Fallout 3 came out in October 2008, developed by Bethesda Game Studios. It’s been around for eleven years now, so we all have an idea of what it’s about. For those who don’t, Fallout 3 is a “post-apocalyptic action role-playing open world video game” set in a close approximation of Washington D.C. after a nuclear holocaust in around 2277.
Fallout 3 has consistently scored high with reviewers and has won several Game of the Year awards. With the game available on multiple platforms, it’s easy to get your hands on it. Being fairly open-ended, it’s easy to play through multiple times. But what if you haven’t played through it at all? What if it’s 2019 and this is the first time you’ve ever set foot in the Fallout universe? Here’s a list of ten things you learn when you play Fallout 3 for the very first time.
10 Leveling Up Is Hard
When you first leave Vault 101 and venture out into the Wasteland, it’s a little overwhelming. Add that to the fact that you’re at a tiny baby level and things get a lot more complicated. After discovering Megaton, your first real adventure is to check out Galaxy News Radio.
This means really going out into the Wasteland. If you’re not prepared, this will surely lead to death. A lot of deaths. Multiple, horrible, weird noodle body deaths. A good way to level up is, of course, quests. You get a good chunk of XP when you turn in quests, so settle in and prepare to put your main story on hold for a little bit.
9 Things Look Pretty Gross
Since the Fallout games take place in a post-apocalyptic, post-nuclear fallout wasteland, things can look pretty terrifying. The world has been destroyed and ravaged by radiation, so people and animals have now been twisted and transformed into hideous monsters. While the Fallout franchise doesn’t exactly fall under the category of horror games, there’s still an element of horror about them.
Especially when you come upon a Centaur for the first time; Centaurs are horrific yet slow-moving creatures mutated from humans and various animals, infected with the Forced Evolutionary Virus. While not major threats, they are pretty gross looking, and since they’re particularly close to their Super Mutant masters, they can signify a greater threat lurking nearby.
8 The Urge To Run Away Is Strong
One of the major points in Fallout 3 is you’ve got to stand your ground and fight if you want to actually get anywhere. That doesn’t mean you won’t get the urge to turn around and run away when you see a Super Mutant or a gang of Raiders coming over a hill.
Sure, you can sneak around and find a different way to get where you’re going, but sometimes you’ve just got to heft your baseball bat (because that’s all you have right now) and just beat that Super Mutant to a pulp. The point is when you’re playing on PC with a headset and all the noises are concentrated right in your ears, it’s easy to get a little spooked. No judgment.
7 Wearing Raider Armor Will Not Disguise You
And we think it should. What would be a better way to get into a nest of Raiders and destroy them all than to dress like one of their own and just saunter right in? This is where strategy and tactics should be encouraged because if you want to survive, you have to be sneaky.
And you have to have a weapon other than a baseball bat, except you’re not very good at the game yet and you’ve stolen a lot of guns but not a lot of ammo. When dealing with a large group, it comes down to weapon choice and getting to a place where you can’t be surrounded.
6 A Truly Open-World Game Is Overwhelming When You’re Used To Playing Pokemon
When you’re just starting out and you’re not used to a truly open-world game, things can get a little intimidating. You want to investigate every rock and blade of grass in case you’ve missed something.
It’s easy to get lost, but you’ve got to take it one town at a time. In Fallout 3 it’s best to check your map often and especially when you’ve got an objective. The Pip-Boy does a great thing where it gives you a path to where you’re going depending on what quest you’re completing at the time, which makes things easier; you can go off and explore the Wasteland or try and find a different way, but you can always come back to the path if you need to.
5 The Urge To Give Your Character Unlimited Punching Power Is Also Strong
No one should cheat; where’s that feeling of accomplishment if you cheat your way through an entire game? You don’t get the satisfaction of knowing you did it all on your own if you’re using cheat codes or hacking.
But, there is something to be said for channeling Griffin McElroy and making your character super good at punching. A one-hit punch is satisfaction personified; there’s really nothing better than not having to worry about weapons because you can punch so, so good. Deathclaw? Punch that thing. Bloatfly? Punch it right out of the air. Radroach? Punch it straight into the ground. Ghoul? Punch.
4 Don’t Quicksave Right Before A Fight
Or in the middle of a fight. We learned this the hard way playing Knights of the Old Republic. You know that feeling: you’re about to go head-on against a Deathclaw and you can’t remember if you saved or not.
The urge to save right then and there is so strong, but don’t do it. Especially if you’re already locked in combat with that Deathclaw. You either got to stick it out, defeat your enemy, and save right after, or run away as best you can, save, and come back. Or just die and go back to your last save point. Not every option is great or possible, but you got to do something.
3 It’s Got A Great Soundtrack
If you like music from the 40s and 50s, Galaxy News Radio has got you covered. Started by Three Dog in 2272, Galaxy News Radio splits its time between Wasteland news and big band music, specifically a “selection of twenty pre-war songs.”
The Galaxy News Radio quest is one of the first you encounter on your main campaign. Getting the radio station to broadcast farther than just Megaton involves “retrieving the communication relay dish from the Virgo II spacecraft in the Museum of Technology and installing it at the top of the Washington Monument.”
2 Your Ability To Carry Things Is Incredible
Unlimited ammo, small nuclear warheads, ten missile launchers, and you can still sneak up on someone. Keep in mind, this is all in your pockets, since there’s no handy backpack feature.
As far as weight capacity, your strength comes into play here. How much weight you can carry maxes out at 200 pounds in the beginning, and every point of strength you add after that adds 10 pounds to your weight capacity. Even when you’re carrying 200 pounds of stuff, you can still run, jump, and fast travel.
1 Slow And Steady Wins The Race
As with any good game, you’ve got to take the time to make the time. It takes a while to really get through a game like Fallout 3. You’ve got to build yourself from the ground up, got to complete your map, got to explore the Wasteland.
Things like that take time. Fallout 3, like any Fallout game and like any open-world game in general, is an investment if you really want to do well. So strap in, take your time, and don’t worry if you get the heebie-jeebies along the way.
NEXT: 10 Post Apocalyptic Video Games To Play If You Love Fallout (Or If You’re Still Mad About Fallout 76)
