Naturally, like any other game out there, Fallout 3 does indeed have a story that progresses you through the game, but ultimately how you reach that destination is up to you. The premise is simple and quite endearing - you are a young man in search of his father (brilliantly voiced by Liam Neeson by the way). Amazingly, you start off as a little baby, and I've never seen a FPS game starting you off as a toddler! As brief as that is, it is still quite a welcome surprise. I digress.

     The true brilliance in Fallout 3 lies in the unknown - and what I mean is how things exactly will play out. From the early goings, you realize that essentially every action you take, or any word you say, will reflect how people react to you as a person. There is a "Karma" rating. If you rob or kill someone, you get "Bad Karma." If you save someone, or do generous or gracious acts, you get "Good Karma." Based on how your overall Karma rating is, the world around you perceives you to be as good as your actions are. It is a fascinating system. I generally prefer to have as much Good Karma as I possibly can, but that if I need to do something a little dangerous, or something outrageous, I will not hesitate, as I am simply following my own path.

     One of my favorite moments early on as I was just understanding the game was when I first emerged from the Vault in which my character was born and I first travelled into the depths of the Wasteland. I came across this small, ramshackle house and went inside. I spoke to the innocent homeowner about the Wasteland to gather more information, and when she went into the other room, and I wandered into her kitchen in search of food or a weapon for survival. I remember seeing a knife on the table and wondered if I should take it. If I did, that would be stealing, but I needed a weapon to survive out there - at least to start. I ultimately stole the knife because my primary goal at this point was to survive as best I could. I got a little Bad Karma from that action, but over the course of the game it obviously blew over. But the very idea that I pondered so much about robbing a knife is something I've never done before. What other game could make you think so much?

     Another brilliant time was when I was negotiating with a group of vampires who were terrorizing this town I wandered into, and being a good samaritan, I wanted to help this town out. I thought to go in guns blazing against these blood thirsty vampires, but decided not to, but rather use my own intelligence and speech to influence them not to attack the town any longer. I remember it being a sketchy and uneasy conversation, but eventually we came to an understanding and the vampires left the town alone. Wow. Since when can that happen in a video game?!

     There are countless times in Fallout 3 where I have taken the diplomatic approach. Sometimes I did not, like at this slave camp. I remember not caring for the way the brusque guard was talking to me, so I blew his head off with my shotgun and rescued the slaves. It was awesome.

     There really is a lot to say about Fallout 3, and I know I haven't discussed every facet of the game, and without going on and on for pages on end about it, let me just say that this is a truly incredible game. Graphically, it is a powerhouse. The action is pretty tight with a wide variety of weaponary. While this game may have the occaisional bug or hiccup when playing (once or twice it froze on me), 99.9% of the time, this game plays flawlessly and it just blows you away every step of the way.

     Believe me when I tell you this game is incredible. If you've never played it, you simply must! It isn't overly complicated with its leveling up systems and all that stuff in some more conventional RPG's, Fallout 3 is relatively easy to understand, and it becomes a supremely fun game to master.

     Fallout 3 is on my list of Top 10 Favorite Video Games of All Time. It was my pick for the 2008 Game of the Year, and it still leaves a tremendous impact on me to this day as much as a game can impact you. This game sort of reminds me of that quote from the Terminator films..."No fate but what we make." Brilliant.

-Kurt L.

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