Fallout 3

 PlayStation 3
User Score
8.2

Generally favorable reviews- based on 1332 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,068 out of 1332
  2. Mixed: 119 out of 1332
  3. Negative: 145 out of 1332
Buy Now
Buy on

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. Mattthelemon173
    Jun 25, 2018
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Overall, Fallout 3 throughout the years hasn't gotten worse throughout the years because it was immediately worse at the start, near the end of the shows most of it's problems renditions during the ending of the game... You walk into the final chamber with the water purifier, Colonel Autumn's here, he plans to kill you, with his gun, because he wants to... Uh- Be the guy who has the water purifier, that's going to exist anyway and purify the water regardless. And in the course of three sentences you change his entire world view, he gives up, and starts to walk out... On his way I remember this guy doesn't deserve to live considering he killed several innocent people, also I killed all his guys and I'm going to let him go? The guy who started this entire conflict... So I shoot him in the head as his entire frontal lobe, eyes, jaw, and his skull implodes and crumbles into shattered bits over the entire floor, imagine that frame for a minute... The creators of this game molded the individual 3D PIECES, of a face exploding, the fleshy, gooey, matter erupting from a gaping hole. They probably had to look up diagrams and do research for this! But the character stands for nothing, he turns on a dime. He's flat because of poor writing and execution, they didn't write a character that you could have a meaningful conversation with, NONE of them actually. You either say "Time to die" or "Give up, and walk out now please". The creators time was apparently better spent on something else. And the only reason people disregard these facts is because they loved the presentation more than the actual game itself, and in it's entirety. Most 'Good' reviews that talk about the game is just fluff that talks about the amount of enemies their are to kill, or how pretty the blood explosions look, and how cool V.A.T.S. is. No joke, I've seen enough images along with reviews, and most of them show the V.A.T.S. System in play. The developers spent their time on the presentation, not on the writing, not to make you care for who's face it was, and why it's exploding, but it doesn't matter now, he is now on the floor, dead as can be.

    And if you actually want a good Fallout Game, play Fallout: NV. It fixes everything, the opening isn't 20 minutes long where you have to **** around in a birthday party, or inexcusably murder vault cops, which mind you already makes you a murder because they follow you throughout the entire vault. You walk over to a machine, pick your stats, sit to take a short personalty test, and you go onto an adventure! Traits are back! The mutants and The Brotherhood, and The Enclave are treated differently in an actual intelligent way! And an entirely new faction dominates the wasteland because the creators actually knew how to write characters, and those characters actually have unique personalities, or ideals! And this new faction is a group of seemingly unjustifiable genocidalists, until you sit with their leader he gives a meaningful criticism of Democracy, and starts talking about Megalomania Dialectic! Conversations aren't just a dumbass dice roll when you can just reload your save when you fail anymore! You can repair weapons using other weapons and materials, so the laser pistol is actually viable now! The weapons work now! The writing is now so amazing in Fallout: NV, you can tell what a characters stance is on Caesars Legion depending on how the pronounce the name! The game is actually paced well, so it gets actually harder the longer forward you progress.

    Please, Please! Do not be discouraged by anyone else that Fallout NV might be empty or bland, (which is a lie made by criminals) just use mods by the Nexus to add in more content or graphics, which if you asked me which was better with mods I would say Fallout: NV because the people who had modded Fallout 3 only modded out the beginning, because it sucked arse,

