point of interst to explore. I beat the game 2 days after buying it, but spent the next 3 weeks playing the side quests., and I'm still exploring locations. The only flaws I found was that the game can be a little unimmerisve when the loading screens come up, and that the walking wasn't fixed from Oblivion. you still seem to slide around when in third-person. Fallout 3 is an experience in itself and if you consider yourself a fan of video-games, then you owe it to yourself to at least try this game.… Expand

Fallout 3 is without a doubt one of the most impressive games out period. It features good plot lines, weaponry, rpg elements, great graphics etc etc. If you want to read more positive comments see the metascore and all of the professional reviews. This game is not without its downsides, which are significantly played down by the professional reviewers. The creators of the game did not use the scope of the game to their advantage; by that I mean there are only 31 achievement quests(including quests as part as the main story) while there is easily over 150 locations to explore. During the beginning hours, this may not become obvious; in the last hours, however, a player can see that this game seems almost half finished. It just seems that while DC is huge, the amount of things to do in it are limited. Another problem is the gunplay. Often, a player will find themselves wasting tons of ammo trying to kill a simple enemy because their guns are not particularly effective nor accurate outside of VATS. This leads to the player entering combat with VATS, only to hide until VATS fills back up so they can use it again. Fallout 3 has an utter lack of bosses. Bosses are arguably the heart of RPGs aside from the basics; the fact that this game ignored them makes it kind of awkward (especially no final boss). New game plus? Forget about it; once the game is over, it is over. Leveling up past 20? Forget about it; you max out at level 20. Any reason to put the game on very hard? No(no achievement; while you do get more experience points, you will max out before you finish the quests making the quests pointless). Any items that are just "cool" enough to go after a long quest for? No. You can make some and their are some special ones, but they aren't that great. On the plus side, this game will engross you for hours(it would take about 40 of them to complete the story and all the side quests).… Expand

Corrected comments For anyone still looking to buy the game, here are a few Clarifications on the few low scores. "An incredibly dull game filled with bugs. I'm surprised that they've released it in the stage that it's in. It's poor animation, terrible models poor conversation/storyline and extremely bad lighting are just a few things that make this game painful to play." There are as many bugs in this game as in any other top notch game, few and far between. The animation is better than any other sandbox game, and the dialogue is much better than almost any other game that I have played "Simple, linear, unoriginal narrative." There are 25+ quests plus many side "requests" that can be done in the game, and only 3 of the quests are required, not linear at all. "Tactical combat has been removed." Just because the game isn't turn based doesn't mean it isn't tatical. Sure, you could stand in the open on easy difficulty and mow down enemies, or you could turn up the difficulty and use cover, stealth, and your allies. "In Fallout 3, you can shoot nuclear-powered cars with your nuclear catapult (early in the game...), in a town built around an unexploded nuclear bomb." Yes this is true, you can shoot a mini-nuke launcher. Before the war, cars had been powered by nuclear reactors, so for some strange reason, someone hadn't gone through the entire world and removed the engine from every car. There is a town around a dud nuclear bomb because it was dropped out of a plane from low orbit and still didn't detonate. It made an ideal crater for a town. "Much of the crowded (who would have thought nuclear winter would be so claustrophobic?) "wasteland" is sloppily and lazily copy-pasted from place to place." Nuclear winter has worn off during the 200+ years after the Great War. Just because there was a nuclear war doesn't mean that people will never be able to live on the surface. If the wasteland is really just copy-pasted from place to place, how come every building is different and the view from each hill is different. Also, look around you home, do any things look the same. I know that I see houses that look almost identical and cars which are identical every day. "Play first Fallout and Fallout2 ignoring the graphics and then play Fallout3.Only then you will realise how bad this game is.Most gaming sites have either no idea what they are talking about or have been paid well to write these ridiculous reviews." First of all, the game is almost completly different from Fallout and Fallout 2, so there is no way to compare them. Look at Warcraft and World of Warcraft. They are completly different games and there is no way to say which is better. The same is true for Fallout 3. "V.A.T.S. is an interesting concept but it should not take two point blank headshots to kill someone. Free aim is sloppy. The graphics look washed out even in high def and the skin tones are off. " First of all, in many games a headshot isn't a one hit kill. all Halo games, all COD games, all GTA games, Gears 1&2, all Perfect Dark games, all Bond games, Counter Strike, and many, many more. Free aim is only sloppy if you don't know how to use the two little stick things on your controller. The graphics are far better than any other sandbox games, and better than most scripted games. There is no way that skin tones can be off given the fact that every person's skin is a different color. Also, it is a radiation soaked world, and there is a very good chance that skin color could be affected, concidering the insane mutations occuring to other creatures.… Expand

