(Note: We have discovered a big with the save system. Read our warning before you play the game)
Depravity, violence, and humour. If having all these mature themes present in a videogame is wrong – then we don’t want to be right. To those among you who don’t enjoy at least two of those aforementioned ingredients, Fallout 3 isn’t going to be your cup of tea, and you’d be probably be happier cantering rainbow-tailed ponies about in Barbie’s Race and Ride. But if you do, you're in for one hell of a rollercoaster ride...
Admittedly, some excess controversy has already been sucked out of the game by old man Censor (i.e. references to morphine are now Med-X), but beyond that, Fallout 3 doesn’t pull many punches at all. That being the case, if you love gritty, messy, black comedies, then you’re going to love Fallout 3 to bits, bloody, chunky, bits.
The Fallout series concerns itself with a post-apocalyptic version of America that has been heavily radiated and is chock full of mutated weirdoes, crazed religious zealots, facist political groups, and militaristic brotherhoods. You play as a Vault dweller, a smooth skin survivor who has spent his entire life underground in a pristine, radium free bunker. Now, there’s no need to worry if you’re new to the series, because Fallout 3 will teach you all the basics using short baby steps, literally.
Start a game and you’ll watch yourself get born and from there you may select your main attributes via short introductory mini-chapters that chronicle your growth. These include toddling over to read a baby book about attributes, taking a comical aptitude test in primary school, and firing your very first BB gun at a Radroach.
Throughout these slick, surprisingly endearing tutorials you’ll be watched over by your benevolent scientist father (voiced by Mr Liam Neeson), and he serves as the perfect mentor, until he suddenly leaves the not-quite-utopic Vault 101. Seemingly without reason, the Vault Overseer and his considerable security forces label you a threat and, to cut a long story short, you have to get the hell out of Dodge and track down your missing pappy.
War may not change, but landscapes sure do.
When your virginal vault dweller eyes adjust to the outside sunlight, you’ll be presented with an environment that is a vast as it is hostile. Even Oblivion veterans who are accustomed to the picturesque, fantasy land that is Cyrodiil will utter a surprised “wow!” when they’re gaze upon the gritty mesas of Fallout 3. The area of Washington DC has been savaged by nuclear war and it is now littered with miles upon miles of twisted wreckage, the odd Mad Max-esque attempt at a town, and groups of nasties trying to make a living by killing rubbernecks, like you. The stunning, charred vistas of Fallout 3 are a true visual oxymoron, and not since twelve longnecks and a Jägerbomb has something so brutally ugly managed to look this attractive and enticing.
