So I recently got Fallout 3. Why? I know it was made by the same company that did Oblivion, and that it also used the Oblivion engine, meaning it would have a similar look and feel to Oblivion. Well, that is correct. Fallout 3 is basically Oblivion, except that it takes place in an American nuclear wasteland as opposed to a fantasy realm. Instead of orcs, elves, and magic, you have mutants, giant bugs, and laser guns. Oh, and radiation. Lots of radiation.
I had trouble getting used to the map in this game. It was not as clear as it was in Oblivion, so I found myself getting lost a lot easier. Im starting to get the hang of it now, though. There are also less NPCs to interact with, which makes it harder to find side quests.
There are a lot of good things about this game. First and foremost is leveling. Oblivion’s leveling system was unique and challenging. You only increased stats by doing an action. For example, to raise your armor skill, you had to take hits in combat. To increase your destructive magic skill, you had to cast fireballs or lightning bolts. So sometimes your character would level up, but some of the important stats for combat would not have been increased in that time, so your character had a hard time keeping up with the enemies who leveled up with you. In Fallout 3, every time you level up, you decide what stats to increase. You are given X amount of skill points, and you put them where you want them. Traditional, but tried and true.
The game is a lot of fun, and beautiful to look at. It sounds silly, but the nuclear wasteland of Washington D.C. is very beautiful in the game. The enemies are awesome, whether some punk Raider or a giant super mutant. The weapons are sweet, whether traditional ones such as baseball bats, pistols, and shot guns, up to laser pistols and rifles. You can also make your own weapons, but I havent gotten that far yet.
Oblivion is a vast game. You can easily get lost playing it, and spend hours on it and accomplish nothing. I feel that Fallout 3 is not as expansive, so I see myself actually playing through and finishing it. The same cannot be said for Oblivion. Ive tried twice, and have yet to get anywhere near finishing it.
