Following up the astounding Oblivion is going to be hard work for the Bethesda Softworks crew, but after getting our hands on Fallout 3 we're convinced that the dev's science fiction fuelled follow-up and third in the seminal series is going to blow Oblivion clear out of the water. It's that bloody good.
The year is 2277, a post-nuclear ravaged earth hangs by the skin of its teeth and as Hellboy's Ron Perlman narrates us into the game's opening: Vault 101. It's here that you awake one morning to find that your father (coolly voiced by Liam Neeson) has defied the Overseer and abandoned the confines of the Vault, rebelling against years of government rule.
Now it's your turn to shatter the rule and head out in search of your father and the answers as to why he suddenly up and left. Of course once you bolt, the Overseer gets wind of it and sends his men out after you so you always need to be on the lookout.
The first place we came across once outside the vault is a small town called Megaton, which happens to be built in and around a gaping nuclear warhead that never detonated when it slam dunked into the soil eons ago.
Destroyed beauty Once here you can opt to take on a small series of mission before moving out of the confines of the relatively safe town and into the desolate, super mutant stalked streets of Washington DC, which is jaw-droppingly rendered.
Missions include agreeing to attach a detonator to the base of the nuclear bomb for a sinister chap called Mr Burke, hiking to inside DC's city limits to a rooftop and safely detonating the bomb with Burke by your side.
Go for the killshot Before you do that though, you have to carve your way through the streets dodging super mutants and attempting to stem the effects of radioactive poisoning that slowly seeps into your system.
One thing that was made clear to us when we were playing it was that this is not an FPS, and Bethesda are keen to stress this point, it is an RPG that integrates guns into its gameplay mechanics. This is nothing like Call Of Duty - it's far deeper.
When targeting an enemy, you can choose to either shoot outright or use the precision targeting system where your trusty gadget The Pip Boy assesses the best points of impact such as arms, legs or as you can see from the screens - the head. SPLAT! Fallout 3, doesn't skimp on the gore factor either.
This is a bloody, bumpy and monster-filled sprawler of a game with so much to take in, so much to do and so many ways to do it in. Another aspect of the game is that all weapons are actually pretty beat up by the time you get to them (they have been lying around for years post nuclear fallout) so most will need to be repaired by sifting through bins and rubble for old weapons that can be taken apart and fused with your existing one to improve aiming and firepower.
In a break from convention - nothing in Fallout 3 is predictible, lazy or by the numbers - the game also promises a whopping twelve different alternate endings depending what it is you do over the course of the game too so expect a wedge of replay value.
And considering that once you've chosen your special abilities before you left the vault selecting new ones at birth (see boxout, above) and taking alternate paths adds immensely to the re-spin worth too. 2008's game of the year? If Bethesda's genius Oblivion is anything to go by, it's looking that way.
Can someone PLEASE tell me that they are NOT using the same voice actors as in OBlivion?!!!!!! If they do I will not buy the game, just like when I heard the Australian accents in Rome Total War I didn't get into that either! Great games allow you to be immersed in the story of the game, having Australian accents for Roman Generals was soul breaking, and so will using the same voice actors as Oblivion for Fallout 3 - despite having Liam Neeson as the main character!
SO PLEASE - can someone tell me Bethesda ARE NOT using the Oblivion voice actors?!!!
So for Rome total war you would of preferred the soldiers/generals to have spoken latin?
SO PLEASE - can someone tell me Bethesda ARE NOT using the Oblivion voice actors?!!!
I believe they are using some of the same voice actors, but as the game focuses on a relatively small amount of NPCs (compared to Oblivion, anyway) Bethesda have promised that the quality should be better.
Can someone PLEASE tell me that they are NOT using the same voice actors as in OBlivion?!!!!!! If they do I will not buy the game, just like when I heard the Australian accents in Rome Total War I didn't get into that either! Great games allow you to be immersed in the story of the game, having Australian accents for Roman Generals was soul breaking, and so will using the same voice actors as Oblivion for Fallout 3 - despite having Liam Neeson as the main character!
SO PLEASE - can someone tell me Bethesda ARE NOT using the Oblivion voice actors?!!!
I'm not totally sure but I think they've signed up the guy that played Hellboy in the movie to narrate the game. He did the voice over for all the Fallout games so far and was excellent. I would imagine they will use some of the same voice actors but as the game is set in post nuke America an Australian accent won't be too out of place this time.
This is going to be the game of 2008 although that giant supermutant in once of the screen shots looks a litte too big.