    I think I'm done here, and I hope what I had said convinced most people for years to come.    … Expand
  2. nono5551212
    Jun 27, 2015
    2
    I know this is an old game but boy was it terrible. Go here do this... go here get that... I hate fetch quests and this game seems like one big fetch quest... I bet the story is horrible... I gave up...
  3. AlexGaming
    Sep 21, 2015
    0
    I don't understand why this piece of crap is considered one of the best games of all time. The plot is missing because the only thing you have to do is to find your lost father. The graphics reminded me of PlayStation 2 , the characters are expressionless and the gameplay is weird . How can you hold so many items like armour, weapons and food.... ON YOUR BACK ?I don't recommend it toI don't understand why this piece of crap is considered one of the best games of all time. The plot is missing because the only thing you have to do is to find your lost father. The graphics reminded me of PlayStation 2 , the characters are expressionless and the gameplay is weird . How can you hold so many items like armour, weapons and food.... ON YOUR BACK ?I don't recommend it to absolutely anyone… Expand
  4. boblikepie
    Nov 21, 2011
    0
    I heard that this game was an amazing open world free choice game and yes there is a big open world but free choice isn't really to say. You only ever have 2 ways of really doing things right and wrong that's not really ultimate choice. It's great that there is a big open world but that's one of this games biggest downfalls. You get a quest find out that's it's somewhere on the other sideI heard that this game was an amazing open world free choice game and yes there is a big open world but free choice isn't really to say. You only ever have 2 ways of really doing things right and wrong that's not really ultimate choice. It's great that there is a big open world but that's one of this games biggest downfalls. You get a quest find out that's it's somewhere on the other side of the map you haven't been and have to spend an hour getting there constantly saving every 10 minutes cause there's SO many bugs in this game. This is what let me down the most. How can a game be released with so many critical bugs. I know bugs in software happen and to fix them you usually break something else but come on. At the moment I'm trying to do The Pitt add on and the game is running at a slide show if at all. There are some many game breaking bugs that the game isn't enjoyable to play in the slightest. The only reason I'm still playing is cause I'm a completist and don't want to feel like I wasted 34 bucks. Also another terrible feature about the game is the shooting mechanics it never seems to actually go where you want to and trying to aim with the controller is nearly impossible (now you know why we have VATS the devs couldn't make a shooter engine). Even if you do opt for manual shooting the games frame rate drops to a standstill whenever a gun fight occurs. I do not understand how this is such a highly regarded game IT SUCKS DON'T BUY IT.… Expand
  5. chicagopoetry
    Jul 18, 2013
    4
    Fallout 3 was sitting on my shelve for years. The first time I tried to play it I got so bored in the vault that I never even made it out. Recently I've been having trouble finding a good game to play because I've played just about everything already so I decided to give Fallout 3 another shot. Once I got out of the vault it started to get better and I thought it was going to be great. ButFallout 3 was sitting on my shelve for years. The first time I tried to play it I got so bored in the vault that I never even made it out. Recently I've been having trouble finding a good game to play because I've played just about everything already so I decided to give Fallout 3 another shot. Once I got out of the vault it started to get better and I thought it was going to be great. But now I'm into it maybe ten or twelve hours and it is just so boring. There is this great big world out there but nothing to do in it. The first person shooting is just horrible (how cool would this game be if you got to blast your way through the world on your way to your quest points). I get killed over and over until I get lucky and escape with a couple of health bars left--whoopee. I can't find anything of any real value to sell so I have no money to stock up on anything. I have to drink out of toilets to get my health back because I can't even afford stimpacks. I can't find a larger backpack so I can't even pick up more loot once my pack is full which happens pretty quickly. Everything gets broken and it costs more to repair it than the item is even worth. The missions are just dreadful. I've been playing for hours trying to deliver a stupid letter going here and then going there and here and there having to save every five seconds in case I get killed, having to talk to boring, stiff, monotonous characters with no personality. When I kill some creature it's not exciting it's just a relief because now I can continue walking, and walking, and walking. If it wasn't for online walkthrough advice I wouldn't even have gotten this far. I mean, who would have thought that to find the "family" you had to go into that certain building, then into that certain room, then into that certain passageway, then through that certain tunnel, then backtrack to go the other way, then bride someone, then oh come on already I'm just trying to deliver a stupid letter!!… Expand
  6. AM
    Sep 13, 2009
    4
    I was really really looking forward to this , and had to wait ages before coming under 15 quid. So one day I snapped it up for 11 , I was over the moon , then I got home , and sadness washed over me . After all the acclaim it got , I thought it'd be amazing , but oh no , it was just horrible , from the wierd start to when you escape the vault , it just was such a mess.Terrible I was really really looking forward to this , and had to wait ages before coming under 15 quid. So one day I snapped it up for 11 , I was over the moon , then I got home , and sadness washed over me . After all the acclaim it got , I thought it'd be amazing , but oh no , it was just horrible , from the wierd start to when you escape the vault , it just was such a mess.Terrible graphics , stupid talking and quests that have you just running round doing bugger all , and since the world is so huge , there should be lots to do , that is fun , but it just wasn't. It was like taking a massive cool world and then filling it with 1960s ish rubbishness (if that's a word), the only good thing is the title , because me and the game had a massive Fallout.… Expand
