fallout 3 this article is about fallout 3 for the cancelled black isle studios prototype see van buren video game fallout 3developersbethesda game studiospublishersbethesda softworksdirectorstodd howardproducersgavin carterdesignersemil pagliaruloprogrammersguy carversteve meisterartistsistvan pelywritersemil pagliarulocomposersinon zurseriesfalloutenginegamebryoplatformsmicrosoft windowsplaystation 3xbox 360releasena october 28 2008pal october 30 2008genresaction roleplayingmodessingleplayer fallout 3 is a postapocalyptic action roleplaying open world video game developed by bethesda game studios and published by bethesda softworks the third major installment in the fallout series the game is set within a postapocalyptic open world environment that encompasses a scaled region consisting of the ruins of washington dc and much of the countryside to the west of it referred to as the capital wasteland it takes place within fallouts 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 1000 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 find themselves seeking to complete their fathers work while fighting against the enclave the corrupt remnants of the former us government that seeks to use it for their own purposes fallout 3 was met with critical acclaim and received a number of game of the year awards praising the games openended gameplay and flexible characterleveling system and is considered one of the best video games of all time the npd group estimated that fallout 3 sold over 610000 units during its initial month of release in october 2008 performing better than bethesdas previous game the elder scrolls iv oblivion which sold nearly 500000 units in its first month the game received postlaunch support with bethesda releasing five downloadable addons the game was met with 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 gameplay fallout 3 is played from the firstperson perspective unlike previous titles of the series the players have the option to switch between this and an overtheshoulder thirdperson perspective at any time after the initial stages of the game while many elements from previous titles are used such as the special system and the enemies encountered combat is played out differently while new features are included into the series character creation and attributes the pipboy wrist computer remains a key feature in the series for the character menus in fallout 3 players get to use the pipboy 3000 as shown here character creation is done through a tutorial prologue that encompasses the different ages of the players character which also covers tutorials on movement the hud combat interactions with the game world and the use of the pipboy 3000 the characters creation is done in steps with the player first setting up their appearance along with what race and gender their character is and the name they have next they customize their characters primary attributes via the special system strength perception endurance charisma intelligence agility and luck which is retained in fallout 3 and determines the base level of the skills the character has which three skills their character focuses on can either be left to the choices they make with a series of question or by choosing manually what they desire character creation is not finalized until the player leaves vault 101 and enters the capital wasteland allowing players the option to modify their characters appearance primary attributes and skill choices if they are not satisfied with their choices as the character progresses through the game experience points xp are earned from accomplishing various actions such as completing a quest killing an enemy and so forth with a new level granted upon reaching the necessary amount of xp a new level grants the player the ability to allocate points to the various skills available and thus improve upon them making them more effective for instance a higher lockpicking skill allows the player to be able to tackle more difficult locks on doors and containers while a higher medicine skill increases the amount of health recovered with stimpaks once the character achieves their second level they can be granted a perk which offers advantages of varying quality and form such as being able to carry more items finding more ammo in containers and having a higher chance to perform a critical hit many perks have a set of prerequisites that need to be satisfied often requiring a certain skill level to acquire them while a new perk can be granted for every two levels earned by the character an important statistic tracked by the game is karma which is affected by the decisions and actions the character performs during the game positive actions to karma include freeing captives and helping others while negative actions towards this include killing good characters and stealing actions vary in the level of karma change they cause thus pickpocketing produces less negative karma than the killing of a good character karma can have tangible effects to the player beyond acting as flavor for the games events in that it can affect the ending the player gets alter dialogue with nonplayer characters npcs or give off