I recently bought Fallout 3 for the Xbox 360 on the strength of its reviews. It may have been a mistake, as I haven’t been this addicted to a video game since Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. (I know that GTA 4 was empirically better, but I just never found it as engaging.)
I’ve been shorting myself on sleep and the dogs find me very boring as I sit on the couch wandering the post-apocalyptic wasteland, listening to 1940’s jazz and fragging mutants.
The odd thing is that I can’t entirely explain why this fairly repetitious RPG/FPS mashup is so addictive…
Maybe it’s the massive universe, the clever dialogue and the post-apocalyptic vs. Leave it to Beaver art direction. Maybe it’s because the government propaganda featured struck a little close to the post-election hype of the past week. Maybe it’s because just when I realize I’ve been mindlessly fragging mutants for hours I get a side-quest that sends me after a delusional woman in an ant suit.
One thing the game does better than any other I’ve seen is make you manage resources. There isn’t ammo or health points laying in every random corner, so you’re pretty much always seconds away from death. Tends to keep the adrenaline flowing.
Anyway, I gotta find a way to taper down my playtime. It’s been a good salve on some frustrating days lately, but I’m starting to feel a bit ridiculous for logging this many hours on the couch.
Trailer:
The game’s freedom of action is leading some people to create some silly videos:
Propaganda / gameplay video:
Boxee changes everything
I’ve been using my Xbox 360 as a media server in our house, but there have…
