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103 of 158 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Second DVD Issue Fix, 16 Oct 2009
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
For those of you having an issue with the second DVD (i.e., it won't run at all) there's a fix going around on the Bethesda forums. It seems to be a problem for Vista users only. The fix is pretty simple; disable Autoplay by going to the Control Panel and deselecting Autoplay everything (you can turn this on again later). Next, disable the UAC (also in the Control Panel under User Accounts; this will need a restart). Finally, put the DVD in again, right click it and select Explore then right click the Setup file and select "Run as Administrator". Give it a few minutes (it can take as long as 10 minutes in some cases) and the installer will run.
After this, re-enable Autoplay and put the first DVD in. When the autoplay screen comes up don't select Play Game. Instead go to the Download option (or Downloadable Content option, I can't remember now but it's one of those) and make sure all the DLC is selected otherwise you'll just be playing vanilla Fallout 3.
I had all these problems with the game and was ready to send it back thinking the second disc was faulty. So I hope I've saved you all some time by writing this out here.
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101 of 170 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best game of the last few years!, 17 Oct 2009
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
Fallout 3 is a stupendously good game. It follows on from Fallout 1 and 2, naturally enough, though you don't need to have played those games in order to enjoy this, far from it.
The game is an RPG set in a post-war wasteland USA. Well, almost. One of Fallout's many charms is that the pre-war USA seems to be on a parallel universe where the Fifties never went out of fashion. So its futuristic and retro at the same time.
Anyway, prior to the bombs dropping, lots of people were put into vaults to ensure survival. 200 years later, you emerge from one such vault to find a world full of scavengers and tyranny. And you've lost your Dad.
If you have played Oblivion the feel of the game will already be familiar to you. It is full first person perspective but you can elect for third person should you desire. Graphically, the game is stunning. I don't know why a ruined wasteland is so fascinating to me, but it just is. There is a huge area to explore, and I mean huge. The first time you complete the game you will probably have not even seen half of what is out there.
Right from the start, the game oozes quality. The character selection process is a lesson in integrating minutiae into the main plot. With not a dice in sight you create your character based on your actions in the first section. If you aren't happy you can change these before the game proper starts, in the more tradition fashion, but its a nice touch nonetheless.
Once you have your character, you emerge into the wasteland, in all its terrible majesty. Your first port of call will probably be the town of Megaton, so called because there is a large unexploded bomb at its centre. I've played the game three times through now, and believe me, the way you treat that bomb will drastically affect the rest of your game.
And thats just a foretaste of the various choices to come. This game is one of those increasingly rare beasts, a role playing game where you actually play a role. Ok, the main role is either good or evil, but there are certain missions whose outcome varies greatly depending on your associated skills. For instance, at one point you are presented with a building full of fairly unpleasent people. The local ghouls (hideously radiated yet intelligent humans) wants to use the building and be treated as equals etc. You can either do nothing, side with the ghouls, side with the people, or try and mediate. If your speech is low, you haven't got a hope of mediation, yet that is the only path (other than doing nothing) that doesn't involve bloodshed. Fortunately, it is only a sidequest, so if you are squeemish you can just avoid it.
Speaking of squeemishness, the game is very, very gory. If you attack somebody with a sword, expect a limb to go flying and a stump to spurt blood. Oddly enough though, it fits in with the mood of the game, and doesn't seem at all gratuitous.
There is a main quest to follow, but there are A LOT of side quests which I strongly recommend you complete first. One particular quest starts in Megaton and involves you exploring large portions of the map and gaining valuable experience. I would advise you to start there. I won't give anything more away, other than to say that it features a girl with a particularly annoying voice. (Actually, I will say one more thing, if you go bad and decide to nuke Megaton, can you guess who the only survivor is? Go on, guess.)
With regards to the expansion packs, the best ones are Point Lookout and Broken Steel. The others aren't so hot.
Point Lookout & Broken Steel.
Ahhhhhh, a breath of fresh air. I can now play Fallout 3 with an experience cap raised to 30. Along with the new perks available, that alone is worth the asking price. I have played Vanilla Fallout 3 through some 4 times now, and you can max out the experience when you are only half way through the game, so those extra levels will certainly come in handy.