unique reactions from other characters while also granting access to certain perks that require a specific karma level however the players relationships with the games factions are distinct so any two groups or settlements may view the player in contrasting ways depending on the players conduct health weapons and apparel a characters health is divided between two types hp health points and limbs while hp is the general amount of health that a character and other npcs have friendly neutral or hostile and which depletes when damage is taken either from combat setting off traps falling from a height or self injury limb health is specific to each portion of the body namely the arms legs head and torso although nonhuman enemies feature additional appendages and robotic enemies feature different types of appendages limbs can be damaged in the same way as hp though once depleted they become crippled and induce a negative status effect such as blurred vision if the head is crippled or reduced movement speed if one or both legs are crippled both hp and limbs can be recovered through the use of medical medicine in the form of stimpaks as well as sleeping and visiting a doctor while hp can be slowly recovered by consuming food and drinking water andor soft drinks all weapons and apparel found regardless of whether they are a makeshiftweapon such as a lead pipe or a gun degrade over time the more they are used and thus become less effective for firearms degrading into poor condition causes them to do less damage and possibly jam when reloading while apparel that reduces damage becomes less protective as it gradually absorbs damage from attacks when too much damage is taken the items breaks and cannot be used to ensure weapons and apparel are working effectively such items require constant maintenance and repairs which can be done in one of two ways the first method is find certain vendors that repair items though how much they can repair an item depends on their skill level while the cost of the repairs depends upon the item itself the second method is for players to find a second of the same item that needs repairs or a comparable item and salvaging parts from it for the repair though how much they can do depends on their characters own skill level in repairs in addition to finding weaponry the player can create their own to craft such weapons the player must use a workbench possess either the necessary schematics or the right perk and scavenge for the items needed to make them these weapons usually possess significant advantages over other weapons of their type each weapons schematic has three copies that can be found and possessing additional copies improves the condition or number of items produced at the workbench while a higher repair skill will result in a better starting condition for the related weapon weapon schematics can be found lying in certain locations bought from vendors or received as quest rewards vats the vats system is a new gameplay element for the fallout series as seen here realtime action is stopped and the player can see both the damage that has been done to a targets limbs and the percentage ratio for attempting to attack that limb the vaulttec assisted targeting system vats is a new element in the fallout series and plays an important part in combat within fallout 3 the system was introduced by bethesdas developers who described it as a hybrid between timeturnbased and realtime combat so much in that while using vats realtime combat is paused and action is played out from varying camera angles in a computer graphics version of bullet time using the system costs action points ap the amount of which depends on the weapon being used and thus limiting the actions of the players combat during a turn through the system the player can switch between multiple targets if there is more than one around at any time and also target specific areas of them to inflict damage a player could either target the head for a quick kill go for the legs to slow an enemys movements or shoot at their weapons to disarm them for some enemies they can put them into a berserker rage by hitting specific parts the chance of striking a different area displayed as a percentage ratio is dependent on the weapon being used and the distance between the character and the target a character who is a higher level when using vats is also more likely to hit an enemy with the system than a lower level character the use of vats does confer a negative effect in that it eliminates most of the firstperson shooter elements of the game aiming is taken over by the computer and the player is unable to move as a means of avoiding attacks furthermore ranged weapons are capable of hitting limbs while melee weapons focus on the target in whole when using vats companions during their travels across the wasteland the player can be accompanied by a single nonplayer character npc companion who can assist in combat which companion can accompany the player depends on who they have encountered that can join them it is possible to not encounter all depending on how the game is played only one companion may travel with the player and should they