Games for Lunch: Fallout 3

In a nutshell: Growing up in a post-nuclear family.
10/28/2008 5:26 PM | 2 Comments | Page 4 of 4

0:47 Jonas takes a picture of me and dad and the flash fades the screen to white again. "As far as I can tell, you're a normal 16-year-old boy, so yes, you do have to go take your G.O.A.T. exam," says a remonstrative Dad. That's the Generalized Occupational Aptitude Test, of course. Dad looks distinctly older than he did at the party.

0:50 Dad gives a moving soliloquy on life in the Vault, how it's imperfect but better than the world outside. The timing and pitch on this vocal delivery is near-perfect, and the writing ain't bad either. I'm genuinely touched when he talks about my dear departed mom.

0:51 "Quest Added: FUTURE IMPERFECT!" Seems a bit ominous.

0:52 An errant tap of R2 gives me the option of punching a visiting Jonas in the back of the head. I'm curious as to what would happen...

0:53 Jonas totally ignores my punches. He doesn't even wobble ... he just keeps walking to where he was going. What a gyp!

0:54 On the way to the G.O.A.T., I run into the leather-jacket-clad party bullies, who are giving Amata a hard time because she's the Overseer's daughter and "thinks she's better than us."

0:55 I decide to defend Amata's honor, out of a desire to try out the fighting controls more than anything else.

0:57 Despite being outnumbered three-to-one, my fists win the day, thanks mainly to some useful V.A.T.S. targeting of one bully's fat head. "You're not worth our time anyway," say the fleeing tough guys. Amata: "Thanks for getting rid of them. Assholes." Ooh, casual cursing. Be still, my heart.

0:59 On to the G.O.A.T. classroom. I whine to the teacher and, surprisingly, he offers to just up and give me the results I want without my taking the test. He just needs to know what I'm interested in. My choices are: computers, BB guns, blowing stuff up, or "Mr. B, if I told you what my interests are, you'd have me locked up." That last one sounds amusing.

1:00 For my flippant answer, I get assigned skills in lock-picking, melee weapons and sneaking. Of course, I seem to be able to change these skills whenever I want, so the whole test seems kind of pointless.

Would I play this game for more than an hour? Yes.

Why? They've started to build a pretty believable world here, with some interestingly rich characters and dialogue. If the larger-scale combat holds up, this could be a keeper.

This column is based on a retail copy of the game provided by the publisher.

Want to know more about Games for Lunch? Check out the FAQ here.

For more Games for Lunch, visit the official GfL blog.