Fallout 3 | |
---|---|
Developer(s) | Bethesda Game Studios |
Publisher(s) | Bethesda Softworks |
Director(s) | Todd Howard |
Producer(s) | Gavin Carter |
Designer(s) | Emil Pagliarulo |
Programmer(s) |
|
Artist(s) | Istvan Pely |
Writer(s) | Emil Pagliarulo |
Composer(s) | Inon Zur |
Series | Fallout |
Engine | Gamebryo |
Platform(s) | |
Release | |
Genre(s) | Action role-playing |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
Aggregate score | |
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Aggregator | Score |
Metacritic | PC: 91/100 PS3: 90/100 X360: 93/100 |
Review scores | |
Publication | Score |
1UP.com | A |
Edge | 7/10 |
EGM | A, B+, A+ |
Eurogamer | 10/10 |
Famitsu | 38/40 |
Game Informer | 9.5/10 |
GameSpot | 9/10 (X360/PC) 8.5/10 (PS3) |
GameSpy | |
IGN | 9.6/10 (X360/PC) 9.4/10 (PS3) |
OXM (US) | 10/10 |
PC Gamer (US) | 91% |
Awards | |
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Publication | Award |
9th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards | Game of the Year 2008 Best Writing |
IGN Best of 2008 | Game of the Year 2008 Best Xbox 360 Game Best RPG Best Use of Sound |
GameSpot Best of 2008 | Best PC Game Best RPG |
Golden Joystick Award 2009 | Ultimate Game of the Year 2009 PC Game of the Year 2009 |
Fallout 3 is an action role-playing open world video game developed by Bethesda Game Studios. The third major installment in the Fallout series, it is the first game to be created by Bethesda Softworks since it bought the franchise from Interplay Entertainment. It was released worldwide in October 2008 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. The game is set within a post-apocalyptic, open world environment that encompasses a region consisting of the ruins of Washington, D.C. and much of the countryside to the west of it, referred to as the "Capital Wasteland". It takes place within Fallout's usual setting of a world that deviated into an alternate timeline thanks to atomic age technology, which eventually led to its devastation by a nuclear apocalypse in the year 2077 (referred to as "The Great War"), caused by a major international conflict between the United States and China over natural resources and the last remaining supplies of untapped petroleum. The main story takes place in the year 2277, around 36 years after the events of Fallout 2, of which it is not a direct sequel.
Players take control of an inhabitant of Vault 101, one of several underground shelters created before the Great War to protect around 1,000 humans from the nuclear fallout, who is forced to venture out into the Capital Wasteland to find their father after he disappears from the vault under mysterious circumstances. They eventually find themselves seeking to complete their father's work while fighting against the Enclave, the corrupt remnants of the former U.S. government that seeks to use it for their own purposes. Fallout 3 was well received by critics and received a number of Game of the Year awards, praising the game's open-ended gameplay and flexible character-leveling system, and is considered one of the best video games of all time. The NPD Group estimated that Fallout 3 sold over 610,000 units during its initial month of release in October 2008, performing better than Bethesda's previous game, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, which sold nearly 500,000 units in its first month. The game received post-launch support, with Bethesda releasing five downloadable add-ons. The game also received controversy upon release in Australia, for the use of and the ability to be addicted to alcohol and drugs; in India, for cultural and religious sentiments over the mutated cattle in the game being called "Brahmin"; and in Japan, due to having a weapon called the "Fat Man", which releases mini nuclear bombs.