Finally, after years of patient waiting, Fallout fans have a new game to cherish. However the game isn't a 'true sequel' in the Fallout line up. It's as different from the original franchise as Quantum of Solace is from Gold Finger; the world is the same, the core ideas are the same, but the execution is worlds apart. Rabid Fallout fans (Fallies?) consider yourselves pre-warned; if you were hoping for the turn based game you loved a decade ago you may be disappointed. But at the end of the day Fallout 3 is a game that's easy to pick up but ridiculously hard to put down.

I should probably qualify that statement by mentioning that Fallout 3 is 'hard to put down' if you liked developer Bethesda Studios previous effort Oblivion. In fact if Fallout 3 is a true sequel to anything, it's a sequel to Oblivion. Although it might seem unfair to call Fallout 3 'Oblivion with guns', it's equally hard not to think it after your first few hours of play. So if the free roaming and persistent world elements of Oblivion bugged you, then the almost identical game play of Fallout 3 isn't going to win your heart easily.

For the uninitiated Fallout 3 takes place in an alternate time line where the close of the 20th century sees the US and China get nuclear on each other. The rich and pretty people herd into privately run underground bunkers as the bombs drop leaving many to fend for themselves. The world of Fallout wasn't that much like ours before the attack either. Decades of conflict between the US and China means that the culture of the 50's seems to have persevered until the end of the century, despite advanced technology such as robots becoming common place. Your story starts at your birth, literally, some 700 years after the war ends and is quickly followed by short game sections for your toddler years, a birthday party and high school. Then suddenly your father leaves the bunker, Vault 101, something that is expressly forbidden, and the real game begins. You are implicated by the Vault leader in your father's crime and have to escape out into the Capital Wasteland.

These glimpses of your childhood and development make up the character creation and tutorial parts of the game where you are introduced to the controls and levelling system. Your first level allows you to drop a set number of points into your established skills which includes things like science (for using computers and hacking robots), medicine, and weapons skills. You also get to choose a Perk for each level you gain. Each one can be upgraded up to three times and the higher levels unlock a wider range of Perks. Initially your Perks will only boost your existing skills but some of the later Perks give you special abilities such as the Friend to Animals Perk which has the local fauna trying to protect rather than eat you. It's a clever and original way of handling the tutorial section, but only the first time, it's not a part of the game you want to have to repeat several times to get your character the way you want. Thankfully the game gives you the opportunity to change things just before you leave the vault.

The first time you step outside the Vault is awe inspiring; not to mention a little intimidating. The Capital Wasteland is amazing and your first view of destroyed buildings, collapsed freeway overpasses and ambling mutant animals is a gaming moment you're not likely to forget. You have the choice, as you do throughout the game, of heading straight to the nearby settlement of Megaton to begin your story quest, or just start wandering. If, like me, you eat up games that allow you to hit the road then you will be in mutated hogs heaven with Fallout 3. The draw distance is incredible and there's a notable absence of the pop in that affected the console versions of Oblivion so losing yourself to the game is easy. In case the experience isn't involving enough you can tune into a local radio station and even reports of some of your activities on the air waves.

Aside from the quests there are a large number of random encounters in the wasteland to keep you busy. Besides mutated monsters and blood thirsty raiders you may also encounter some allies to trade items with, survivors fighting over water, kidnapped victims of the hulking super mutants (who you can choose to free or leave to the stew pot) and plenty of random death traps. In the dangerous landscape of the Capital Wasteland bear traps and landmines are commonplace and you need your wits about you to survive (and a few points in Explosives and Repair skills too). Then there are the bizarre events; I once encountered a grocery store that had dozens of detergent boxes lined up like dominoes. As I moved in for a closer look I tripped a floor switch causing a ram to set the boxes falling, they hit a faulty generator switch which sparked, igniting a stove where the gas had been left on (I thought it was a graphical glitch but it was gas!) and the whole place went up in flames. Even as my charred body collapsed I couldn't help but smile and think to myself, that's pretty cool. Just when you think you've seen all the wasteland has to offer you'll have your first encounter with the Brotherhood of Steel, or a Deathclaw or something equally memorable to keep you playing far longer than you should.

You quickly find yourself relying on your VATS (or Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System) to give you an edge in combat. It pauses the action, allowing you to aim at specific body areas to cripple or kill an opponent, based on a set number of action points and a displayed percentage chance to hit. Experimentation is the key with VATS. Some of the tougher opponents can do more damage to you than you can to them in a standing shootout and you quickly learn to switch from going to head shots to blasting the gun out of their hands. There are dozens of different fire arms available ranging from simple pistols to gatling lasers. A range of melee weapons for close and dirty wet work are also available.

Play requires a lot of micro management. Weapons and equipment can suffer wear and tear over time and need repaired, your character can suffer from crippling injuries (including vision impairing head wounds) which need healing, using drugs and medicines can give you an edge in combat but can lead to addictions and the withdrawal effects can be even more crippling. While there's a lot of food and water to be found in the wasteland it's almost all irradiated and the health boost it offers you is balanced by an increase in radiation poisoning. Initially radiation poisoning has little effect but the longer you leave it untreated the sicker you become.

The story line in Fallout 3 is almost secondary to interacting and exploring the world. But when you follow the story the actual plot (and fifty or so subplots) is pretty engaging. The rather bland voice talent and animations of characters in Oblivion have been improved on a lot in Fallout 3. The characters seem far more individual and natural in their expressions and a talented voice cast adds to the experience. Plenty of cursing and swearing also helps to spice things up.

Unfortunately a lot of the design flaws of Oblivion have carried over into Fallout 3. While the game entices you into wide roaming exploration it does a poor job of saving for you. While quick travelling and opening doors autosaves your game, several hours of outdoors roaming that ends with you stumbling into a minefield results in you going back to your last save game. If you have not saved during your walk about it’s back to your last autosave. Being a persistent world with literally hundreds of characters following their own routines allows for some occasional game ruining glitches and that further reinforces that you save on a regular basis. Strange physics and the occasional in game crash can occur as well; during my first few hours of play the game crashed on me twice for no apparent reason. Both the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions are reportedly apt to freeze (although in my experience some sixty hours on it has not happened again). In terms of scavenging for items you can now tell if a container is empty or not just by targeting it. But you will still often find yourself weighed down by a lot of crap at times and your inventory will need the occasional careful purging; at least being over encumbered means your character can now only walk and isn’t immediately rooted to the spot.

Fallout 3 is the type of game that everyone will have a different play experience with. Some people may log the obligatory fifteen hours, finish the story and move on, others may stack days worth of play before they even get halfway through the plot. It's a game that can be enjoyed in obsessed bursts of play followed by long absences because when you return, there's always something new to suck you in. For the hardcore completionist three expansion packs have already been announced for next year. If you're reaction to wide open world RPG's is generally lukewarm then Fallout 3 is not going to awaken your inner RPG lover. But if you want a game you can lose a record amount of time in, one that practically demands you put on your explorer hat and journey into the great out there, then Fallout 3 is your game from top to bottom.