[Video] Skyrim Experience II

And thus silliness continues. Long awaited sequel to Skyrim Experience is here!

[Video] Skyrim Experience

I've bought this game only twice. And to be honest, playing it unmodded on Nintendo Switch while focusimg on everything else but the main story was probably the most fun I have ever had with Skyrim. Even with all the bugs and glitches. Those just make the experience more unique.

Rage(quit)

I remember seeing Rage for the first time in the gaming magazine back when it was released. It looked so cool! Unfortunately I never got to play it back then, and I just kept wondering how great game it had to be. And then I forget the whole thing for a while. 

Until some time ago Rage was on a sale on Steam and I got it. And forget it again until the beginning of 2022. Finally, after almost a decade, I was ready to play this game that made so big impact on me years ago even though I never even tried it. And it was awesome, is what I would love to say. Unfortunately, Rage isn't awesome. Its not even okay. This game is... missed opportunity. Mediocre looter shooter. And so on. 

It's painfully clear that this game is over 10 years old now. Gameplay is kinda clunky, and in-game menus for example are straight from the early 2000s. But at least the story and world are passable?

Nah. Story is pretty straight-forward copy of Half-Life 2's campaign but without all the charm and depth that HL2 has. And characters... Well, they are your typical and stereotypic FPS ones. Lots of muscle mans machoing and women that are clearly written (and modeled) by men. Especially main character of the games The Scorchers DLC, Sarah, is something from 90s media that we didn't need back. 

But yeah, even though characters and story are not Rages strengths, they do their job. Somehow.

Rage is a hybrid of open-world sections and more traditional straight-forward maps, which is both its biggest strength and weakness. Open-world parts are boring, you'll be driving a car from one place to an another in a canyons, so open-world aspect isn't even so open-worldly. There's some fighting, but most of the time I just drove away from enemies to get to the next mission. World is your typical apocalyptic wasteland, so there's not even anything to look at. On-foot sections at least are little bit better mostly because a big arsenal of weapons, which make fighting fun. Unfortunately too many times enemies just became bullet-sponges, which is okay in some games, but when you can headshot most of the enemies and not others, it's... not fair. At least in my opinion. And yeah, most of the places you visit are pretty generic.

I almost stopped playing Rage for these reasons. I was about halfway through and didn't touch the game for about a month, and when I returned it was still as bland as before. And then begun the second act and I found myself in Subway City, which looked shiny and interesting. But after exploring it for a while I realized that it's just more of the same, just in a little bit more interesting casing.

I accidentally became a boundary breaker.

Yeah. This is not a great game. But you wanna know what I really, really liked in Rage? Nail gun with rebar as an ammo. That might just be one of my favourite weapons ever on video games. Its so powerful and fun, though slow, which forces you to aim your shots perfectly and do some sneaky tactics to not die while reloading. Most of the other weapons are pretty good too, but I found myself using nail gun almost all of the time. 

*SPOILER ALERT*

I fought my way through the campaign, just because I wanted to see what kind of mysteries where waiting. Maybe there would even be a big and epic boss fight! But no. Last level of Rage is a sci-fi tower (Citadel, anyone?) with previously mentioned bullet-sponge enemies, and the climax is.... pressing few buttons, short cutscene and fade in black. And then you are thrown back to the wasteland with a little congratulations message and opportunity to finish any (very boring) side missions. 

I have never felt so angry after finishing game. Like, what just happened? Was this all for... that? Did my actions matter? WHAT IS HAPPENING?

And that is why I'm so negative about this game. It forces you through repeative missions with a promise of something interesting happening at the end, but it never delivers. It's a slap on face.

I had to Google if this could be really that. And yes, unfortunately it is. In Reddit players have said it's the worst ending ever in any video game and share many of opinions I shared in this blog. Even Polygon wrote an article about Rages ending. It feels that developers ran out of the time, or spend so much time on the visuals (which still hold up pretty good) that they forget to finish the most important part of the single player game: the campaign.

I really wanted to like this game. Unfortunately it's a shallow Borderlands wannabe without the charm that game has. It tries, but in the end, it really doesn't matter. 

I wonder if Rage 2 is any good?

