Intro sequences... they never change.
Fallout 3 starts out in a way similar to the previous titles in the series; you, a resident of a Vault (an underground fallout shelter designed to sustain human life indefinitely), are thrust out suddenly into the outside world due to circumstances beyond your control. On the radiation riddled surface, you must push towards your primary goal of finding your father while getting involved in several other adventures along the way.

From that point on, however, Fallout 3 bares less resemblance to its predecessors. This is primarily because of the change in perspective and gameplay structure: instead of an isometric, turn-based RPG, we have a first-person, action RPG. The result is a drastically different style of play, though the faster paced shooting action no doubt helped Fallout 3 appeal to a larger audience than its hex-combat cousins.

Of course, the game isn't all shooting – there's a great deal of interaction with NPCs as well. Via your actions, you form yourself into a paragon for the wastes of a malevolent villain. Between the choices you make and the various skills you choose to specialize in, there's a lot to see and do, and some experiences will be mutually exclusive to different playthroughs and archetypes.

If parts of the above description sound like Oblivion, well, the comparison is not unwarranted. People are locked onto your eyes while you're talking to them, and Fallout 3 feels much more action based and spread out than any of the previous Fallout titles. The game unfortunately also suffers from some bugs, with occasionally odd character animations and physics and certain broken quests. Generally speaking, though, Fallout 3 was very warmly received, receiving a 91 percent average on GameRankings.com and becoming a likely candidate for Game of the Year from many sites.

"Fallout 3 delivers a megaton blast in terms of storyline with a tale that will evaporate hours from any gamer's life -- and with a main story that covers about 25 hours, you'll experience many a sleepless night," reads GameDaily's 8-out-of-10 review. "But there's at least 20 more hours of map yet to be explored (and there's a download option here for future updates). While it lacks a diverse spectrum of enemies and the V.A.T.S. system isn't perfect, Fallout 3 remains a well-balanced game of story versus combat, something that every gamer needs to experience just to understand why engaging stories often make the greatest games."

Sign up today for a spot in your local Vault!
Bethsoft knew what a gem they had on their hands, and they made sure to let the world know. After teasing gamers for weeks, a trailer (later reused in part for the TV campaign) released in July 2007 showing that Fallout was back. Then at this past E3, Bethsoft showed some of the first glimpses of gameplay and had a very tongue-in-cheek promotion for living in the Vaults.

The immediate commercial and critical success of Fallout 3 ensures some longevity for the franchise. Regardless of what one thinks of what Bethsoft has done with the Fallout IP, any gamer should be pleased to see SOMETHING being done with one of the best properties in gaming. Still, given the fact that The Elder Scrolls V is currently in production for a potential release sometime in 2010, we hope the bomb doesn't drop before the next Fallout game does.