Let me start by saying I have not been playing games my entire life, I have not stayed in my house for 2 weeks straight playing video games, nor have I wanted to play a game every waking moment of my life. Until Fallout 3. Most of you have probably noticed that I am writing this more than a year and a half after Fallout  was released, 10 minutes after midnight. That's because I just finished playing for the day, clocking in at about 10 hours without stopping. Mind you, this is after owning the game for 2 full weeks. There is so much content in Fallout, nobody will ever be able to do everything in the game.

To be clear this is an RPG that has some FPS elements, so don't be fooled by how it looks. Most of the shooting in the game is done using the brilliant V.A.T.S. (Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System) which allows the player to stop time and target specific body parts, and often pays off with a gory mess filled with entrails and plasma. This system based on your levels, and not player skill. I never got tired of these sequences throughout the thousands of times I used it. All the stats, levels, and perks in the game feel well-balanced, with nothing being overpowered or useless. Though one problem I had with these levels is even with the Broken Steel DLC pack, the level cap seems low and I reached the maximum level well before the end of the main story.

Speaking of which, of the hundreds of quests, 99% of them are brilliant, with a seemingly simple task turning into something sinister, most of these quests have multiple solutions, some simple, some explosion-y, and some downright weird. For example, in the side-quest "Blood Ties", the player is tasked with delivering a letter to some faraway family members of a resident of Megaton. You find her parents dead, with bite marks in their necks, you go investigate the gang who has also apparently kidnapped her brother, Ian. You can go in with guns blazing, kill the cultists and take Ian home. You could also pick a lock in a nearby door and go around stealthily. Another option is the talk your way in, and convince them to let Ian go. As an added bonus to this option the cultists teach you the ways of the "Vampire" allowing you to receive more health from blood packs.The other 1% of the quests is the main one. It's not bad by any means, but it is not as inventive as others. Basically the character (a.k.a. the Lone Wanderer) has left his vault in search for his father in the Wasteland, and I leave you at that. The main problem though, is that if you don't have Broken Steel, (I had the GOTY Edition) you can't continue exploring the Wasteland when the main quest is done.

The Capital Wasteland is full of colorful characters and locations, though none more than the Wasteland itself. The game area is gigantic, at least several miles in any direction. In the Wastes there are over 200 locations to discover and explore, with little Easter Eggs Tossed around for good measure. The enormous, empty area brings an atmosphere of constant loneliness, bringing sweet relief when you find some remnant of civilization. The human, human-like, and just plain beastly enemies you will come across are detailed, complex, and very human, and I constantly felt guilty when I had to steal from, or even kill these people. One thing that does break the immersion, is the ho-hum voice acting and some of the awkward, stilted animations. While Fallout 3 creates a hopeless post-apocalyptic environment, it never takes itself too seriously with the retro-optimistic-post-war-futuristic art style, with oddities like robots, mutants, cannibals, a downed alien spaceship, and little collectible bobbleheads.

Fallout 3 is a massive game with no discernible end, I've played for almost 150 hours over two weeks topping out 19 hours in one day and have accessed maybe 50% of the content of the game. I would call this Bethesda's masterpiece, and definitely game of the year material for 2008, and probably 2009 too, and I'm glad I played this before New Vegas comes out this Fall, as I would most definitely buy it.

Gameplay: 10

Delivers a perfect blend of FPS and RTS elements with dialogue trees and quests with infintite possibilities along with a versatile level system.

Graphics: 9

While NPC's don't always move smoothly over rough geometry, facial animations, draw distance, and textures look amazing. Because of the massive scope of the game you will come across some bugs.

Sound: 10

The quiet, ambient, almost nonexistent background music is perfect for exploring the Capital Wasteland, and the 40's & 50's era songs are the real stars here. The voice acting leaves a little to be desired.

Replayability: Extremely High

Overall: 9.75

"Almost Perfect"