  7. ccrogers15
    Nov 17, 2011
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. for what was a very creative and fun game series, fallout NV and 3 set an all time low. Sure, fallout 3 and NV pulled the series to 3d and open, and i admit it was kind of fun, but that fun was ruined by the major bugs, freezes, glitches and crashes i experienced on my copy. it happened on my PC,ps3 and 360 copies so its not my system. This is a very crap game that does not deserve a sequel. If 4 gets made, it must not be developed by obsidian and not use that crap gamebryo engine. I cant even tell you how bad the DLC makes it. Its unplayable after 3 hours gameplay. its like it purposly freezes to tick you off!… Expand
  8. NaveedIqbal
    Dec 14, 2008
    0
    Me being a huge fan of the fallout series spent 80 pounds( roughly 160 dollars) on the collectors edition the second it was available for purchase and half an hour into the game I was shocked with the HUGE volume of bugs the were ignored by bethesda. I feel conned and want my money back. DO NOT PURCHASE.
  9. JohnK.
    Nov 11, 2008
    0
    I was looking forward to this game being a huge fan of Fallout 1 and 2. I have played this game several hours and I am extremely disappointed in the end product. There are so many bugs that I cannot believe they are taking people's money for this game. If you check the Bethesda Fallout 3 PS 3 Hardware forum you will see what I am talking about. I am not only talking about minor I was looking forward to this game being a huge fan of Fallout 1 and 2. I have played this game several hours and I am extremely disappointed in the end product. There are so many bugs that I cannot believe they are taking people's money for this game. If you check the Bethesda Fallout 3 PS 3 Hardware forum you will see what I am talking about. I am not only talking about minor graphical glitches (which there are many of - ex. black screen for haircuts), I am talking about GAME ENDING bugs. The game will freeze in certain areas, your controller will stop working, and the only thing you can do is reset your system. This happens during one of the main storyline quests, making progression impossible. This also happens during various sidequests and sometimes while exploring. In other areas, when trying to exit/enter an area, the game will load a black screen and will require another reset. These are not fixed simply by reloading the game in an earlier save point and going back. It is something about the particular area that is bugged. You cannot do anything to progress. NPCs also have a habit of disappearing/dying from spawning at a great height then falling to their deaths. DO NOT BUY THIS GAME. THE GAME IS BROKEN.… Expand
  10. SHODAN
    Nov 5, 2008
    0
    In comparison to the earlier Black Isle Studios Fallouts, Bethesda's Fallout has: One-dimensional, illogical and forgettable characters with little to no personality. Simple, linear, unoriginal narrative. Poorly-written narrative. Poorly-written dialogue. Poorly-voiced dialogue. None of the series' trademark moral ambiguity. No real freedom (there are unkillable NPCs, In comparison to the earlier Black Isle Studios Fallouts, Bethesda's Fallout has: One-dimensional, illogical and forgettable characters with little to no personality. Simple, linear, unoriginal narrative. Poorly-written narrative. Poorly-written dialogue. Poorly-voiced dialogue. None of the series' trademark moral ambiguity. No real freedom (there are unkillable NPCs, unavoidable combat etc.). No real choices or consequences. Tactical combat has been removed. Importance of skills/perks/traits removed. Traits removed. Psychologically and emotionally complex quests no longer present. Nuclear power was a feared thing in post-apocalyptic Fallout, and the issue was dealt with intelligently with much subtle social commentary. In Fallout 3, you can shoot nuclear-powered cars with your nuclear catapult (early in the game...), in a town built around an unexploded nuclear bomb. Fallout 3 fails to deal with any of the interesting human issues that Fallout did. The game lacks any semblance of thoughtfulness. It's also shorter. And easier. The game abuses and contradicts established lore. Fallout 3 fails to even pathetically imitate it's decade-old predecessors' design, originality or meaningfullness. Let alone exceed it. Even when considered, unfairly, outside the context of being a sequel, it is an exceptionally arrogant, incompetent and poorly designed game all on its own. The animations are clunky and awkward. AI is atrocious. Combat is awkward. World textures and character models are ugly and lacking. Art direction is poor. Much of the crowded (who would have thought nuclear winter would be so claustrophobic?) "wasteland" is sloppily and lazily copy-pasted from place to place. The musical score is uninspired and in the style of LOTR-esque epic-fantasy (in fact it sounds very similar to Oblvion...) - which is completely inappropriate in this game's setting. To top it off, the whole thing is buggy and poorly optimized. And Bethesda's attitude towards the original games' fans has been utterly pathetic.… Expand
  11. JonD.
    Nov 12, 2008
    4
    I just didn't get it at all, after some great presentation setting my hopes up for a quality gaming experience, it fell away to what looks like a PC game circa 2005. Everything felt cluttered, unprofessional, tired and clichéd, from HUDs to game design. No feeling of atmosphere is generated, just a remote, detached experience, like never fully connecting with the game. An I just didn't get it at all, after some great presentation setting my hopes up for a quality gaming experience, it fell away to what looks like a PC game circa 2005. Everything felt cluttered, unprofessional, tired and clichéd, from HUDs to game design. No feeling of atmosphere is generated, just a remote, detached experience, like never fully connecting with the game. An initial mission left me lost, wandering directionless in both goal and location. A further attempt to get sucked in led to a depth free encounter that left me reaching for the eject button. If you liked Oblivion, you'll love this, if however you want a true next gen title (like so many of the others on release this Christmas) avoid.… Expand
  12. AlexPrince
    Nov 24, 2008
    3
    Visually very impressive once you get outside the Vault, but really not very interactive as a game. Almost exactly the same as Oblivion, so if you don't like that, don't bother with this.

