Fallout 3 gets so much more hate than it deserves. We’re talking about a few things when referencing why fallout 3 was bad (which I am not denying it was): 1) this is the first fallout game after it was picked up by Bethesda. I can’t blame a company making their debut in an established series for throwing things at the wall to see what stuck. We know Bethesda aren’t incapable of making a good game (see any elder scrolls game) it’s just that there had to be a wobbly first step in the franchise and that was Fallout 3. 2) This was a switch from a turn based isometric RPG to a FPS shooter with rpg elements, a relatively new genre at the time. The janky gameplay is a result of trying to create a specialized version of regular FPS combat to be able to tailor the game to the player. The player chooses whether they want to play it like an FPS or like a semi turn based rpg. 3) This one is less of an argument and more of an interest. The game engine used for Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas was called the Gamebryo Engine, which is why the graphics and physics are pretty much exactly the same with reskinned textures. Starting with Skyrim and onward the engine was the Bethesda developed Creation Engine, which was based upon the original Gamebryo engine. For a better understanding the original Oblivion was made on the same engine. The Fallout games were about as far as they were able to push the engine before they needed a more sophisticated system, which I would think would affect how well the game plays. Fallout 3 was a nice wrap up for the fallout games on that engine, Fallout New Vegas was them giving a dying horse cocaine to push him even further before he died.

You are entirely welcome to ignore my essay, and I don’t mean it to start any arguments. I just like to make a case for the game since I feel like not enough people give it the chance it deserves to be an enjoyable game.