For a Bethesda title, Fallout 3 is an all right game. A lot of customization, a lot of freedom to go and do whatever you want to do. That does not sound too bad, and to be honest Fallout 3 would be a decent, even a great game. If it was not part of a series. If you have never played Fallout 2 or Fallout, it might be a fun experience. But in comparison this game is just horrible. I know this has been said a thousand times already. Bethesda does not deserve the praise it got for this. Again, it is a decent game, most mechanics are fine, V.A.T.S. was fun and somewhat innovative. The wold looks quite decent, models and skins and atmosphere are pretty and get the job done. It is a fine sandbox, but misses everything that made the first two installments great games. I have mentioned freedom to do whatever, well that freedom is stripped away as soon as you get into a conversation with an NPC. Your choices, if you have any, are heavily restricted. Probably across one of two paths. You are always guided along one safe line or another. You have some freedom to do what you want to do out in the wastes, but these choices have no repercussions, no impact on the world, outside of one or two predetermined lines. In the earlier games you had to think about and live with your choices. Yes, you could easily end up in an unwinnable situation, but that made the games and the choices within interesting. I do not think this is really the right place to rant on about the Karma system, which is laughable in it's simplicity. Let me close with saying that I can play and enjoy a game that simply tells a story, but not if it is poorly written, poorly acted, with clichéd and bland characters and plots; you get what I mean.