    I will admit to only spending 2-3 hours on it, but REALLY BORED after the first 30 minutes and only kept going because i thought 'this has to get better'!
    Not for me.
  13. DavidGreen
    Dec 16, 2008
    3
    The graphics were nice. Outside of that, the game was a complete puzzle. The following question kept repeating in my head throughout the 3 hours of playtime I had with the game before I gave it back - "what in the heck am I doing?" This is the first game I got a serious headache from ... AND I've played all the Tomb Raider games to the end.
  14. Vormund_Bolt
    Sep 27, 2010
    4
    Bah, Fallout 3. When I bought it, I thought it was going to be interesting, but I was horribly mistaken. The world is HUGE! A little bit too huge, I f you ask me. I couldn't get very far without getting lost. The map doesn't help very much, and during the time when I was lost, I was pwned by around 4 big monster deals with miniguns.I'm not afraid to say that me and Dogmeat didn't lastBah, Fallout 3. When I bought it, I thought it was going to be interesting, but I was horribly mistaken. The world is HUGE! A little bit too huge, I f you ask me. I couldn't get very far without getting lost. The map doesn't help very much, and during the time when I was lost, I was pwned by around 4 big monster deals with miniguns.I'm not afraid to say that me and Dogmeat didn't last long, especially with the crappy weapon life. Why didn't they make the weapon health system like Oblivion?… Expand
  15. JackM
    Dec 14, 2010
    4
    It's a good game but the console version should be avoided at all costs! I have never had so many bugs and crashes in a game before. This is what could happen if you port a game meant for the PC on a console. All those bugs and crashes ruined the game for me and I heard New Vegas was the same. Play the PC version, not this.
  16. Tokyochuchu
    Apr 11, 2012
    4
    For most people, Fallout 3 will be a wonderful experience. For me... I just couldn't get my head around shooting at something like an FPS but never being able to hit it because of level stats. If you're not supposed to use the FPS aiming system, why put it in the game? If physically aiming at a guy's head with a sniper rifle counts for nothing, why bother giving us a scope? I know it's anFor most people, Fallout 3 will be a wonderful experience. For me... I just couldn't get my head around shooting at something like an FPS but never being able to hit it because of level stats. If you're not supposed to use the FPS aiming system, why put it in the game? If physically aiming at a guy's head with a sniper rifle counts for nothing, why bother giving us a scope? I know it's an RPG and you're supposed to use the VATS system, but the hybrid aspects of the game just totally killed it for me.… Expand
  17. quotenneger
    Apr 7, 2012
    2
    I don't know where to startâ
  18. Machine2music
    May 8, 2012
    0
    I really did hate everything about this game. It just wasn't for me at all. Especially the control setup.. But pretty much everything was hot garbage in my opinion.
  19. Bulbotrax
    Apr 13, 2013
    0
    too many freezes during the game. It's an absolute shame. Each time i play, at one point, my console stop working, only with this damn game. One advice to Bethesda: learn to program games.
  20. FingerFiddle
    Dec 27, 2013
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. this game sucks this game sucks this game sucks this game sucks this game sucks this game sucks this game sucks this game sucks this game sucks this game sucksthis game sucks this game sucks this game sucks this game sucks this game sucksthis game sucks this game sucks this game sucks… Expand
  21. crying
    Sep 9, 2015
    2
    my god this gaym suks so bad UGHHHHTEA AND CRUMPETS ON MY PET WALRUS upside down in space communicating with giant flies- bad game poor gwafiks 2short no multiplayer just not gud enuff sowwy :/
  22. DrGDug
    Jul 13, 2015
    4
    This game is for RPG fans. I am not. The play action is on par with video games from the 80s. The graphics are not what I am accustomed to in the recent decade. Voice acting is OK, but the facial graphics is very amateurish. Bottom line, if you're into RPG, you'll like it. Very involved. If you're used to 3rd Person Shooters, you're doomed to disappointment.
  23. alandrade21
    Feb 22, 2021
    3
    If you liked fallout 1 and 2, play this game is dismissible.