This game is amazing. I don't know what Mike R's problem with it is, but the targeting system is actually useful as well as flexible and satisfying. You have a huge, realized open world to explore, tons of interesting characters to talk to and a plethora of ways to upgrade your character, all while trying to survive through the run down wastelands of a radiation stricken Washington DC. If you like any of Bethesda's previous games like Oblivion, or even if you like the old Fallout games, don't hesitate to pick this one up. If you have the brain to actually manage your character within the game's nearly limitless rules, you will undoubtedly have a blast with Fallout 3. My only problem is that the main quest can be finished in around 10 hours without doing any side missions, but thank god the side missions are there. There's plenty of them to do and they tend to be more interesting than the main quest. Also, when going into this game don't expect it to be a shooter. This is a Western RPG through and through, and what a wonderful RPG it is.… Expand

Fallout 3 is close to being perfect, but I did find some elements of the game to be disappointing. The leveling up of the character is great, but ends far to quickly with a level 20 cap, and the environment is fairly bland, but there is not much of an alternative considering a nuclear war. Other than those two points the game is excellent. Dialogue options are plentiful, as well as quests, and the combat system is easy to get into and enjoyable. Overall a great game.… Expand

There were lots of small glitches, but in the museums there was a huge glitch where the models would blind your screen which was an issue with the 360 cache, other than that it has solid gameplay and a little more enticing the the elder scroll series but i feel ripped off by how close it plays like them

Fallout 3 is fantastic, if you like RPG's add this to your wish list. Its story structure and side plots are like Mass Effect but you can roam wider like in Oblivion. Combat is engaging and fun The graphics are good but a few of the motion animations are off center. Good plot line, plenty of sub quests, solid and enjoyable combat system, only a couple of very minor animation glitches, a great game, I am a big Fallout fan and I knew Bethesda would not drop the ball. Great stuff.… Expand

What an absolute piece of crap. I don't really care what the rest of you think. If you played the first Fallout & the 2nd one, you would understand what I mean. Bethseda I hate you guys. Every game that you have ever made I have disliked heavily. Oblivion, garbage. Morrowind, garbage. And yet we get this game 'Oblivion with guns'. Could you not have fixed the engine? And made it so it wasn't so much like Oblivion? NO you can't. I can't express how mad I am at this game. I got 10 hours in, and it is the very first game that I have ever taken back and sold. I hated it. Graphics were okay, nothing special. Gameplay was Oblivion with guns. And traveling was stupid. Overall I still stand with my disgust to you Bathseda, I hope someone burns your companys building down so we don't have to see your wreck another game franchise. You're the "Uwe Boll" of video games.… Expand

While the atmosphere and artistic direction of the game is exceptional, it seems that Bethesda refused to acknowledge what developments have been made in cRPG genre in recent years. The dialogue is plain abysmal when compared to a gem like Mass Effect, they are often too long or too short, depending on situation, and the fact that the main character never utters a word doesn't help. Facial expressions are virtually nonexistant, and the fact that the world "freezes" when you talk to someone is a giant dent in immersion. Also, one on one dialoges often feel stiff. Oblivion with guns? Very much so, for better or worse. Personally I favour tightly knit and involving story to sandbox game experience, and that might be part of the reason why Fallout 3 didn't quite suit me, but that aside, there are some issues that I have with the game regardless. The above mentioned dialogue system is one thing, but there is quite a lot of bugs and glitches around the world that make exploring it even more painfull. In general, if the dialogue and character intaraction have been given the same amout of care as the world creation and artistic direction, this could have been a real gem. But with Bethesda staying fixed on their game design idea refusing to adapt acknowledged improvements made by other games, this is "only" an enjoyable title.… Expand

In comparison to the earlier Black Isle Studios Fallouts, Bethesda's Fallout has: One-dimensional, illogical and forgettable characters with little to no personality. Simple, linear, unoriginal narrative. Poorly-written narrative. Poorly-written dialogue. Poorly-voiced dialogue. None of the series' trademark moral ambiguity. No real freedom (there are unkillable NPCs, unavoidable combat etc.). No real choices or consequences. Tactical combat has been removed. Importance of skills/perks/traits removed. Traits removed. Psychologically and emotionally complex quests no longer present. Nuclear power was a feared thing in post-apocalyptic Fallout, and the issue was dealt with intelligently with much subtle social commentary. In Fallout 3, you can shoot nuclear-powered cars with your nuclear catapult (early in the game...), in a town built around an unexploded nuclear bomb. Fallout 3 fails to deal with any of the interesting human issues that Fallout did. The game lacks any semblance of thoughtfulness. It's also shorter. And easier. The game abuses and contradicts established lore. Fallout 3 fails to even pathetically imitate it's decade-old predecessors' design, originality or meaningfullness. Let alone exceed it. Even when considered, unfairly, outside the context of being a sequel, it is an exceptionally arrogant, incompetent and poorly designed game all on its own. The animations are clunky and awkward. AI is atrocious. Combat is awkward. World textures and character models are ugly and lacking. Art direction is poor. Much of the crowded (who would have thought nuclear winter would be so claustrophobic?) "wasteland" is sloppily and lazily copy-pasted from place to place. The musical score is uninspired and in the style of LOTR-esque epic-fantasy (in fact it sounds very similar to Oblvion...) - which is completely inappropriate in this game's setting. To top it off, the whole thing is buggy and poorly optimized. And Bethesda's attitude towards the original games' fans has been utterly pathetic.… Expand

