Military.com.<blockquote>Although many of the quests are pretty typical for a role-playing game, they usually have an interesting post-apocalyptic twist — like the early decision on whether to detonate an unexploded atomic bomb that’s sitting in the middle of a village. Quests can be multi-layered or so contradictory that completing one will shut down an entire line of others. Of course this enhances replay value.
Your decisions on which quests to fulfill also play into the game’s rich morality system. This gauges your actions, as well as your interactions with nonplayer characters, to determine how different characters will react to you. If you want to befriend embattled settlers or the Brotherhood of Steel, you’d better have a good rep. If you want some help from a shady character, he’ll shrug you off if you’re not bad to the bone.</blockquote>360 Evolved, 9.6. (Note: There are seemingly two sites with this name, we already posted a review from the other.)<blockquote>Overall Fallout 3 is an amazing, beautiful and an incredibly deep and huge game. To fully experience and appreciate the work the developers put into the game, spend alot of time with the title. Fully explore the wastelands, visit all of the surrounding towns, or strongholds. Play around with the V.A.T.S and let it spoil you by just how well it works and then realize that other shooters need to have an option just like it. It is impossible to pack a comment on every feature that is included into this review without making it a novel size feature. Just feel safe with your purchase of Fallout 3, because you are buying definitely one of the best if not the best game of the year. Bethesda can seem to do no wrong here lately with Oblivion and now Fallout 3. And with promised downloadable content, one can only wonder what they have in store for us lucky Fallout 3 owners.</blockquote>Boomtown, 9.<blockquote>In fact, the only real flaw with the game is because the complex and multi levelled areas are so difficult to navigate using your map when you are first discovering them. The game concludes with a satisfying outcome, but really doesn’t make much of a big deal of your course through the game and final decisions on what to do, and unless you’ve got a save before the unexpected point of no return, you’ll have to start again to explore more of the world. Of course that’s the beauty of the game. You’ll want to.</blockquote>Kombo, 9.5.<blockquote>Early in Fallout 3, ammunition is incredibly scarce. As you progress, the problem alleviates itself some, but during the first few hours of the adventure, the lack of ammo feels like a genuine problem. If you choose to do sidequests that do not reward you with ammo, you'll find that you're very low on ammo. Because the game's currency, bottlecaps, are also in fairly short supply in the beginning, you can easily find yourself in a situation in which you don't have enough ammo and don't have enough bottlecaps to purchase ammo. As a result of this, I found myself straying away from sidequests and exploring until later in the game because I didn't want to risk running out of ammo. There's no doubt that this is an intentional design choice on Bethesda's part, as the lack of ammo lends to the tense atmosphere. But it discourages exploration, which seems to go against what Bethesda games are all about.</blockquote>Computers N Stuff, 10/10.<blockquote>Fallout 3 is a worthy successor to the previous 2 Fallouts and fully deserves its title. Bethseda have done a brilliant job of getting the Fallout vibe and making it their own at the same time. They’ve worked their magic yet again and produced another classic game, a game that everyone should buy.</blockquote>RPGamer, 4.5/5.<blockquote>Overall, Fallout 3 is an amazing game and a great new take on the series. It succeeds in not being "Oblivion with guns" and is able to win over gamers that were not even fans of Bethesda's earlier works or the Fallout series. Fallout 3 is an addicting experience for those who enjoy a game with an open world to explore and quests to complete, and makes a great introduction to the series for newcomers. As long as gamers can handle some blood, guts, and a heavy dose of foul language, there is little wrong with the game. This might even be one of the only games in this reviewer's recent experience that has enough of a draw to continue playing after the main quest is completed. Fallout 3 is a great experience, even for gamers who typically don't enjoy games like it.</blockquote>Random Remarks blog, 5/5.<blockquote>I found the main story on the whole to be engrossing and have the potential for shortcuts if you go to the right places BUT I found the ending to feel rushed and felt that there was the potential for at least 1 if not 2 more story missions before the final mission began. Unlike Oblivion there is a defined ending and you have to complete all your subquests before you start the last mission. My other gripe about the plot is that there is essentially just 1 ending with tweaks, no matter how you play. The main plot if taking the conventional route is probably 10 hours in length and less than 3 if skilled and shortcuts are taken. This vastly underestimates the amount of gameplay present and there is probably over 50 hours worth in sidequests and also in playing in different ways.</blockquote>GAME.<blockquote>Boasting a world that makes you think, feel and appreciate, Fallout 3 is a true triumph. It's immersive, epic and yet the pace is entirely dictated by you. It gives you the freedom to do what you want, the choice to help or to neglect, but it will always respond accordingly. Fallout 3 is, simply put, the new standard for RPGs; an experience not to be rushed through, but to be savoured.</blockquote>Colony of Gamers (Evil Avatar), 4/5.<blockquote>Like most RPGs you'll spend a lot of time talking to people across the land. As is the trend nowadays you can choose to walk the path of a saint or sinner. Being polite, helpful and just increases your Karma score; rudeness, theft and wanton destruction drags your Karma score down. Your Karma score - good, neutral or bad - does affect some gameplay elements, in particular which groups will attack you on sight, but for the most part it feels like you're making a personal choice than any drive towards one side or the other. While traveling I discovered what is for me the biggest divergence from Oblivion: barriers. There are a lot of outright impenetrable obstacles in Fallout 3. You'll be chugging along towards your goal only to find yourself in sort of urban box canyon, trapped on three sides by collapsed buildings. Usually this just means a little backtracking, but often you'll find yourself heading all the hell the way back to your destination trying to find a way across that mountain range of fallen structures.</blockquote>
