Vault 101 is open...

The Fallout franchise has been served to varying degrees over the years by it's various installments. The first two games were hugely popular, and deservedly so; their mix of overhead RPG, violence and black humour woven with moral ambiguity made them stand out from a stagnant crowd. Less well received were spin-offs Fallout: Tactics and Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel, but I can't back that statement up since I ain't touched neiver of 'em, guv'nor. Many were shocked and saddened when Interplay sold the rights to the franchise to Bethesda Softworks, having shut down Black Isle Studios, but it turns out they needn't have bothered getting their wee knickers in a twist.

Developers of the Elder Scrolls series, Bethesda have a track record of being "rather good" at RPGs that stretches back many, many years. Over two decades, actually, so if safe hands were needed then safe hands it is. Building on the technology put to use in Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Bethesda have brought the Fallout universe bang up to date in glorious 3D, porting with it everything that made the series so successful to begin with. Players' attributes are still based on the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. system as in previous games, but this time your character generation is cleverly integrated into your time spent growing up in the vault. After about an hour spent forming your character and exploring the corridors of Vault 101 you are thrust out into the Capitol Wasteland; a barren, ruined landscape that was once Washington DC and it's Western outskirts.

The main thrust of the game remains the same as always, with your character exploring the landscape and choosing to gain either good or bad karma through your actions. Scattered settlements and abandoned buildings are inhabited by a wealth of characters, many of whom offer missions which you may choose to undertake, and these missions can often be played in a variety of ways with differing outcomes depending on just how scrupulous you choose to be. Even your choice of words in conversation can alter the outcome of your endeavours, and choosing certain perks to accompany your character traits as you level up can open additional choices in conversation with certain characters.

There is a main plotline to follow involving your character's search for his father (voiced by no less than Liam Neeson), whose disappearance from the Vault precipitates your emergence in the first place, but it is by no means compulsory that you do so. One of the beauties of the Fallout series has always been the largely open-ended game world, and Fallout 3 allows the player to revel in it to a greater degree than ever before. Of course "open-ended" is a term bandied about with gay abandon these days, what with sandboxes littering the place, and it does come here with some constraints. Your approach to certain missions and your treatment of non-player characters greatly affects your karma rating, but the effects of this don't have as big an impact on non-related characters as one might hope. By and large though the system works sufficiently for purpose, even if word of your deeds doesn't seem to spread as widely as promised.

Additional items litter the landscape that can raise your characters' stats, and a number of special weapons can be had as the result of quests or good old fashioned scavenging, but there is one aspect of Fallout 3 that is markedly different from previous installments, and that is combat. Still statistics-based at heart, Fallout 3 offers you the chance to play as a first or third person shooter, or to undertake your battles via the Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System (V.A.T.S.), with your probability of landing a hit in each mode based on a number of your character's skills and physical condition. First and third person perspectives offer limited gratification and seem relatively rudimentary in their application, almost as if a second-thought, or maybe to encourage use of V.A.T.S.. No problem there, because what a beautiful thing V.A.T.S. is.

A quick tap of the right bumper freezes the action and locks onto the nearest enemy, highlighting individually selectable body parts. Each area is assigned a percentage probability of a hit based on your distance from the target, skill with your chosen weapon, general weapons skill and physical constitution, and each shot you line up uses a set number of action points of which you have only a limited number before you must pause and wait for them to re-charge. Action points are redundant in first and third person perspectives, but in V.A.T.S. mode they make for some tense moments as you hope for that critical hit to put your enemy down before they have time to retaliate. Striking different body parts can cripple your enemy in different ways, from slowing them to a hobble to dropping their weapon and, most satisfyingly, causing their head to explode or fly off like a cheap, bloody firework. Nothing in life is more satisfying than popping a raiders head from a hundred yards with a hunting rifle and watching both eyeballs fly off in different directions. Or is it just me?

There are many, many things that make Fallout 3 a standout experience, but many of them are unique events that cannot be quantified and, indeed, may not be experienced by most users. The freedom of choice and rich, expansive game world offer up an engrossing experience that is wholly worthy of the Fallout name and, for this gamer at least, represents the best in the series. A near-perfect balance of exploration, adventuring, combat and exploding super mutants, Fallout 3 is essential to your collection, and no less than three downloadable expansions are confirmed for Windows and Xbox users during the first quarter of 2009. Considering it could be picked up just after launch for 20 quid during the UK Christmas price wars this is, surely, pound for pound one of the best games of all time.

No, really...

**** UPDATE **** It has been brought to my attention that the PS3 version, while otherwise identical to the others, suffers from some very annoying glitches. These are apparently mostly graphical and shouldn't affect gameplay at all, but there are some issues with clipping that can apparently cause a bit of grief. I can only assume that this is due to a lazy port after being developed primarily on the PC and Xbox platforms, and if so I find it very disappointing. Due to an exclusive deal with Microsoft the DLC packs will not be available for download for PS3, though inclusion at a later date on the same disc as a re-release (such as Oblivion's GOTY edition) has not been ruled out.