Fallout 3 Review - This is going to take a while
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The first thing I noticed is the vast array of items literally poured throughout every room, building, landscape, destroyed hovel and underground cavern. In one random room, I counted 47 items that could possibly be picked up, and that’s pretty indicative of all rooms in Fallout 3. To properly search a room, it’s going to take some time wading through all the hack-possible terminals, books, cups, silverware, plates, weapons, locked boxes, safes, medicine and plenty more items. All of these things can be taken and sold at various retailers, or traded for other goods. There are also about 30 different kinds of food and drink to find, each with their own benefits and corresponding negative radiation levels. It’s pretty common to find lots of items in games, but it’s definitely not common to find this many, as they’re just freaking everywhere! It’s almost overwhelming.
One hook to this incredible bounty is that some of these items are designated for you (indicated by a greenish on-screen display), and some are not (indicated by a red on-screen display). Items that display red, then, are already owned. This means that, if you pick up the wrong thing, at the wrong time, and someone sees you, you'd better be prepared to shoot it out. Fallout 3 is all about thievery, and the sneakier the better, as it does not take much to be caught.
Another thing I really liked was the time frame surrounding in-game characters. For example, you can’t get into a store at night, because they are closed and locked. And if you really investigate, you will find the shopkeeper sleeping in their own bed, at their own home. If you happen to find a group of people together at noon, well, it’s because they are having lunch and discussing relevant information that will help your efforts. Another time, entering a store I had been in about 100 times, I just happened to see everyone coming to work and preparing to have breakfast and discussing events I had caused just the night before.
That’s the thing about Fallout 3; characters and dynamics change quickly and virtually guarantee a different game experience every time you turn it on. I think it would be quite impossible to have the same experience and outcome twice. By timing things properly, you always find additional information you would not have found otherwise. The AI in this game is just amazing; characters move around, and at times become nearly impossible to find.
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