Post Nuclear Role-Playing
The similarities between Fallout 3 and Bethseda’s role-playing masterpiece, Oblivion, are all too obvious.With the same team behind it, Fallout 3 was always going to borrow some of the gameplay mechanics and bear some resemblance visually to Oblivion, but at times, even though the subject matter – which is unquestionably a major draw - is entirely different, and the outer skin is world’s apart from the rolling hillsides, quaint villages and glistening lakes of the Province of Cyrodil, Fallout 3 occasionally feels like a watered-down, less charming and less attractive version of the 2006 classic.
If you’ve never played Oblivion, or if you can snap out of that mindset early on and remember that the post-apocalyptic setting of Fallout 3 is supposed to be just that: sparse, dull and dilapidated, then Fallout 3 does, despite a few disappointments along the way, still manage to suck you into its intriguing story and take you on an absorbing journey.
Soon enough, a half-hour play session can easily turn into a whole evening of fiddling around in your inventory, looting abandoned supermarkets and cinemas,stocking up on weapons and bartering for ammo and supplies, before heading across the vast wastelands, tackling Raider gangs, Super Mutants, Feral Ghouls, and defected military robots.
And then, more often than not, on the way to another mission, you’ll undoubtedly get side-tracked when you discover a new area to explore or you’ll be diverted by one of the many side-missions, all of which tie-in delightfully with the main storyline, as you unlock more clues to your father's disappearance.
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