War, war never changes...

Saturday, October 23, 2077. The nuclear exchange between the United States and China lasts roughly two hours. Enough to send humanity down a dark path. Fallout 3 takes place in 2277, exactly 200 years after Washington, D.C. is devastated by atomic fire. Skeletal remains are found in many poses, showcasing the last moments of someone's life. The dark metro tunnels are uninviting. The Brotherhood of Steel and the Enclave fight for technology, Three Dog howls through the radio to fight the "Good Fight" (when not playing beautiful and inspiring 50s traditional Jazz that is) but still... monkey will keep killing monkey over pieces of the ground, scraps of food, or ideologies outdated by centuries.

AND GUESS WHAT? ALL OF THIS AS AN OPEN WORLD, FIRST PERSON SHOOTER AND RPG HYBRID!!!

The main quest of finding Liam Neeson had mixed reception, especially at the purifier part. When picking a certain "Meta-human" companion who is a suitable, radiation resistant candidate to enter an irradiated chamber was initially not an option, you understand the fundamental problems with Fallout 3. Fortunately, the wild Broken Steel DLC addresses this, while also expanding on the aftermath of the base game. It's a good DLC, despite the oddly placed gnomes and teddy bears raising eyebrows.

The Point Lookout DLC, an island of dirty swamps where literal inbred hillbillies live can make for a great change of scenery outside of the cityscapes. Or go through a rags to riches experience in an oppressive and disgusting location such as The Pitt: the industrial slavery hell that has become of Pittsburgh. Oh, and be abducted by aliens, see Earth from space and shoot a death ray that blows up what is roughly the real-world area of Detroit in the Mothership Zeta DLC, that almost feels like a Sci-Fi B-movie plot due to the linearity and gang of misfits that makes you guess who dies first.

Isolation, psychoactive gases, auditory mind control or even cloning: those are examples of horrifying Vault experiments shown in Fallout 3. However, if the insane survivors of Vault 106 could kindly go f*ck themselves with a lead pipe and stop sneaking up on me, that would be great. "You Always Hurt The One You Love" by The Mills Brothers might not be part of FO3's soundtrack, but this song reminds of Vault 101. The "Trouble on the Homefront" quest might leave some fans with a bad taste in their mouth, but I personally felt sentimental and teary eyed after our Fallout 1 style betrayal and exile.

Fallout 3 taught me something. After reaching level cap, I was a power armored monster dealing swift justice to the horrors of the Wasteland with such a huge mountain of caps that I simply didn't care about quest rewards any longer, and some might see this as a waste of time. Me? I think that the best way to experience such an immersive game is to not even expect repayment for our good behavior, much like a truly good person should be in real life. Agatha's Station being the sole reward for the violin quest further reinforces this: physical materials are something we don't carry to the afterlife. Experiences, knowledge, happiness, kindness, the joy of music, those are the true riches we should strive for.

This review was written by me, who drank a Red Bull in Girdershade during "The Nuka Cola Challenge" quest, and now pretends that's how Nuka-Cola Quantum tastes like, with headcanon of regular Nuka-Cola tasting like Dr. Pepper. Me, who owns two bottlecaps hand-painted by my girlfriend to say "Nuka-Cola" inside a makeshift little grey box, and a paper bobblehead of Vault-Boy with a 101 on his back, also made by her. To say I recommend Fallout 3 is the understatement of the millennium.

I don't want to set the world on fire... I just want to start a flame in your heart.

selling a game for £16 that straight up doesn't even work unless you go out of your way to fix it with mods is a bit ♥♥♥♥♥♥ lmao

goated game tho

Fallout 3: GOTY is a large and detailed game that brings the atmosphere of the earlier Fallout games into a 3D world. The game begins in an underground vault where the player creates a character and selects skills that match a preferred play style. The world is open and connected, with many locations, creatures, and challenges spread across the wasteland. Exploration is a major part of the experience, and the player can travel to different areas in many directions. The GOTY edition also includes five DLC expansions that add new regions, quests, and many additional hours of gameplay.

The graphics are fine for the time, although some character models appear stiff and certain animations look limited. The environment design is varied, with ruined structures, empty settlements, and underground locations that create a large setting to explore. Sound design is generally solid, as characters are fully voiced and the in-game radio stations help build the atmosphere during travel. Some weapon sounds appear weaker than expected, but the overall audio presentation is still effective. The game may also contain small bugs or occasional crashes, though they rarely prevent progress.

Overall, Fallout 3: GOTY provides a large and expansive open world with many areas, events, and dialogue options outside the main story. The game allows multiple approaches to exploration and combat through its skill system and player choices. With the added content from the five DLC expansions, the GOTY edition offers a long and detailed experience for players who prefer large open world role playing games.

Note: Fallout 3 doesn’t launch on Steam by default. Go to the game folder (e.g., D:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Fallout 3 goty) and swap the file names: rename Fallout3Launcher.exe to Fallout3.exe and Fallout3.exe to Fallout3Launcher.exe, then launch the game from Steam.