Customer Reviews

Fallout 3 Collector's Edition

5 star:		(52)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I never played the original fallout games, but I have always been an elder scrolls fan. Oblivion is one of my favorite games that I have ever had the pleasure of playing, news that the same team bought up and was working on this game made me very happy, if it could just be oblivion with guns, I would be sure to find much enjoyment. However it is SO much more.


The game is epic in scope, when you are "born" you crawl around, and you find this book (which is very cool) that teaches you about the S.P.E.C.I.A.L System, and you get to choose how you will be. I love the whole way this game is presented, everything seems very realistic, the environments are of the best I have ever seen.

The voice acting has to be heard to be enjoyed. I finally beat this sucker, after many late night gaming sessions (who needs sleep?) its crazy how many times I would say, ok, a few more minutes then its time to sleep, and the next thing I know the suns coming up!

One of the cool things about this game is the Pip-Boy 3000, it is how you manage everything, stuff you pick up, your aid, your ability to check your radiation level, as well as letting you check your maps, choose your quest, and the coolest feature of all, the ability to listen to the in game radio.

The radio features music from the 40's and 50's and its all real music, very unique, and fits perfectly into the world this game has created. I love it. It adds so much to the experience.

Since your reading this review, you may wish to know about the "Collectors" features. So lets get into if its worth you dropping another 20$ for.

There is no definitive Yes or No. If you work in the game industry, this is one of the best things you can buy, you get a 100 page art book that looks really good, you get the concept art for the creatures, character armor, and environment landscapes. This book makes others such as gears of war seem quite inadequate, this book alone was worth the price for me. The very cool looking lunchbox which houses everything only sweetens the deal, it is very well constructed, and looks awesome, that's all i can say. If you enjoy the retro type advertising of the game (and in game) you will love the lunch box, it is very cool. You get a making of dvd, which I'm planning on exploring later on after I beat the game again. You also get the bobble head which is currently "bobbling" right now as I type. I love this guy, he looks awesome, I'm somewhat disappointed we didn't get the version with him giving a thumbs up, but this is still cool nonetheless.

This is a very good game, much more mature than oblivion due to the language and themes (one part has you visiting a virtual world, where you break up a marriage, beat up a little kid to make him cry, then proceed with murdering all the inhabits while wearing a mask scaring them all away -- though you can avoid it, if you figure out how to get out on your own!)

Speaking of which, I must mention the cool perks system. If you want to play the game as being evil (my next play through for sure!) you can use the "Sandman" Perk and kill people in their sleep, if that's not enough, there is a perk that lets you eat people! Also whenever you pick pocket you can replace what you stole with a grenade and watch as they die (you get an achievement for this too!)

The game is so good, so slick, I really hope they treat this game like oblivion and offer some expansions, maybe one taking place in NY, LA, or something, that would be very cool.

The new VATS system is pretty cool, you can use Attack Points and use your weapon in a cinematic view that lays waste to your enemy, weather your slamming a sledgehammer down on a demon dog, or shooting off a raiders head with your hand gun or rifle (think resident evil type animations), with that said, this game had me jumping several times throughout, it is very good and you get very involved in this game.

Lastly, I must mention the graphics are the best I have seen. They surpass Oblivion, and look better than any game out on the 360 right now.

Bottom line, pick it up, you will be playing this more than 1-2 days, it is a very good game, a game that requires repeat visits. It combines the best of all my favorite games, GTA's seedy underground environment, Resident Evils Character design, boss strength, and the gun play and horror, oblivions fantastic engine and how everything goes together. It has to be played to truly enjoy.

Also, the guide is NOT necessary, the game is pretty easy to figure out on your own. (though not an easy game)

I got my CE from amazon this afternoon, and this is the nicest CE I bought this year comparing to the Fable 2 CE and GTA 4 CE. The CE package has a neat looking lunch box, you could either put it somewhere as a decoration or use it as the storage for small stuff, that Pipboy figure is a fine-maded bubblehead, kinda hilarious; There is also an artbook of 100 pages featuring the concept art in Fallout3, and a DVD of making of the fallout 3; I think the CE is totally worth the price especially now amazon is offering the $10 giftcard.

