Product Description

Vault 101 - Jewel of the Wastes. For 200 years, Vault 101 has faithfully served the surviving residents of Washington DC and its environs, now known as the Capital Wasteland. Though the global atomic war of 2077 left the US all but destroyed, the residents of Vault 101 enjoy a life free from the constant stress of the outside world. Giant Insects, Raiders, Slavers, and yes, even Super Mutants are all no match for superior Vault-Tec engineering. Yet one fateful morning, you awake to find that your father has defied the Overseer and left the comfort and security afforded by Vault 101 for reasons unknown. Leaving the only home you've ever known, you emerge from the Vault into the harsh Wasteland sun to search for your father, and the truth.

• Limitless Freedom: Take in the sights and sounds of the vast Capital Wasteland! See the great monuments of the United States lying in post-apocalyptic ruin! You make the choices that define you and change the world. Just keep an eye on your Rad Meter!
• Experience SPECIAL: Vault-Tec engineers bring you the latest in human ability simulation - the SPECIAL Character System! Utilising new breakthroughs in points-based ability representation, SPECIAL affords unlimited customisation of your character. Also included are dozens of unique skills and perks to choose from, each with a dazzling variety of effects!
• The Power of Choice: Feeling like a dastardly villain today, or a good samaritan? Pick a side or walk the line, as every situation can be dealt with in many different ways. Talk out your problems in a civilised fashion, or just flash your Plasma Rifle.
• Blast 'Em Away With V.A.T.S.: Even the odds in combat with the Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System for your Pip-Boy Model 3000! V.A.T.S. allows you to pause time in combat, target specific body parts on your target, queue up attacks, and let Vault-Tec take out your aggression f

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #537 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Bethesda
• Released on: 2008-10-31
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Platform: PLAYSTATION 3
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Dimensions: .26 pounds

Manufacturer's Description
The third game in the Fallout series, Fallout 3 is a singleplayer action role-playing game (RPG) set in a post-apocalyptic Washington DC. Combining the horrific insanity of the Cold War era theory of mutually assured destruction gone terribly wrong, with the kitschy naivety of American 1950s nuclear propaganda, Fallout 3 will satisfy both players familiar with the popular first two games in its series as well as those coming to the franchise for the first time.

The Cold War goes Next-Gen

Welcome to the nation's capital. View larger.

The Brotherhood of Steel is a powerful ally. View larger.

Customize characters with your Pip-Boy. View larger.

The Story: Vault 101 – Jewel of the Wastes
For 200 years, Vault 101 , a fallout shelter, has faithfully served the surviving residents of Washington DC and its environs, now known as the Capital Wasteland. Though the global atomic war of 2077 left the US all but destroyed, the residents of Vault 101 enjoy a life free from the constant stress of the outside world. Giant Insects, Raiders, Slavers, and yes, even Super Mutants are all no match for superior Vault-Tec engineering. Yet one fateful morning, you awake to find that your father has defied the Overseer and left the comfort and security afforded by Vault 101 for reasons unknown. Leaving the only home you've ever known, you emerge from the Vault into the harsh Wasteland sun to search for your father, and the truth.

Key Features:

