Fallout 3

Lest you think I'm fixated on NHL09, I've also been playing Fallout 3 on the Playstation 3. With Resident Evil 4 fallen by the wayside (no ammo) Fallout 3 has taken its place.

Fallout 3 is an open-ended role-playing game played in the first person. Why did I buy a first person game? A few reasons:

• I like RPGs.
• The idea of seeing a post-apocalyptic Washington, DC -- an area I've lived for almost 6 years -- is very appealing.
• The V.A.T. system. The V.A.T.S. in the game lets you pause the action and select your shots at any time. I only wish I could switch weapons in V.A.T.S.

Fallout 3 is open-ended; I've already spent hours just on side quests. Fallout 3 feels like it will be another huge game like Twilight Princess and Okami. Dungeon crawling and monster shooting is reminiscent of my AD&D high school days. At times it can get visually gory, but at night and with the customary dim lighting of abandoned buildings I hardly notice. Sometimes.

Random thoughts:

• One thing I enjoy is using my sniper rifle. It's surprisingly fun to try to discover enemies without being discovered in turn and to take out tough monsters in one shot. From the shadows I once cleared out an entire super-mart filled with raiders, using single shots with my sniper rifle. Extremely satisfying.
• I had to learn to think out of the (my) box. At one time radscorpions were my nemesis (they're still tough) until I discovered the utility of land mines. Mirelurks are annoyingly well-armored and I avoid them with a passion. But now I'm itching to take them on again, utilizing some apt load-screen advice. In your face, mirelurks! Arlington Memorial, here I come.
• So far feral ghouls thankfully are easy kills. I hope that remains true throughout because they're quick, ugly, and they freak me out.
• Radroaches gross me out, which means I have to kill them, but they're not worth the price of a bullet and I don't want to get close enough to use a baseball bat. Dilemma.
• Actually, many of the enemies in the game gross me out.
• Duck and cover, but don't cover so much that you can't shoot. Despite the V.A.T.S giving you a respectable percentage of success you often will shoot the covering object in front of you instead. Irritating.
  
• While specific ammo may temporarily run low, ammo in general is plentiful (if you have the caps, and multiple guns), a far cry from the annoying ammo-deprived Resident Evil 4.
• Once I was ambushed as I exited a Metro station. I almost died. Next time, I saw them first and threw a couple grenades their way to soften them up.
• Once I exited a Metro station and immediately was engulfed in a fire fight only to realize no one was shooting at me. I left without knowing who was fighting who, and why (though I do have an inkling, now).
• On my first visit to Megaton, no one would talk to me except to say that they were watching me and not to "try" anything. Very unfriendly and suspicious people. Then I discovered the sneak mode, and realized I'd been using it the entire time in town. Now they give me food and ammo for free.
• Once I saw a sheriff gunned down from behind. I took his stuff. Then I killed his killer and took his stuff, too.
• My natural inclination is to play the good side of the Force -- that doesn't mean I don't want to be paid for my efforts.
  

Fallout 3 is so far a great game and another I highly recommend, excepting children.