Now thinking about the game, maybe you would argue that this is just "Oblivion with guns", but this "Oblivion with guns" has more to offer than just "Oblivion with guns", it has a massive story(according the guide i received today, after you completed the game you got tons to do), also the SPECIAL is back! Pipboy is back, i cant help crying after i creating my character and seeing a whole new wasteland, which is far more detailed than the game I played 10 years ago. Maybe you would argue again, Bethesda is incapable of doing top-notch black humor like Black Isle, but the feels of exploring the wasteland is back, here I listed a few pros and cons

Pros
+ build of the whole wasteland
+ mission design
+ user interface
+ storytelling
+ Pipboy
+ tons of things to explore

Cons
- cant skip the VATS slow motion
- making choices wont affect whole game too much unlike previous ones

In general, I would recommend this game to those who love Oblivion

The short answer: Game of the Year.

There you go, no need to read further. You're wasting valuable playing time.

For those with a bit more of an attention span: Game of the Year --- because ---

While it seems at first glance that Fallout 3 might just be Oblivion reskinned, spending a little time with this game will dispell that notion completely. Yes, it's made by Bethesda and if you've played their earlier RPGs Morrowind and Oblivion you will see a lot of similarities and will definitely feel right at home with this game. But the similarities quickly fade into mere recognizable structural convention as the player begins to see that there is a rather stout and unexpected FPS mixed with their RPG.

Okay RPG players it's not going to be all mindless or super difficult finger twitching gun battles --- you are thinkers --- well the VATS system is only one button away and you can take a half an hour to pick a limb, body, or head shot if that's how you wish to play. All the strategy of leveling up, what powers to get, weapons to get, and what armor etc. are still there --- there's even a very lite version of co-op play if you find the right characters.

And to the skeptical FPS players --- I've played 'em all --- all the Halo games, Far Cry, Bioshock etc. etc. etc. --- whatever --- and this is as smooth and solid as any of those games as a shooter. I repeat, smooth and solid. But when you want a little extra sauce on your kills, once again, the VATS system is the answer for you as well. Very satisfying slow motion ultra-gory head explosions and full utilization of the Havoc psychics engine are just a button push away. Really that's nothing but pure fun.

This is an extremely detailed and fascinating world that is brought to life with great care, ambition, and talent. Also, as simple and predictible as the story might be, I found myself actually following it and often being amused by it instead of completely ignoring it on my way to the next action sequence. I swear, I have no idea what's going on in Halo for example --- nor do I care.

And lastly, for the Fallout 1 and 2 players --- you probably won't think anything will be as good as those games. But really this game has captured a lot of the flavor those games --- while attaining a very next generation playability --- besides we need to move into this century now. Here's a tissue.

Bethesda, Nice effort on this outstanding game and also on the excellent collectors edition --- cool bobble, art book, video, and lunch box. My favorite CE so far.

Fallout 3 - Circa 2008


GOOD:
- The game world is open ended and is pretty big (and don't forget you can explore every inch of it), it rivals that of Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion (although Oblivion is much bigger BUT Note: one should not overlook the fact that while Oblivion is bigger, Fallout 3's world is much more details and has more to do within it).
- Hundreds of quests (some really big and some really small) to perform you can also skip any you want or try to do them all, plus you deicide the outcome of these mission if it be good or bad.
- Interact with lots NPC's to get a sense of this large world, there are literally hundreds of them and they are all fully voiced and move as well as display life like emotions on their faces.
- A very life like world in which vigilantes chase criminals, wives nag husbands and mutants prowl the wastes looking for prey (it might just be you).
- Do just about anything you can think of like steal (pretty much anything you want, although be prepared to face consequences), save people form gangs/bandits/crazed mutants, explore long lost government bunkers to collect relics of days past, or just hang back and do almost nothing really the choice is yours.

BAD:
- This game may be a bit too hard for most casual gamers, especially the first few hours when you not use to getting by on your own in world.
- The loading in this game is can get annoying at times, but its not often and is by no way as bad as older games of this type like Oblivion.
- Some of the character animations especially those of your character are a little weird and or sloppy (but in 1st person you cannot see your own animations so it's not so much a problem).

