Customer Reviews

Fallout 3 Collector's Edition: Prima Official Game Guide

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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!

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.

This official collectors' guide looks like it's a weathered book straight out of the Fallout universe. It's a must-have for any Fallout fan.

The hardcover is a nice touch, and the paper on which the guide is printed has held up against two and a half weeks of heavy use. At first, I was a little worried about the paper tearing easily, but I no longer think that's an issue. The paper is the same kind that you would find in most paperback novels, but maybe a bit heavier.

The content is very in-depth with diagrams and charts for just about everything you need to know about. The guide starts with detailed tables of weapons, armor and enemy stats. It also goes over S.P.E.C.I.A.L. and skills in detail, giving advice and which skills would actually be the most helpful in the game. There is a comprehensive guide detailing all of the perks and gives advice on which combination of perks would work well for different types of characters.

For each quest, the author gives an excellent tree diagram showing you the various paths and the rewards and consequences to which they lead. These diagrams are usually enough to help you find your way in a quest, but the book also provides lengthy text directions for navigating through the levels along with lists of loot that you should look out for in each area. Sections that could affect your in-game karma level are clearly labeled with angel or devil icons so you can find what you need at a glance.

There's no denying that there is a TON of useful information in this guide book, but unfortunately, the organization makes it a bit difficult to use. Every town and location is listed in the guide's giant index, but instead going by alphabetical order, the locations are grouped by zones on the world map. For example, in the index, you would find Vault 101 listed under the section called "Zone 8: Southern Plains and D.C. Outskirts". If you needed to quickly know the page number for the Vault 101 section, you would have to know that it's in Zone 8 or you would have to search the giant index line-by-line until you find it.

Since this guide was written and published before the game was released, there are a few things that are wrong. The most obvious difference that I found regards the Barkskin perk. The guide says that it gives you Damage Resistance +10% and Endurance +1, however, in the final version of the game, the perk only gives you +5% Damage Resistance.

Despite the organizational issues and a few errors, this guide is an excellent companion to the game. There's an incredible amount of content hidden away in Fallout 3 so having this guide means that you won't miss out on anything in the game.

This is a pretty nice thing to have if you're a big Fallout fan or can find it somewhere for less than $30, it has all of the same info as the $25 standard guide plus a nice hardcover, some art in the back and an extra large poster map of the Wasteland.

I can understand the difficulty involved in writing a guide for such a massive and mostly non-linear game, and most or all of the info you will ever want is in this guide... somewhere. That's the only problem with the guide, if you have a question and need to look something up, good luck. It could be in a number of different places, and with no index, you'll find yourself going to the Table of Contents and guessing at different places to look. The organization of the book seemed strange to me at first, but the more I thought about it, it's probably the best way to do it considering the size of the game. It starts off with an in-depth look at the SPECIAL system and the different skills and perks, then follows up with some general tips for playing the game. Next up is the Bestiary, listing the different factions and enemies you will encounter, followed by a walkthrough for the main quest. Next up are walkthroughs for each of the many side quests, with explainations for all of the different branching points you may encounter in each. Following that is the Tour section, which exhaustively lists every location, item and person that you can find in the game. This section is probably where you will spend most of your time when you have questions while exploring, and it could really use an index. Next is a quick description of the different endings and how they are achieved, then some appendices which are actually quite useful, and finally an extras section which is mostly artwork with comments on how they made the game.
Overall, I'm happy with my purchase, having ordered from Amazon for $23.09.
I used the guide very little on my first way through the game, only checking it if I got stuck or had a specific question about consequences of certain choices, but I'm looking forward to starting a new game and using the guide extensively(this time I'm going to be a very bad character...)

I ordered this guide off Amazon and I have to say that Prima did an excellent job. It has info for all of the main quests and all of the side quests. One part of the guide that may be a bit difficult to navigate is the Tour of the Wasteland section where it lists every possible locale you can visit including info even on the freeform quests. It's very, very exhaustive.

The book itself is very well made The paper is not glossy. I can't really describe the feel of it. It's rougher than normal paper. It almost reminds me of the spelling paper I used in elementary school. I really like the paper. The guide is definitely built to last. The binding is very secure.

I foundd myself reading through it here and there even if I wasn't necessarily using it as a 'guide.' This is one of the more well made guides out there.

Normally I do not review my purchases at sites such as this, however, the visual quality and presentation of this guide warranted a reprieve of this rule. No, it is not perfect and certainly some will like it and some will not; but if you're old school and a collector - this is outstanding. The guide seems well-written, is clearly organized (even if not in the way you prefer, there is a detailed table of contents) and the quality of the materials is solid. I like the heft, the full color throughout and the fact that for the price - I really feel like I got my money's worth on this one. It will go beautifully for anyone who purchased the collector's edition or if like me you bought the Xbox360 survival edition - wow, what a nice complete set that will look great together. Great job on this one guys and kudos to Amazon for a great price!

A must have. I would be so lost without it. Best guide I ever bought and worth every dime.

I had bout the game back in 2010. I loved it wanted to know more about it so I bought a guide. It was very helpfull a must have. When i moved I decided to leave the game and guide behind for a family member who also loved the game. I started looking online to buy a hardcover guide. I bought a hardcover that was advertised as NEW. When I obtained this guide in the mail it was in rough shape. The sides of the book had tears in it, surprised it had a map since it was (new) but the map was once attatched to a wall with tacks. I also found a reciept in the book showing the origional place it was purchased. I do beleive I over payed for this book but idk where to obtain another hardcover guide.

This book is really in-depth and packed with information. Great product. Anyone with Fallout 3 Collector's Edition will love this Guide.