Revisiting Fallout 3

I played through Fallout 3 years ago and it was okay. Not great, but okay. I enjoyed my time with it though, but for some reason in my head I created this attitude towards the game that it was complete poop. Maybe it’s because newer Fallout games have so special place in my heart, maybe I didn’t appreciate this old schoolish FPS/RPG enough. Whatever the reason was, I just felt that I wouldn’t ever return to Capital Wasteland.

Until I did. 

Drugs. Not even once.

Emerging from Vault 101 to face the dangers of Wasteland felt different this time. I decided to skip the main story and just went wandering, which was the best decision I could have made. Exploring and finding new places while escaping dangers was much more interesting than following the main story line which in my taste is pretty bland. And taking a different path led to some interesting adventures, like searching for Nuka-Cola Quantum, making money by selling slaves and hunting Deathclaws for sport for example - my character became a little bit a psycho to be honest, but that was fun. Throwing Tenpenny’s body out of his tower and walking around in his suit without anyone noticing what has happened made me giggle out loud, like so many other silly thing that just happened, thanks to broken game engine and AI that does whatever it wants.

I have still my problems with Fallout 3. It’s showing it’s age at this point, and sprint function is something that it needs, though there is mods for that (which I forgot to download…). Difficulty is varied, as some points are just too easy and the next moment you’re getting your ass kicked by swarm of radscorpions that came out of nowhere. Then again, this keeps exploring interesting as you never know what kind of fight to expect. There are some cool and interesting NPC’s and quests, but too many just start repeating themselves pretty soon, and as the map itself is empty compared to later Fallout games there’s sometimes nothing to do. Don’t get me wrong, I like to get bored in open world games (and that’s a whole different blog post I could write!) but world of Fallout 3 is mostly just boring. It underlines the fact that this is supposed to be a destroyed city though pretty well. Maybe my decision not to fast travel has something to do with this too.

This guy had a lot of problems.

I had few mods installed but nothing too fancy. Mostly quality of life stuff and some cool armors. 

Unfortunately my adventures came to an end thanks to updating my OS to a newer version. After that Fallout just broke and is not launching at all. But that's okay, I got to do mostly everything I wanted and more - and as I had no clear point set where I wanted to stop my playthrough I think this ''forced'' one worked pretty well.  

In general, Fallout 3 felt better second time around. Yes, it’s getting old and outdated and might be a shock to play for younger players but it’s still something that should be experienced, at least to be able to appreciate how far open world games have come. 

Your typical Fallout experience.

Ps. I'm back! Though don't expect too many blog posts in the near future as I'm still wondering what kind of texts I want to write and I just don't have enough  free time right now. I'm playing Dragon Age: Origins, Earthbound and The Legend of Zelda: Oscarina of Time right now, so there might be some blogs about those games coming at some point. Until then, stay safe out there. And play games.

Some Thoughts on Fallout 3

I've been replaying Fallout 3 after, I don't know, many years. It's a weird game, because when I originally played it through I enjoyed it but didn't love it. It felt empty and blunt compared to Fallout: New Vegas for example (which happens to be one of my favourite games ever). Don't get me wrong, I didn't hate Fallout 3 - I thought and still think that it's magnificent game but at the same time it feels like it's missing something. And somehow I managed to skip half of the (somewhat boring) main story when I first played Fallout 3.

Now that I've been visiting ruined DC area again even though game feels better than before - maybe I've grown as a gamerrr - I still feel that emptiness and boringness when I'm playing Fallout 3. But as I've approached it differently this time, taking my time, exploring new places and not using fast travel instead of rushing through story as I did on my first playthrough, I'm beginning to understand why people love this game. It's truly apocalyptic and unforgiving experience at the times, with some sugary nostalgy on the top. There's something about older Bethesda games and clunkiness they have that drives us towards them over and over again.

I already knew it back in 2015: ''somehow wacky A.I. fits already dotty world of Fallout.' And I still think so. These games wouldn't be the same without all the bugs and glitches - in this point those are almost like features.

Anyway, now it's time to go kill some super mutants.

Oblivion: Horse Riding Simulator 2006

What can I say about The Elders Scrolls IV: Oblivion that haven't been said million times before? Probably nothing, but at least I can tell how I felt about this classic RPG as a fan of Bethesda’s newer games like Fallout: New Vegas and Fallout 4. 

