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Fallout 3: Amazon.com Exclusive Survival Edition Review
User Submitted Fallout 3: Amazon.com Exclusive Survival Edition Reviews
Date: 2008-12-29
I'm loving it!
I'm from Singapore and being a Fallout fan since the beginning, I went ahead with the Ultimate Survival Edition, despite reading all responses regarding the Pipboy 3k. Over here in SG, they only bring in the standard disc version, only offering the Collector's Edition on the PS3.
I had it shipped via Free Shipping option to my Borderlinx US address and it was DHL-ed over to SG. Ripped opened it up and fixed up the Pipboy 3k gently and it worked perfectly! Now my aging Mum is using it as she has difficulty telling time in the dark.
Hopefully the batteries last a week, which I doubt. I better go get some rechargeable batteries on standby.
I do agree that it does not look like it is worth the extra USD$50 but hey, I'm a Fallout fan plus hardly any collectible is offered for gaming so why waste the opportunity?
The hardcover artwork book is gorgeous plus the 'Making of Fallout 3' is great. The bubble head toy plus the lunch box is really nice. Heck! Even the entire packaging is special!
Get this collection ONLY if you are a hard core Fallout fan. I'm sure my review would not be so positive if the Pipboy 3k was faulty. Thank God it worked!
Date: 2008-12-22
Fallout 3
By far the most fun and imersed I have gotten in a game in quite a while played through 2 times all ready and going for a third fantastic game.
Date: 2008-12-15
Amazon Fails to Deliver
I preordered this game as soon as the release date was announced. Everything was set up for me to receive the game as soon as possible... but the game didn't come. I contacted Amazon, and they stated that the package could not be delivered to my address, but would attempt to send it again. Over a month went by, all of my friends played and beat the game... I was left in the dark... After a month and a half I finally received the money that I paid for this service back. Thank you amazon, you have finalized my decision making process with regards to online purchases. I still don't have the game, and probably won't buy it due to this horrible service.
Date: 2008-12-13
Use Steam, Don't Buy Clock, Own a Real Video Card
General:
The game itself is every bit as fun as the earlier Fallouts, but has a dramatically different feel to it. The neighborly feel, large population, and ample available work of the old Fallouts is missing, but replaced by substantially improved writing and stunning graphics. I've strongly recommended it to several others, and have heard similarly strong recommendations from everyone else I know that's played it.
*****UPDATE: About an hour after I wrote this, with no less than 6 quests yet untouched and about a quarter of the map unexplored, I reached a level cap at level 20. The game is easy enough, at this point, that I shouldn't be as powerful as I am and, more importantly, a lot of the wind has been knocked out of the remaining 1/5 or 1/4 of the game left to be played by the fact that no further experience can be gained. If Amazon would let me, I'd knock both my ratings for this game down by a star and a half. Regardless, it's still worth playing. Just keep the level cap in mind when planning your "perks," bonus skill changes given at each level up. There are a handful that are only available at the last level change, and the game doesn't tell you that it IS your last until after you select the final perk. *****
Sound:
The background music is a bit repetitive, but there are a handful of radio stations that broadcast music like the classic 30s-50s jazz heard in the intros to the earlier games and dynamic news updates reflecting events in the game. The narration is quite good, even with NPCs and enemies in combat.
Performance:
I've got an AMD Athlon64 X2 4400+ running Vista with a 8400-series Nvidia graphics card, and it seems a little choppy at 1440x900, but it's perfectly playable as long as nothing's running in the background. Plays fine at lower resolutions, struggles quite a bit at 1600x1050. I've seen it crash four or five times in the ~60-70 hours I've put in thus far, but that's not bad enough to warrant much complaint.
Extras:
It bears pointing out that even an unbroken PipBoy eats batteries like they were Smarties and remains a flimsy, poorly designed hunk of plastic that really isn't worth the ~$30 cost difference.
The book of concept art, lunchbox, and bobblehead are cool, and just as deeply linked to the game. Haven't played the video DVD yet, but, again, the other stuff is great. Settle for the non-exclusive fancy edition/don't waste extra money on the PipBoy unless you've got cash to burn. I'm kinda glad I have it, but I'd have been ticked if I bought it on last year's wages.