IF IT FITS YOUR TASTE:
- A Sci-Fi First Person Shooter RPG with a 50's post-apocalyptic theme (I know it's a lot to take in for the first time), think of something in terms of the documentary Atomic Café or the movie Mad Max but with a 50's premise.
- The game play ranges from choice making and story telling to exploring and puzzle solving to First Person Shooting and fighting.
- This is a do as you please type of RPG (like Fable 2 or Mass Effect), this not anything like Final Fantasy where you pick from a menu and you choose the outcomes of actions, that said there is little to no character identity outside of the deeds you have done and don't expect a large party of other characters who tag a long on missions like in most other Japanese-RPG's (like Final Fantasy).
- This game is not meant for children; the game has mature themes and can be pretty gory and bloody as well as violent and even has many foul words, although you can turn off some of these features its recommend that a minor should not play this game.
- V.A.T.S. or the Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System, plays a very important role in combat, when using VATS the game pauses and a "bullet time" mode kicks in where using action points (and hidden D&D like dice rolls - much like Mass Effect and Oblivion) you can take time in choosing targets and attack your enemies. Note: you don't have to use VATS and you can always play the game as a FPS style like Halo.
- Perks are abilities you earn within the game to give you different an useful abilities, they range from perks which can raise stats in different areas to ones that give special unique abilities like night vision and stealth running.

GAME IT'S MOST ASSOCATED TOO:
- Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion (Xbox 360/PS3/PC)
- Fallout 2 (PC)
- Bioshock (Xbox 360/PS3/PC)
- Fable 2 (Xbox 360)

ADDITIONAL NOTES:
- By killing your enemies in VATS you get to see them die in a much more gory way.
- You can have a few Companions follow and help you in the game one of which is a Dog called Dog Meat, note you must meet these Companions in the game first and ask them to help you.
- Your good and bad choices are tracked in game by a Karma system that will have some affect on your game. Example: certain missions will only open up when you have good/bad Karma and some dialogue with in game characters will be different depending on your Karma, and Karma affects the ending of the game (which there are many different endings).
- In the limited collector's edition you can get an art book as well as a `making of" DVD a soundtrack and a Pip boy bobble head (its cute).
- Some limited collector's editions of this game (that can be found on Amazon) will give you a real to life replica of the Pip Boy 3000 to be used as a Bedside alarm clock.
- There are many downloads for this game on Xbox Live Marketplace, all which expand the world and gameplay of Fallout 3. The download packs are: Operation Anchorage, The Pitt, Broken Steel, Point Lookout, and Mothership Zeta.
- This game is also for the PC and PS3 (although the PS3 version has no option to download content - but getting the Game of the Year version gives you access to Operation Anchorage, The Pitt, and Broken Steel for PS3).

I love this game wholeheartedly and cant wait for the Fallout: New Vegas Collector's Edition.

I do however recommend that if you have a capable PC to buy this game for PC and download the G.E.C.K. If you like to mod for games this is a great one to mod for. There is a huge community for modders for Fallout 3 and the things you can do are seemingly limitless. For example you can...

Add new perks, have ridable mounts, have new companions, new housing options, change the animations, add an expanded arsenal of weapons and armor, wear disguises to fool different factions.

It is a must in my opinion to play this game to its fullest.

Cheers,
Billy

It is not often that I find myself in awe of a video game. Sure I'll find games that are fun and have cool story lines, but it's rare to be impressed at the expansiveness of the world I get to explore. Like many others I remember Fallout 2 and how interesting that game was to play. Even though I didn't think it was as good as the other Black Isle titles like Baldur's Gate II or Planescape: Torment (albeit they came after). So I was really intrigued when I heard news of Fallout 3 and saw some screen shots from it. I even enjoyed the game "Brotherhood of Steel" on the Xbox, but I wasn't expecting such a massive game as we got with Fallout 3.