First of all, I personally liked this game more than Skyrim. I think this is pretty usual opinion within The Elders Scrolls fans, but I never really understood why. Oblivion looked so... outdated. Skyrim on the other hand is still pretty cool looking game and especially the character graphics are so much better. But then again, when you're playing Oblivion these are not the things you are focusing on - especially in 2020s when there's so many great looking character overhaul mods available. And there is certain charm in Oblivion's stupid looking character models in my opinion. In general I really love the artistic style that is goin on with Bethesda's RPGs as they are somewhat realistic looking but still have clear and specific look.

But I don't really think that graphics are thing that I want to focus on game that's released in 2006. Not at all though Oblivion looks sometimes stunning. For me the gameplay and the feel of controls is more important. Oblivion unfortunately is pretty janky (but then again all the Bethesda games are). Movement was what you expect, pretty old-school, but aiming and sword swinging on the other hand was pretty unresponsive - there was not really too much weight on weapons. And as the ragdolls go crazy when enemies die this illusion of weight didn't hold up at all, though it was pretty entertaining.

Oblivion's story is not anything special, it's your typical fantasy script: save the world, help peoples, fight monsters. There was many interesting and funny side quests though. I especially liked the Dark Brotherhood storyline and Shivering Isles DLC, which I would say has one of the best environments in TES games ever. Overall I enjoyed doing the little side quests with weird plot lines more than the main story. And yes, I'm avoiding spoilers so I don't describe none of them.

Main focus of Oblivion seemed to be caves and Oblivion gates, which are you typical - and boring - dungeons. I enjoyed few of the early-game dungeons as I was approaching them like Indiana Jones, but pretty soon dungeons turned repetitive and I really didn't want to spend time to complete them to find some rewards that I wouldn't ever use. And Planes of Oblivion themselves... well, they looked cool. But not fun to go through at all. 

For me the best part of Oblivion was traveling, as I told in my earlier blog post. I decided to not fast travel at all, and riding my horse to new and interesting places was hypnotizing. Running away from wolfs, killing robbers who tried to stop you and finding secrets is all fun and games, but I truly liked travelling to new town, learning about its history and residents and maybe doing some quests for them too. Oblivion makes travelling fun even though for some it's the most boring part of the game - for me it brought some calming moment in this hectic modern world, and those moments I will treasure - even more than my water walking boots or night vision helmets.

Oblivion has an odd charm which makes you return it again and again. Yeah, it's janky at times and A.I. isn't really smart, but at the same time the world has that magic that makes you wanna be there no matter what. Saying it's one of the best RPGs ever made? Sure. 

Revisiting Dishonored

After watching some of Noclip's excellent documents about Arkane Studios games my interest towards them has been awaken so I decided to replay Dishonored, which I completed years ago. But now it feels like a whole different experience.

I wrote a review of Dishonored in 2015 in which I praised the level design and graphics, said some nasty thing about A.I. and about how sneaking is sometimes impossible, and kept comparing it to Half-Life 2 - maybe too much. In general I remember enjoying the game but at the same time I didn't gave it a chance as its own entity - for years Dishonored was just an attempt to copy Half-Life 2's atmosphere.

Comparing Dunwall to City 17

Yes, Dishonored reminds a lot of Half-Life 2. Especially Dunwall as a place is very close to City 17 with its colour schemes, weird technical roadblocks and miserable citizens, but at the same time it's very much its own thing. Dunwall is more open and allows different paths - you can go up, down, and everywhere between. That's not what's really going on City 17 which is more linear which works great in the context of Half-Life 2 but wouldn't work in Dishonored. And that's why now years later when I'm sneaking around the streets of Dunwall it feels so great. 

There's a lot of replayability going on, and you can attempt the levels again and again in different ways. That was something I didn't understand back in the day when I just run straight to the target. I didn't care as much about alternative ways to complete the missions, I just wanted to rush through the game. That's probably why I thought it was too short. Now that I'm trying to approach my targets from different ways and at the same time I'm trying to complete all of the side quests and find all the hidden stuff game feels so much better. Sure, it's still short but I've understand that there's no rush - I can keep exploring the levels if I want or tease the guards in different ways. And that's fun!

