Fallout 3

Fallout 3....or shall we say "do we really need family and friends?" is finally out this week. The journey has been a long one seeing as the original Fallout hit the shelves 11 years ago in 1997 and the wait appears to be well worth it.

So what exactly is Fallout? Is it a shooter? Is it a RPG? Well, it’s actually a bit of both. Fallout 3 departs from the original Fallouts as the game no longer utilizes a sprite based top down view of the game. Instead, Fallout 3 uses the same engine that was used for Oblivion. The game has shooter elements but the game is a RPG through and through. Without giving anything away, you play a character in the future that lives in a “vault” designed as a long term shelter to house inhabitants after the world is decimated by a nuclear war. You start the game immediately from birth (yes, the game begins from the view of you coming out of your mother’s vaginal cavity) with your father (voice acted by Liam Neeson) as the first thing you see along with the vault’s doctors.

From the minute I started out the game, I knew I was in for wild adventure. Sure, it’s only a single player game…but it’s a massive single player game. You definitely get your money’s worth seeing as this is a game that you’ll probably still be playing a year from now. The strategy guide (sold separately) is about 500 pages long. That alone tells you how much the game has to offer. Just imagine a game where you can look out into the distance and see destroyed buildings far away and being able to walk there all in real time. The game is large. Massive. Your standard shooter does not offer that.

So now the important questions are:
1. Is it any good? – Yes, it is good. No, scratch that…it’s great, it’s fantastic, it’s the next best thing since Cinnabon cinnamon rolls.

2. Is it Oblivion with guns? – Absolutely not. Yes, it does use the same engine. Yes, the character models look similar to oblivion (even down to your character creation) but that is where the similarities end. Saying Fallout 3 is like Oblivion with guns is no different that saying Halo 3 is CoD 4 in space. Fallout 3 is everything that Fallout would have been had it used a FPS engine.

3. Will my wife divorce me? – Possibly. Fallout 3 will bring out your inner geek, and nothing sets back things in the bedroom than hours of playing Fallout 3 with Dorito dust on your finger tips (well, don’t go blaming Fallout 3 on your personal hygiene).

Anyway, there’s not much else to say about the game that hasn’t been said by others. The following reviews provide a much better insight as to what you will expect once you leave the confines of your vault.

If you are on the fence for Fallout 3, rest assured, it’s an awesome experience. Buy it. Play it. Say goodbye to your family and friends and welcome to the wasteland vault dweller.

Fallout information to bring you up to speed:
Fallout 1
Fallout 2
Fallout history

Fallout 3 Reviews:
IGN – 9.6/10
Teamxbox – 9.4/10
Gamespy – 5/5
1UP – A
Eurogamer – 10/10
Xplay – 5/5
Gamesradar – 9/10
OXM – 10/10

GOW II

After seeing several reviews, and some screen shots I have to say that the game I look most forward to playing is Gears of War 2. The first GOW was nothing short of spectacular. In my mind GOW's graphics remain one of the best on the Xbox360. The game play, though violent, was probably one of the most involved that I had played since FEAR. It's no wonder I look forward to the sequal.

Blockbuster A Gamers Paradise

For years I've resisted going to EBGames / GameStop to trade in my old games. I just couldn't see spending $60 per game only to get back $5 when I traded it in. Well this year my cousin let me in on a little secret. Blockbuster Video give more money per game. I didn't actually believe this until I went in an tried it for myself. Rainbow6 1 is several years old, but they gave me $15 for it, and Gears of War, also several years old, well I got back $25 for it. I ended up taking in all of my son's old games which were really really old and got back enough to buy Rainbow6 2 and a Microsoft Points card. Now Blockbuster will only buy back games at a good price if there's a shortage of games out there, so that slightly used copy of GTA4 is probably just going to get you about $10 but the more hard to find games will get you more money. Just a bit of news I thought I'd pass on.

The Games I Play

One of the things I love to do during my down time is play on my 360. I tend to favor the Military First Person Shooters than the run and gun type games like Halo. I also try my hardest to finish each game in single player before starting the multiplayer mode or even starting a new game. Unfortunatly this year I got several games within a few weeks of each other so I'm now playing about 3 games regularly.

Rainbow6 Vegas 2 - This game consumes much more time than it should. I'm playing it on the hardest level, while still testing my metal in multiplayer mode. 9 times out of 10 you'll find me playing this online.

Call of Duty 4 - I've kind of fallen off with this one, but I still love it and occasionally play it online. I beat the single player and loved it. It's probably my favorite game so far.

Grand Theft Auto 4 -To be honest I only bought this because I like to drive the cars. I played GTA Vice City for months without ever completing one mission. This game plays out like a really cool tv show. The only thing I don't like about it is that it's vulgar as all get out, so I can only play late at night or when my kids are not around.

Battlefield Bad Company - I bought this because I loved BF2, but this isn't BF2 by any means. I do like the game play, but I don't care much for the graphics, and the limited amount of maps. I also like the PC version of BF2, which allows for several more players per game.

Anyway hope to see you online.

My New Blog

Ok I started blogging about a month ago, and I must say this is really addictive. I've found an outlet for my creative side, besides web design, that I can truly exploit.