Let me just forewarn anybody who plays this game... when it comes time to have your 10th birthday in this game, DON'T WALK UP THE STAIRS FROM THE CAFETERIA!

If you do, when you reach the top you will fall for a minute and get stuck on the next level of the game as a 10-year old leaving you incapable of accomplishing crap. You WILL walk around for an hour or more cussing out the t.v., exploring a level that won't allow kids to open doors, the whole time weaponless and getting attacked by creatures, leaving you wishing you never rented that stupid Fallout 3 game...

... ever!

(There. I vented.)

Now, perhaps we started out on the wrong foot. Perhaps I'm being too close-minded. Despite having this glitch affect my overall feeling of the game on day 1, I pulled up my raider bootstraps and got back into the nuclear wastelands hoping to survive this review. It was enjoyable at times, less enjoyable at many other moments.

Second bitch: I have a big problem with games that make itself "more difficult" by simply allowing your enemies to get blasted in the head 10 times. Meanwhile, they're still attacking you and before you know it you just got your assault rifle-carrying ass killed by a hammer wielding nutcase. Or when you're literally shooting a scantily clad female 15 times in the head with a shotgun and 10 times in the hooters, only to see your health draining because she clipped you a couple times in the arm. Before you know it your dead and trying your best not to throw your controller through the hi-def mess. Yes... Fallout 3 is another one of "those games".

I didn't think I could be this disappointed by a game based on the nuclear remains of the once great capital of our nation, but then again I thought I'd be retired at the age of 25 too. I guess disappointment is something you can get used to. I will admit, I did find myself playing it until 4 am one night (but only one).

Listen, I like the idea of the game. My biggest complaint is that it could have been better. If they wanted to, it could have been the best damn game of the year, but something about it gave me the feeling that this game was rushed. WAY too many glitches, including one that left me headless, many that left me trapped in a corner, two times where the whole screen froze up, and another that left me getting attacked by the whole city despite doing absolutely nothing to stir them up. It's like the creators had a plan that looked better on paper than it did on my flat screen. It amazes me of what this game COULD have been, only to then compare to what it truly was.

The only thing good about some of the glitches is that you can actually cheat the game by taking advantage of them. You can change the level setting to difficult right before blasting a single unarmed mutant, in turn giving you more experience points (XP) for the kill, and then allowing you to change right back to the normal setting like nothing happened, or you can switch to the equipment select screens after breaking items and switch back as if nothing had happened. Other moments allow you to keep talking to people in town, having the same conversation over and over again, all the while getting free goodies from them (one of the townies kept calling me a badass shortly after I killed the "Sheriff")

I'm a big fan of games that allow interactions with everything and anything. Even better is a game that makes you think while doing it. Fallout 3 takes a little bit of everything, making it difficult to categorize. You should be telling yourself it's an obvious 1st person shooter, however at the same time your thinking it's more of an RPG with the occassional puzzles and strategy thrown into the mix. It sounds like the perfect formula for a gamer like myself, but the more and more I played this game, the more and more tired, frustrated and pissed off I got with it. It truly bothered me, for I saw so much room for improvement and (although regretfully too late) wish I could have been sitting in on some board room meetings to throw some much needed common sense around.

Yes. Frustrated and pissed. Some may consider that a good time. I am not one of them.

All and all an okay game, but nothing I'd spend $60 on. RENT IT!

The skinny: 6.5 out of 10

(and that is being quite generous)

Want More of Fallout 3?

Strategy Guide  |  Cheat Sheet  |  A Nicer Review  |  Buy It Now  |  Rent It