Your decisions on which quests to fulfill also play into the game’s rich morality system. This gauges your actions, as well as your interactions with nonplayer characters, to determine how different characters will react to you. If you want to befriend embattled settlers or the Brotherhood of Steel, you’d better have a good rep. If you want some help from a shady character, he’ll shrug you off if you’re not bad to the bone.</blockquote>360 Evolved, 9.6. (Note: There are seemingly two sites with this name, we already posted a review from the other.)<blockquote>Overall Fallout 3 is an amazing, beautiful and an incredibly deep and huge game. To fully experience and appreciate the work the developers put into the game, spend alot of time with the title. Fully explore the wastelands, visit all of the surrounding towns, or strongholds. Play around with the V.A.T.S and let it spoil you by just how well it works and then realize that other shooters need to have an option just like it. It is impossible to pack a comment on every feature that is included into this review without making it a novel size feature. Just feel safe with your purchase of Fallout 3, because you are buying definitely one of the best if not the best game of the year. Bethesda can seem to do no wrong here lately with Oblivion and now Fallout 3. And with promised downloadable content, one can only wonder what they have in store for us lucky Fallout 3 owners.</blockquote>Boomtown, 9.<blockquote>In fact, the only real flaw with the game is because the complex and multi levelled areas are so difficult to navigate using your map when you are first discovering them. The game concludes with a satisfying outcome, but really doesn’t make much of a big deal of your course through the game and final decisions on what to do, and unless you’ve got a save before the unexpected point of no return, you’ll have to start again to explore more of the world. Of course that’s the beauty of the game. You’ll want to.</blockquote>Kombo, 9.5.<blockquote>Early in Fallout 3, ammunition is incredibly scarce. As you progress, the problem alleviates itself some, but during the first few hours of the adventure, the lack of ammo feels like a genuine problem. If you choose to do sidequests that do not reward you with ammo, you'll find that you're very low on ammo. Because the game's currency, bottlecaps, are also in fairly short supply in the beginning, you can easily find yourself in a situation in which you don't have enough ammo and don't have enough bottlecaps to purchase ammo. As a result of this, I found myself straying away from sidequests and exploring until later in the game because I didn't want to risk running out of ammo. There's no doubt that this is an intentional design choice on Bethesda's part, as the lack of ammo lends to the tense atmosphere. But it discourages exploration, which seems to go against what Bethesda games are all about.</blockquote>Computers N Stuff, 10/10.<blockquote>Fallout 3 is a worthy successor to the previous 2 Fallouts and fully deserves its title. Bethseda have done a brilliant job of getting the Fallout vibe and making it their own at the same time. They’ve worked their magic yet again and produced another classic game, a game that everyone should buy.</blockquote>RPGamer, 4.5/5.<blockquote>Overall, Fallout 3 is an amazing game and a great new take on the series. It succeeds in not being "Oblivion with guns" and is able to win over gamers that were not even fans of Bethesda's earlier works or the Fallout series. Fallout 3 is an addicting experience for those who enjoy a game with an open world to explore and quests to complete, and makes a great introduction to the series for newcomers. As long as gamers can handle some blood, guts, and a heavy dose of foul language, there is little wrong with the game. This might even be one of the only games in this reviewer's recent experience that has enough of a draw to continue playing after the main quest is completed. Fallout 3 is a great experience, even for gamers who typically don't enjoy games like it.</blockquote>Random Remarks blog, 5/5.<blockquote>I found the main story on the whole to be engrossing and have the potential for shortcuts if you go to the right places BUT I found the ending to feel rushed and felt that there was the potential for at least 1 if not 2 more story missions before the final mission began. Unlike Oblivion there is a defined ending and you have to complete all your subquests before you start the last mission. My other gripe about the plot is that there is essentially just 1 ending with tweaks, no matter how you play. The main plot if taking the conventional route is probably 10 hours in length and less than 3 if skilled and shortcuts are taken. This vastly underestimates the amount of gameplay present and there is probably over 50 hours worth in sidequests and also in playing in different ways.</blockquote>GAME.<blockquote>Boasting a world that makes you think, feel and appreciate, Fallout 3 is a true triumph. It's immersive, epic and yet the pace is entirely dictated by you. It gives you the freedom to do what you want, the choice to help or to neglect, but it will always respond accordingly. Fallout 3 is, simply put, the new standard for RPGs; an experience not to be rushed through, but to be savoured.</blockquote>Colony of Gamers (Evil Avatar), 4/5.<blockquote>Like most RPGs you'll spend a lot of time talking to people across the land. As is the trend nowadays you can choose to walk the path of a saint or sinner. Being polite, helpful and just increases your Karma score; rudeness, theft and wanton destruction drags your Karma score down. Your Karma score - good, neutral or bad - does affect some gameplay elements, in particular which groups will attack you on sight, but for the most part it feels like you're making a personal choice than any drive towards one side or the other. While traveling I discovered what is for me the biggest divergence from Oblivion: barriers. There are a lot of outright impenetrable obstacles in Fallout 3. You'll be chugging along towards your goal only to find yourself in sort of urban box canyon, trapped on three sides by collapsed buildings. Usually this just means a little backtracking, but often you'll find yourself heading all the hell the way back to your destination trying to find a way across that mountain range of fallen structures.</blockquote>
