With release of Bethesda Game Studios next blockbuster hit Fallout 4 and the recent release of the Fallout Anthology, I decided to take a step back in time and replay Fallout 3‘s game of the year edition. When I decided to do this I said that I wanted to have a vanilla play through which meant no DLCs or no third party content. However when I went to start the game I remembered that I needed to purge the game that I had on my system due to a lot of third party content. So it was time for a reinstall.
The next problem I encountered was the fact that Fallout 3 doesn’t work with Windows 10 which meant that I had to find a fix for this problem which meant scouring the Fallout 3 Nexus for a fix. The root cause of the problem seemed to lie in the ghost of Christmas past, in PC terms; Games for Windows Live… which made the game totally unplayable due to Windows 10 not supporting this. So after an hour or two of searching the internet for a fix, I (by some miracle) got the game out and running.
So I began the game as per the usual, you’re born, your first steps, your tenth birthday, the G.O.A.T. exam and then finally escaping to the capital wasteland. However, what I didn’t like about this section was the fact that I could, and I joke not, could quote every line of dialogue from every NPC. I mean, as someone who has over a thousand hours sunk into this game across 20 different characters it would be nice if I could just skip this sequence after my first play through. I mean, sure, you could argue that if you really wanted to role-play with your character’s karma, then replaying this section and choosing the dialogue option that fits your character works, but if you really do want to role-play then you will probably just use mods.
Okay, so, now I’m out of the vault and I get that view from the scenic overlook and even on a last generation game it still holds up in my mind, as one of the best ways to set up the kind of way you want to play. For example, the first thing I saw was this view and I thought to myself, when I get to this point “It’s time to get some answers”, but a friend of mine had the thought “There’s not much here but it will be mine”.
Here is where I start doing what I always do; make a bee-line straight for Rivet City to pick up the intelligence bobble head to begin making the most overpowered character of all time, because I can. Let me iterate, I like being able to create a character that can stomp everything, and I do mean EVERYTHING, so that starts with an intelligence of 10. I don’t think it’s a bad thing because if that’s the kind of character I want, Bethesda is just like “why not?”.
So, after four attempts and six reloaded saves, I’ve got the bobble head and I’m headed back to start my quest for real, which starts with just casually wandering around Springvale and just casually walking into Silver’s house and just slipping a grenade from the mailbox outside into her back pocket. Look… if she wants to carry around 300 caps in walking change, then who am I to not take it, all the .32 ammo around and her pistol? Look, it’s a harsh wasteland.
After that, it becomes hard to remember exactly what I did, but with over 30 hours spent, I had saved Arefu, stopped the giant fire ants of Grayditch, disarmed the megaton bomb and done pretty much every side quest available. Then it was time to say goodbye to a pleasant trip down memory lane as I stepped into the final room (SPOILER ALERT) and threw the switch to activate the purifier, and as my character fell to the floor it was the perfect end to a rocky starter play through.
That being said, it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. A number of bugs and glitches still exist in the game. However, once you get going, it’s easy to overlook.
So, with the end of this piece here; what I’d say to anyone excited for the release of Fallout 4. If you own Fallout 3, it’s worth a revisit in vanilla, just to get a feel for the east coast again and get that bit more excited for Fallout 4. If you don’t have Fallout 3 and are excited for Fallout 4, then it might be worth your time to play it and appreciate how far the game has come.
[Words By: Timmy Cullinan]