• Limitless Freedom! – Take in the sights and sounds of the vast Capital Wasteland! See the great monuments of the United States lying in post-apocalyptic ruin! You make the choices that define you and change the world. Just keep an eye on your Rad Meter!
• Experience S.P.E.C.I.A.L.! – Vault-Tec engineers bring you the latest in human ability simulation – the SPECIAL Character System! Utilizing new breakthroughs in points-based ability representation, SPECIAL affords unlimited customization of your character. Also included are dozens of unique skills and perks to choose from, each with a dazzling variety of effects!
• Fantastic New Views! – The wizards at Vault-Tec have done it again! No longer constrained to just one view, experience the world from 1st or 3rd person perspective. Customize your view with the touch of a button!
• The Power of Choice! – Feeling like a dastardly villain today, or a Good Samaritan? Pick a side or walk the line, as every situation can be dealt with in many different ways. Talk out your problems in a civilized fashion, or just flash your Plasma Rifle.
• Blast 'Em Away With V.A.T.S.! –Even the odds in combat with the Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System for your Pip-Boy Model 3000! V.A.T.S. allows you to pause time in combat, target specific body parts on your target, queue up attacks, and let Vault-Tec take out your aggression for you. Rain death and destruction in an all-new cinematic presentation featuring gory dismemberments and spectacular explosions.
• Mind-Blowing Artificial Intelligence! – At Vault-Tec, we realize that the key to reviving civilization after a global nuclear war is people. Our best minds pooled their efforts to produce an advanced version of Radiant AI, America's First Choice in Human Interaction Simulation. Facial expressions, gestures, unique dialog, and lifelike behavior are brought together with stunning results by the latest in Vault-Tec technology.
• Eye-Popping Prettiness! – Witness the harsh realities of nuclear fallout rendered like never before in modern super-deluxe HD graphics. From the barren Wasteland, to the danger-filled offices and metro tunnels of DC, to the hideous rotten flesh of a mutant's face.

Customer Reviews

Superb, yet likely to split opinion
When a classic franchise switches developer for its newest instalment, it's an understandable cause for concern. Particularly amongst the hardcore fans, who fear the magic will be lost along the way. Since Fallout 3 was announced, the knives seem to have been out for Bethesda's take on the Black Isle PC classics. Many criticised the change in genre, from strategy to open world.
The truth is that Fallout 3 is a magnificent game, one of the most breathtakingly realised worlds EVER. But its mechanics are near identical to its Elder Scrolls series, rather than Fallout. Admittedly, there are plenty of touches that prove Bethesda has a deep knowledge of its subject; it just feels like Oblivion. This is either good or bad depending on your point of view, but will almost certainly determine how much you'll enjoy it.

Inventory screens are similar, albeit more streamlined and tightly designed with the Pip Boy 3000. The sense of freedom has made the transition intact, and there's an impressive array of side quests that genuinely affect how the end plays out. Sub missions like Oasis, Those! & The Wasteland Survival Guide provide some remarkable moments. The choice is always there for good, evil or neutral decisions, which adds massively to replay value.

So the cries this would be Oblivion with guns are (partly) true. But is that really so terrible? The shooting, like many aspects, takes time to level up and become skilled at. But the V.A.T.S system is ingenious. It doesn't work every time, but the way an optional turn-based element has been added to combat is brilliant, and goes some way to appeasing those hardcore fans.
Fallout 3 could be the deepest, most rewarding game available. But how much did you enjoy Oblivion?

A joy to play
Right, I've already reviewed Bioshock, and since everyone seems to associate that linear claustrophobic first person shooter with a massive free-roaming RPG, I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon and turn my critical eye on Fallout 3.

First, some back story. Its the future and humanity has been decimated by worldwide thermonuclear war. The few survivors on the surface have banded together in scattered settlements where they must contend with raiders, mutants, wild animals and other dangers in the irradiated wasteland that was once good old planet Earth. Not exactly a cheerful start.

Enter You - the protagonist. You've been living in an underground bunker called the Vault, nestled beneath the remains of Washington DC, your entire life, until one day your dear old dad (voiced by none other than Liam Neeson) inexplicably vanishes, prompting you to venture out into the wastes in search of him. And it's here that the adventure really begins.

The thing that strikes you about Fallout 3 the moment you emerge into the harsh sunlight for the first time is just how big the game world is, and how much choice you're given. Choice is a word that games like Bioshock like to bandy about, but really all they boil down to is a series of Kill-or-Save scenarios that do nothing except slightly alter the end cut scene. Fallout 3 is the first one I've played that genuinely makes me believe I'm part of a world where anything is possible, and where my actions can really influence how people perceive me.

There are simply no constraints. You're free to go wherever you want right from the start - there are no arbitrary barriers to stop you reaching places the game doesn't want you to see yet. You can talk to people, trade with them, enlist their help, kill them or just ignore them. You can go off on side quests, but you're never forced into it. You can work for or against various factions and groups depending on your outlook. You don't even have to take part in the game's main story if you don't want to - the choice, as they say, is yours.