    SUMMARY: Plot: Shallow. Game Design: Bad. Tech. Implementation: Terrible. PLOT: Shallow - It is true that this game brings a new view of the fallout universe, and broads the understanding we had of various wastelands life aspects, but it do it with mediocrity. Basically, they picked the bombastically revelations of    If you liked fallout 1 and 2, play this game is dismissible.

    SUMMARY:
    Plot: Shallow.
    Game Design: Bad.
    Tech. Implementation: Terrible.

    PLOT: Shallow - It is true that this game brings a new view of the fallout universe, and broads the understanding we had of various wastelands life aspects, but it do it with mediocrity. Basically, they picked the bombastically revelations of fallout 2 endings and built an entire new game without adding nothing new to the history.

    This game's plot can be summed ap as the John Doe wastelands journal.

    If you, like me, appreciated fallout 1 and 2 history, you will reach this game's ending disappointed.

    In terms of DLC, all DLCs plots are not connected with the main plot, except the Broken Steel DLC, that has a plot as shallow as the main plot.

    GAME DESIGN: Bad - I played the GOTY edition, and reached the topmost 30 th level before mid game... O__O

    Ok, there are interesting ideas implemented in this game. The combat mechanics is fun, the weapons are great, but from the mid game forward you simple does not have any sensation of character progression...

    And, as the plot is so shallow, the game became a sequence of go to a place, kill the enemies while exploring, get stuff, go to next place.

    TECH. IMPLEMENTATIONS: Terrible - Lots of freezing and frame hate dropping when the save file is about 10 MB in size. The DLCs picks this reality and elevates it to another order of magnitude. So, as there is no plot, no sensation of character progression, you simply go to DLCs to take trophies, and get out of there as fast as possible. Sad...

    Conclusion? go choose another game to play.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

6
#6 Best PS3 Game of 2008
5
#5 Most Discussed PS3 Game of 2008
4
#4 Most Shared PS3 Game of 2008

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
90

Universal acclaim - based on 57 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 55 out of 57
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 57
  3. Negative: 0 out of 57
  1. Digital Chumps
    Oct 27, 2010
    76
    Until you can play the game without unpredictable crashing and quirky issues surprising you it's going to be tough to find the maximum amount of fun I know this title can offer.
    Read full review
  2. 1UP
    100
    This is the kind of hugely ambitious game that doesn't come around very often, and when it does, you'd be a fool not to play it and enjoy the hell out of it and look forward to the day (next-next-gen?) when the fidelity of open-world RPGs takes another big step closer to the uncanny valley's far side.
    Read full review
  3. IGN
    94
    It's rare that a game can hit the mark in so many different and often conflicting areas. Fallout 3 offers freedom without sacrificing a focused story. It delivers fantastic combat without forgoing a deep role-playing system. The characters you meet are engaging and oftentimes hilarious without feeling out of place in this harsh world.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »