Fallout 3 starts a flame in my heart, going to set the world on fire.
pcps3xbox360
The lights dim and a shiver runs down my spine as Ron Perlman starts narrating again – “War. War never changes.” I can’t tell if I’m getting goosebumps because the air con is up too high and I just took a bite from my choc-top or if it’s anticipation.
I’m sitting in the Director’s Suite at the Hoyt’s in the Entertainment Quarter – formerly Fox Studios. I stop eating my breakfast – the choc-top ice cream – and I realise the spine-tingling is all Fallout 3.
Pete Hines, the Product Manager for Fallout 3, is taking us through the game today. He has two builds of the game – one showcases their pre-alpha game world, ending in the destruction of Megaton – a town built around an unexploded nuclear bomb. The second one is a new alpha build of the game and… damn.
The game kicks off and you’re a new-born child opening your eyes for the first time. Blood speckles the screen as you see a silhouette of your father – voiced by Liam Neeson - and he tells your mother your gender… after you choose it.
From there he uses a machine to find out what you’ll look like when you’re older, and this is where you create your character’s identity using a system similar to Oblivion’s - but expanded on. Your father’s features will resemble yours – after the presentation Pete Hines let GameArena know that it’s certainly possible that you might get your dad to look like Qui-Gon Jin.
Once happy with your looks, the game flashes forward to the world’s most agile one year old. The meat of the game doesn’t begin until you’re 19, and Fallout 3 uses the earlier years to teach you the game mechanics – a one year old, 10 year old and 16 year old version of your character gets you ready for the real world.
We’re still looking at a very early version of the game, and while bugs are evident you can really see how this game is shaping up. The RPG feeling is alive and well – the damage your weapons do is directly related to your skill with each weapon, your choices result in karma which will affect your relationships and talking to people drastically changes depending on your attributes.
Voice acting is a huge part of Bethesda’s plan in Fallout 3 as well. Hines told us,
We try and build everything to the idea that the player just loses themselves in this world and every step you take away from this, you know, having people talk to you and no sound coming out is just you know we just didn’t feel like it worked so you know we definitely wanted to do it and you know do it better than we did in Oblivion so order of magnitude more voices in the game so you don’t feel like you’re talking to the same 3 people in the game.
The whole game is running on an upgraded version of the Oblivion engine – and the upgrades are definitely noticeable. The nuclear weapons in the game really showcase how pretty the game can look and how well it can run – a dozen nuclear weapons being fired didn’t impact the framerate at all. To make the Wasteland malleable they’re using Parallax Occlusion Mapping, giving the illusion of deformable terrain – and it’s definitely convincing.
Set in Washington – the other side of the country to Fallout and Fallout 2 – there are many familiar landmarks, even to people who haven’t been in the country. The build Pete brought with him showed off a destroyed version of the Washington Monument while what’s left of the Capitol building loomed on the horizon.
Details like those are really going to sell the game to players. Even places that aren’t necessarily landmarks are carefully thought out to reinforce you are living in a post apocalyptic nuclear wasteland. Drinking water gives you health back, but also irradiates you. The monsters in the game – mutants and ghouls – are deformed messes with one focus. Your demise.
The V.A.T.S. system tying the first person shooter style to the original Fallout feel looks like it might break the game, but Hines insisted thorough playtesting wouldn’t let that happen. The camera system which accompanies V.A.T.S. is fantastic regardless – each shot cues a cinematic camera angle change which really reinforces the impact of that bullet/rocket/nuke you just shot.
While the isometric view, groin shots and car are all gone (plus probably quite a few other things we didn’t get to see) what’s important in Fallout 3 is the feeling. Even in the build we saw - with it’s messed up lighting, hilarious voice-acting and occasionally buggy AI – Fallout 3 felt right. The worst thing about watching Fallout 3 in action? Having to wait for the game to hit later this year. Looks like I’m reinstalling Fallout 2 again.
