Everybody's dead, Dave.

A little known fact about me is that I don’t complete many games. In fact, I can buy multiple copies of the same game and still not see those pearly white credits roll on by. It’s not that I couldn’t fathom how to open the boxes shrink-wrap and it’s certainly not for a lack of trying. The problem, as I see it, boils down to a fundamental issue of money vs. attention span. Back in the good old days I didn’t have a lot of this currency thing, so I replayed games. A lot. Hell, I’ve beaten Tombi for the PlayStation at least seven times and I don’t even consider that a particularly great game. Although now that I look back at it, its depiction of evil magic pigs trying to take over the world has an eerie sense of foreboding prophecy about it when you consider the current swine flu pandemic that will turn us all into pork scratchings before the year is over.

Getting back to the topic at hand, issues with my gaming habit started to arise back at college when people started giving me free money. Obviously this cash could, logically, only be spent on one thing, and it bloody well wasn’t going to be a haircut. It’s like giving a thousand pounds to a meth addict. Do you really think they are going to spend a “reasonable” amount of that cash on meth and save the rest for a rainy day? Fuck no. You clearly send word to the little old lady down the street who sells drugs out of her front garage that you’re coming down and you clean her place out. It’s the same with games, but without the questionable legality of buying products from an unlicensed retailer.

For this reason Fallout 3 may just be my game of the year for 2009. I’ve been playing Bethesda’s post-apocalyptic mega RPG on and off since Christmas day last year, which for those of you who failed first grade math class, is five months or one hundred and fifty days ago. During that time I’ve managed to clock a pretty reasonable forty five hours with the game and I’ve yet to be distracted enough by the next shiny thing to give up on it.

I’ve heard people remark that they couldn’t get into Fallout like they did Oblivion because of its dreary and depressing atmosphere, however this may just be why I keep going back to it. As wonderful as the mystical fantasy genre is, sometimes its good to take a step back from it and Fallout 3 is truly a rush of fresh air. From the very first time you step out of Vault 101 into the capital wasteland you are simply blown away by the sheer scale and detail of the world around you.

Sure it’s barren, it’s dead and you’re all alone, but that’s what makes it such a unique title. I’m not saying the games perfect by any means, but the sheer thrill of the adventure you have in this incredible world more than makes up for the little problems it has. Every corner of the wastes has its surprises and every quest has multiple ways to be approached. Just discussing the game with other players can completely take you by surprise, as everyone’s experience will be slightly unique to them, be it from the moral choices they made, to the order they did things or where they went first. I don’t claim to be a gaming connoisseur who has tried the best of everything, but I’m sure I can’t be wrong in saying there isn’t anything quite like this in any other modern generation game.

The game starts with quite a steep learning curve about an hour in where you must quickly get to grips with exactly what items you need to carry and what should be sold or left behind. If there is one thing this game has taught me, its when scavenging a nuclear wasteland, bring a bigger bag.

Also, a single shot in the face makes peoples heads explode. Did I mention this game is hilariously gory for no good reason?

What's so incredible about my time with Fallout 3 is that as I slowly ponder through the ninety plus hour game they provided, they keep making it longer. In the past five months Bethesda has released three downloadable packs which each ads a significant amount of new game play, weapons and skills to the game, the most recent of which even went to the lengths of rewriting the ending. With two more packs due, I can see myself still playing Fallout 3 for a long time to come.

Of course, that won’t stop me buying a third copy of Peggle for no good reason. I gotta spend that drug money on something…

Comments

Dave (24th May 2009 12:52:47) I'll give you 1p for every game you complete this year. I've really liked Fallout 3 so far, been certainly interesting and fun. My only issue with it isn't the game it's self, more it's genre. Due to it being an RPG, I have to give it a reasonable amount of time (couple of hours lets say) or it isn't worth firing it up. A lot of the time I find it hard to get that space of time so... Yeah my own fault really. I'll knock the rest out in the holidays, easy!

Blackphoxx (25th May 2009 00:04:40) Spent a weekend vacation watching my friend play it and I was still amused. Not my style of game, but entertaining nonetheless

Kinie (25th May 2009 01:23:23) I have had some experience with the downloadable packs and you can get by with just the lastest one (Broken Steel) and not have to get OA or Pitt. All you're really missing out on is a concussion rifle and stealth armor from OA and a chainsaw-type weapon from Pitt. And if you think carrying that stuff around on a console is bad, there's a hack for the PC version that gives weight to all the bullets and ammo you carry so you aren't lugging around an armory's worth of bullets in your Pip Boy.

Joshie (27th May 09 00:24:34) I've already played both OA and the Pitt, and except for OA being a little too combat heavy I've really enjoyed both of them. The change in venue and expansion of the lore is particularly nice. Planning to pick up the last DLC when I get closer to the end of the game or when I hit the level 20 cap (which Broken Steel rises to 30), whichever comes first. And that PC hack to put weight on bullets and ammo sounds insane o_O;

Brookster (26th May 2009 02:11:28) Nice Red Dwarf touch on the title.

Tania (26th May 09 13:00:39) I thought it was a 2001: Space Odyssey reference >.>

Brian (26th May 2009 04:49:06) Now, the question is this: have you played the previous Fallout titles?

Dave (26th May 09 15:58:33) He hasn't! I saw Fallout 2 for sale in PC world the other day. Haven't got anything to play it on though. We have someone at uni that's played them all so far.

Joshie (27th May 09 00:21:59) I've never been a fan of PC games :-/ The original games need porting somewhere!

Danny (30th May 09 04:51:35) He should buy them at GOG.com. They're really cheap and they're just downloadable games.

Brookster (26th May 2009 23:28:05) Oh rubbish, it's in 2001 Space Odyssey as well. Perhaps in Red Dwarf it was a tribute to that movie.

Joshie (27th May 09 00:20:31) Indeed the line in Red Dwarf was a tribute/parody/reference to Space Odyssey. But Brookie is right, RD was what I was quoting :)

Tania (27th May 2009 02:15:30) Bah, ok. Well, I was close to being right!