I've been a gamer for nearly 20 years and would say that video games are my favorite pastime. So i was really excited when my copy finally arrived. But the introductory sequence was a first disappointment and a good primer of what to expect from the rest of the game. The graphics, especially inanimate objects, are really good and this and the excellent art direction are the main sources of atmosphere in the game. Rivet City, the barren wastelands, Megaton...awesome. But in regard to animation the game is mediocre at best. The 3rd person view looks downright ridiculous. The facial expressions of NPCs are a joke. They look like puppets. Even such oldies like No One Lives Forever with like 10 polygons per face had better animation and more charisma to their characters. Another flaw is imho the writing (both dialog and characterization) which fluctuates greatly in terms of quality over the course of the game and is seldom great, often barely okay and sometimes just bad. Often one is under the impression that Bethesda tried too hard sometimes. Most characters remain one-dimensional and only a few examples of the humour are good examples. Same goes for the quest design. Some are really good, but especially the main quest and the god-awful ending are real bummers. Not only that, but the tradition of the fallout series to show the consequences of the choices that you made in the past is reduced almost beyond recognition. The VATS combat system mostly works but you can not turn off the slow motion death cam (gets really annoying) and the real-time combat between the VATS phases is lackluster at best and totally inferior to 'real' shooter games. The classical soundtrack is, aside from the brooding main theme, utterly forgettable but you can turn on the radio and listen to pre-50s pop songs while travelling the wastes. Great, but needs more songs imho (i believe there is a music folder to put your own tracks in). So writing, story, animation, characters and combat are less than stellar but in terms of postapocalyptic atmosphere this game is up there in atmosphere heaven together with (also flawed) gems like the two STALKERs. It's good fun but not the exceptional achievement most 'professional' reviews make it out to be. Surely, it has exceptional ambition, but the execution is somewhat lacking. A classic case of an hyped up gaming press imho… Expand

This game has a ton to offer you. A cool story and an immense world to delve into and a character that can be whatever you want. You can lug around giant guns and sport badass armor, or play as a sneaky thief who likes setting land mines. There is so much to do and see in this game. Just when you think you have seen it all you stumble on another hidden gem. If you own a 360 then you have to own this game.… Expand

While technically a great game overall in spite of its many small bugs and glitches, Fallout 3 does nothing to offer the intelligence and complexity of its predecessors. Fans of the original two games may remember them as thoughtful and thought inspiring, with good writing and quests that often forced the player to make tough ethical decisions with true consequences and no right or wrong answer. Fallout 3 has practically none of the things that made the other games so great. In pure looks and aesthetics it does wonderfully as an heir to the Fallout title, but it is up to you to decide what you expect from games and wether or not this one can live up to those expectations. If you want an expansive, open sandbox world full of dolls to play dress up with, you will love this game. If you were looking for a game that will make you think, look elsewhere.… Expand

I was extremely excited to play this game, but after the first four or so hours of walking around, I became quite bored. I started out doing side quests so that I would be able to handle the main quests better, and they really didn't capture my interest. I decided to start playing the main quests and was instantly pulled in. I especially loved how the father's mannerisms were modelled after Liam Neeson. The main story itself is also pretty dynamic. However, the end completely killed it for me. I am beyond upset at how anti-climactic it was. I had prepared myself to fight an army, and only got to battle a dozen or so enclave soldiers. The final quest literally took me no more than ten minutes to complete. If you like Oblivion, as I do, you will probably find this game enjoyable. Just don't expect a satisfying or rewarding ending.… Expand

Ryencoke , spare us your vitriol. If you didn't like Oblivion or Morrowind, maybe you should have the good judgement to realise that you just dont like the RPG genre, at all. and you should stick playing games more in your league. It goes without saying that this is one of the greatest and most absorbing RPGs ever. It's setting is unique, and affecting, its quests are deep and entertaining , and the wealth of CHOICE available is completely mind boggling. On the minus - poor ending - Forgiving difficulty curve ( even on very difficult the game feels overly easy ) - Ocassional crashes , glitches, and i experienced a save game corruption though it may have been due to usermods.… Expand

I really wanted to like this game, I did. However, This has turned out to be such a disappointment. I found the game to be very boring, from the story to the game play. I would suggest renting before you buy. It feels like oblivion all over again, and that's not a good thing. It wasn't terrible, but don't fall for the hype.

