PS3 Fanboy hands-on: Fallout 3
Fallout 3 is Oblivion set in the post-apocalyptic future. If you don't mind that fact, then you'll probably love this game. From the minute you set eyes on the title, the similarities are obvious. This is still clearly Fallout, though. The world feels lovingly recreated from the original games, but expanded with some Bethesda flair.
One of the biggest downsides of Oblivion (and the entire Elder Scrolls series) has been fixed in Fallout 3. While the game can be played as a first- or third-person shooter, with point and shoot gameplay, this is inadvisable thanks to accuracy and control problems. Instead, a Fallout style targeting system allows you pause the game mid-battle and decide how you'll spend your "action points."
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The camera will zoom towards your targeted enemy, showing the different areas of the body that can be selected. Each of these has a corresponding percentage, which indicates the chance you have of hitting it. Each body part also costs a different number of action points, allowing you to string together attacks before the game continues on. A few hits on the torso will be easier to achieve, but the enemy will take longer to kill and will have time to fight back. Alternatively, a hit on the hand will be far less probable, but will make them drop their weapon.
This will all be familiar to Fallout fans, but seeing this combat system integrated so well into a next-gen 3D game has us very excited. We came away from the game thinking that Bethesda was the perfect choice for the game. They know how to make incredible, living worlds on a huge scale and clearly know and understand the Fallout franchise inside out.
As you play Fallout 3 you'll constantly be reminded of Oblivion, but you'll also be experiencing something unique and new. For fans of the series, this will be set in a universe you know and love. We're very interested in seeing more of this title -- particularly the narrative and character development. The thirty minutes of hands-on we had went by far too quickly.
