Game reviewer Omar Boulon, from French gaming magazine CanardPC, was invited by Bethesda to check out their upcoming RPG Fallout 3. For sixteen hours he was holed up in a hotel, playing the game, getting a feel for it, for a review.
Omar really didn't like the game much at all, it seems.
In this month's edition of CanardPC (translation: PC Duck) Omar basically tears down the game in a large editorial piece. While not a review-review (he does not score the game), he offers many stinging criticisms on what he perceives to be the games short-comings.
Here is an excerpt:
" Fallout 3 is a sluggish device, soulless, not exactly terrible, actually almost enjoyable, but totally forgettable because of uncountable dishonest compromises.
From what I've seen, Fallout 3 does not have any of the qualities of the previous episodes. But that was to be expected. However, it has none of the diffuse magic of the Elder Scrolls series. It feels like Bethesda made a break with this new title, a sad bend towards products multiplying "fan service", the dumb, goofy stuff that will make the client laugh, the "awsum roxxorz" elements and micro-gameplay to the detriment of world coherence and deeper mechanisms. To sum it all up, expect loads of shallow combat spoiled by VATS and slowmotion sequences as gore as pathetic, a terribly short main quest - a Spanish colleague has finished it in less than an afternoon, during his first playthrough - nice secondary quests, but which completely missed the intelligence and density of the series, the whole being flavored with failed occasions."
Mr. Boulon goes on to describe failings of Fallout 3 that were found in the game's engine predecessor, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. "Most locations you can discover are "raider dungeons". City ruins are copy-paste of the same and only model, here and there flavored by the same and only model of tricycle (the very poetic "Red Ryder") and even worse, the main quest will get you through an Hellgate London-ish nightmare in which you had to pass through kilometers of underground for hours and hours."
Unfortunately the editorial does not get much better. Echoing comments made by another French reviewer in PcJeux, the wasteland of Fallout 3 doesn't seem to be much of a wasteland at all -- it is crowded with all sorts of setup situations waiting for an adventure to trounce through: " Besides the cardboard sets, the feeling of emptiness suddenly goes away. Just like in Oblivion and Gothic 3, adventure awaits at every corner of the street. Literally, unfortunately. A two minute walk and you're there"
Omar didn't give the game a overall score. So far, two other reviews have come out. A PC Gamer UK gave the game a 81%, and PC Jeux settled on a much higher 93%.
From this harsh preview-review, going to PC Jeux' 93%, it seems difficult to guess what the average critical consensus on the game will be. From these early reviews, it does seem however that for those that played the earlier games in the series, Fallout 3's RPG elements and immersive qualities are lacking. As for how gamers who haven't played Fallout 1 & 2 see Fallout 3, well, we will just have to wait to see more reviews -- or for October 28th, when everyone will be able to check it for themselves.