Overall, a great game. With that being said, I have not played Fable 2 of any of the other Fallout games so I can only compare it to what I consider the best role playing game in Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. Basically, Fallout 3 is a better version of Morrowind. Everything has been streamlined and slightly improved upon. If you liked Morrowind the I recommend buying Fallout 3. If not, you may want to rent it first.… Expand

This game is the bigger i've ever played, i didn't try the first 2 games, but come on!! bethesda is a master on this area in videogames, yes you spend a lot of hours and may can be quite TEDIOUS, but BORING?? you can go and play something like viva pinata or lips, etc... this is a game for real gamers, is satisfying to finish the game and all the quests i can recommend this masterpiece to all the people who like action, adventures, blood... i say the same as Gary IS AN AMAZING GAME!! (also said by all the critics who gave it universal acclaim) YOU MUST HAVE IT!… Expand

As per the recommendation of one of my friends to buy this game as it was descibed as "Oblivion with guns", I was expecting a game to be of similar caliber as Oblivion. Boy, was I wrong. I haven't played the first two Fallout game so I can't compare it to them, but from a standpoint of someone who is completely new to the series, I can say that this game was mildly enjoyable at best. The first gripe that I have about this game is the short and anticlimactic plotline. In fact, the entire game seemed like it was rushed out for the holiday season. The landscape is completely devoid of any interesting features and the graphics, a slight improvement over Oblivion's, did not help that problem at all. I often found myself traveling the entire landscape just to find enough money to keep my weapons loaded for 2 opponents. Moreover, the lack of viable transportation other than walking and fast travel turned out to be a pain in the long run and was probably on purpose to extend the poor excuse of a mail plotline.… Expand

Amazing game, I can't stop playing it. Has some bugs/flaws, but I'm sure will be taken care of, even if not it's still one I can't put down. It's not perfect but then no game is, but it's everything I expected it to be and more! Not sure why people compare it to Oblivion, other than using the same engine (but more advanced) the games are really nothing alike. Story, environment, leveling, etc are completely different.… Expand

I'm blown away.....best experience I've had since Mass Effect, and this game is in fact better than that title, which was itself a+. Fallout 3 is the first game in years to really make me feel the environment and the setting.....startlingly addictive and immersive RPG. A must have!

This game is fantastic. Good balance between clear narrative and open play. Early on, you get a taste for how much control over the play style you have, and I'm totally hooked. I think my work performance today is telling of my addiction.

Look I'm not going to straight review this game, but everyone needs to stop comparing it to Bioshock. You should be comparing Bioshock to it considering Fallout is an old series. Especially you reviewers get a life if you don't like this game. It may be your opinion, but your opinion is wack.On the same note Bioshock was a good game, but not worth playing more than once. Mass Effect was a great game, but it's negative outweighed its positives. It got boring. Fallout 3 is nowhere near getting boring and it definitely will have great replay qualities. From the engrossing storyline that only gives little by little to keep you wondering. To the humorous and serious interactions with NPC'S. To the guy on the side of the road looking for purified water. It's a great game don't let critics throw you from the beaten path on playing Fallout 3.… Expand

I bought Fallout 3 a few days ago and have been playing it ever since. I skipped almost all sidequests because I was interested in the story. Now that I've played through this game, I can honestly say WOW. Every aspect of this game is superb. Concept, Graphics, Sound, Gameplay, Technical, Story, everything totally kicks @ss. Truly has it earned Game of the Year in my eyes. Bethesda, you've done it again!… Expand

Slightly above average game. People that say it's nothing like Oblivion are just lying to themselves so they'lll feel they are playing a new game from Bethesda instead of what it basically a PC mod of that 2 1/2 year old game. Take Oblivion, exchange swords for guns, exchange magic for the VATS targeting system, exchange foliage for blown out buildings, switch around the upgrading and menu system, make everything brown and here you go. Not to mention it looks below average with tons of pop-in (Farcry 2 had much more detail with much less pop-in and all with foliage everywhere and had just as big of a world) and there is no A.I. Everyone just runs straight at you whether carrying a long range rifle or not. The enemies seem to look too cartoony and feel out of place such as the big guys toting chain guns. They look like something from the game Jericho, as do most every other non-human enemy. The rest are standard Oblivion-ish bugs which are getting annoying this far into the console generation. Everything looks the same and is all brown which may be because everything is in post nuclear fallout, but every area looks the same except for the big D.C. landmarks and grates quickly. I'll play it until Gears 2 releases but then it's gone. I hated Oblivion and always thought if it was designed with guns then I could get into it. Well, I was wrong. The shooting in this game sucks whether using real-time or the targeting system. This game does't know whether it wants to be a shooter or an RPG which proves they shouln't have marketed it as anything but an RPG. They knew shooter fans would buy and it be duped, and it worked on some. I knew it to be an RPG all along, but the combat in the game is still centered around guns and is utterly broken. The rest is rehased ideas that all but the biggest RPG geels grew tired of 2 1/2 years ago.… Expand