wish to take another with them the first must be dismissed either voluntarily by the player or as a consequence of other events or die in combat one unique companion the player can have that can allow a third to join without issue is a dog named dogmeat who can be killed during the game if the player misuses him or places him in a severely dangerous situation the release of the broken steel dlc makes it possible to replace dogmeat provided the player acquires a perk that grants the opportunity of getting another dog plot setting fallout series the desolate area of the capital wasteland where fallout 3 takes place fallout 3 takes place in the year 2277 and within the region that covers most of the ruined city of washington dc northern virginia and parts of maryland the region has two major factions within it the enclave and the brotherhood of steel while the enclave is similar in goal to their western brethren the eastern branch of the brotherhood of steel seeks to assist the people of the wasteland though a small group rejected this and became outcasts who seek to resume their original goal of salvaging highlevel technology other factions include former slaves who seek to inspire others for freedom by restoring the lincoln memorial a group that feast on blood and a group who tend and care for a region of the wastes where plants have become abundant story for 19 years of their life from 2258 to 2277 the player character grows up within the confines of vault 101 alongside their father james a doctor and scientist who assists in the vaults clinic while growing up their father comments about their deceased mother catherine and her favorite passage from the bible revelation 216 which speaks of the waters of life upon reaching their 19th birthday chaos erupts when james suddenly leaves the vault causing the overseer to lock down the vault and send security after james child escaping from the vault with the aid of the overseers daughter amata the search for james across the wasteland begins at the nearby town of megaton named for the atomic bomb at the center of town and eventually into the ruins of washington dc and the galaxy news radio station whereupon james child after helping the stations enthusiastic dj three dog is given the moniker of the lone wanderer directed by three dog towards rivet city a derelict aircraft carrier serving as a fortified human settlement the lone wanderer meets with doctor madison li a scientist who worked alongside james li informs the lone wanderer that their parents were not born in vault 101 but lived outside of it where they worked together upon a plan they conceived to purify all the water in the tidal basin and eventually the entire potomac river with a giant water purifier built in the jefferson memorial called project purity however constant delays and catherines death during childbirth forced james to abandon the project james took the lone wanderer to vault 101 where he could raise them learning that james seeks to revive the project and continue his work by acquiring a garden of eden creation kit geck the lone wanderer tracks him down to vault 112 and frees him from a virtual reality program being run by the vaults sadistic overseer dr stanislaus braun whom james had sought out for information on a geck reunited with their father the pair return to rivet city and recruit li and the other project members to resume work at the jefferson memorial as they begin testing the project the memorial is invaded by the enclave a powerful military organization formed from the remnants of the prewar united states government which continues to remain active despite the demise of their brethren on the west coast thirty years previously see fallout 2 seeking to stop them gaining control of his work james urges the lone wanderer to finish his work and find a geck before flooding the projects control room with massive amounts of radiation preventing the enclaves military leader colonel augustus autumn from taking control of it and killing himself in the process though autumn survives taking the remaining project members to safety the lone wanderer makes contact with the brotherhood of steel within the ruins of the pentagon now known as the citadel with their help the lone wanderer travels to vault 87 to find a geck which had been used as a testing site for the forced evolutionary virus fev and now as a breeding ground for the super mutants the lone wanderer recovers the geck from within the vault with the optional help of a friendly super mutant named fawkes as they make their way out the wanderer is ambushed by colonel autumn and the enclave and is captured with the geck confiscated at the enclave base at raven rock the lone wanderer is freed from their cell by the enclave leader president john henry eden who requests a private audience with them but colonel autumn defies edens orders takes command of the enclaves military and orders the lone wanderer to be shot on sight despite the setback the wanderer meets with eden who is revealed to be a sentient zax series supercomputer that took control of the enclave after president dick richardson was killed on the west coast seeking to