Fallout 3

E3 2008 Preview

Bethesda’s games are nothing if not hugely expansive adventures that present players with a very open-ended gaming experience.

Fallout 3 is no different. Shown at the E3 event in the Los Angeles Convention Center Tuesday morning, the team merely sent the media to game kiosks, shoved controllers into their hands and walked away. The adventure, in this case, began by walking through the doors of the bomb shelter community and into the devastated world outside the town of Megaton.

There was a lot that could not be discussed but also a fair amount that count be – mostly centering on the Pip Boy, the interface device that players carry and is the user interface that controls your abilities and skills, among other things. The controls were very intuitive on the system show (360), with the elements very similar to other first-person shooters. But while the game is an FPS in many regards, the experience can be tailored to suit the gamer’s play style. You can go into third person, if you prefer, and as you level you can put points into various skill sets and provide bonus point allocations to various attributes.

The Pip Boy interface actually has several areas that you can work through in building your character – there are 13 skills, and seven S.P.E.C.I.A.L. attributes (which include strength, endurance, perception, charisma, intelligence, agility and luck). Additionally, as you level, there are PERKS you can apply to your character, with seven of those to select from. Daddy’s Boy at five points to science and medicine; Gun Nut drops five points into small guns and repair skills; there is also Intense Training, Lady Killer (10% damage buff to females), Little Leaguer (five points to melee and explosives), Swift Learner (10% experience points buff), and Thief (five points to sneak and lockpick).

You can save at any time and the NPCs are very interactive. One of the first you will see outside of the city of Megaton gives you the choice to walk on by or to pick his pocket. That is another facet of the game. What you do will result in how others within this single-player world react to you. Actions have consequences.

The control scheme was very intuitive, and the sound, played at a lower level through headphones captured the wasteland perfectly. The graphics could be a little bloody at times. As the created character (Bethesda had stations with pre-created characters on it) walked through the wasteland, he was beset by a wild dog. Taking the typical first-person shooter route, he backed up while emptying his clip on his 10mm gun into the dog. He literally blew the head off the animal. Anything destroyed or killed in the game does have the option of a loot drop, which can be placed into inventory and then sold later.

The characters are very customizable and players will be able to select the way they wish to journey through this incredible world.

Fallout 3 is typical of Bethesda in many ways. It is immersive, and full of eye candy, with a grand adventure waiting to be revealed layer by layer. The session in the Bethesda meeting room only lasted 30 minutes and while it gave a hint of the game’s flavor, it was enough to tantalize and wish for much more.

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