Be warned though, that they come at a price. The biggest price is the introduction of a a new feral ghoul character, the reaver.
The reaver is monumentally tough. According to the Fallout Vault wiki, it is twice as strong as a Deathclaw. if your level is over 20, expect to find these critters near radiation. They are seriously nasty, not least of which because you will lose up a lot of your ammo in dispatching them.
What else is new? Well, the flamethrower gets a makeover. Or a big brother. The Heavy Incinerator fires fireballs like bullets. Its fun to use and would be great fun using it to clear an area of mole rats, for instance. When you use it against more powerful foes it can become a pain though, as the flame is pretyy indiscriminate. Luckily Fawkes seems immune to it.
So what are the games like themeselves?
Well, when you first install the game, you get the immediate increase in level cap, you also get access to Point Lookout. However, in order to play Broken Steel you have to actually finish the main Fallout game. Once you have finished and watched the final narrative, the game will continue two weeks later. The rest of the Fallout world will still be available, so you can still do Point Lookout or any of the other side quests.
I played Broken Steel as a good character. I would be intrigued to see how it plays as a villain. The game itself is pretty good. You get to complete a fairly linear quest (not claustrophobicly so though) and at the end of it there is further incentive to explore the wasteland, as they will want you to collect stuff at your leisure. I can't say more without giving any spoilers, which I personally hate in reviews.
Point Lookout is a different kettle of fish. It is almost completely separate from the main Fallout story, and can really be considered a subgame set in the Fallout world, as opposed to an integral part of the main story line. Its open-ended free roaming fun, and shouldn't be missed. Rather than have one set quest there are two main quests and some smaller ones too. Most have multiple endings and one of them could even involve a return visit to a somewhat spooky location in the main Fallout 3 world. If you aren't much for exploring you won't have found this location (and the Lovecraft-inspired story that lurks beneath it) so its nice that it gets a potential second airing here.
There are new critters aplenty. Some of these look like they were inspired by the old classic "Redneck Rampage". I have only played it through once, but want to play it again on a lower level. I am assuming that the critters upsize their strength in order to match your level. The result of this is that if you go there on Level 24, you will be attacked by some thinly clad raiders who are very tough to kill. This is a tad unrealistic, but inevitable given that it is an expansion pack I guess. Next time I play Fallout 3 I think I will visit Point Lookout nearer the start. This will give me a more realisticly balanced challenge and I won't use up so much ammo!
If you were disappointed by the first addon packs then take heart, this one is much, much better.
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30 of 52 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Game of the Year: well Earned, 29 Oct 2009
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
Fallout 3 is an amazigly immersive game with beautiful graphics, twisting storylines and action filled gameplay. There are some problems with bugs and graphics glitches with some cards, but what can you expect from a game so large, so diverse and so visually brilliant?
Character movements can be a little clunky and there are alot of places where your character will get stuck. Apart from this, movement and terrain design is excellent. The game map is quite large, with hundreds of locations to explore and something new around every corner.
The V.A.T.S combat system adds an extra litte something to the action and makes this game stand out from all other FPS shooters. It can feel a little too easy to kill enemies using this though, and I still prefer the old "point and shoot" style of fighting. However, this is undoubtedly an advance in the style of the genre.
Storylines and quest characters are very well developed. The main story was a little short without the add-on packs, in my opinion, but with these now included in the Game of the Year Edition it is lengthened considerably. Extra information and audiotapes can be found throughout the wasteland, givng the player an insight into the lives of survivors.
Enemy AI is a little basic but at least the enemies are many and varied. The weapons that these enemies carry range from incredibly powerful to incredibly useless but these too, at least are almost without number. Special unique weapons can also be found in many places, granting some extra firepower to your arsenal and adding another element of of exploration: finding all of these unique weapons yourself will take a very long time.
The RPG aspect of the game comes thorugh in the storyline and quests, as well as the friendly characters you meet. The fact that in Fallout 3 you can own a home, have a pet dog and team up with AI companions creates a rich RPG feel to the game. The Karma system also adds an aspect of this. Will you fight the Good Fight, or look after only yourself?
Fallout 3 deffinitely deserves its Game of the Year status, and is without doubt my favourate PC game. For the moment anyway.
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