Interaction with other characters plays a big part of Fallout 3. You can have a conversation with just about anyone, and while some of them don't go very far, most allow a fair amount of leeway when it comes to your own responses. Characters can be complimented, questioned, intimidated and threatened depending on the mood you're in. The character models are detailed and expressive enough to make them relatable, and the voice-over cast does a sterling job of bringing their respective avatars to life.

People play RPG's for different reasons. Some like to immerse themselves in a fictional world, some appreciate the process of building up a character, and some enjoy interacting with NPC's. Personally, I enjoy the adventure and exploration aspects, so I tend to rate an RPG based on how much fun it is to just wander around looking for trouble. And based solely on that aspect, Fallout 3 is an absolute gem. There's something immensely satisfying about picking a direction and just wandering off into the wastes to see what's out there - I guarantee you'll find something interesting every time.

But to say that's the only good thing about Fallout 3 would be doing it a disservice. Attention to detail is what really lifts a game from Good to Great, and Fallout 3 has got it by the truckload. Coming across a deserted shack in the middle of the wastes, I ventured inside to find a decaying skeleton lying in the bathtub with a rusty toaster clutched in its arms. Little touches like this add so much to the game's grim atmosphere.

Speaking of which, if you're the sort of person to suffer from depression or melancholy, Fallout 3 really isn't the game for you. Its world is a harsh, dangerous, unforgiving place where most people live on the knife edge of survival, and it conveys this sense of bleak futility so well that at times it really does get to you.

However, if I have to be harsh with this game (and I do), I need to mention a few sticking point. First of all, the game engine - Fallout 3 uses an updated version of the Oblivion engine, which makes sense since the two games feature large free-roaming worlds packed with lots of interesting stuff. But with so many things to keep track of, it was inevitable that problems were going to creep in, and they do. Glitches abound, from boulders hanging inexplicably in mid-air to texture warping and a physics engine that sometimes doesn't know when to stop a dead body from bouncing around. Things like these perhaps shouldn't irritate as much as they do, but they spoil what is otherwise a highly immersive experience.

Combat is another frustration. There's a game mechanic that allows you a limited number of action points to slow down time and target specific parts of an enemy (usually the head unless you're a complete idiot), but this is rarely enough to kill more than one opponent, leaving you to use real time targeting in most cases. But when you consider that most weapons are so inaccurate that you'd be better off throwing them at your enemies, you can see why combat is less than rewarding. And the fact that weapons and armour degrade with repeated use (and therefore have to repaired at considerable cost) only adds to the frustration.

But despite these frustrations, I'm not going to mark Fallout 3 down, because it's just so damned fun to play. It will happily suck up hours or days of your life if you let it, and I'm pleased to say I did. I recommend you do likewise.

Wasn't a huge fan off shooting game..I am now!!
As a new PS3 owner this was one of my first games, and im so glad i bought it, its awesome..the way you can interact with many people giving them different answers reminds me of "Knights of the old republic" on the xbox, anyway seeing what the PS3 can do from the beginning(courtesy of my cousin getting most the recent games for his system) i would have to say this is a very impressive game for the PS3..i could write all about the game, but to be honest im not far into it(about 5 hours) and the game is huge..but i WILL finish it, i got fifa 09 at the same time and thought i would be on that all the time but i havent played it for a few days. Thats how stunning this game is!!


EDIT 26 November

well ive played the game for getting on for 50 hours now, and im still finding new places believe it or not, the various side missions are amazing, ive found that it doesnt always pay to use VATS(which can be annoying sometimes)..ive noticed a couple of glitches, nothing major, i believe i could put alot lot more hours into this game, which i will, because i dont really want to do a rerun of such a big game, so while im playing it i might as well do what i can..Im on level 16(max 20)..so thats my aim, level 20..ive been hooked to ths game ever since i got it..A stunning game!!

EDIT..well to my suprise im now finished the game after 55 hours, got to level 18, and watched 4 different endings..I cant really see myself playing this game again to be honest but what an awesome game it is..if you havent played it then get it, for what amazon are offereing at u'd be a fool not to!!