Fallout 3 - "Following in his Footsteps"

Fallout 3, made by Bethesda Game Studios, is the 3D revival of the Fallout mainline series where one can play in either first or third person. It is a new Fallout with new beginnings as one experiences the series move off from the West Coast and transisitions towards what remains of the East Coast in the Capital Wastelands.

The game starts very reminiscient of all Fallouts with its trademark opening narrative and soon after has the player experience their character's first moments of being born, which ties into one naming their character. This soon leads to unfortunate series of events that lead to your character's mother passing on due to complications and from there, utilizes the character's early years as a tutorial to get one accustomed to the controls and systems while providing much needed foundation to the world for the player to come to terms with.

This is all done within the sheltered and isolated world view of a Vault, a Vault Tec construction built to preserve humanity from the threat of nuclear armageddon. It is a clever choice in setting as your character's whole life has been the vault and one's world view is defined and shaped by the events one experiences during this tutorial.

When things ultimately go wrong though, you are forced into scenario of having to escape this sheltered lifestyle and be thrown into the wild and dangerous world of Fallout with only your Pipboy, the clothes on your back and anything you were able to grab on your way out of your vault home.

With it sealed behind you, one is left with a goal, which is more like a suggestion, to find your father.

Fallout 3 is somewhat of a difficult game to really harshly judge as it does have some DNA of Fallout in there but it also has stuff that falls short when compared to the standard of the writing the previous entries set.

This is more apparent when coming into this game from the frame of reference of having played the previous entries as the main story feels servicable. It feels like it was a compromise to put more work on having all the interactions the player has with characters being fully voiced, but still has the player being a "silent" participant "voicing" their opinions by selecting from an option from a list provided to the player.

The "Find your Father" breadcrumb trail sees your character trekking across the Capital Wasteland looking for the next clue where their missing father went to, but one has to work within the constrains the game gives the player and that lead to events that comes across as leaning a bit too heavy-handed on the protagonist syndrome.

I write protagonist syndrome as there can be moments where what is deemed "important" in relation to task being assigned to the player just because you are the protagonist and therefore the plot revolves around you being the "most qualified" to complete a task.

That is not to say that the previous Fallouts are not guilty of this either, but it does have moments where the fascade wears a bit thin and feels like you must do something "just because" and it can have a negative impact on the weaving of the narrative illusion.

I would say that its framing is the greatest contributor that ends up making the sloppy writing stand out more in this regard.

Which leads into a criticism of the narrative in which a certain faction feels like it changed too much in service to provide a foil to the main antagonist of the game.

It feels more forced compared to how things were resolved in previous main line games where it took considerable effort for the faction provide more than a token effort.

It is does provide an explanation and further DLC expands upon this which does help a bit, but the core of what the faction originally stood for and how it conducts its business feels like it is leaning towards something that would have been better structured if they had established a clearer and more differentiating line on how this faction wishes to be perceived.

I guess it is a case of "looks like a goose, walks like a goose but quacks like a chicken". It is something that could have been better conceptualised in setting and with another DLC frames those that follow the faction's original rhetoric as outcasts.

It is ultimately in Bethesda's hands how they wish to frame this faction, but it would have been far more in setting if it decided to put more effort in trying to make it stand out more as its own thing as it already decided to function upon its own intepretations of its teachings.

The main narrative does not do it much favours to this perception either, although it does have some interesting moments but it feels overshadowed in its resolution which if one compares against the rest of the content can feel unsatisfying.

Outside of the main narrative, the outlook of the game fairs far better as the side quests, environmental and side stories do a better job framing the world and do most of the heavy work towards one's enjoyment of the game.

In exploring and finding the "less" important stories that is left for the player to discover, can one find the "Fallout" spirit that the main quest left me feeling lacking on.

In a way, that is captured quite well as the locations one visits during your journey and off the beaten trail can lead to all sorts of activities and adventures that can shape the world in the way that Fallout is known for.

The stories and choices one makes when not having to deal with the major factions feel more naunced as the options and results of your choices are not as critical to what is intended therefore one tends to have more player agency in its associated outcomes. One can get a lot more creative in trying to figure out a solution which does make the conclusion to solving a problem have more weight behind it.

It also helps when it follows up with some interactions that tie into the result of a quest that gives the illusion of your character making a difference and encourages exploration trying to find something interesting.