Little stories make all the difference

I don't have anything new to say about games story as I'm still in the middle of it, but at least it's coherent. Maybe not the most interesting one, but game like this doesn't need one - it's better to have clear objectives than Rick And Morty styled story with too much going on. But now I've come to realize what's the most interesting part of the game story wise - it's the citizens you meet along the way. Like in Half-Life 2, many of them have their own little stories and problems, and helping them or just listening gives a lot depth to the world. I love the dark and dystopian setting of Dishonored, and using the heart to learn more about people you meet on your adventures is one of my favourite game mechanics ever in any game.

Living game world

And finally, about darkness and dystopias. I love how Dishonored's world reacts to your action. This once again was a thing that I did not appreciate on my first playthrough, but now after learning more about Arkane's games it's a huge deal for me. The fact that Dunwall becomes more plagued or in the other hand not because of what you have done and who you have killed makes your own playthrough special - you're not just going through a story, you're making it as you go as well.

And that's it. I'm happy that I decided to play this game again. It's fun, it's dark and it makes me appreciate game development even more.

My experience with Fallout 76 lately

This was originally meant to be kind of a review of the newest Fallout 76 season ''Steel Reign''. I returned to the game after a little break - thank you lag! - and played happily for a while, but then the same problems that have been plagued game returned.

To be honest, I haven't been able to play Fallout 76 much this year. Two newest big updates (Steel Dawn, Steel Reign) have turned the game into unplayable, laggy mess. The servers are slow, game runs like a Powerpoint slideshow and it's more and more harder to justify returning to the game. It feels like a chore at this point.

I've tried different fixes and magic tricks, but nothing works. It's irritating because I love this game so much - it's one of my favourite multiplayer games ever and I enjoy the social - unsocial aspect of the gameplay. When the game works, it's fun. But right now, for the most of the time, it don't.

Though it all might be just Brotherhood's fault. Cocky bastards.

Ps. I'm back! And it didn't take five years this time.

Few words about Fallout 76

I am a huge Fallout fan, but at the beginning the idea of multiplayer experience didn't really click with me. I skipped the whole Fallout 76 and kept playing Fallout 4, until last Autumn (2020) the game was on sale on Steam and as I had nothing else to do, I decided to buy it. That’s been one of the best decisions of my life.

Core mechanics of Fallout 76 are pretty similar to Fallout 4 and any other Bethesda game, but the interactivity with the other players makes it so much more interesting for me. You can choose to join up with them, ignore everyone else or play the role of the bad guy. It’s always a different experience and you can’t really know what to expect when you start playing. The surviving, crafting and camping aspect of Fallout 76 makes sure that there’s always something to do but unlike many other similar games, the fact that it takes place in Fallout universe really keeps me paying. I enjoy the atmosphere, the characters and locations and even when I get bored I can just sit down on my C.A.M.P. and play guitar or piano - that’s really all I need from games like this.

PS. Hi, after 5 years I'm kinda back! I have few ideas for this blog, let's see how they turn out - I have few new posts coming this month. But for now you can go watch my Youtube videos and/or follow my Twitter for some funny screenshots.

The Elders Scrolls V: Skyrim

Julkaistu: 2011
Alustat: PC, Xbox 360, PS3
Kehittäjä: Bethesda Game Studios
Julkaisija: Bethesda Softworks
Pelimoottori: Creation Engine

Skyrim oli julkaistaessaan superhitti. Pelin taika ei ole neljän vuoden jälkeen kadonnut minnekkään, kiitos aktiivisen modiyhteisön sekä omistautuneen fanikunnan. Skyrim on osa populaarikulttuuria, mutta onko peli todellakin niin hyvä kuin väitetään?

Hevonen heikoilla jäillä.

Dovahkiin
Skyrimin tarina on melko yksinkertainen. Pelaajaa ollaan teloittamassa, mutta lohikäärmeen hyökkäys antaa tälle mahdollisuuden paeta. Pian pelaaja on kekskellä siviilisotaa, mutta kukaan ei tunnu uskovan lohikäärmeiden paluuseen. Selviää että sankari on Dragonborn, jonka tehtävänä on pysäyttää lohikäärmeiden paluu.