If you have put 200 hours into Oblivion, like a lot have, then having the same voices WILL be immersion breaking!
Oh - and lonewolf2002 your sarcasm is so PC gaming - no wonder it's dying - same sort of people in these threads as you get online - which is why I don't play much online nowadays!!
In Rome Total War Australian accents WAS an immersion breaker! Unlike in Medieval II Total War where they took the time to have the correct accents for the different nations!
And Chris - surely with LESS NPC's the same voice actors will be MORE noticeable?! This is not good news - lazy in one area and they'll be lazy in others.....!!!
Well you are completely wrong I game on everything (PC, 360 and wii soon to have ps3)maybe you should look at other peoples posts before pigeon holing them into a category, and no I do not play online anymore myself but thats because of whingey moany gits.
Oh dear shame you can't take a little humour seems your username is a contradiction in terms doesn't it maybe thats why its mis-spelt.
Oh and I put about 150 hours into oblivion thanks and thought the voices were ok but yes they could do with a lot of improvement. Nothing that broke the immersion for me.
Maybe you should start a game voicing company as you feel so passionately about this subject. Or better still record yourself doing some of the voices of the characters from the games you mentioned and putting them onto the internet for everyone to judge. Lets see how you would do it.
And Chris - surely with LESS NPC's the same voice actors will be MORE noticeable?! This is not good news - lazy in one area and they'll be lazy in others.....!!!
How does that work?
In oblivion it wasn't that annoying with the voices. Apart from when the beggars' wud change mid sentence.
Could be the first rpg that doesn't start with you being a nobody and turning out to be a hero.
Anyway, looks amazing, main contender for game of 2008
Oblivion is the best RPG I have ever played - and that's saying something considering how sick to death I am of clichéd medieval fantasy pap. This is largely down to the technical achievements of the game by blending together genres and including proper, skill based combat that felt meaty & robust.
Bethesda proved themselves to be an awesome developer with that, so I cannot WAIT for this.
And Chris - surely with LESS NPC's the same voice actors will be MORE noticeable?! This is not good news - lazy in one area and they'll be lazy in others.....!!!
Hey, not expressing my opinion on it - just stating what Beth have said
I believe the idea is that if there are less NPC's, they won't be using the same actors for different characters. And they haven't said they won't use *no* other actors, just they'll reuse some.
And Chris - surely with LESS NPC's the same voice actors will be MORE noticeable?! This is not good news - lazy in one area and they'll be lazy in others.....!!!
Hey, not expressing my opinion on it - just stating what Beth have said
I believe the idea is that if there are less NPC's, they won't be using the same actors for different characters. And they haven't said they won't use *no* other actors, just they'll reuse some.
As long as they dont forget and keep going "shadow hide you" it'll fine!
Why is this game only listed as PS3?.. its PC and XBOX360 aswell.. guess cvg forgot about that.
Thank you i was about to say that. It's lazy reporting to not list a games actual formats.
I was thinking that this might be a reason to reconnect my PS3 it was an exclusive but if it's on Xbox 360 then i'll be getting it for that, the acheivement points always help the replay value!
Exactly you'll find that many cross platform games might only be listed as one format for that specific article because the respective magazine wrote for it...CVG has many different mags under it's umbrella these days.
It's a PSW article for a multi-format game so CVG can easily make the reader aware of that... when EDGE review a game for example they generally play-test one format but they still list them all. As a Sony mag PSW can't do that but as a multi-format gaming web-site CVG can.
I loved Oblivion on the PC, best game I played in years (and looking forward to GOTY ed for PS3 when it comes down in price) so I am really looking forward to this. Don't let us down Beth. one of the best devs out there.
If you have put 200 hours into Oblivion, like a lot have, then having the same voices WILL be immersion breaking!
Oh - and lonewolf2002 your sarcasm is so PC gaming - no wonder it's dying - same sort of people in these threads as you get online - which is why I don't play much online nowadays!!
In Rome Total War Australian accents WAS an immersion breaker! Unlike in Medieval II Total War where they took the time to have the correct accents for the different nations!
And Chris - surely with LESS NPC's the same voice actors will be MORE noticeable?! This is not good news - lazy in one area and they'll be lazy in others.....!!!
Thank goodness that we can only rely on your humor for your namesake - and not your brains.
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UR ALL WRONG. STOP BEING JEWISH, GET A GIRLFIREND AND STOP PLAYIN GAMES ALL UR LIFE..SORTED!! DO ONE!