Besides the following and completing quest marked in your Pipboy, there are also a number of unmarked quests that one can learn about through running into NPCs that mention rumours, reading notes on papers, functioning computers scattered about or the occassional audio recording found throughout the game world that ends up providing a quest experience on its own that rewards the curious or attentive player with the potential of unique rewards

All this is helped with what is quite a big world that has an unfortunate colour palette that is mostly saturated with a lot of browns, greys and greens that gives it a melancholic atmosphere - that to be fair, is acceptable as it was an area that probably suffered some of the worst effects of the nuclear escalation.

Exploration is also integrated with the finding and traversal through the subway systems as it locks away few areas behind travelling through its winding tunnels to reach a point of interest. 

These subways aren't really bad per se as is adds another dimesion to the gameplay where one is limited in their approach as they navigate through the ruins of the old world's transit network.

One can find some gems here and there, but compared to what one can finds on the surface the subways and tunnels do feel comparatively bare which one can also find a positive in as it serves a purpose of contrasting the devastated overworld with the relatively intact underworld.

The transisition to an create a wholly interactive world, which is an achievement on its own merits, does not feel fully realised as the The Capital Wastelands are indead a wasteland which can call into question of how people can still be sustainably surviving as sources of food and clean water are few and far between with trading feeling like something that happens outside the confines of the map, which hurts one's immersion if they think too hard on it.

This is further compounded as the world is surprisingly populated for an area that has most people slumming in the remains of the Old World living along side the anarchy of raiders, slavers, mutated enemies and other undesirables for survival.

This could be chalked up to the transisition to 3D and its requirement to demand more effort to paint the illusion of a living world. When one plays with the game long enough it will eventually start to show its cracks and will to draw one into questions that start raise one's eyebrow at how "alive" the world really is.

It however does get credit in regards to its emulation of the Washington metropolitan area with notable landmarks, buildings and areas being fairly well represented. It can be considered an element of immersion that can help offset the other negative aspect that I mentioned which one can personally decide if is easier to look past considering the work put into its creation.

It might be full of new locations, but one's exploration of the game world can be stifled with fast travel functionality that is introducted with the new and improved Pipboy which acts as a multi-function all-purpose interface device.

On one hand it is a great utility to get one to a location without having to endure repeated backtracking but by fast traveling around one can miss out on the game's random encounter set pieces, which helps give the world some cohesion.

It is a necessary evil, considering the transistion and size of the world, not to mention having to deal with locations that are only accessible once one has gone through the subway lines and especially once one starts running into repeated events, but I do feel that it can have some effect on the perception of the world when one is still trying to make sense of it as it can be genuinely fun exploring even with its shortcomings.

There is always the allure to fast travel everywhere though and that can rob a person of some of the less noticable events that can play out while randomly exploring.

The new Pipboy itself also has a host of other improvements over the previous entries as it has all the necessary information collated into one unified location. It makes it a lot easier to check notes, quests, gear, items, health,status, map and radio channels all in one easy to use interface with it being separated into logical tabs with it done in an interface that is thematic and immersive in setting.

Expending upon the functions that are included is being able to pick up a radio transmissions with which one can listen to music and broadcasts - the music selection is surprisingly catchy for the 1950's variety but is unfortunately limited and one will eventually run into a problem of repeated loops of radio content over time, but is still nice to put on for a bit during the quieter moments as one explores.

Besides being a distraction, it is also has a way in which the game communicates to the player how it is "keeping tabs" on them with one channel in particular reporting about your more notable exploits throughout your gameplay experience which does feel good having your deeds being acknowledged for good or ill.

Although it is player-centric, the fact that it highlights the player's choices and morality helps add weight to the investment in the character as one has an evolving story be drawn out as one plays.

Other new features include a flashlight that can help one navigate in the dark or in the many subway tunnels (although it is quick to give away your location if one wants to sneak), one can directly inject stimpacks for either general health treatment or into specific wounded or damaged body parts, specify a quest one wishes to focus on and have the it show the general location of it on the directional interface and as previously mentioned allows one to fast travel between visited locations.

The final mentioned feature is something that it indirectly intergrates and that is the introduction of V.A.T.S or Vault Assisted Targeting System which is a reconceptualisation of the targeting system used in the first main line Fallouts series. 

It works by freezing time and selecting a character in view, from here the player can specify a target from either left or right leg or arm, torso,head or equipped weapon and spend action points - determined by your character's Agility attribute and perks, on the specified area with accuracy determined by your skill with the currently equipped weapon ( in the case of unarmed and melee weapons the target is considered one entity), which also takes into account environmental effects and distance and once one has decided to executed their selection; the game will resume time with the player entering a canned animation set, under the effects of "super armour" while it plays, where they automatically target the points specified by V.A.T.S until all actions have been completed.