Great graphics, intense and almsot non-stop combat system, and if you get the "bloody mess" perk, lol. Prepare for some hilerious V.A.T.S. moments, especially when it traces your bullets all the way to the enemy's skull and then proceeds to split it into a billion little pieces. Brutal, and incredibly satisfying.

This game is phenomenal. The Role Playing gameplay is outstanding. Not many of these games come along. Usually RPG's are usually look down to, but this game changes the usual and standard opinion. This game is one heck of an RPg

Don't get me wrong, this is a very good game. But it is a little short of greatness in my mind. Well first of all, it will not be everyone's cup of tea. People who are looking for a shooter and are used to that fast pacedness of FPS's, but not fond of the repetition of RPGs, then stay far far away. For the detail oriented, it is hell, because you will feel like you have to check every damn storage box and look at every item, even though 90% of the items in the world are worthless. Is it realistic? Yes? But it is mind-numbing after a while to explore every locale and rummage through storage closet after storage closet. And even though it borrows heavily from Oblivion and the graphics are amazing, they are also wretchedly putrid and beak.... because that is the world that Fallout inhabits. Which is fine, but it is crazy just how good the graphics are to make something look so ugly. And personally I don't like the bleak wasteland of Fallout. It's depressing and drab. Not really a pick-me-up kind of game, but that's just personal taste. That being said, the detail in this game is amazing. There is a LOT to like. But in the end, the abrupt ending and just the whole feel of the game left me feeling unsatisfied. It was still well worth my $60 and the kind of game I'm very glad I played, but not quite the classic that Oblivion was.… Expand

Simply an amazing gaming experience that captivates and immerses you into another time and place.

From the deep atmospheric elements to the expansive world to the massive customization, this game is something everyone needs to try at least once.

The city map is grate, but the story and RPG side is poor there is a limit of 20 points level and fights are shallow. Too much time wasted exploring places. It lacks the dynamic and RPG characteristics from its predecessors.

You don't need me to tell you this game is good. Just listen to the critics. They know what they are saying. Every aspect of this game is stunning. Its a visceral experience in which you can actually feel as if you are apart of the world you see around you. Buy this game. It is worth your money.

this is my favorite game for any platform i have put in over 100 hours and if you buy the guide it helps you through thick and thin while you shoot your way to where you need to go and the thing that throws it past a 10 is VATS it will blow your mind this is a must get game no matter who you are you will continuosly play it until you beat it

I like some aspects of this game and didn't like others, I am an original Fallout fan but I judged this game on it's own merits as if it wasn't a Fallout game at all. The reason for my score is simple, the game was bugged into unplayability. After about 20+ hours of roaming the wasteland, having fun but being disappointed in the dialogue and story, I was unable to progress. Upon trying to enter the vicinity of Jefferson Memorial (which is required to beat the game) my game crashed, I reloaded and tried again... crash. I then shrugged and went to a backup save (I always keep several) made my way back and got the same result. I tried every save I had, even going back several hours, and I still could not escape the bug. It's clear that something is seriously wrong with this game, Bethesda had no excuse for releasing this in it's present state and I doubt they will patch it beyond what is necessary to sell more DLC. Oh and I also found other people online who had the same problem so I know it isn't a 1 in a 1000000 bug. I would advise anyone who really wants to play this to get the PC version as I'm sure fans will patch it into playability, as Bethesda relies on. Don't buy console versions from a company known for making buggy games and not fixing them, it seems they still haven't learned their lesson.… Expand

I personally loved the game. I read some other reviews from other people and I agree with most, but yet the ones who rate 0 and such and complain about traveling, well don't you think it would get rather boring just being able to go every where right away? Ever hear about a challenge? Or how the scenery was 'boring' well um its an apocalyptic WASTELAND after being fucking nuked. I'm sure the world would look similar to that so I applaud the scenery because its how it would really look. So but all in all, I enjoyed the graphics actually some glitches yes, not everything is perfect. I like VATS because I'm not much into shooters myself since I have slow reaction time so it helps me. and I love RPGs and this is one of the best I've ever played. Oh and I love the dog you find at the scrapyard dog meat.… Expand