repeat richardsons plans eden reveals his intentions of using project purity to infect the water with a modified strain of fev that will make it toxic to any mutated life thus killing off most life in the wasteland including humans the enclave who would be immune to the effects because of their genetic purity as a result of their isolation would be free to take control of the area forced to take a sample of the new fev the wanderer leaves the base regardless of doing so peacefully or convincing eden to selfdestruct returning to the citadel where news of the enclaves possession of the geck is known to the brotherhood the lone wanderer joins them in an assault on the jefferson memorial which is spearheaded through the use of a giant military robot named liberty prime after reaching the control room the player has the choice to either convince autumn to leave or kill him li informs the wanderer that the purifier is ready for activation but that the code must be inputted manually within the control room meaning whoever goes in will be subjected to lethal amounts of radiation to make matters worse the purifier has been damaged and will selfdestruct if not activated at this point the lone wanderer can either do nothing and let the purifier explode destroying the jefferson memorial and killing everyone inside in the process sacrifice themselves and input the right code that is hinted throughout the game send sarah lyons into the chamber and give her the right code except for the first choice the wanderer has the choice of introducing the modified fev into the purifier or not which further affects the ending whatever the choice a bright light enshrouds all and an ending slideshow begins including any actions they took that had an influence on the wasteland broken steel ending although the main story ends here the introduction of the broken steel dlc creates a new choice with the ending in that the lone wanderer can send one of their radiationimmune companions into the chamber to input the code furthermore the game remains openended from this point onwards with the wanderer surviving the radiation they were subjected to and recovering two weeks later to the news that the purifier is working well and supplying clean water to the people of the wasteland or has been having an adverse effect on life thanks to the introduction of the modified fev sarah lyons does not survive if sent into the chamber in the broken steel ending development interplay entertainment further information van buren video game fallout 3 was initially under development by black isle studios a studio owned by interplay entertainment under the working title van buren black isle studios was the developer of the original fallout and fallout 2 when interplay entertainment went bankrupt and closed down black isle studios before the game could be completed the license to develop fallout 3 was sold for a 1175000 minimum guaranteed advance against royalties to bethesda softworks a studio primarily known as the developer of the elder scrolls series leonard boyarsky art director of the original fallout when asked about interplay entertainments sale of the rights to bethesda softworks said to be perfectly honest i was extremely disappointed that we did not get the chance to make the next fallout game this has nothing to do with bethesda its just that weve always felt that fallout was ours and it was just a technicality that interplay happened to own it it sort of felt as if our child had been sold to the highest bidder and we had to just sit by and watch since i have absolutely no idea what their plans are i cant comment on whether i think theyre going in the right direction with it or not bethesda softworks bethesda softworks fallout 3 booth at the games convention 2008 bethesda softworks started working on fallout 3 in july 2004 in february 2007 bethesda stated that the game was a fairly good ways away from release but that detailed information and previews would be available later in the year during a march 21 2008 official xbox magazine podcast interview todd howard revealed that the game had expanded to nearly the same scope as oblivion there were originally at least 12 versions of the final cutscene but with further development this expanded to over 200 possible permutations in the final release all of which are determined by the actions taken by the player howard confirmed that in addition to thematics about slavery and cannibalism there would be the presence of splatter scenes and exposition of evident mutilations on enemies with release of gibs emil pagliarulo a writer formerly at looking glass studios was commissioned by bethesda to write the main script of fallout 3 he also worked in part to the elder scrolls iv oblivions script pagliarulo took charge of writing the incipit of fallout 3 then played by ron perlman and he tried to be inspired by first fallouts incipit in 1997 which he considered vitally important to describe the story that fallout 3 would have to tell the main model to follow for pagliarulo was always the first fallout which by his own admission had more the peculiarity of synthesis in dialogues rather than fallout 2 which