DRM:
Unlike earlier Fallout games, this version requires the disc to be in the drive at all times, but there's a free and legal workaround: To bypass the restrictions in the DRM that force you to have the DVD in the drive at all times, install Valve's Steam and create a shortcut to the game through Steam. It links up with the "Games for Windows" services and SecureROM and authenticates for you, sans disk. This is true even if you install the game directly off the DVD, which you should do due to the size and the desire to own the awesome lunch box et al.
Updates:
Patches haven't been forthcoming, despite the crash issues described above. That said, they seem to be performance related and may not be patchable. They have, however, released a thoroughly documented expansion tool called GECK to lend official support to modders. This is new to Fallout 3, and is a most welcome development.
Date: 2008-12-12
The Worthy Successor (Almost)
Let's go through the little tchotchkes inclused with the Exclusive Survival Edition:
1. PipBoy 3000 Clock. For a unit that functions as just a clock (no alarm capacity), you'd think they would include an AC adapter plug. Otherwise, even if it works on startup (mine did, no tinfoil additions necessary), the battery life is very short--4 days even with high-grade Energizer lithium batteries. For that, Bethesda should be ashamed to include a cruddy add-on (and Amazon.Com being an accomplice to this, marketing an extra $50 for an object barely worth $5). No points for thise shameless attempt to wring out a few extra dollars from loyal fans. Next time, Amazon.Com, expect to lose money because you helped shaft a loyal fanbase.
2. The Other Add-Ons. The rest is a fairly decent group of extras for this game--artwork, development DVD, and the lunchbox was good even if it is smaller than a standard lunchbox. The bobblehead is also slightly smaller, but it's still a decent extra. Had I but known, I would have bought the Collector's Edition only and considered it a great deal.
3. The Game. There has been a lot of verbal shooting about the game and its license developed by Bethesda, as well as the worries about the path it's taken--"OBLIVION WITH GUNS," or "NOTHING LIKE THE FIRST TWO GAMES," and the like.
Does it live up to the hype? Personally, it does the best it can.
The VATS system does effectively handle the effect of tactical combat as opposed to the FPS run-and-gun combat, but the fact that you have a CHOICE that seems fairly seamless whichever way you cut it is a credit to the game. It's a gutsy move that paid off, IMHO.
The developers recognized that after 200 years, there would be more vegetation, but kept the bare rock and dust and barren wasteland look in order to hold to the FALLOUT aesthetic. In that way, it has succeeded. This is a terrible place that still bears the scars of what was humanity's most insane act, the choice to "GO NUKES," and the environment shows the remains of a civilization that was, to some degree, caught off-guard--a baseball field with bases and bats still in place, skeletons in bathtubs of houses in blasted ghost towns. Life is a hardscrabble existence where even the enemies look starved and/or damaged. (At least the inhabitants don't look prematurely aged like they did in OBLIVION.)
And the storyline? Well-written, fairly well-thought out, including a couple of twists and turns that are purely FALLOUT. The ending was, I think, a little forced, but it was also a gutsy risk. It might have been a little clearer about why there were so few choices, but otherwise, not bad.
The real thrill is the Wasteland itself--a reporter named Jimmy Breslin had a well-used and famous saying about New York, that "there are 8 million stories in the naked city," and there seems to be almost as many in each and every location, and there are a LOT of them. And there are no simple throwaway location, just to provide filler--each is compelling on its own--a diner right out of a horror movie, experiments going hideously wrong in relatively unassuming places, and quiet little hamlets holding unspeakable secrets. You get the chance to see all of the available locations at level 20 (the cap) and my personal advice is to snag THAT perk when it becomes available, just so you can see what you missed!
Is this FALLOUT? I believe it is--it uses the current technology, a compelling storyline, takes a few chances with gameplay (without any hiccups) and helps you believe that this is the inevitable result of humanity's ability to destroy. What is also here is the freedom you had in the other FALLOUT games--the ability to kill anyone you wanted, even if it was counter productive. (Not something for the sociopathic, but not being forced to lower your gun while you talk to someone can be a plus.)
End result--BUY THIS GAME. Fallout fans--BUY THIS GAME NOW.
But DO NOT BUY THE SURVIVAL EDITION. The COLLECTOR'S EDITION is plenty.
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