When it was first announced that Bethesda would be taking over theFalloutIP and transforming it from the isometric perspective ofFallout 1and2to a first-personElder Scrolls-style open-world RPG, many fans of the franchise were understandably hesitant. Since then, however,Fallout 3has become a classic among Bethesda fans, walking a fine line few of the studio’s titles have been able to match.
There are a few reasonsFallout 3is one of the best Bethesda-made RPGs. Not only does the post-apocalyptic game deliver on the core tenets of the Bethesda RPG formula, but its open-world storytelling strikes a strange balance that few games have been able to emulate sinceFallout 3released back in 2008.
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How Fallout 3 Transformed the Franchise
When Bethesda took over theFalloutIP the fear among many fans was that the studio would take the setting and style of the first two games while transforming the gameplay into something resemblingOblivionifThe Elder Scrolls 4had been a shooter. In some sense, those fears came true. Bethesda transformed the gameplay ofFallout 3to match its own RPG formula while keeping the major story aspects of theFalloutuniverse intact. Despite the change,Fallout 3delivers very well on the large open-world exploration and freedom that would define later Bethesdagames like Skyrim.
Despite the immense freedom to explore the open-world that the player has as soon as they step out of Vault 101 into the Capital Wasteland, the start ofFallout 3is far more prescriptive than some other Bethesda-produced titles. InSkyrimthe background of the player is left completely up to their own imagination – the only event which happens to every player in the retail version of the game is experiencing Alduin the World Eater’s attack on Helgen. Similarly, in Obsidian’sFallout: New Vegasthe only non-optional event isthe New Vegas Courierbeing shot and left for dead at the game’s start, as well as their rescue by Doc Mitchell.
Fallout 3’s introduction takes a very different approach. InFallout 3,players experience their character’s birth, early childhood, and their young life growing up in Vault 101 with their father James after the death of their mother. As the timeline jumps forward, they go from playing with blocks to taking tests and gaining friends and enemies from among their peers. The game’s opening even makes it clear thatthe Lone Wandereris just 19 years old when James leaves Vault 101 and they escape in pursuit.
Fallout 3’s Introduction
In theory,Fallout 3’s prescriptive introduction should severely limit roleplaying opportunities in the game, but in fact the prescriptive opening is executed in such a way that is ends up being as conductive to roleplay asSkyrim’s intro. The player is given an opportunity to get to know James and to feel that they and their character share a joined perspective on the Fallout world – for both the player and player character, the Vault 101 introduction frames theCapital Wastelandas completely unexplored.
The introductory sequence also doesn’t show so much of the player’s first 19 years that they can’t imagine most of the details about the life they led in Vault 101 themself. The player can still choose whether or not the Lone Wanderer is a straight-A student or a wannabeTunnel Snake, and they even have the option to make some big roleplaying decisions like killing or sparing the Vault’s Overseer, or deciding whether or not to rescue their school bully from Radroaches.
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When the player finally leavesVault 101they have very little information to go on regarding James’ possible whereabouts, other than that he passed through Megaton. In other words, the opening plot of the game encourages players to really embody the role of the Lone Wanderer, exploring the Capital Wasteland and getting to know its inhabitants without it feeling like they are neglecting the main quest. At Brighton Digital 2020 Todd Howard himself talked about striking this balance as one of his favorite aspects of developing the game.
In contrast, the disappearance of the player character’s childShaun inFallout 4makes casually exploring the world feel strangely dissonant. Unlike James, there’s no reason for the player character to think Shaun could survive on his own. To make things worse the particular horror of a parent losing their child to a kidnapper makes some of the game’s most fun and silly questlines like the Silver Shroud missions feel out of place and less immersive despite being among the game’s most enjoyable moments in isolation.
Player and Protagonist Perspectives
Not only doesFallout 3’s main plotline avoid one of the sequel’s pitfalls, butFallout 3’s younger protagonist is more accessible to a wider audience thanFallout 4’s middle-aged marriedSole Survivor. Simply put, far more people have experienced being in their late teens and going out into the wider world without their parents for the first time than they have experienced military service, law school, or having a child.
WhileFallout 3’s player character had a specific backstory,Bethesdaalso cleverly focused on relatively universal experiences that most people playing the game would have gone through growing up. The Lone Wanderer’s youth in turn helped to enhance the sense of exploration that would be key to the game’s success – the player is seeing the game’s world through the young eyes of a character who is also seeing it for the very first time.
Fallout 3manages to create a large explorable world while still having a central character the player character is tied to in their father James. It delivered on theFalloutsettingand the staples of a Bethesda RPG while also having a more character-driven story that most installments inThe Elder Scrollsfranchise.Fallout 3was not without its valid criticisms, but it became a classic by attempting to strike an ambitious balance between freedom and prescriptivism in open-world RPG gaming, and executing that attempt in a way that encouraged the player to share the player character’s perspective.
Fallout 3is currently available on PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360.
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