Easily one of the best games of all time. Absolutely stands on its own in multiple levels. I have too many hours in this to count. At least 1000-2000 from Xbox 360, and around 200 on PC.
With how much praise this gets, there's really not much people can say about this now, without just parroting what's already been said though. Yeah; this game is one of the rarest open world games that 100% deserves the open world. There might be some emptiness at play, but it feels like an accurate depiction of the real life place it's trying to portray. The wild west, Las Vegas-esuqe atmosphere just goes with this post-apocalyptic game like two peas in a pod. Much of the voice acting is top-notch, and albeit suffers from the Bethesda trope of so many minor characters being voiced by the same pool of around 5 voice actors, they all definitely feel likable or hatable. This is just from top to bottom one of the greatest games of all time.
So much to explore, and so much to do. Character builds don't feel too linear, but there's definitely charm to hyperfocusing on specific skillset. Certain skills matter more than others, which is just always how Fallout games have been. The unlinearity really lets you try out everything you find, which makes the game more fun to discover new areas. For those that wish; lots of lore is hidden in each individual area, which some may consider cheap lore, but I absolutely adore it. One of my favorite pieces of lore is entirely through terminals, and said areas reward you with some of my favorite items in the game. That's how much detail there is in just about everything.
You cannot talk about the magnificent levels of detail without talking about the sheer unlinearity of the story. Unlike most unlinear games; this one really takes notes of your path, and you see the impact of it as it goes on. I'm at least a few dozen playthroughs into this game now, and I am still finding out new dialogue based on how differently I've done things. That's how much attention to detail there is.
Of course I must bring up what others say; that this was all done in 18 months, which is why much of the planned content was re-worked into DLC. All of the DLC's are fantastic, and completely worthwhile experiences. You can expect a few to maybe play differently to how you've played the game before, but they're all top-notch and all link to each other in some form. As well as linking to the main story in some way or another too. One of the DLC's in particular: "Dead Money" has got to be my favorite part about the game.
In 2024; this has aged perfectly well. Maybe the FPS mechanics are a bit clunky if you play on controller, but for keyboard players, rejoice in how fantastic this aged. I do recommend some performance mods and retexture packs if you wanna spruce up the game a bit. Thankfully the commonly recommended ones tend to be very easy to install, and don't take away from the vanilla experience of the game. Some bug fixes might help some too, but I tend to not play with them; as I find some of the bugs easy to avoid, and others to make the game more fun. There's lots of guides for these things. So an easy search engine search can hook you up.
All in all; this game is easily one of my favorite games ever. A masterclass. Well-detailed, well-loved, and well-maintained by a wonderful community of people who all see this for what it is. The best Fallout game. One of the best role-playing games. One of the best games of all time. It's hard to find things to hate about this game, and if you do dislike this game, it's understandable. I know people who played this and trashed the shit out of it, and now it's one of their favorite games of all time. Most things with perfect scores always have their share of flaws. I honestly do not have much ill to say about this. It's absolute perfection in my eyes.
With how much praise this gets, there's really not much people can say about this now, without just parroting what's already been said though. Yeah; this game is one of the rarest open world games that 100% deserves the open world. There might be some emptiness at play, but it feels like an accurate depiction of the real life place it's trying to portray. The wild west, Las Vegas-esuqe atmosphere just goes with this post-apocalyptic game like two peas in a pod. Much of the voice acting is top-notch, and albeit suffers from the Bethesda trope of so many minor characters being voiced by the same pool of around 5 voice actors, they all definitely feel likable or hatable. This is just from top to bottom one of the greatest games of all time.
So much to explore, and so much to do. Character builds don't feel too linear, but there's definitely charm to hyperfocusing on specific skillset. Certain skills matter more than others, which is just always how Fallout games have been. The unlinearity really lets you try out everything you find, which makes the game more fun to discover new areas. For those that wish; lots of lore is hidden in each individual area, which some may consider cheap lore, but I absolutely adore it. One of my favorite pieces of lore is entirely through terminals, and said areas reward you with some of my favorite items in the game. That's how much detail there is in just about everything.
You cannot talk about the magnificent levels of detail without talking about the sheer unlinearity of the story. Unlike most unlinear games; this one really takes notes of your path, and you see the impact of it as it goes on. I'm at least a few dozen playthroughs into this game now, and I am still finding out new dialogue based on how differently I've done things. That's how much attention to detail there is.
Of course I must bring up what others say; that this was all done in 18 months, which is why much of the planned content was re-worked into DLC. All of the DLC's are fantastic, and completely worthwhile experiences. You can expect a few to maybe play differently to how you've played the game before, but they're all top-notch and all link to each other in some form. As well as linking to the main story in some way or another too. One of the DLC's in particular: "Dead Money" has got to be my favorite part about the game.
In 2024; this has aged perfectly well. Maybe the FPS mechanics are a bit clunky if you play on controller, but for keyboard players, rejoice in how fantastic this aged. I do recommend some performance mods and retexture packs if you wanna spruce up the game a bit. Thankfully the commonly recommended ones tend to be very easy to install, and don't take away from the vanilla experience of the game. Some bug fixes might help some too, but I tend to not play with them; as I find some of the bugs easy to avoid, and others to make the game more fun. There's lots of guides for these things. So an easy search engine search can hook you up.
All in all; this game is easily one of my favorite games ever. A masterclass. Well-detailed, well-loved, and well-maintained by a wonderful community of people who all see this for what it is. The best Fallout game. One of the best role-playing games. One of the best games of all time. It's hard to find things to hate about this game, and if you do dislike this game, it's understandable. I know people who played this and trashed the shit out of it, and now it's one of their favorite games of all time. Most things with perfect scores always have their share of flaws. I honestly do not have much ill to say about this. It's absolute perfection in my eyes.