This game is (almost) literally unplayable on PC, with constant crashes and bugs plaguing it at every step.
However, it's very strong in how it shifted Fallout's gameplay style. The earlier Fallouts had a skewed trimetric perspective, whereas Fallout 3 is first/third person.
The Capital Wasteland is frankly very ugly. Visually, things look mostly the same. Everywhere you look, everything is grey. My fiancée insists it is green, but he is wrong- it is grey.
This does serve to make the areas that are not grey pop out and seem more distinct, but considering that the vast majority of the map does not share that distinctiveness, it's not a worthwhile trade.
The DLC areas are visually distinct and, in my opinion, are much better to look at than the main game.
Combat is very basic. A famous note for Fallout 3 is that despite some weapons having sights, guns do not use them. All of your aiming is done via reticle.
VATS is interesting and sometimes useful for wiggly targets and low accuracy weaponry.
Skill checks are very fun to have, and it's nice to be able to change how something works out because of skills that you've obtained. The speech system is a % chance based off of the speech skill and a character's charisma, which imperfectly resembles Fallout 1/2's speech system.
The story for Fallout 3 is okay. Without spoiling too much, you leave the vault you grew up in to pursue your father who left without a word. You continue the chase once you get out, and end up playing a role in changing the wasteland for better or worse.
Aside from the main story, many aspects of earlier Fallout exist in Fallout 3.
-The Enclave, primary antagonist of Fallout 2, has a presence in Fallout 3.
-The Brotherhood of Steel has a chapter in the Capital Wasteland.
-Super Mutants, different from Fallout 1/2, are present and 'procreate' by submerging people in FEV to mutate them.
-Ghouls!
I have very specific criticisms of each, but I can only get into Super Mutants without spoiling everything else.
Super Mutants in Fallout were equally dangerous and mysterious, and are the result of a plan created by a FEV mutant named The Master. Most of the first Fallout is played without us knowing much about The Master, the Super Mutants, or the Children of the Cathedral.
In Fallout 3, Super Mutants were undermined and removed from being interesting villians. They are all very stupid and very violent. They kill some creatures and hang them in netted flesh bags to eat later, and haul humans off to be transformed into Super Mutants.
Newer lore would attribute this distinct difference in 'breed' to which strain of FEV they were changed by, but this basically contradicts what The Master's discovery in how radiation affected mutations. Most infections with FEV were not successful and resulted in the subject dying, but in Fallout 3, the Super Mutant population is sizeable despite their FEV supply running low.
To explain further, FEV was made more widespread and less concentrated when they added Super Mutants to Fallout 3. The writers also went off of the story angle that Super Mutants everywhere were created when they were submerged in FEV, when this was a process unique to The Master.
Overall, I'd say that Fallout 3 is a good game and is very important for how it set the standard for new Fallout games. It'd just be better if it were actually playable on PC.
However, it's very strong in how it shifted Fallout's gameplay style. The earlier Fallouts had a skewed trimetric perspective, whereas Fallout 3 is first/third person.
The Capital Wasteland is frankly very ugly. Visually, things look mostly the same. Everywhere you look, everything is grey. My fiancée insists it is green, but he is wrong- it is grey.
This does serve to make the areas that are not grey pop out and seem more distinct, but considering that the vast majority of the map does not share that distinctiveness, it's not a worthwhile trade.
The DLC areas are visually distinct and, in my opinion, are much better to look at than the main game.
Combat is very basic. A famous note for Fallout 3 is that despite some weapons having sights, guns do not use them. All of your aiming is done via reticle.
VATS is interesting and sometimes useful for wiggly targets and low accuracy weaponry.
Skill checks are very fun to have, and it's nice to be able to change how something works out because of skills that you've obtained. The speech system is a % chance based off of the speech skill and a character's charisma, which imperfectly resembles Fallout 1/2's speech system.
The story for Fallout 3 is okay. Without spoiling too much, you leave the vault you grew up in to pursue your father who left without a word. You continue the chase once you get out, and end up playing a role in changing the wasteland for better or worse.
Aside from the main story, many aspects of earlier Fallout exist in Fallout 3.
-The Enclave, primary antagonist of Fallout 2, has a presence in Fallout 3.
-The Brotherhood of Steel has a chapter in the Capital Wasteland.
-Super Mutants, different from Fallout 1/2, are present and 'procreate' by submerging people in FEV to mutate them.
-Ghouls!
I have very specific criticisms of each, but I can only get into Super Mutants without spoiling everything else.
Super Mutants in Fallout were equally dangerous and mysterious, and are the result of a plan created by a FEV mutant named The Master. Most of the first Fallout is played without us knowing much about The Master, the Super Mutants, or the Children of the Cathedral.
In Fallout 3, Super Mutants were undermined and removed from being interesting villians. They are all very stupid and very violent. They kill some creatures and hang them in netted flesh bags to eat later, and haul humans off to be transformed into Super Mutants.
Newer lore would attribute this distinct difference in 'breed' to which strain of FEV they were changed by, but this basically contradicts what The Master's discovery in how radiation affected mutations. Most infections with FEV were not successful and resulted in the subject dying, but in Fallout 3, the Super Mutant population is sizeable despite their FEV supply running low.
To explain further, FEV was made more widespread and less concentrated when they added Super Mutants to Fallout 3. The writers also went off of the story angle that Super Mutants everywhere were created when they were submerged in FEV, when this was a process unique to The Master.
Overall, I'd say that Fallout 3 is a good game and is very important for how it set the standard for new Fallout games. It'd just be better if it were actually playable on PC.