Pros:
Massive environment
Level Up with interesting "Perks" rather than just "Skills"
Option of 3rd or 1st person view
Quick Travel option
Large array of weapons to choose from
Well written story line and characters
Fully customizable character

Cons:
Level up process stops at 20 (well before I was close to finishing the game)
Melee character seems weak
Story Line can end in a way where you can't use the same character in expansions

I honestly thought the Fallout franchise was dwindling, especially with the apparent disappearance of Interplay from the game developer's community. Bethesda has apparently picked up those pieces and crafted one of the most expansive games ever developed. I love all kinds of RPG's and I usually expect a lengthy game with them. This is what I got out of games like Knights of the Old Republic and Mass Effect, but Fallout 3 trumps these games. It makes those games look brief by comparison. You can seriously expect months of game play out of this game if you play it very thoroughly. That's only optional, if you just want to stick with the main quests and story, you can finish the game a lot faster.

At first glance I thought the game would be a fairly typical experience because you start out in a relatively small location called "Vault 101". This is a bit of a different intro for a Fallout character, because here you are a vault dweller, you don't start out in the wastelands. Anyway, this whole section of the game helps you refine your character and get used to the controls. Like Mass Effect this is the extensive dialogue section of the game, which is fine, because I really like that developing story element. I know some people will want to get right to the action, but I think this is an essential element in story telling. Fallout does it well, in my opinion, not like some novels or games I've come across.

Eventually your character grows up and you find yourself needing to get out of the vault. This is where the awe of Fallout really sinks in. Journeying the wastelands is incredible. It literally feels like you can wander these areas for days (and I think I did just that). There are small outposts of humanity that you can come across and interact with. This is one of the aspects where you'll get a lot of your quests. Usually the first place a player will stumble upon is a place called Megaton. You can even be given the option of buying a house there and really setting up a home. I thought this was a really interesting thing to have in the game.

The options you have with combat are great here. You can choose to have a melee character or one that uses small guns or large guns. This is sort of developed through how you setup your array of skills. In the game you can play through with either first person or a third person view. Having this kind of option really sets this game apart from other RPG's I've played. When I played through this game I setup a character that used small guns, so being able to use it more as an FPS was great, in my opinion. My girlfriend tried to play through as a melee character, which is usually her favorite type, but as soon as she got into a fight with a Talon Company group it was nearly impossible to beat them. A melee character was fine up against raiders, but very difficult to work with against heavier opponents. I can't even imagine fighting against the Enclave. Needless to say she eventually gave up and just started over making a shooter character. So that was a con for the game.

Like most RPG's the amount of items you can hold is dependent on how strong your character is. Interestingly you can carry an infinite amount of ammunition, so by the end of the game I had thousands of rounds for guns I rarely used. I thought that was rather amusing. I couldn't pick up an empty tin can, but I had on my person 3,000 rounds of 5mm ammo for a mini-gun I never use. An element of the game that I thought was interesting was the ability to repair items. This was really interesting, because it goes with the notion that as you use an item or it gets shot it will become damaged. I found the repair skill absolutely invaluable, it also made it unnecessary for me to keep going back to "town" to sell off all the junk I got in the wastelands. Instead I just repaired my items and made them stronger. Repairing items will make armor stronger and guns more powerful, so it is very essential in this game.

As you wander around the wastelands you will enter various areas and be able to explore all kinds of elements in the environment. As you wander you get into random encounters with wildlife or Raiders. These are naturally around to get you into combat and give you some experience instead of just mindlessly wandering the terrain. There is always something to explore though, especially in a ruined town area. Lots of times you'll be able to go into subways or sewer areas. These areas are absolutely massive though and there are tons of them. The only gripe I have with this is they almost all look the same. Unless it's a quest environment, the random interior setups are usually all very similar. This does make sense given they are just sewer systems and train tunnels, but having them be massive is kind of annoying, because I would spend more hours exploring these random areas rather than working on main quest elements. The outside environment is far more interesting than these expansive tunnels as well, and by the end of the game I was getting sick of going in and out of subway tunnels. To the developers credit whenever I explored buildings there was a degree of difference between them. Some areas of a building felt similar to others, but for the most part, when I explored places like museums, it really felt like I was in a museum.