The main benefit of using V.A.T.S is to allow one to leverage their character's skill in a controlled environment and be able to target multiple parts, focus on an individual part or attempt to spread out targeting amongst all enemies within view without the time pressure of having to do it manually on the fly against a moving target(s).

This system is roughly applied to non-humanoid entities with differing effects like disabling a robot's regulator chip will make it go berserk or crippling a radscorpion's tail will prevent it from stinging you.

The locational damage is also fair game for the enemy to target and can have similar effects apply to the player. This is more of an issue if one engages with enemies in real time though as one receives a substantial damage reduction while performing actions during "V.A.T.S Time".

It is a good implementation of an old system being given a "modern" twist and although it lacks the more humourous elements of its predecessors it still translates the core principal of what the system is intended to achieve well.

When one considers this with the V.A.T.S system, the Combat is servicable as it can feel a bit janky with weapons feeling a bit muted in its lethality, especially at a low skill level and not having the relevant perk investment.

The general style however, to its credit, hits a lot of the feeling of Fallout in its attempt to transistion into 3D from its isometric roots with a larger variety of weapons and armour to choose from which includes a collection of unique gear to add to one's collection.

It is not overly challenging unless one cranks the difficulty which feels like all they did is adjust their tankiness and deadliness and eventually, even then by late game, enemies do not feel really dangerous minus a few rare examples being overly tanky that one can still cripple to make them less of threat.

Moving onto one of the most notable hallmarks of a Fallout game is its perks and your character can select a new one every level which in the base game capped the player level at 20. The regularity of the perk selection does mean that the player can get very strong in short order and does feel like too much but to its credit it allows one to more easily build a character to their needs and even allows one to dabble with a few secondary skills or investing in less overtly useful perks for convenience. The perks selection is a mixed bag with some really powerful ability enhancers, some that adds flavour to dialogue or, the less useful selection that is, a flat bonus to skills stats.

One can also receive passive perks through completion of missions and there is a some variantion on a few of them based on your actions.

This disparity in power however is a lot more noticable once the Broken Steel Expansion is installed where the level cap is raised from 20 to 30 and with the right approach can have a character have every one of their S.P.E.C.I.A.L stats sit at 10 and have all their skills sit at 100.

The skills themselves are more important for the fine tuning of one's play experience as reaching max rank in one ensures "optimal" experience with weapons being more accurate and deadly, repairs being more effecient, tool use having a larger margin for error with being skilled enough allowing for interaction with locks or computers and in general providing relevant improvements that are applicable to specific skill in question.

This level of power gaming is not new to the franchise and for those that want perfect stats without uncertainty they made achieving it far easier. It is something to be mindful of as it is very easy to fall into a meta-game mindset and requires more effort for one to build a character along a roleplaying idea.

In furthering the player's options, one can also make use of companions which are an interesting mix of characters with this iteration splitting them along the karma lines of evil, neutral or good with one outlier that ignores these restrictions.

They are all voiced and have their own personalities and in the case of human ( and human-like) companions are able to wear and equip gear and have it visibly represented on the character model.

They can thankfully use automatic weapons fairly well and is probably the prefered method of arming them as the nature of how the game is structured does make it difficult for them to incur friendly fire incidents as one can more easily just stand out of their way or if you really do not like the thought of being shot in the back can just equip them with a melee weapon and tell them to use just that.

It also helps that the majority of combat scenarios that matter rarely have critically important friendly NPCs in the mix to worry about so it is pretty open ended in its tolerance for reckless use of ordanance minus the odd quest or two that requires one to apply some finesse.

Furthermore one doesn't need to be concerned with supplying your companions with ammunition for their default weapons although this does change if one wants them to make use of something specific.

They are also not too picky when it comes to armour either and will wear what gives them the best protection with only one being exempt from armour customisation

As mentioned in regards to companions, the Karma system itself is very simplied with a stronger emphasis on one's skills and what they select during conversations having an even greater effect on the outcome of your interactions. There are times that one can leverage your Karma in question for something extra and there a few perks that one can select that one can use to their advantage based on it.

The system isn't really great at locking one into a Karma bracket as your smaller actions also play a part in shaping your character's alignment. It is an open-ended and it feels loose in its implementation where a kind hearted thief can be considered an unrepented devil or a psycopath be seen as the arrival of a saint when one games the system with repeatable deeds that apply karmic values.

It can cause a bit of disconnect that requires some overhead on the player's part to keep their ambitions in check and feels mostly something that is relevant to recruiting companions in the grand scheme of things.

