Notebook Critic

Despite being one of the better looking games released this fall, Fallout 3 runs very well on a wide range of hardware. It asks for a Vista Windows Performance Index score of 4.3. But I suspect that you could run this at low settings on a system that scores lower.

I played this game on a stock Gateway P-6831FX and the game ran great at 1440*900 on ‘High’ detail with with AA and AF dialed down. During a long FRAPs run both in Fallout 3’s indoor and outdoor settings my 6831FX managed 39 frames per second. A notebook equipped with a Radeon Mobility 3650 or GeForce 8600m or better should handle this game well (medium settings probably).

The always helpful No Mutants Allowed website pointed me to a great configuration guide for Fallout 3.

Installation requires 5.62 GB; a paltry amount of space by today’s standards. Considering the scope of the game, such a small instal is remarkable.

SecuROM disk authentication is present. There is no nasty DRM business like EA’s latest PC games, but the Fallout 3 disc needs to be in the drive in order for you to launch the game. Just like old times!

Games for Windows is supported by Fallout 3 so a set of achievements awaits you. Some folks have bad things to say about this free service but I love it. Running Fallout 3 for the first time I was automagizally signed into GFW. Simply register the serial number to start collecting achievements.

Gameplay

Fallout was the first windows game that hooked me. I had always been a console and Mac guy before 1997. The chillingly bleak setting and freedom to chart your own course through the game appealed to me. I’ve replayed the first two chapters of the Fallout series a few times – always getting something different from the games.

Fallout 3 in my estimation is how I would image a modern Fallout 1.5; fully realized 3D world but with less depth than Fallout 2. It offers more variation and choices than the first Fallout game, but is not as open-ended as Fallout 2. That’s not a knock against Fallout 3, as the second game in the series was an absolute monster with all kinds of factions and a myriad of comclusions depending on your actions and alignment to various groups.

Lazy journalists coined the term ‘Oblivion with guns’ early in the development cycle of this game. This of course refers to Bethesda’s other notable game series, The Elder Scrolls of which Oblivion was the most recent instalment. There is a Bethesda feel to Fallout 3, no mistake about it. But given their track record I don’t think that’s a bad thing. After all, Bioware’s Mass Effect game was singled out as Baldur’s Gate with space ships. Part of the reason people buy so many Bethesda games is the continuity of play mechanics. Oblivion was an awesome game.

But the similarities end at the fact both are open world 3D RPGs. In a sword and shield RPG like Oblivion, much of the combat was real-time melee. In Fallout 3, the focus is on guns (although you can use melee – but why bother when using a Plasma Rifle is so much more satisfying). There is a lot more ranged combat.

Turn-based combat such as that found in the first two Fallouts is gone, but there is VaultTec Automatic Targetting System (VATS) which is pseudo turn based. It uses action points to determine how many tasks (shooting, reloading) can be carried out in VATS before returning you to real time combat. It works great as a method of slowing things down when faced with lots of enemies.

Like any good RPG, there are lots of stories in this game. The main quest is pretty good, but if you focus on it exclsuively you will deprive yourself of so much that Fallout 3 has to offer. This game rewards folks who like to explore the game world. There are lots of interesting places, characters and things to find.

With lots to explore right out of the box, and a mod community chomping at the bit to start extending the game (many mods are out already even though the official SDK has not been released) you should get alot from your $50 investment in this game. Hopefully we will get a steady stream of downloadable content packs from Bethesda to tide us over until the next Elder Scrolls or Fallout game.

Graphics

Playing through this game, I have experienced at least a hundred moments of ‘wow.’ Visuals in this game are often stunning and the action, when slowed down in VATS for example, is rendered in incredible detail.

Irradiated vistas are populated by characters and situations pulled straight from the absolute best apocalyptic fiction. If you have read Cormac McCarthy’s ‘The Road’ or seen the movie ‘A Boy and His Dog’ some of the situations will seem familiar. This is all pulled off with respect for the material. If you are inot post apocalyptic fiction, buy this game. If you are not a gamer, become one.

In an entire playthrough I encountered one visual bug.

Audio

Inon Zur’s soudtrack for Fallout 3 is similar to Oblivion’s – understandable as he wrote both. Although not up to the standards set by Mark Morgan’s chillingly stark aural soundscape created for the first two Fallouts, the music in Fallout 3 is quite good.

Voice acting is also good. Much of the talent from Oblivion is here and Liam Neesen and Malcolm McDowell’s work on two of the primary characters is really good.

Sound effects are well done. Guns are satisfyingly powerful sounding and some of the gore sounds match the over-the-top visuals.

Final Conclusion

This is the game Fallout fans have been waiting for. A deep, rich experience worthy of discussion and recollection long after the playing is done. How well Bethesda has done in bringing this world to life is breathtaking.

RPG fans should buy this game too. It brings back the RPG glory days of the late ninteies when Black Isle and Bioware constantly tried out-doing each other with ever grander and more ambitious projects.

Although not as artistic as Bioshock, Fallout 3 is a good example of what is possible in games. It may be the sort of experience that draws new people to gaming. Throw a good video card in your recent vintage PC (3 years old or newer) or grab a console and this game.

Verdict

Buy. A game like this one comes around at most once per year.