Okay guys, I must admit I am very sorry it took me so long to write another review; after Chrissy I sorta fell off the face of the Earth. You know.....with a PS3 in hand. Tekken 6, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Force Unleashed, GTA4, and several others will probably make it to my review list (although I know this is a PC gaming section, so I may just leave out Tekken and Force Unleashed).

Anyways.....

FALLOUT 3

Fallout 3 is the universally loved and most recent title in the critically acclaimed Fallout franchise, set in a post-apocalyptic world inhabited by mutant monsters and craven mercenaries. While many are displeased that Bethesda created the best-selling and most highly rated game in the series (when they aren't even the original creators), none can truly deny Fallout 3 was the real standout of 2008.

Gameplay:

Well, where do I begin? Fallout 3 is a standout in many ways, and is considered a hallmark for RPG/FPS hybrids (now headed by Borderlands), and probably will be for quite some time. Personally, I just cannot get enough of the game, even though I haven't played it too often recently. Now, some people believe Fallout strays too far from it's RPG roots for a more cinematic style of gunplay, but I can honestly say; so what? VATS is a brilliant invention, whether it be new or old, and it is but one of many highlights to this game. And plus, after the first few levels, Fallout 3 starts leaning more into a dark and gritty RPG filled with some very untraditional fighting that fills many people with a sick sense of satisfaction. Even though it uses the same engine as Oblivion (albeit heavily upgraded), Fallout manages to differentiate itself quite admirably, changing even the basic conventions of lockpicking and theft. Perhaps I should regale; you can't compare Fallout to Oblivion in any way. They are wildly different, and share only very basic similarities. Some people think they can be one and the same, but I tend to believe otherwise. Anyway, enough chit-chat; Fallout has a very fleshed out shooting component where guns have weight, intense gore is present and a movie-style way of doing combat for you makes itself very useful. Wait, what? Gore? In a Bethesda game? It is rare you see stuff like that from them, but they sure as hell get it right; grab Bloody Mess and you'll be shooting people's limbs off, decapitating them with pistols and even ripping them apart with a hammer. It's bloody, it's violent, and it sure is messy (hence the name of that fore-mentioned perk). What else? The level up system is cool and really gives you a true ability to select what you want to invest your talents in, and aside from investing points in abilities you also can get a 'perk' with every level up. These are the real meat of the system and really reward you for sticking with the game; you feel evil when you can cannibalize corpses, you know you are damned cool when big monsters protect you like tame (yet violent) pets, and it's just badass when you can actually become a real bounty hunter. What is a real draw is that you can't get all the perks in one playthrough; there are simply too many for you to obtain in your limited 20 level romp. This really encourages multiple playthroughs, and I know a certain person who keeps playing the game just to see all the different combinations. I think he's going to be playing on his deathbed for some reason. What else? Ok, you get allies who can follow you, the enemies are wildly different and are either disgusting insects or fearsome behemoths. Oh yeah, you get to verse titanic mutant monsters that run at you with a giant sledgehammer. Nice. Then there is the karma system, a good and evil tie-in that weighs your actions and changes the game depending on your morality; if you are good you get free stuff of randoms, but you get hunted by criminal mercs; and if you are evil you just get a lot of people hating you. I can't really describe the gameplay for much longer; there are far too any options in this game to do almost every action, and would only take me days to re-iterate. So let me just say this; what do you feel when you walk into a ruined street of Washington D.C, rubble and debris everywhere, and a war between steel-armoured guys with lasers and monstrous ork-like creatures erupts? Oh, and futuristic helicopters fly above and start dropping troops in, and chaos ensues between 20+ enemies? Likely, your answer to that question will determine your level of enjoyment with the game. Fallout 3 is big. It's well done, and everything is just so unique. Attention to detail is everywhere, and I cannot get enough of strolling around and getting hack-sawed by a floating robot, or being mutilated by leather-garbed raiders out of the blue. All that while classical jazz music is playing. SCORE! For such a huge wasteland, everything seems perfect. Nothing annoys me overly, so this is why I give it a

10/10

Sound:

Fallout 3 sounds great, and that isn't a big surprise coming from one of the biggest and most successful game developers' of the modern era. Bethesda has an uncanny knack of making everything sound either right or simply good, and you will never believe lasers or plasma rifles should sound any different. The actual music in the game made specifically for the title does well in presenting the emotions of whatever scene is playing out, although a lot of the time as you explore the vast landmass you won't even hear any music unless you turn up your handy radio-device/thing. The liscenced song tracks the dev's have picked are unbelievably good and perfectly fit the strange sense of soullessness you feel throughout the entire game, and you can really tell something is wrong with a world that governments tried to describe as a utopia to unknowing citizens.  That comic-smiling man always freaks me out, for some strange reason, and it often has a lot to do with killing innocents and romping poor mutants and listening to songs like "I Don't Want to set the world on Fire" or "Jolly Days". You would think it shouldn't fit a nightmarish wasteland survival-horror game, but disturbingly, it does; almost too well to be joked about. The sounds are great, and you really feel like you are in this world.....again. The melee noises are a bit uninspired though, and the explosions seem a bit downplayed. Does it really matter though? Oh, and the voice-overs are suitably briliant. Liam Neeson anyone? Oh, what about the sublime Ron Perlman? Didn't catch him did you?

