It's Oblivion But 200% More Fun

Author's Rating:

Pros: Open-ended.  Oblivion with guns.  DLC and plenty of mods online.

Cons: Not as free-form as Oblivion. 

The Bottom Line: 
It is Oblivion but more fun and with guns.  What more could you want? Recommended.

Author's Review
First of all, we already know it, and the game has never made any attempt to hide it either.  This game is pretty much Oblivion (TES series), but with guns.  You might say, 'Wow!  What a rip-off!  A game that I have already played!'  But wait, there is so much more to it than that!
The first thing that you should realize is that the game has guns.  While it might seem like Oblivion with guns isn't that special of a concept, you are probably forgetting that guns are always more exciting than swords and bows.  You also get to play with grenades, rocket launchers, mini-nukes, and everything in between.  Plus, you get the great experience of playing in the present/future rather than in the bloated past of some lame fantasy world.

I don't mean to knock Oblivion, as it is a great game in its own right, but the setting and gameplay of Fallout 3 appeals to me much more than Oblivion does, and this review is going to be about why that is.

Another thing that readers of this review should realize is that being an almost exact copy of the gameplay and style of Oblivion isn't a bad thing.   I mean, they came out with a pretty perfected style, and I'd rather stick with something that works rather than trying to improve upon a system that pretty much has everything figured out for the best possible gameplay experience.   More of the same isn't bad when it means that you get to continue using something that has worked out plenty in the past.  Also, this game was made by the same company that made Oblivion, so it isn't hard to see how they managed to get it so close in the first place (I've heard claims that the engine is actually a modified Oblivion engine, which may or may not be true, but I could see how it is based on the ability for modders with this game and how pretty much just about everything in this game is a resemblance of Oblivion in some form or another).

So let's get down to the skinny of the matter and check out why this game has received almost Universal praise from gamers and critics alike.

Gameplay
If you have already played Oblivion, then what you need to know about the gameplay of Fallout 3, is that it is the same as Oblivion with a few upgrades, and the ability to use different weapons.  It still features the first person viewpoint that the Elder Scrolls series has perfected, and also has a 3rd person camera that is somewhat useable (if you want to use it though, you should look around some of the modification sites for an improved third person camera that you can use in combat.  Otherwise it is only useful for admiring the character).

You get to create your own character, and while you don't have the many races and options that you get from Oblivion, you still have a fair amount of non-stat changing abilities and features that you can personally modify your character with.  You can make your character as pretty or as ugly as you want, and as much like you or like a celebrity as you would like.  I have personally found that the character creation systems on games like this are one of the most fun aspects of the game, because you are essentially creating the person entirely from scratch.  If you don't want to waste time though, you can always go with defaults, or trying to find an already made character somebody else made on the Internet. 

The interaction with characters is about the same as you are used to, and there is a whole good and evil system called Karma that is in effect, although it doesn't try and force you towards one side (good) like Oblivion does, which I greatly appreciated.   The game feels like it is more open to customization than Oblivion was, and for this I am grateful.

One of the new systems that the game implements are something called V.A.T.S., which is taken from the previous Fallout games.  You can either fight normally and ignore this completely, your can use Action Points (which you build up over time and gain more with levels and perks) to shoot as specific parts of an enemy.  This is mostly useful to trying to do headshots though because why bother crippling the enemy when you can just use this to take them out with a few shots in the first place.  This is useful, although can be a strain on your CPU/GPU if you don't have the higher end system to accommodate it.

Graphics
There is some resemblance to the graphical style of Oblivion, but everything seems to be smoother and a little less ugly looking than previously.  The landscapes are well done, although can lag your system if you have them turned up too much.  The enemies are detailed, although you will have trouble telling each individual one apart.  The weapons are fairly detailed, but as much as you would expect.   Overall, the graphics seem to be better, but they are not the best that you have seen in today's current market. 

If you have a higher end system that could take advantage of some higher-res graphics, you can check around in the dregs of the Internet modding communities for some high-res textures and graphics to mod into your game for some improved graphical design and playability.  If you already struggling to have your computer keep up with the graphics already though, then you shouldn't bother trying to do anything more high-res than what you already have on the game.

Music and Sound
The music seems to be appropriate.  I don't know what to tell you beyond that.  You can tune into some of the wasteland radio stations and hear some of the music that is playing on there.  The sounds of enemies and weapons are well done and are appropriate for the game.

The voice acting is well done overall in the game, and there is a lot of it.  Not only do all the NPC interactions have voice acting, but there is a whole wealth of information that you can hear acted out on the radio stations that you pick up on your PIP-boy and you can listen into them as they tell you about the current state of things as well as track your progress.

Replay Value
This game doesn't have the guild quests and things like that to keep you playing for more hours past the main quest, but the main quest is a little longer than Oblivion's was, and it is more satisfying.  What will really keep you playing longer though, is the DLC that you can purchase for the game.  Be warned, there is a level 20 caps until you purchase Broken Steel, which raises the maximum level that your character can achieve to 30.  This should give you a few more days, but overall, the return to gameplay will not be as much of a draw for the sheer content than Oblivion had.  However, the content that you do get from the game is much more fun than Oblivion.

Overall
This game is much more fun than Oblivion.  It takes the gameplay of Oblivion and improves it in a better setting and adds the Fallout humor and systems that we've all come to love in the past.  I've failed to mention some of the specific systems and interfaces of the game in this review, but I can assure you that they are well done and you will understand them and get used to them very quickly, especially if you have played Oblivion.  If you haven't, they will make sense easily too.  Basically, this game is a much for those who were fans of Oblivion or the previous Fallout games.  I cannot think of a situation where this game would not is fun based on a background in games.  An essential of the gaming line up within the last few years.