Fallout 3 Preview

Hooked Gamers provides a faux-preview of Fallout 3, which is actually an overview of a number of known facts about the game.

Character development is completely open ended. Everything you do will have a consequence and nothing the player does will ever be the ‘˜correct’ choice. Everything has a pro and a con, it is up to the player which is the best choice for himself at that particular time. Good or bad, you are the guy with the mouse click and decide. The players’ character is SPECIAL. No, not so much special in that way, but as in the character development system that stands for Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility and Luck. It is by these attributes that you will live and die out in the wastes. With the SPECIAL system, the player can literally create any character they wish. In addition to these attributes, the ‘˜perks’ system also makes a return. Perks are special (in the normal meaning of the word) traits that offer the player character certain abilities and advantages that can have a dramatic impact on how you play the game.

Adventuring in Fallout 3 will offer up a few new challenges most RPGs never take into account. Survival has traditionally always been a healing potion or curative spell away. Since Fallout 3 is of the post-apocalyptic nature, you won’t be finding any warm fuzzy feel-good spells to make the pain go away. Survival in the wastes will be made up of a careful balance of radiation intake.

Your PipBoy is equipped with Geiger counter, which will alert you when you wander into a radiated area. Untainted food and clean water is a major survival concern as well. Your character needs to eat and drink. Eating tainted food might just hurt as much as it will help and clean water sources are few and far between, so don’t be afraid to do some toilet drinking if it comes down to that. Indeed, toilets can in fact be a clean source of drinking water out in the wastes. Take it from where you can get it.