The game has a lot of things going for it: (mostly) great graphics, amazing voice acting (for a game), a fresh new control system, action, gore and lots of classic Fallout style.
This is enough to make it a very playable and entertaining game for most people, but there are many detracting points which will likely keep it from being No.1 on most people's lists.
The graphics are marred by some glitches and some poor animations which seriously distract the player from the otherwise startlingly realistic world the game creates.
Furthermore, some poor decisions were made in regard to the game-play. Most notably is the lack of any form of transportation other than walking which makes for some times when the player will have to spend 30min-1hr just to get from one part of the map to another. Also slightly irritating is the worthlessness of power armor and heavy/energy weapons which should reign supreme and yet are next to impotent in this game. The difficulty is also very unbalanced with the main quest being extremely easy while random encounters throughout the wasteland can sometimes be frustratingly difficult. Typical RPG fare like money, items, shops, repair shops and visiting the doc are also useless in Fallout 3 which I feel leaves the game feeling a little too streamlined.
Along those lines, the game also feels streamlined in the sense that the VATS targeting system is only really necessary in the beginning of the game for once the player hits a certain (low) percentage for their weapon proficiency they can blast away in first person mode with near perfect accuracy thus negating the whole point of stats. Also the game is made a bit too easy by the fact that healing is extremely easy. Any ailment can be instantly healed by stimpacks which are ever-present in massive quantities. Also beds are everywhere and the player need only sleep for an hour (not real-time) and fully recover from any ailment for free! Thanks to the above, I was able to beat the game and complete most of the side-quests in about 35hrs. Considering that most of that time was spent jogging from place to place the game only lasts about 10 hours.
Now do not get me wrong, those 10hrs are some very fun 10hrs, hence I describe this game as "good" just not "great."
This is enough to make it a very playable and entertaining game for most people, but there are many detracting points which will likely keep it from being No.1 on most people's lists.
The graphics are marred by some glitches and some poor animations which seriously distract the player from the otherwise startlingly realistic world the game creates.
Furthermore, some poor decisions were made in regard to the game-play. Most notably is the lack of any form of transportation other than walking which makes for some times when the player will have to spend 30min-1hr just to get from one part of the map to another. Also slightly irritating is the worthlessness of power armor and heavy/energy weapons which should reign supreme and yet are next to impotent in this game. The difficulty is also very unbalanced with the main quest being extremely easy while random encounters throughout the wasteland can sometimes be frustratingly difficult. Typical RPG fare like money, items, shops, repair shops and visiting the doc are also useless in Fallout 3 which I feel leaves the game feeling a little too streamlined.
Along those lines, the game also feels streamlined in the sense that the VATS targeting system is only really necessary in the beginning of the game for once the player hits a certain (low) percentage for their weapon proficiency they can blast away in first person mode with near perfect accuracy thus negating the whole point of stats. Also the game is made a bit too easy by the fact that healing is extremely easy. Any ailment can be instantly healed by stimpacks which are ever-present in massive quantities. Also beds are everywhere and the player need only sleep for an hour (not real-time) and fully recover from any ailment for free! Thanks to the above, I was able to beat the game and complete most of the side-quests in about 35hrs. Considering that most of that time was spent jogging from place to place the game only lasts about 10 hours.
Now do not get me wrong, those 10hrs are some very fun 10hrs, hence I describe this game as "good" just not "great."