"Our 40-ish hours of game time over four days at Bethesda's Maryland HQ went by on fast-forward. We often forgot to eat, and we begrudged bathroom breaks. Games this captivating don't come along often. Between its engrossing story, ginormous world, well-crafted RPG side, and white-knuckle FPS combat, Fallout 3 completely, utterly gives you your $60 worth."
I think it's going to be a good month for Fallout.
If my fiancee (who mainly plays animal crossing for 20 minutes daily) is excited to buy this over Animal Crossing on the Wii, I think that means its likely there more than a few who will get behind the "Fallout" (hype).
The reason she explained to me is this: Fallout and Fallout2 are widely regarded as some of the best RPGs ever made. RPG fans are salivating for something next gen, and this is a truly NEXT-GEN incarnation of a very old and popular franchise. No one would be questioning a new Deus Ex game for instance.
I think/hope this is relatively comparable to FFIV debuting on the SNES way back- in terms of taking an old franchise and updating it for a whole new audience.
A mere 27 days from now, many of you will – as we've had a chance to – be taking your first steps outside of Vault 101 and into the Wasteland. As your eyes adjust to the unfamiliar, natural daylight, you'll be greeted by a sweeping vista of ... utter ruin.
We were given one hour with Fallout 3 at this year's PAX, and we don't mean some pared down, nerfed, demo-ized level; this was the full version. Not only that, but the Bethesda folks showed it to us in the tricked out Fallout 3 Airstream Trailer, complete with a nuclear family peering in.
Fallout 3 is making a big showing here at PAX. Vault Dweller Survival guides, a giant nuclear test site display with a fully-functional aluminum trailer (left)--and then there's the actual game.
I pulled Bethesda VP Pete Hines and Fallout 3 lead artist Istvan Pely aside to talk about the game, its design, and their reaction to Oblivion comparisons.
A few years back, Bethesda released a sprawling, open-world RPG on the 360. Then, when it came time to release some DLC for it, they dropped the ball. Released some horse armour, whole thing didn't go down too well. So it's just lovely to see that, when it comes to Fallout 3's DLC, Bethesda will be releasing content that's more in line with their later Oblivion stuff - like Knights of the Nine - than the earlier stuff.
Anyone looking to try the game at the upcoming event are invited to stop by developer Bethesda's booth and play it. They only managed to roundup six kiosks so don't be a selfish ninny and hog it for hours. After all, there's over 50,000+ people in attendance and this is one of the most anticipated games of the year.
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