9/10

Story:

Fallout 3's story is dark, sometimes humorous yet never far from creeping you out. As soon as you are walking around Vault 101 in the beginning of the game, you definitely know something is wrong with this underground maze of quiet people and jolly cake-killing machines. Even without the life-determining G.O.A.T test, you can tell that the venerable Overseer has a really stunted view on life and will brainwash everyone to his way of thinking for his corrupted idea of 'peace' to take fruition. Lying bastard. Now, it's not really a spoiler because you feel like it's going to happen anyway, but I just loll over the idea of killing your best friend's sick-minded father and then watching her as she screams in pain and anguish, even though she probably knew it might happen. Later on, feeling like a righteous hero as you storm streets littered with tyrannical opponents alongside a heavenly saviour in the form of a giant humanoid robot hurling bombs at clusters of evil. I'm not kidding. Fallout 3 has a very wide story, and one that goes very well with the side quests the game is chock full of. It doesn't take your vision to consistently know you are in post nuclear-war America. The story does give you some tough morality choices, ones that affect the many different endings to the game; should you blow up a city built around a nuclear bomb for the fun of it, or save the poor residents from annihilation? This is something that isn't even really part of the story, although watching the undoubtedly awesome explosion from a couple miles away can have dire consequences on the future of your character, like not getting a free home or...umm...missing out on a tonne of missions. Yeah. The storyline is involved, eccentric, and only suffers from the fact that the ending sequence seems a bit abrupt, and some things just seem out of place. The multiple story arcs thing helps to cover this up though; some people never even had to go to Galaxy News Radio HQ. Stuff like that tends to add up.

9.5/10

Presentation:

Fallout 3's menus are shockingly good, and give you that real feel of the world it tries to entice you in. There's no shortage of the comic-book style pictures that disturb you to the very core and oft make you laugh out loud, and you probably won't notice Fallout 3's relatively short loading screens. When you weigh out that once you are out in the open world there is not another loading screen no matter how far of the surprisingly large game area you traverse, you would forgive the five-ten second loading screens (perhaps longer depending on your rig). The UI is detailed and well done, and never serves to screw up your game-time by interrupting or blocking anything. It's all very well and good, and that's pretty much why I give this category a

9.5/10

Visuals:

Whilst definitely not the best looking game of 2008, it still was one of the better ones in visual fidelity. Most people will notice many upgrades over Oblivion's engine (as both games use the same one), and it is obvious that attention to detail is just as good (or perhaps better) as other recent Bethesda games. However, many people think Oblivion is the better of the two simply because it is far more rich and bibrant, sporting a vast array of colourful palettes and simply being a beautiful world to look at. This is in direct contrast to the ugly world of Fallout, which has a very grey and dark form of display, but anyone with an eye should notice that character models and the environments have more detail and animations are sharper and more fluid. Watching Liberty Prime go to town still sits in my head, even after witnessing the spectacles of Killzone 2 and Force Unleashed. Still, compared to the more modern games, whilst it does it's job well it isn't by any means as good as most others, yet I can't give this any less than a solid

8/10

Lasting Appeal:

Fallout 3's open world style and vast array of story arcs and gameplay stuff will keep you coming back for more and more, long after you've finished it once. I simply get a kick out of wandering around killing things to the tune of big band music from the last century, and it's a safe bet you will too. I've spent many hours on this game, and it will always sit fondly with me as one of my favourite games. Oh, and VATS is hilarious with Bloody Mess, or did I already mention that? It just never gets dull.

10/10

Thoughts and Notes:

Fallout 3 is unbelievably massive, and a true testament as to why Bethesda is so widely respected. The DLC will give you a lot more to do, especially the extra 10 levels on of them gives you, plus the fact that the 'ending' actually now turns the game into a true sandbox title. But, honestly, you don't need the numerous DLC packs to enjoy this game; it's just the salt on your steak. (Yes, I'm Australian.)

Overall Score: 10+9+9.5+9.5+8+10= 56/60 (approximately) 9.3 out of 10.

Say what you want about the review; in retrospect I haven't been feeling good mentally whilst writing this, so feel free to point out any inconsistencies or simple wrongs as you like. I already know there's probably going to be a lot of mixed views about this game if there are comments, and I knew that risk when I wrote this.