Probably one of the best games I have ever played, overall. There are a few little bugs but they are so slight compared to all the great things about this game. I think the best part about this game is the rich atmosphere, environment, and aesthetic. The gameplay and combat are good and the quests are fun and varied. The actual story part of the game probably only makes up 20% of all that this game has to offer so you get your money's worth. I think everyone needs to at least try this game.… Expand

This is a enormous game that will you wanting more. A lot more. The main quests are short but overall satisfying. The side quests are fun,too but makes the game feel like it's labored for some quests, ex. the wasteland survival guide. The story is a lot better than most people is this site say. The NPCs have personality and you feel a connection with some of the them. Most of the bad reviews, I think, are fps fans who didn't know what they were getting into and Fallout 1 and 2 fans, I'm one myself, who can't except change and Bethesda style of games.… Expand

9/10? You honestly believe this game is 10% away from being PERFECT? This game had all of Oblivion's horrible animations. It was just a reskin. The whole sliding walk cycles, defying gravity crouch walking, and the stupid AI and extraodinarily deep combat "swing repeatedly to kill". How epic, you fight giant cockroaches, and the "advanced" facial animation, what with auto-lip sync? So unpolished. Looks like it was made by QANTM students. I hate the whole, pick up every item you see. How many police uniforms do you need? Oh but that's "interactivity" isn't it.… Expand

I wish I could reply to comments given by people, reply to opinions offered after only a few hours of gameplay into a game which is at least 30-40 hours long without downloadable content if you soak in the ride. The graphics are stunning, like another said, the load times are so short for a game of this size. People, you can't be looking for smooth walking or physics abiding crouching, that's not what this game is about, if you want a stunning visual FPS play Bioshock (highly recommended), but Fallout 3 is by no means a bad game, it is easily one of the best games on the Xbox 360 and wasn't ported so should be just as great on the PC. If you haven't played the game in its entirety you are doing yourself a disservice and if you haven't played it and score it low you are doing others a disservice by spooning them your ignorant opinions. If you have played it and scored it low that's your call. I however; love this game. It has its flaws and you really have to immerse yourself in the game to get everything out of it. The first time I played i HATED it, couldn't stand the story and the difficulty, but give it time and it'll court you like a 16th century prince.… Expand

Fallout 3 is simply an outstanding game, for more reasons than one, with amazing graphics, new and inventive quests and incredible gameplay which is where the sequal to Bethesda's orginal Fallout really shines. One of my favourite aspects of the game is the vast amount of guns, from a laser pistol to a gatling laser, they all shine and are a real joy to use. However above the amazing and exploring Washington, and the very inventive creatures, the V.A.T.S System has the be the greatest achivement in the game, simply because watching a Super Mutant get decapitated in slow motion is just a real treat. This would be my favourite game of all time, however i felt let down by the very limited level system, as you can only reach level 20, but thank goodness for Broken Steel, as you can advance to level 30.… Expand

I find it interesting that many of the negative reviews that this game receives tend to come from people that obviously haven't spent too much time playing it before giving up. I also nearly gave up. It has (game endingly) glitched twice whilst I've played it, and also you need to save your game often to avoid mishaps with the lovely residents of the wasteland. Otherwise it is a great game, and it will keep you engaged for hours. I'm really glad I stuck with it, glitches and all. The combat system is difficult at first, but very rewarding once mastered. It is not an FPS game, and the combat tends to be best played as a mixture of both RPG and FPS. A gamers game.… Expand

The sheer scope of this game has kept me playing it for god knows how long and i still haven't finished the central storyline! the graphics are a bit rough in places but there is good variation in the environment and the characters you interact with. People have complained about the shooting side but this isn't intended to be call of duty 6! in any case, i cant see how this aspect of the game is 'sloppy' - certain weapons are better than others for particular enemies, the guns aren't perfectly accurate which is completely realistic, u can make your own weapons with bits of junk and there is gd variation in the weaponry including plenty of special weapons to collect. i can understand criticisms about how the game saves cus that is a pain some of the time and requires work. the main storyline lacks drama and emotion but then 95% of the game is concerned with sub lines so no big loss there. For a bit more depth there needs to be more subtlety with the whole karma thing, your decisions should have a greater impact on your character/story. i haven't got much to compare fallout to in terms of rpgs, i've never played oblivion or mass effect etc, only fable 2, and this is certainly a step above fable! will be interesting to see what the multiplayer fallout will be like, sounds like another awesome project.… Expand

Although a little disappointed in the ending this game is amazing, immersable, and and absolute joy to play and even an somewhat disappointing ending wont keep me from playing this game for a long time.

A 10 rating is pure hyperbole...A perfect 10. No flaws, the best ever. No way! Honestly, I just found the game to be rather short, depressing and un-inspired. Not a terrible game but I received more pleasure out of PONG (yes I'm old) asteroids, defender, dig-dug, pac-man the list goes on and on. In there time these were FUN games. Fallout 3 is not a bad game, it's just not fun.

