Be sure to read Matt Peckham in PC World, 90%.<blockquote>A workaround of sorts is to dial the difficulty setting up, which makes chipping away at enemy health bars akin to jackhammering slabs of rock into pebbles. This is where the game's super mutants and slobbering bear-things and leering demonic reptiles regularly pound you into blood sausage because they've simply got more time to. You'll have to respond by employing smarter tactics like arm shots to momentarily knock weapons down or leg shots to hobble dogged sprinters and give yourself those precious seconds essential to finish them off. The downside's that battles look a little silly, as adamantine combatants square off just yards apart, taking turns plugging each other with guns that could just as soon pick each others' noses as pulverize heads that explode like grenades inside of cantaloupes.</blockquote>360 Zine, 80/100:<blockquote>We're used to games being hard, but at times Fallout 3 is just punishingly unfair. [..] On one occasion we unleashed a volley of miniguns shots into someone's face at point blank range, only for said enemy to brush it off as if we'd just thrown a pea at him.
Oblivion with guns, then? Well, not really. Fallout 3 doesn't really fit such a neat description - indeed, its more traditional RPG elements feel closer to predecessor Morrowind, while its harsh difficulty and the streak of black humour running through it are pure Fallout. On its own terms, it successfully melds many aspects of the old PC games with the first-person perspective and grand scope of Bethesda's most celebrated title to date. Whether or not the two should have been bolted together in the first place is debatable, but this is a fascinating mess - much like the dystopia it portrays, you might say.</blockquote>Level 99.<blockquote>While the review probably sounds like it has a very negative tone to it, I should talk about some of the great parts of the gameplay. Easily the best thing about the game is the sheer scope of the world that you are in. Once you leave Vault 101, and get that first look at the Wasteland with DC off in the distance, the size of the game really hits you. I don't know what it was, but I always seemed to gravitate towards where people were in the game, and when you were alone, you felt alone. There were also a ton of moments within my two playthroughs of the game, which made me actually think to kill someone or not, and more so than how it was in Bioshock when you had to save or destroy the little sisters. I knew that taking out that one person may have an impact later on in the game, and I always had to think out things, which was an interesting morale issue with ones self. The choices may be limited in what you can do, but doing things have repercussions, which doesn't happen in some games with similar "choices" you can make.
The voice acting in the game is top notch, with all the main characters and side characters giving their lines perfectly to you, as if you really were the character. You have the occasional person who is alittle to over happy for the character, but it still fits (and boy is it great to shoot them in the face when you don't need them anymore).</blockquote>Orange, 10/10.<blockquote>Bringing together excellent combat, complex role playing, a strong story, realistic and compelling characters, humour, fascinating environments, strong atmosphere, graphics and sound, as well as a truly memorable plot and ending is no mean feat. Fallout 3 is a masterwork. You simply must buy this game!</blockquote>The Sun, 94%.<blockquote>OK, it certainly follows the tried and tested futuristic shooting path that we've seen many times before.
But it ticks every box along the way with glorious space-age battles, enemies and crucially exhilarating firepower.
And full marks to the person who concocted the VATS system that allows you to see which body parts of your enemy are the weakest before you target them.
It means you can unleash the full force of your armoury and ensure a spectacular kill! </blockquote>
Oblivion with guns, then? Well, not really. Fallout 3 doesn't really fit such a neat description - indeed, its more traditional RPG elements feel closer to predecessor Morrowind, while its harsh difficulty and the streak of black humour running through it are pure Fallout. On its own terms, it successfully melds many aspects of the old PC games with the first-person perspective and grand scope of Bethesda's most celebrated title to date. Whether or not the two should have been bolted together in the first place is debatable, but this is a fascinating mess - much like the dystopia it portrays, you might say.</blockquote>Level 99.<blockquote>While the review probably sounds like it has a very negative tone to it, I should talk about some of the great parts of the gameplay. Easily the best thing about the game is the sheer scope of the world that you are in. Once you leave Vault 101, and get that first look at the Wasteland with DC off in the distance, the size of the game really hits you. I don't know what it was, but I always seemed to gravitate towards where people were in the game, and when you were alone, you felt alone. There were also a ton of moments within my two playthroughs of the game, which made me actually think to kill someone or not, and more so than how it was in Bioshock when you had to save or destroy the little sisters. I knew that taking out that one person may have an impact later on in the game, and I always had to think out things, which was an interesting morale issue with ones self. The choices may be limited in what you can do, but doing things have repercussions, which doesn't happen in some games with similar "choices" you can make.
The voice acting in the game is top notch, with all the main characters and side characters giving their lines perfectly to you, as if you really were the character. You have the occasional person who is alittle to over happy for the character, but it still fits (and boy is it great to shoot them in the face when you don't need them anymore).</blockquote>Orange, 10/10.<blockquote>Bringing together excellent combat, complex role playing, a strong story, realistic and compelling characters, humour, fascinating environments, strong atmosphere, graphics and sound, as well as a truly memorable plot and ending is no mean feat. Fallout 3 is a masterwork. You simply must buy this game!</blockquote>The Sun, 94%.<blockquote>OK, it certainly follows the tried and tested futuristic shooting path that we've seen many times before.
But it ticks every box along the way with glorious space-age battles, enemies and crucially exhilarating firepower.
And full marks to the person who concocted the VATS system that allows you to see which body parts of your enemy are the weakest before you target them.
It means you can unleash the full force of your armoury and ensure a spectacular kill! </blockquote>
