Fallout 3 (Xbox 360)

(Note: I finished playing this game shortly before I started Dragon Age: Origins, so the order of play in the blog is a little off)

Quick Thoughts

1. It took me a while to start this game.  I played it briefly when it first came out.  I liked it, but I didn't think I could give it the time commitment I wanted.  I find with RPGs you really want to be to fully engross yourself with the story, the mission, and your characters.
2. Once I started, I found that the game was easy to get obsessed over.  The game map is basically the greater DC area, set well after a nuclear holocaust.
3. The game combat and leveling system is very well-balanced and rewarding.  The missions are fun (they do get a little repetitive).  If you like first-person shooters, but a want a wider world with a greater variety of missions, then this game will suit your tastes.
4. I can't say the story of the game really held together for me.  The first ingredient for science-fiction is whether or not I can suspend belief.  I try to start by giving any sci-fi the benefit of the doubt. But little things kept bugging me on this one.  Would society really have re-started this particular way.  I had a hard accepting that people would make bottlecaps their currency or the fact that a town would form around a 'live', but undetonated, nuclear bomb.  If radiation is everywhere and it makes you sick, why wouldn't people move-away from DC for another local.  OK, yes, nitpicky.  That said, I enjoyed the story as a hook that made you explore the world.  It's not a bad story, just not as gripping for me as other RPG storylines.  This is at least partially a matter of taste.
5. I think the xbox live achievements fit in well with the RPG mentality of pursuing rewards as a (false) status symbol.
6. Character develop is very rich.  Lots of options as to how you want to defeat the enemies you'll meet in this game. Focusing purely on kicking-ass can mean you miss some other opportunities. Like if you can gain the skill to hack a computer terminal or use your 'charisma' to persuade on NPC to tag along with on the mission.
7. My complaints about the realism aside, this is a very complete and filled-in universe.  The details help paint a world that's very robust and graphically amazing (by 2008 standards - which are still great to my eye).  The game play is excellent.  Even without the game add-ons (Which are very good by game add-on standards), there are at least 70 hours (and I played for well over 100 hours) of solidly fun gameplay.

Metacritic Score: 93