The map is basically broken up into a square grid. It's fairly easy to navigate and is essential when exploring wasteland areas. Sometimes you will walk by a door you can enter and not even know it. The map helps you locate these areas with ease. There's even a function built in for "quick travel", this is absolutely essential in my opinion. As you get to various locations you can "discover" the main areas and quick travel between these main points. Wandering the wasteland back and forth would be incredibly tedious and I would've probably had a lot less fun playing this game. The only time you can't get away with "quick travel" is when you have an escort type of mission, but those are few and you don't have to agree to take them.

The graphics are pretty much what I would expect from this game. They're on the same level as something like Mass Effect, so I don't think anyone will be disappointed with this game in that regard. Creating a destroyed Washington D.C. in the detail they did must have been an immense undertaking. The landscape is simply incredible and I loved exploring it. There were times here and there where I think the graphics were glitching a little, such as when I could see some arbitrary lines here and there. This was nothing that really disturbed my game play though. The game did freeze up on me a few times and this is probably because of how huge the game is.

The overall story line is actually very well written. Albeit I am getting somewhat tired of having a story centered on finding the "G.E.C.K.". It seems like this is the staple of all Fallout story arcs. I honestly hope this is the last one. It was fun going around searching through the corporate buildings of the companies involved, but I'm just getting more tired of that story line. Luckily it's a rather small aspect, so it's not at the forefront like the other ones. Other than that the game is very well written, the characters you encounter are actually quite memorable. It's similar to Half Life 2, where you actually sort of have a vested interest in the NPC's like Alyx Vance. However, if you're the type of player that is annoyed by all these people and relationships, you do have the option of killing off a huge portion of them. This is how you get that achievement of scourge of the wasteland.

On that note, I should warn people that want to play the expansion packs. If you're in the middle of a game play through the "expansion" quests first. There is an element in the conclusion of the main game that will not allow you to continue with the same character you've made. This was a huge con for me. Basically because there were expansion packs available and being released, I expected to be able to continue to play as my character, especially since those expansions allow you to level up even further than the original game would allow. So when I played through this once, I figured I'd be able to go and finish exploring a bit more, but that is not the case.

On that note another con is that Level Up only goes to level 20 within the main game. I found this kind of annoying/deceiving because the perks in the level up sequence were never ALL available to me, so I thought I could keep getting more experience and leveling. This is not true, it stops at 20. However, the perks you get in the level up sequence are awesome. I LOVE this feature of the game. The things you get to do are incredibly useful and it's actually very hard to choose which perk you want to take.

In conclusion this is one of the better games I've played. Despite some of the cons, the pros far outweigh the cons. One of the only ways they could improve this game is allowing split screen co-op so that my friends and I could play together at my house. If you are a fan of a post apocalyptic environment and RPG's, Fallout 3 is basically a dream come true.

Scientific Note: One thing I liked about the limited edition pack was the art book that came with it. In there I read that the developers were fully aware that a wasteland seen in Fallout existing after a Nuclear War is totally incorrect. While I do enjoy the wasteland environment, I knew scientifically that when you have nuclear radiation things usually grow back more lush than before. It doesn't permanently wipe everything out. I'm glad the developers took the time to note this fact in the book. That extra book also has incredible storyboard art and is a beautiful thing to look through.

This is a great game. It is very long and detailed. You get immersed in a post apocalyptic world where you can be good, evil or anywhere in between. One of the best games ever made.

comes with the game,making of dvd,art book and a vault boy bobble head. its all very good quality and i highly recomend it

This game has honorably captured the mission of its prequels to tell a great story, send a "writing on the wall" kind of message about compassion and the importance of folklore in humanity, and also be hilarious and stylish. The expansions they've made on the system and game play are logical and imaginative enhancements that make this game seriously addictive.

The collector's edition specifically has a lot of good-quality in-game toys that have been way too much fun. The boyfriend and I taped a "+10 to driving" post-it to the bobble head and stuck it on my dashboard. I also plan to dress him up for Christmas. The lunchbox is big enough to be functional and is identical to the ones used to make a bottle cap mine in the game. The documentary and the concept art book are also definitely worth it if you want to see the transformation between 1990's 2D games Fallout 1 & 2, and this masterpiece.

No diehard fan of this game can possibly regret this purchase.

My son and I looked every where for this version in the lunch box. We found it here on Amazon at a GREAT price. Awesome Game.