Game a dayish-Fallout 3

While this should be called game a week and I going to try and post something, even a few sentances regarding whatever I am playing at the moment. Today’s subject is the new multi-platform release, Fallout 3. Based on the original isometric RPG Fallout, Fallout 3 is an FPS-RPG and is a stunningly beautiful game. The RPG elements are a successful amalgam of the original post-apocalyptic world of Fallout blended with the dialogue tree sensibilities and scripted scenes of Oblivion.
Borrowing a page from the Metal Gear Solid design book, Fallout 3 leverages the graphics engine by using a carefully chosen limited color palette for the outdoor sequences. It makes for a wonderfully stylized yet gorgeous visual experience with a wide open world, outside of the urban environments.
Set in the ruins of Washington D.C most of the game is a literal “if you can see it, you can walk to it” experience outside of the city proper. Once inside the urban sprawl, environments are still expansive but limited in terms of accessibility. Load times are virtually non-existent but I long for the day when I can dynamically open a door and walk into a building without a load screen.
Due to repeated textures and elements artfully re-arranged in the world, the game runs at a solid 60 FPS on my PC, which is a small miracle in and of itself in these days of big budget, big buggy PC releases. This game runs some very tight code given the open nature of the gameplay and the non-linear world.
Exploration is rewarded but unlike Oblivion, enemies do not level dynamically with the player, so when you are in a place you shouldn’t be, you know it. However, once a zone is cleared, enemies do not respawn (at least not rapidly) allowing for a sense of accomplishment. This non-linearity can lead to moments where the flow of the gameplay is broken such a moment where I stumbled across a quest area that I was not meant to find for some time later in the game. My sense of discovery was tinged with a regret as I had now closed off who know how many side-quests I was meant to find prior to finding this area. It does add to replayibility as the engine does a fine job of modifying the world as you work through it, responding instantly to the unpredictability of the adventurous player.
The morality system of the game is simple but the moral choices presented are complex. There are always at least two solutions to an issue and the illusion of a living breathing world that will function with or without the player exists here as it did in Oblivion. I do find myself making a mental checklist of things I would do differently next time and that is always a good thing.
Finally the VATS combat system is a exciting way to spruce up the standard FPS play. A twitch shooter this is not, but VATS allows the player to stop combat in a frozen moment, allowing them to target specific body parts and also showing the stats on hit chances as well as damage already done. Strategy becomes a part of the shooting experience and it is a refreshing change.
Fallout 3 is easily once of the best games this year if ever, and a welcome return to that world.