Pelin pääpahis on Alduin-niminen lohikäärme, joka aikoo tuhota maailman. Pelaaja hankkii liittolaisia ja etsii legendaarista Elders Scrollsia tuhotakseen Alduinin ja pelastaakseen maailman. Pääjuoni on kiinnostava, ja se vie pelaajan komeisiin maisemiin ja tutustuttaa mielenkiintoisiin NPC-hahmoihin.

Pääjuonen lisäksi Skyrimin maailmassa on TODELLA PALJON lisätehtävää, joiden parissa saa kulutettua kymmeniä tunteja. Melkein kaikista kylistä ja kaupungeista löytää tekemistä, ja aina ei tarvitse edes seurata mitään tiettyä juonta, vaan tarinoita voi luoda itse. Tai niin ainakin itse tein.

BURN!

Jaarleja ja juoppoja
Skyrimin hahmokatras on laaja, mutta välillä hieman itseään toistava. Sotilaat toistavat samoja fraaseja, ja verrattuna esimerkiksi Fallouteihin ovat päähahahmot ehkä hieman tylsiä.

Tekoäly on taattua Bethesdaa. Tiimikaverit saattavat jäädä jumiin, viholliset hyppivät alas jyrkänteiltä ja kaupunkilaiset kävelevät pitkin seiniä. Myöskin pelin legendaariset hevoset saavat hymyn huulille; melkein pystysuora seinä ei ole este eikä mikään. Onneksi on modeja.

Vihollisia on paljon, ja mikäli haluaa olla oikein paha sankari, kaikki ovat vihollisia. Löytyy ryöstäjiä, luurankoja, lohikäärmeitä, susia, zombeja, mammutteja, örkkejä, jättiläisiä... Listaa voisi jatkaa loputtomiin. Vihollisten tekoäly toistaa usein samaa rataa, täysillä päälle, mutta joukossa on myös poikkeuksia, kuten maget ja jousiampujat. Viholliset osaavat myös vaihtaa tarvittaessa asetta ja käyttää lääkintäloitsuja, mikä tuo taisteluun lisähaastetta.

Missä kaikki ovat?

Vuorille
Skyrimin pelimekaniikka on yksinkertaista hiirimättöä. Toisella napilla blokataan ja toisella hyökätään. Taikuus ja jousipyssyt tuovat taisteluun lisää syvyyttä, ja hiipailukin on mahdollista, mutta ei aina niin tehokasta. Itse kehitin hahmostani lähinnä lähitaisteluun keskittyneen tappajan, joka tarpeen tullen pystyi eliminoimaan vihollisia kaukaa jousilla ja parantamaan itsensä.

Pelin maisemat ovat näyttäviä, ja siellä olemisen tunne on vahva, Vaikka grafiikan taso heittelee ja osa tekstuureista on mitä on, on Skyrim todella nätti peli varsinkin modattuna. Huomasin että jäin välillä vain ihailemaan maisemia tai palelemaan lumimyrskyn keskelle vaikkei se ole mahdollista (siihenkin löytyy modi).

Hot Dog.

Skyrimin potentiaali paljastuu modattuna. Itse esimerkiksi korvasin pelin alkuperäiset tylsät ja turhat tiimiläiset kiinnostavemmilla ja hyödyllisemmillä, sekä kasvatin jo valmiiksi suurta asevalikoimaa. Peliin on myös lukuisia pieniä mutta sitäkin tärkeämpiä modeja, joilla pelattavuus paranee. Käy sääliksi konsolipelaajia jotka joutuvat pelaamaan bugista ja rumaa alkuperäisversiota!

Skyrim on mahtava peli, johon tulee varmasti palattua vielä monta kertaa. Modien avulla peliin ei voi ikinä kyllästyä!

+ Maailma
+ Juoni
+ Lohikäärmeet
+ Tekeminen ei lopu
- Bugit
- Hevoset

Dishonored

Julkaistu: 2012
Alustat: PC, Xbox 360, PS3
Kehittäjä: Arkane Studios
Julkaisija: Bethesda Softworks
Pelimoottori: Unreal Engine 3

Dishonored on yksi viime vuosien pidetyimmistä peleistä. Hiiviskelyyn pohjaava peli on tosiaankin erittäin nautinnollinen kokemus, josta tulee kuitenkin mieleen eräs toinen legendaarinen peli...

