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We ask that you try to make it on time as we
want you to get in your full 30 minutes with the game. We have a full schedule
and unfortunately we won't be able to make up for lost time.
Although that little note was prominently displayed in our invitation to check out Fallout 3 at E3, it was completely and totally unnecessary. After all, wild horses, Kid Icarus Wii, and Jack Tretton himself couldn't have delayed us from our time with one of the most anticipated times of the year. So we were early, a little TOO early. But it's OK, because so was everyone else in our time slot.
Those 30 minutes were filled with pure bliss. And as someone that tried to enjoy Oblivion and failed after several attempts, I walked away from Bethesda's booth with a lot of surprise at how much enjoyment I'd found. This was then followed by panic, as I went and fired up my laptop and scrambled to my favorite online retailer. I had a pre-order to file, and time was wasting. I had to own this game.
We're travelling to a post-apocalyptic wasteland after the jump.
Our demo started at the exit to Vault 101. A character had been pre-generated for us, although in the final game, you'll have plenty of time to walk through and set up your own character. We triggered the switch to open the door, and for the first time, we set foot outside of Vault 101. The character's eyes took a few seconds to adjust to his first look at daylight, and then the world came into focus. And what a true beauty that world was.
Oh sure. Everyone was dead, the city of Washington DC lay in the distance as a wasted ruin of buildings and destroyed freeways, and the silence of the world was deafening. But in the absence of life there was beauty. The visual detail spent on the world was truly stunning, with distant vistas of crumbled skyscrapers and collapsed highways not just painted backgrounds, but objects we could move towards, interact with, and perhaps find a few survivors camped near.
So, off we went.
With hand painted signs pointing us towards the town to Megaton, how could we not resist the call of a name like that? We headed down the mountain in search of human life. And carnage. While the former escaped us, we stumbled across the latter quickly. Or rather, it stumbled across us. A rabid, mutated dog came running up, snarling fiercely and prepared to rip us to shreds. Time to say bye-bye to Fido.
We switched over to tactical mode and started firing, twitching our trigger finger happily. It took a dozen shots to pierce the dog's thick skull, but when Fido finally kicked over and we looted its mottled corpse, finding dog meat within its lootable inventory, we were starting to feel the love.
 Not Fido.
We headed down to the surrounding areas of Megaton and quickly decided that any interaction with other survivors of the nuclear holocaust would be a waste of time. With the clock ticking, we felt our time would better be spent with the important matters: even more violence.
Switching from first person to third person mode, we started to tinker with V.A.T.S, the Vault-tec Assisted Targeting System. This switches combat from a frantic twitchy shooter into a slower paced and more RPG style of combat. An example is shown below.
When you've got the V.A.T.S interface open, combat pauses and a targeting overlay appears on your selected enemy. From here, you can choose to target specific portions of the enemy to varying levels of effect, even choosing to hit the target's weapon. The target's stance, armor, and distance affect your chance to hit, as does the condition of your own weapon.
Once you choose your target and fire, you're treated to either a spectacular miss, or an even more spectacular hit. Connecting with the enemy's weapon arm can cause them to drop their weapon, making them defenseless to your attacks. Or if you'd rather just make your encounter a little quicker, you can target the enemy's head and pull the trigger. Presuming your weapon skills are good and you make your roll, you watch the bullet leave your gun slowly, connect with the target's skull, pierce the brain pan, and exit it. The resulting splatter effect is played out in glorious slow motion. The enemy's lifeless corpse slowly tumbles to the ground. And you stand there with a controller in your hand, grinning with satisfaction. A background dice roll has never been so fun.
Between the twitch style gameplay and the V.A.T.S. system, we actually found that turn-based combat felt a lot more comfortable. Never mind that it's more in keeping with the Fallout series, the ability to take advantage of the most precise combat when the clock wasn't working against us made the game feel a lot more accessible and (ironically) kept a much more enjoyable pace. The twitch mechanic works fine though, so worry not, FPS fans.
When we were done, it was both amusing and unsurprising to see that every player in the room had ended up at a separate location in the game. We had all started at the same point, and although the game gives you guidance if you want to follow the storyline, the open world is so filled with detail and various side items that exploration is actually fun. In point of fact, even the people that had followed the storyline ended up in different spots.
Fallout 3 is atmospheric, no question. The game's environment is half of the charm. But the level of detail is so great that no matter where you go, you're treated to something. Items, unique environments, inside jokes, references to older games in the series... it's crazy how much work has been put into the game. The world of Fallout 3, despite the fact that it's barren and mostly lifeless, actually manages to be so compelling in its post-apocalyptic nuclear vistas that are almost completely devoid of life. Wandering around and exploring the remains of humanity isn't morbid... it's just a lot of fun. Weird, isn't it?
By the time our half hour was up, and Bethesda reps had to drag a few of us away from our kiosks while we clung to the controllers for just a few seconds longer, we had built up an appetite for the game, a hunger that simply can't be satisfied for months while we wait for the game to release. Fallout 3 looks fantastic, the gameplay is totally solid, and the experience is harmonious. This game is perfectly poised to win a few awards. And that's coming from someone that doesn't normally care for open world games.
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