A look at Fallout 3

When people talk about the warring factions and toxic atmosphere of Washington, D.C., they're usually exaggerating for effect. Not so Fallout 3, the long-delayed third installment of the popular post-apocalyptic computer role-playing game. It takes place in the radioactive ruins of America's capital city 200 years after the nuclear bombs fell and civilization ended. Mutants now rule the streets where politicians once trod, and other horrors stalk survivors living in the wastelands outside the city.

A few managed to avoid the horrors of atomic holocaust by locking themselves away in super-sized, high-tech fallout shelters called Vaults. The game begins, as the original Fallout did in 1997, in one of these underground fortresses. This time around players are born into the game, witnessing their own character's birth and then experiencing an accelerated childhood that introduces them to the world of Fallout, determines what their skills will be and then ejects them into the Wastelands outside on an epic quest to find the character's suddenly absent father.

The game is played from the first-person perspective, rather than the traditional third-person, isometric view of the earlier games. It's possible to switch to a third-person view, but it's nothing like earlier Fallouts, and the game is clearly meant to be played in the first person. Venturing out of the Vault for the first time, you find yourself equipped with little more than a jumpsuit, a 10mm pistol, your trusty PipBoy wrist computer and your wits. Fortunately, all but the PipBoy can be upgraded by scavenging in the wastes.

The Capitol Wastelands consists of the fictionalized ruins of the greater Washington, D.C. area. The capital itself is a burned-out ruin crawling with murderous Super Mutants as well as the power-suited Brotherhood of Steel that seeks to keep them in check. Many of the city's signature buildings—like the Washington Monument, Capitol Building and Jefferson Memorial—have survived the war, and most factor into the game in important ways. Things become more abstract the further one ventures from the city; I-495 becomes just another smashed superhighway, and the suburbs give way to small towns, abandoned Nuka-Cola and robot factories, and stretches of desolate grassland.

The game is nonlinear; while there is a main quest to be undertaken, there's no compelling reason to follow it. Unlike the original Fallout, there is no deadline looming, so players can talk to whomever they like, acquiring new side quests that take them to the remote corners of the wasteland. Players improve their characters by gaining experience killing the Waste's horrors, completing quests or (more likely) both. How they do it is important; players can choose between positive and negative responses to any given conversation in the game, which in turn can open up new quest and dialogue options.

Loyal to its predecessors

Judged on its own merits, Fallout 3 is an entertaining game offering a few dozen hours of post-apocalyptic fun. It's not as strong as other RPGs/shooters released over the last year or so—Bioshock and Mass Effect both had better stories and visuals—but it's a solid game and well worth playing. Unfortunately, it's difficult to judge the game solely on that basis, because it is haunted by two ghosts: the original Fallout series and Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

On the Fallout side, there's no denying that this is not the game that original developer Black Isle would have made, had its parent company, Interplay, not gone out of business and sold the rights to Bethesda. But at the same time, this isn't some knockoff remake or wretched re-imagining; Bethesda's gone out of its way to create a world that's loyal to its predecessors. The game has adopted all of Fallout's jargon, which should make veteran players feel right at home. The game retains its 1950s Atomic Age vibe, complete with ruined hovercars, the ever-smiling Vault Boy mascot and the two-headed Brahmin quasi-cattle.

The strengths and foibles the Havoc engine that powered Oblivion remain, though both are diminished. Fallout 3 has plenty to explore, but it doesn't feel as boundless as its predecessor. Fallout's landscapes are as well rendered as its fantasy predecessor, but there are few jaw-dropping moments. Most of the game consists of burned-out 21st-century ruins, and if you've seen one crumbling, timeworn hulk, you've seen them all. There is a certain thrill to catching a glimpse of the broken Washington Monument and fortified Jefferson Memorial, but these moments don't happen often.

Oblivion's characters were notorious for landing in the middle of the "uncanny valley" between cartoonish humans and picture-perfect renderings. Fallout 3's characters can still feel overly animatronic, and they're a far cry from Mass Effect's beautiful renderings, but there's a notable improvement from the earlier game.

The Oblivion's first-person perspective gets a upgrade with VATS (Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System). In a nod to the original turn-based Fallout games, VATS allows players to drop out of real-time combat and switch to an augmented targeting mode. They're given a budget of "action points" that are spent aiming at specific body parts on an enemy (or enemies). While it's tempting to always go for the headshot, the subsystem works best when used strategically. Surprised by a band of Super Mutants? Shoot them in the legs to slow them down and get time to escape. Outgunned by a raider with a rocket launcher? Unload on the raider's arms, forcing him to drop the weapon.

The game earns its "Mature" rating in spades. Alcohol and drug use play a prominent role in the game, providing temporary boosts as well as long-term drawbacks as addiction sets in. Four-letter curses abound, and it's possible to be downright evil at times. It's also possible to be a virtuous saint, but even saints will find themselves accidentally addicted to jet or booze from time to time.

Fallout 3 is at its worst when it's overly repetitive. The wasteland, the buildings, the ruined Metro all tend to blur together, and the endless scrounging for weapons and ammunition can be frustrating. The game's two primary radio stations—the propaganda-spewing Enclave Radio and the 1950s-inspired pop songs of Galaxy News Radio—have diminished playlists and quickly get old. A jazz or blues station would have made a good alternative.

That said, the radio has an off button, and players can almost always nullify the frustrating aspects of Fallout's gameplay with level-up perks. For example, those who dislike fights can take the Thief and Sniper perks to avoid enemies or kill them at a distance. Those tired of searching for ammo can take the Scrounger perk, which yields significantly more bullets when searching containers.

Ultimately, players' enjoyment of the game will likely be a function of the baggage they bring to the game. Those hoping for a faithful, third-person-perspective port of the earlier Fallout games will be disappointed, while Oblivion fans hoping for another 100+ hour marathon may walk way criticizing the lack of depth. Those somewhere in the middle of those two extremes, or those who are new to the franchise, will find it offers an engrossing trek through a radioactive wasteland.