Uniaika.

Henkivartija
Dishonored lähtee vauhdilla käyntiin. Henkivartija Corvo Attano palaa keisarinnan luo, joka kuitenkin salamurhataan ja tämän tytär kidnapataan. Corvo vangitaan ja höäntä syytetään murhasta. Kapinalliset auttavat Corvon vankilasta, ja tästä starttaa mielenkiintoinen ja kompakti tarina kohti keisarinnan tyttären pelastamista.

Dishonored yhdistää viktoriaanisen Englannin teolliseen vallankumoukseen, ja pelin miljöö onkin todella nätti. Valaanöljyllä pyöritetään sähkölaitteita, ja menneisyys ja nykyaika elävät harmoniassa. Peliin tuo lisäjännitystä kaupunkiin iskenyt ruttoepidemia, joka on tappanut ison osan ihmisistä ja rotat ovat vallanneet kadut.

Välillä voi vaan katsoa maisemia.

Puukko selkään ja karkuun
Dishonored pyrkii olemaan hiiviskelypeli, jossa on mahdollista edetä monilla eri tavoilla. Ketään ei tarvitse tappaa, ja viholliset voi laittaa vaikka tappamaan toisiaan. Käytännössä tämä ei toimi ihan niin hyvin, sillä liian usein vartijat näkevät jopa seinien läpi(!) ja hiiviskely on pilalla. Taistelut ovat haastavia, joten niihin ei kannata vapaahetoisesti joutua, varsinkaan usempaa kuin kahta vihollista vastaan.

Corvon taitoja voi päivittää, jolloin aukeaa uusia vaihtoehtoja etenemiseen. Itse käytin lähinnä teleporttausta ja vihollisten tomuksi muuttamista, jotka toimivat välillä hieman liiankin hyvin. Vihollisten tekoäly on yllättävän hyvää, ja nämä oikeasti tutkivat jos joku on kadonnut tai jostain löytyy ruumis.

Välillä pitää tarkkailla maisemia.

Corvo Freeman
Mainitsin aikaisemmin että Dishonored muistuttaa erästä toista peliä, nimittäin Half-Life 2:sta. Miljöö, tarina ja jopa hahmot ovat kuin suoraan Gordon Freemanin seikkailuista. Päähahmo on hiljainen muiden pelinappula, ympäristöä voi käyttää hyväksi, viholliset ja näiden laitteet ovat kuin suoraan Combineilta, päähenkilö petetään ja Dunwallin kaupunki kaikkine scifi-systeemeineen on kuin ilmetty antiikkinen City 17.

Dishonoredin halflifemaisuus on välillä todella häiritsevää, mutta toisaalta se on myös hauskaa ja tuo peliin aivan uuden aspektin, sillä tietty tuttuus saa pelaajan uppoutumaan peliin paljon paremmin. Valitettavasti Dishonored on aivan käsittämättömän lyhyt, mutta jatko-osa on onneksi jo tekeillä.

+ Tekoäly
+ Miljöö
+ Hahmot
+ Tarina
+ Hiippailu
- Rotat (hyih)
- lyhyt

Fallout 3

Julkaistu: 2008
Alustat: PC, Xbox 360, PS3
Kehittäjä: Bethesda Game Studios
Julkaisija: Bethesda Softworks, ZeniMax Media
Pelimoottori: Gamebryo

''War. War never changes.''
Fallout 3 vie meidät tuttuun ydinsodan jälkeiseen maailmaan. Ihmisten, supermutanttien ja luonnon välinen sota on kaikkialla, ja raunioituneissa kaupungeissa on lukuisia salaisuuksia, jotka vain odottavat löytäjäänsä.

Fallout 3:n päähenkilö on vaultilla kasvanut nuorukainen, joka joutuu yllättäen pakenemaan isänsä jalanjäljissä. Tästä alkaa seikkailu, jossa nuorukainen yrittää löytää isänsä ja samalla pelastaa maailman tai tappaa kaikki vastaantulijat ja kylvää tuhoa. Valinta on sinun.

