Fallout 3 Collector's Edition: Prima Official Game Guide [Hardcover]

David Hodgson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 28, 2008

Exclusive Collector's Edition content! Get a view behind the scenes into the creation of the most anticipated game of the year!
A gigantic tour of the Capital Wasteland with over 100 maps showing nearly every area in the game.
Every major ammo and health cache, Bobblehead, Skill Book, Unique Weapon, Weapon Schematic, Mini Nuke, and more!
Expert tactical advice on utilizing V.A.T.S. combat techniques, how best to allocate your S.P.E.C.I.A.L. abilities, plus which skills to pick as your adventure progresses.
Examples for creating different types of characters, from heavy-weapon specialists to stealthy lockpicking pros.
Multiple tactics and tips for every Main, Miscellaneous, and Freeform quest, including exhaustive notes on every single activity you can attempt, anywhere in the game.
Flowcharts and every major Karmic choice detail exactly where your decisions lead. Plus: All you need to know about completing all endings.
Giant map poster to guide you through the Wasteland!
Rugged Hardcover edition for extra survivability.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 496 pages
• Publisher: Prima Games; Har/Pstr C edition (October 28, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0761559973
• ISBN-13: 978-0761559979
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (57 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #429,718 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Originally hailing from the English city of Manchester, David began his video game career in 1995, writing for numerous classic British gaming magazines from a rusting, condemned, dry-docked German fishing trawler floating on the River Thames. Fleeing the United Kingdom, he joined the crew at the part-fraternity, part-sanitarium known as GameFan magazine. David helped launch GameFan Books and form Gamers' Republic, and was partly responsible for the wildly unsuccessful incite Video Gaming and Gamers.com. He wrote his first guide in 1996, but began authoring guides for Prima in 2000. He has written over 70 guides including: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess; Assassin's Creed; Half-Life: Orange Box; Mario Kart Wii; Halo 3: ODST; and Fallout 3. He lives in the woods of the Pacific Northwest, with his wife and an eight-foot statue of Great Cthulhu.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must have for those who plan on leaving the Vault..., October 28, 2008

By 

James Head (NC, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fallout 3 Collector's Edition: Prima Official Game Guide (Hardcover)

In short, this guide is remarkable in every aspect. David Hodgson and the folks at Prima have constructed an incredibly detailed (500 pages!) guide that is not only useful, but dare I say invaluable.

The first thing I noticed about it was that this Collector's Edition is hardcover - a superb idea for a guide that is bound to get tons of use. For those of us who have used a guide so much that its pages fall out, having a hardbound copy is truly appreciated.

The content itself is what truly makes this guide special. You can tell that the folks at Prima painstakingly played the game to construct this book. Briefly, there are 7 chapters (the last of which are appendices) spanning 500 pages. Each chapter abounds with *useful* information and maps, instructing you on how to best take advantage of the game's open-ended structure. Primary and derived statistics are covered in extreme detail, followed by a description of weapons and the many beasts they can be used to decimate.

Perhaps the most incredible part of this guide lies in the walkthrough proper. Each part of the urban wasteland is covered in painstaking detail, with accompanying maps to help guide you. Given that you can choose to be good or evil (or neutral, if you're *really* talented), there are also countless flowcharts along that way that help you understand what decisions you need to make in order to continue on your current path, repent, or turn to the dark side, depending on your inclination. The amount of detail that this guide provides cannot be understated - if you're looking for something related to the world of Fallout 3, you're almost guaranteed to find it here.

Finally, the price is fair (reasonable at the cover price, but a steal if you order from Amazon - it's only $20!!).

Even for someone who has just started exploring the world of Fallout 3, this guide has proved to be invaluable. Grab yourself a copy today - you won't be disappointed! Very highly recommended.

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 500 pages to help you survive the war!, October 28, 2008

By 

Dmitry Kristal (Brooklyn, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Fallout 3 Collector's Edition: Prima Official Game Guide (Hardcover)

The Good:


Holy Details: Nearly 500 pages of game's every nook and cranny is described here: Traits, skills, perks, weapons, levels, enemies, secrets and much much more!

Great Package: A handsome text-book style hardcover that is very eye-catching to even just have it on your bookshelf when not in use. Includes a giant poster, which is a map of the game.

Organized: Greatly organized and ever has an index up-front, so that you can find the information you want quickly.

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The Bad:


Spoilers: While there are some spoiler warnings, its tough not to look away and spoil yourself.

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The Bottom Line:

A great guide for a rookie and veteran vault-dwellers alike. An absolutely amazing in-depth coverage of anything you would like to know. It even goes as far as describing what enhancements do and what their withdrawals effects are. Also, it gives you all possible endings to your adventure(and oh yes, there are plenty of endings based on your karma, character and gender.) A bit of caution in the wind: If you do not want to be spoiled, do not look past the "Training Section" of this guide. Once you pass the game the first time, then it would be a good time to open up a guide fully and see what you missed and what needs to be done to get another ending and much much more. With this game's insanely high replay value, no vault dweller should leave their vaults without this guide!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Comprehensive, November 2, 2008

By 

Evan M.B. - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fallout 3 Collector's Edition: Prima Official Game Guide (Hardcover)

Sometimes strategy guides are disappointing, but this is not one of them. First off it's almost 500 pages, comes with a huge detailed map of the whole wasteland, and for the game's multiple-ways-to-quest system, has maps of all your options and what rewards they give you.

As far the collector's edition version of the book, the back of the guide has tons of cool concept art, Bethesda staff notes, and easter eggs you can find in the game. Plus it's a nice hardcover.