The sound design is a something that on one hand be praised but on the other be critisised in the same breath with some extreme highs and mediocre lows.

I think that the disparity of the highs does make things stand out more although it is not something to be overly critical over as the voice work is, for a Bethesda game of its time, quite varied, the ambiance is a stand out with the wind and distant fire fights being companions on your trek through the ruins of civilisation and the more science-like elements have an appropriate effect to it that sells its fiction. 

As mentioned before the music variety is somewhat low but what is there is catchy and has an undeniable charm to it with the the radio channels having the quality effects to match. Outside of that, besides key moments and combat, one's experience will be a journey filled with ambiance that is done to a point that one might not even notice it is there, which is something I do appreciate.

Fallout 3, for all its flaws is a good game with its main story as its weakest aspect as it still has the skeleton there of respect to the franchise if one is determined enough to look for it.

It does take liberties with the franchise as it attempts to create its own brand while still trying to remain in the shadow of predecessor and it can be something that can throw someone off if they are expecting the standard set by what came before. 

If one can look past that and take what the game offers as a complete package then it can be chalked up as something that is it good based on the foundation of it being lifted up from the sum of its other moving parts.

It brings the franchise back with higher fidelity graphics, although the animations can be a bit goofy at times, improved systems and more Fallout moments to discover that brings new life into the franchise and if there nothing else good to be said then it at least laid the foundation for Fallout New Vegas to come into existence.

The DLC, although introduced somewhat haphazardly with it all being thrust upon the player once they leave the vault in the begining, I feel, does address some aspects that felt missing in the base game and each one brings with it new content in the form of weapons, armour and perks. 

There are 5 DLC expansions and they are

Operation Anchorage

• Has one plug into a simulation and relive moments during the American/Chinese conflict over Anchorage, Alaska. The content is very on-rails as one plays an important role in battles that tipped the balance towards outcome of the war.
• Admittedly it can feel clunky as it is for all intents and purposes a combat simulation with some light rpg elements. One does fight some unique enemies and gives a glimpse at the that was fought in the game's past.
  
• Outside of that, one deals with Brotherhood Remnants that resemble in character closer to what one has come to expect of the organisation.
• The rewards for completing the questline are very good considering it is separate from the main game experience

The Pitt

• The player leaves the Capital Wastes and takes a journey to Pittsburgh.
• It is inline with a standard Fallout experience with a emphasis of dialogue, that is mixed up with combat as one has to work their way up from being a slave and having it culminate in deciding the ending with a morally ambiguious choice.
• There is also a scrapyard mini-quest where one is encouraged to collect ignots with a rewards parceled out upon reaching milestones.
• Has lore that ties into the events that sees the reason of change of character of an organisation from the main game.

Broken Steel

• The expansion that brings the biggest changes to the main game taking place after the events of it with the player being able to experience the outcome of their decisions and have it play out through rest of the game world in limited capacity.
• It also sees the base game narrative have expanded options from what is presented to the the player.
• Introduces some powerful perks and an increase in the level cap
• It is a more action orientated expansion, that sees one taking part in set pieces and having to work towards an ending that the player has a choice in its resolution with the added inclusion of continued play after story completion
  
• Introduces new gear and enemies into encounters of the main game

Point Lookout

• Sees the player travel to Point Lookout State Park, which is in stark contrast to the dry and burnt out environments one gets accustomed as it is replaced with an atmospheric wet and swampy world that leans closer to a horror and mystery.
• The content is a more story focussed setting with moments of player reactivity and feels more relaxed in tone in regards to player agency
• Although having a gloomy atmosphere and darker tone, it has its resolutions to its stories are wrapped up in a entertaining manner and even has a nice little follow on from a side-event that happens in a specific building one can find in the main game

Mothership Zeta

• Expands upon the hints thrown in earlier Fallouts, the player is abducted by aliens
• It is a pretty wacky expansion with it having a focus on combat with light puzzle solving elements as the player works their way through an alien vessel, sabotaging systems, freeing prisoners and killing aliens.
• Beside the view, one can have a new "home" in the stars and by the quests end a large supply of alien weaponry and ammunition.
• Its lore is scattered about throughout the alien vessel via devices that capture the recordings of your fellow abductees and provides a good basis to understand their situation.
  

Image Sources:

Independent Fallout Wiki

Fallout Fandom Wiki

Video Source:

Fallout 3 Intro

E3 2008 Fallout 3 Trailer

Operation Anchorage Trailer

The Pitt Trailer

Broken Steel Trailer

Point Lookout Trailer

Mothership Zeta Trailer