Rakastan Fallouteissa vapauden määrää. Vaikka juonta on kiva seurata, pelkästään se mahdollisuus että voi lähteä samoilemaan minne haluaa tai vaikkapa istuskella baarissa tuo peliin syvyyttä. Usein juonitehtävissäkin voi itse valita reittinsä ja metodinsa, mutta mukana on toki myös paljon putkikohtauksiakin, aka. luolastoja.

Öh?

''You're SPECIAL''
Fallout 3:n taistelu on hauskaa ja taktista. Pelaaja voi rauhassa päättää tähtäämisestään V.A.T.S.-tilassa, ja samat säännöt pätevät niin NPC:n kuin pelaajaankin; yksi luoti voi tappaa. Taistelut voi myös usein kokonaan ohittaa mikäli haluaa keskittyä hiiviskelyyn, kuten itse tein.

Osa Fallout 3:n taistelun ja koko pelin persoonallisuutta on välillä täysin luokaton A.I. Monissa muissa peleissä tekoälyyn menisi hermot, mutta jotenkin sekopäinen A.I. sopii Falloutin muutenkin tärähtäneeseen maailmaan. Plussana myös se että taisteluja ei voi oikein etukäteen ennustaa.

RPG-tyyliin Falloutissa kerätään kokemusta ja tasoja sekä unlockataan uusia kykyjä, mutta kuitenkin peli on täysin mahdollista läpäistä pienitasoisena ja huonoilla aseilla, mikäli vaan osaa taktikoida ja sijoittaa rahansa oikein. Tai hyväksikäyttää bugeja!

Puhumalla kaikki selviää!

''I'm going to kill you SO MUCH''
Fallout 3:n hahmot ovat loistavia ja harvinaisen persoonallisia. Sivuhahmojen kanssa on mukava jutustella, ja osasta voi jopa saada seuralaisen tutkimaan tuhoutunutta maailmaa. Päähahmot ovat hyvin kirjoitettu, ja näiden motiivit ovat uskottavia. Edes viholliset eivät jää persoonattomiksi.

Pelin tapahtumapaikat ovat lähinnä harmaata rauniota ja erämaata, mutta monet kiinnostavat paikat pitävät maailmaa yllä. Washingtonin rauniot ovat omalla tavallaan karmivia, ja pelin suurimmat yhteisöt ovat rakentaneet itselleen kukin omanlaisen kaupunkinsa, esimerkiksi lentotukialuksen sisään. Vaultit ovat välillä jopa ahdistavia ja niihin ei tee mieli mennä ''ihan muuten vaan.''

Astronautin lepotauko.

Lisää? Lisää.
Fallout 3 on saanut viisi lisäriä, jotka ovat kaikki pelaamisen arvoisia. Operation: Anchoragessa päästään osallistumaan armeijasimulaatioon, joka on kaikessa epä-Falloutmaisuudessaan hauska välipala. The Pitt on lisäreistä ehkäpä paras, vieden pelaajan keskelle orjakauppiaiden kaupunkia. Pian on aika valita puolensa, sillä orjat aikovat nousta kapinaan.

Broken Steel lisää muutaman tunnin lisää pelattavaa pääkampanjan jälkeen. Pelaaja voi liittyä Brotherhood of Steeliin, ja levelkatto nousee kolmeenkymmeneen. Point Lookoutissa lähdetään veneellä Point Lookoutiin, jossa samoillaan suoalueella ja tutustutaan outoon kulttiin.

Lisäreistä järjettömin on ehdottomasti Mothership Zeta, jossa pelaaja napataan UFO-alukseen. Muuten ihan kiinnostava ja hauska lisäri on kuitenkin harmillisen täynnä bugeja, joten pelaamisesta ei aina meinaa tulla mitään.

Fallout 3 on ehdottomasti yksi parhaista peleistä ikinä, ja se kannattaa viimeistään nyt pelata läpi odottaessasi Fallout 4:ää.

+ Tarina
+ Maailma
+ Persoonalliset NPC:t
+ Haastava
+ Modattavuus
+ DLC:t
- Heikko A.I.
- Bugit ja lagit