Eric, the main quest is linear. You've obviously never played Fallout or Fallout 2. *compared to Fallout 1/2* the combat IS less tactical. You really _cannot_ reasonably rationalize the nuclear cars, eithe. First of all, putting a bullet in a reactor wouldn't initiate a fission chain reaction. It doesn't make sense. If it did then a simple car accident would cause large-scale nuclear devastation. To say this makes sense indicates that you really are a blind fanboy. Furthermore people would not *choose* to build a town around a live nuke. Nuclear winter has worn off after 200 years? Why are there still wooden houses standing after all this time. Hell, they weren't even in Fallout 1/2. Your point about World of Warcraft would make a little sense if World of Warcraft had been marketed as "Warcraft 4".… Expand

Nothing short of amazing, the world is so vast and so elaborate with minute details. This game is a must buy for so many different video game players. Will easily hold your interest for 100+ hours. Their does seem to be a few glitches here and there, but nothing game breaking that could hurt the score. The biggest downfall of this game is likely that it is so good it might make you late to work.… Expand

A true masterpiece. I've never played the previous Fallout games, so I can't say whether this game has stayed true to the series. For me, this game is rock solid. I have put in over 50 hours and continue to be amazed at the level of detail this game has. Anyone that gives it a low score probably just doesn't like games like this....or is an idiot. This is an amazing game!

INSANELY BOING!!!!! Thank you Richard S. for agreeing, this game is horrendous, the game auto-saves every two seconds and the beginning of the game is a waste of time! I was insanely disappointed when I bought this game. Instead of wasting your money on this piece of electronic crap go out and get "Gears of War 2" (which is a great game), or "Left 4 Dead" which is supposed to be also great. This game is a waste of money, and time!… Expand

One of the best Western RPGs to come around in a long time. Even if the combat could have felt more refined, there are just so many fun things to do in the unique world. The quests are all very diverse and allow for many different options on how to play them out. Also most of the DLC for this game is worth purchasing (except for Mothership Zeta.) People can debate whether or not this game is better than Oblivion but I think they are each equally good in their own ways.… Expand

Taking me nearly 50 hours to complete the GOTY edition, Fallout 3 is one massive game. The DLC's seemed sort of random and went all over the place, but certainly added value to the game. The game froze up on me a couple of times, and with the exception of the VATS targeting system, the gameplay isn't the best of it's class - the combat system is vast in options but nowhere close to as smooth as most modern shooters. The engine is very impressive however, and although no element of Fallout 3 appears to be perfected, it's what makes the game so ambitious and huge - allowing developer Bethesda to experiment with so many things that enables their games to stand out from the crowd. And the player being able to chose how to play the game is a fine example of such, allowing the player become further engaged in the story with a more unique and personal experience. However, looking through thousands of boxes and running errands gets tiresome after a while, and these are just two examples out of hundreds where the game has a tendency to become repetitive - especially considering its length. Furthermore, with the exception of its vastness, the story seemed to be lacking in comparison to the Mass Effect series - which also have far superior Character Models, Enemy AI, as well as a talking Main Character. All in all I enjoyed the game and appreciate the developers efforts, but Fallout 3 could use a little more polish, which is one of the primary reasons it doesn't appeal to the casual gamer.… Expand

Fallout 3 masterfully creates a parallel universe for players to explore and lose dozens of hours in. No other game of this console generation comes close to offering the amount of content, freedom of choice, and level of immersion that can be found here.

Enjoyable, with an interesting plot, functional controls, and a challenge (if you ignore the VATS, which I inadvertently did). Like most Bethesda Games, it is lacking in one respect though, they use the same terrain images over and over. Every building has the same skin, with a blood splatter or caged corpse here and there to try and cover it up. Just like every Aeylid ruin in Oblivion looked the same, Fallout 3 just dropped the ball on environmental art.… Expand

Highly entertaining and immersive. Though it is just like Oblivion in that you need to be able to get immersed into a game to truly enjoy all that Fallout has to offer. My only issues are the bugs, occasional lag, and the excessive amount of subways... oh and Megaton is the only cool city.