had a more complex and articulated screenplay written by chris avellone that pagliarulo defined a fantastic writer music and audio the score was composed by inon zur who does not consider himself the only person responsible for the musical work on fallout 3 zur cited game director todd howard and the sound designer mark lambert for helping him to manage the ingame sound implementation stating he made only 50 several actors of film and video games lent their voices to fallout 3 including liam neeson as james marketing and release prepare for the future promotional campaign at the metro center station in washington dc trailers a teaser site for the game appeared on may 2 2007 and featured music from the game and concept art along with a timer that counted down to june 5 2007 the artists and developers involved later confirmed that the concept art commissioned before oblivion had been released did not reveal anything from the actual game on june 5 2007 bethesda released the fallout 3 teaser trailer a second trailer was first shown during a gametrailers tv e3 special on july 12 2008 the trailer zoomed out from a ruined house in the washington dc suburbs and provided a wider view of the capitals skyline including the capitol building and washington monument in the distance film festival on july 11 2008 as a part of promoting fallout 3 bethesda softworks partnered with american cinematheque and geek monthly to sponsor a postapocalyptic film festival presented by fallout 3 the festival took place on august 2223 at santa monicas aero theater six postapocalyptic movies were shown which depict life and events that could occur after a worldchanging disaster including wizards damnation alley a boy and his dog the last man on earth the omega man and twelve monkeys retail versions features edition standard collectors limited survival game of the year game disc manual yes yes yes yes yes bonus dvd no yes no yes no concept artbook no yes no yes no vault boy bobblehead no yes no yes no lunchbox case no yes no yes no power armor figurine no no yes no no pipboy 3000 clock no no no yes no downloadable content no no no no yes fallout 3 was released in five separate versions three of which were made available worldwide the standard edition includes the game disc and instruction manual the collectors edition includes the game disc manual a bonus making of disc a concept artbook and a 5 vault boy bobblehead all of which is contained in a vaulttec lunchbox the limited edition includes the game disc and manual as well as a brotherhood of steel power armor figurine this edition was available only in the uk through the retailer game the survival edition includes everything from the collectors edition as well as a model of the pipboy 3000 from the game which functions as a digital clock the game of the year edition which includes the original fallout 3 game as well as all 5 of the downloadable content packs was released on october 13 2009 in north america and october 16 2009 in europe it was released in australia on october 22 2009 and in japan on december 3 2009 downloadable content fallout 3 downloadable content bethesdas todd howard confirmed during e3 2008 that downloadable content dlc would be prepared for the xbox 360 and windows versions of fallout 3 originally there was no downloadable content announced for the playstation 3 version of the game on october 1 2009 a new xbox experience premium theme for the game was released for the xbox 360 consumers could pay 240 microsoft points or by having downloaded all other downloadable content the playstation 3 received a free theme featuring a brotherhood of steel knight in the background and includes symbols from the game as icons on the ps3 home menu reception reviews receptionaggregate scoreaggregatorscoremetacriticpc 91100edit on wikidata fallout 3 received universal acclaim according to video game review aggregator metacritic 1upcoms demian linn praised its openended gameplay and flexible characterleveling system while the vats system was called fun enemy encounters were said to suffer from a lack of precision in realtime combat and little variety in enemy types the review concluded fallout 3 is a hugely ambitious game that doesnt come around very often tim cain fallout and fallout 2 game director praised the art direction and the attention to details in the game but did not like the way the endings were not enough constructed around players actions and decisions some criticisms were the bugs in regards to the physics and crashessome of which broke quests and even prevented progression sales during first week of publication fallout 3 beat all previous fallout chapters combined sales making 57 stronger sales than the first weeks performance of bethesdas the elder scrolls iv oblivion in 2006 fallout 3 was one of the most played titles in xbox live in 2009 and games for windows live in 2009 2011 and 2012 awards and legacy fallout 3 won several awards following its showcasing at e3 2007 ign gave it the game of e3 2007 award and gamespot gave it the best roleplaying game of e3 2007 award after its release fallout 3 won numerous awards from gaming journalists and websites at