“Nostalgia Goggles”: A Fallout Fan’s Review of Fallout 3

But the level of detail is so much more than flashy graphics and lots of looting. One of the best elements of the Fallout franchise is simply that’s there so much to see, read, and talk about. I spent a good half-hour cycling through all the dialogue choices of every last NPC that has dialogue choices in the city of Megaton. Why? Simply because I could. If I have to hack into a person’s computer to disengage a lock and find out that their PC is filled with reading materials and/or personal notes (a common occurrence), I take the time to read every last entry. Again, just because I can.

While the descriptions for items is brief (instead of detailed descriptions, things like Aids only tell you their effects while weapons merely show you their status or, if they’re guns, what ammo they need), there is a “notes” section where you can read and re-read things like pamphlets and schematics for Fallout 3’s weapon-creation system. And then there’s the radio, which is filled with Fallout nostalgia: not only do we get The Enclave, we also get some of the classic Fallout music that made the original Fallout environments so interesting.

Don't expect many actual "brick and mortar" shops in the world of Fallout.

To be honest, I really wanted to hate this game. Even as a jaded veteran Fallout fan, I admit I let myself get swept up in the hooplah and anticipation of Fallout 3. As a bargain bin gamer that thrives off the $9.99 and $19.99 price tag, I really can’t put into words how unusual it felt to spend two hundred and fifty-five dollars just to make sure I could play a video game. If this was anything short of a landmark achievement in gaming that finally restored the Fallout franchise to its rightful place at the top of gaming’s super-franchises…Ollie was going to be pretty pissed.

But at the heart of it all, once you get used to the differences and graphical upgrades and subtle tweaks…at the heart of it all, this is the same universe I fell in love with from the beginning.

This is a landmark achievement in gaming. This does bring the Fallout franchise back to the top of gaming.

In the hands of Bethesda, the Fallout franchise has risen from obscurity and propelled itself back into the spotlight it so rightly deserves.

And that’s all I ever wanted, really.

I wanted to hate you, Fallout 3, but damn it if you don’t have me wrapped around your smart-mouthed little finger.

If Bethesda makes expansion packs for Fallout 3, I will purchase them. If Bethesda plans to make Fallout 4 (and given the amount of press and praise Fallout 3 is getting, I can’t see them not doing so), I will buy it.

It took me a few hours to “take off the nostalgia goggles” and embrace the changes that Bethesda brings to the Fallout series. But once embraced, oh how the doors of awesomeness open. I love this game: the wit, the story, the dialogue, the reading material, even the combat system has grown on me. I love Fallout, plain and simple, and I love Bethesda for bringing back this franchise with such a fantastic game.

Fallout 3 probably won’t revolutionize the RPG genre (mostly because in today’s world almost everything in RPGs has been done already) but it will stand atop the RPG genre as one of the greatest.

Being honest, just about all of my previous Fallout-related articles here at GotGame were little more than electronic love letters to a franchise I hold in such high esteem. The “Fanboy-O-Meter” would blow up in your hand if you asked me how much I loved the Fallout franchise. I couldn’t be happier that this review continues the trend.

So, that’s about it on my end. As the jaded Fallout veteran that went in with loads of hesitations, I’ve figured it all out. To my Fallout super-fan brethren, I can say but one thing: embrace change. Embrace the differences in Fallout 3 as compared to Fallout 1 and 2. Embrace them, learn from them, cope with them, and master them—and the wasteland is yours to conquer. And you’ll have one of the best experiences in gaming while doing so.

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