An excellent game in the development of weapons and skills
But the only problem is walking! Hero does not walk never walk normally!
The story is great grandfather and so many weapons and too many drugs and beam in some cases not be a good situation
For the transmission of a new era needs for a long time.
by / adil khojah saudi arabia jeddah city

Fallout 3 is a truly amazing video game. It is quite easy to get 60+ hours out of it on a single playthrough, if you explore every location and attempt as many side quests as you can; the main story line can become sidetracked by the sheer scale of the rest of the game. As a standalone package (minus DLC), once completed, you cannot continue to explore the wasteland; fortunately the GOTY package includes the Broken Steel add-on, and with this there is a huge new story arc to complete and you can continue after the main story has reached it's conclusion. Every character you meet has something to say, many have quests to give and you can proceed to be a wasteland saviour, or a vault demon. The gameplay is FPS with some RPG elements such as perks and special abilities; my favourite of which is Bloody Mess, which speaks for itself really. Of the DLC, they are all fantastic and varied; Operation Anchorage takes you to the Arctic, The Pitt takes you to the fiery steelmills of Pittsburgh, and Point Lookout features a barren, abandoned fairground. I enjoyed all 5, and they make it well worth buying the Game of the Year Edition. Unlike my favourite games, however, I have not found much to go back and replay, as you need so much time to really feel like you're in the wastelands. There are also some technical issues I have heard of, but personally I can recall very few and by now many of the issues have been patched. Overall, an absolutely fantastic game, well-worth buying, 4/5.… Expand

Epic classic game the likes of which has yet to be betterd.I have played through this game several times and thoroughly enjoyed every play-through.All in all I,d recommend this great game to anyone.

A fantastic post apocalyptic RPG with an extremely addictive personality. Fallout stands up to Oblivion and may even surpass it. It has some of the best open world exploration that gaming has to offer

First of all, does this game deserve a 10? No, but it deserves a 9.5 to me, and that rounds to 10. Why? Gameplay - 10 Truly immerses you into the post apocalyptic environment. You feel like you can't do anything because you lack resources. Story is great, as are side quests. Playability - 9 Controls are nice, but not quite FPS material. They seem a bit jerky and you find yourself relying on VATS more than you should. Difficulty isn't bad on normal. Difficult enemies can be quite difficult if not handled correctly, easy enemies can be dangerous if you aren't paying attention.
Replayability - 10
I have put more time into this game than any other. Once as an evil character and as a good character. It is really fun, even after you have beaten it. Especially if you have some expansions.

If you find this game boring, you most likely need to let it grow on you. I have a brother who quit this game, but then came back in a year for no particular reason and "fell in love with it". My friend did the same thing. They didn't understand the whole, conserving resources concept and couldn't sustain enough resources to be able to leave Megaton. So they grew tired of lacking ammo and health and then quit. Now they both have completed the game (Took them twice as long as me, but that is what happens when you need to get over that learning curve and steer away from FPS's like CoD.). Play a real game like this instead of games for the simple minded like CoD or Halo and you might just never turn back.… Expand

I felt a sense of accomplishment. But then again I don't feel the need for a "100% completion score." It can be done without much hassle, though. Very fun game - I really liked Oblivion and I loved playing Fallout and Fallout 2 as a kid so that engine with that story was nice. Can't wait for New Vegas.

This game is good, but it falls short of great. It offers an interesting world that can be freely explored, and a story that is bolstered with strong dialogue and interesting character choices. The main problem is the excessive tedium required to find one's way through a lot of these maps. Any indoor/underground map instantly becomes a pain. Instead of the player having separate two-dimensional maps for each level of a given three-dimensional structure, each level is mapped onto one single two-dimensional image. This makes navigating indoors using the map almost completely pointless, and adds hours and hours to the game that consist of nothing but wandering in exasperation. Overland/outdoor exploration, on the other hand, is an absolute blast.… Expand

Best fallout ever made so far.Fallout 3 has allot of great dlc,and the graphics and story are superb.if you love rpg's and fps's you'll feel right at home with fallout 3.

Its definately not a game for me. I like RPGs and I liked the Elder Scrolls Oblivion, but Fallout 3 is just Oblivion in a dull, boring world with far less to do and boring combat(VATS...Wow). The games storyline is nothing special and the secondary missions arent that great either but are better than the story itself, (one highlight though was destroying Megaton). Anyway if you like this apocolyptic **** then go ahead have fun, at least that will make one of us.… Expand

This game was amazing. There is just so many things to do in Fallout 3. I have personally already played this game, and all the DLC:s through many times, and I still love them.Fallout 3 may actually be my favorite game of all time.If you own an Xbox 360,PS3 or a good PC,you must buy this game.

Ok. This game is AWSOME! Yes, the game has it flaws. Many of them too. Damn many. But that cant drag the game down. It is just too good. Yes, it is like it was made to be buggy. Yes, the thing that you cant chose how the ending shall be is also very bad. Ad that you cant support the bad guys in an winning way. But it cant drag it down. It is just too good. First time you play the game, you will play it without thinking about how long you have played. And neither will you the 4 next times. The game has still very many flaws, but it is not bug enough to destroy for it. It is the best game i have played. Not my favorite game, but the best still. That is with the Broken Steel pack. Without it is kinda a downturn at the end. But still, it deserves a… Expand