the 2009 game developers choice awards it won overall game of the year along with best writing fallout 3 is considered to be one of the best video games of all time at the end of 2009 fallout 3 was featured in igns best video and computer games of the decade 20002009 with the game being placed top game of 2008 in 2012 fallout 3 was also exhibited in the art of video games at smithsonian american art museum technical issues on playstation 3 shortly before the games release ign posted a review of the game citing numerous bugs and crashes in the playstation 3 release controversy and fandom mwparseroutput quoteboxbackgroundcolorf9f9f9border1px solid aaaboxsizingborderboxpadding10pxfontsize88mwparseroutput quoteboxfloatleftmargin05em 14em 08em 0mwparseroutput quoteboxfloatrightmargin05em 0 08em 14emmwparseroutput quoteboxcenteredmargin05em auto 08em automwparseroutput quoteboxfloatleft pmwparseroutput quoteboxfloatright pfontstyleinheritmwparseroutput quoteboxtitlebackgroundcolorf9f9f9textaligncenterfontsizelargerfontweightboldmwparseroutput quoteboxquotequotedbeforefontfamilytimes new romanseriffontweightboldfontsizelargecolorgraycontent verticalalign45lineheight0mwparseroutput quoteboxquotequotedafterfontfamilytimes new romanseriffontweightboldfontsizelargecolorgraycontent lineheight0mwparseroutput quotebox leftalignedtextalignleftmwparseroutput quotebox rightalignedtextalignrightmwparseroutput quotebox centeralignedtextaligncentermwparseroutput quotebox citedisplayblockfontstylenormalmedia screen and maxwidth360pxmwparseroutput quoteboxminwidth100margin0 0 08emimportantfloatnoneimportant its not a fallout game its not even a game inspired by fallout as i had hoped its a game that contains a loose assortment of familiar fallout concepts and names electricity prewar electronic equipment powered and still working computers just think about that for a second working cola snack machines weapons ammo scrap metal needed by many and even unlooted first aid boxes are everywhere vince d weller longtime no mutants allowed member former rpg news site director and lead developer of the age of decadence not all fans were happy with the direction the fallout series was taken in since its acquisition by bethesda softworks notorious for their support of the series first two games fallout and fallout 2 regional variations drug references on july 4 2008 fallout 3 was refused classification by the australian classification board acb in australia thus making it illegal to distribute or purchase the game in the country for the game to be reclassified the offending content in the australian version of the game had to be removed by bethesda softworks and the game resubmitted to the acb a revised version of the game was resubmitted to the acb and reclassified as ma 15 on august 7 2008 or not suitable for people under the age of 15 unless accompanied by a parent or adult guardian this new rating ensured that the game could retail legally in australia in a later interview with uk gaming magazine edge bethesda softworks revealed that there would be only one version of fallout 3 released worldwide and that this version would have all realworld drug references removed it was later clarified that the only change made would be that morphine a realworld drug that would have appeared in the game would instead be renamed to the more generic medx release in india on october 22 2008 microsoft announced that the game would not be released in india on the xbox 360 platform sensitivity in japan bethesda softworks changed the side quest the power of the atom in the japanese version of fallout 3 to relieve concerns about depictions of atomic detonation in inhabited areas as the memory of the atomic bombings of hiroshima and nagasaki remains strong in the country in nonjapanese versions players are given the option of either defusing ignoring or detonating the dormant atomic bomb in the town of megaton in the japanese version the character of mr burke is absent making it impossible to choose the detonation option wikimedia commons has media related to fallout 3 book fallout series official website 2000s portalnuclear technology portalroleplaying games portalspeculative fiction portalvideo games portalwashington dc portal vtefallout seriesmain series fallout fallout 2 fallout 3 downloadable content fallout 4 downloadable content far harbor nukaworld spinoffs tactics brotherhood of steel brotherhood of steel fallout new vegas fallout shelter fallout 76 cancelled games van buren brotherhood of steel 2 fallout online unofficial media nuka break fallout new california resurrection related articles creation club dogmeat master the vault wasteland exodus book category vtegame developers choice award for game of the year the sims 2000 grand theft auto iii 2001 metroid prime 2002 star wars knights of the old republic 2003 halflife 2 2004 shadow of the colossus 2005 gears of war 2006 portal 2007 fallout 3 2008 uncharted 2 among thieves 2009 red dead redemption 2010 the elder scrolls v skyrim 2011 journey 2012 the last of us 2013 middleearth shadow of mordor 2014 the witcher 3 wild hunt 2015 overwatch 2016 the legend of zelda breath of the wild 2017 