I used to be a pretty hardcore gamer, but ever since I started grad school, I’ve scaled back my gaming. Last year, I missed out on some of the bigger games despite buying them. Stuff like Halo 3 went relatively unplayed, despite being regarded as one of the big hits of the holiday season. My time was dedicated to the occasional game of Madden and things that I had to review. When I saw the roster of upcoming games in 2008’s holiday swath of games, I expected this season to be similar. What was going to get left out, what was going to get a little bit of time and what was going to be the occasional game I got to actually play completely through? Originally, I expected Fallout 3 to fall in the second category, especially with the World of Warcraft expansion hitting shortly after Fallout 3 dropped. Instead, Fallout 3 created a totally different category for me — one that can best be described at “Jeez, is it already 4 a.m.? I need to be up at 7 ...”

Fallout 3 was originally being put together by the original creators of the series Black Isle. However, when Interplay let the team go, the franchise was placed into limbo. Nobody was sure if the series would die or if someone would pick it up to possibly create something in the future. Eventually a pre-alpha version of Fallout 3 was leaked onto the net, showing gamers what could have been. Also, the news was released that Bethesda, of Elder Scrolls fame, had picked up the series. There were fears in the hearts of most Fallout series stalwarts, assuming the game was simply going to become Oblivion with guns.

I’ll start by saying that I played through this game on both the Xbox 360 and the PC. Fallout 3 does take a few cues from the Elder Scrolls series. Character creation is not done as it has been in last couple of Fallout games but through a few small activities at the start of the game. Your looks, for example, are handled when you’re born — the game works this into the story by claiming that the computer is showing you what you’ll look like when you’re grown up. This all does a good job of introducing you to basic concepts in the game, while doing so in a context that is fitting and not a horribly forced tutorial. Sure, you’ll get those screens that pop up and tell you how to do something, but it is the best way to mix the immersion of a game with the essential aspects of learning to play said game. This tutorial is essential, too, since many of the beginning story hooks are introduced here. After you finish this small tutorial mission, you’ll get a chance to redo any of your characters attributes or skill ratings before starting on the main game, which is a nice added touch.

Character creation is one of the many elements that make Fallout 3 stand above many similar role-playing games and sets itself apart from its engine-brother Oblivion. You have seven stats — ones that any Fallout vet will be familiar with. Each of the abilities govern a few skills but also have other benefits: Strength adds to your damage, Perception helps you detect enemies, Endurance increases hit points, Charisma helps you when talking to others, Intelligence increases skill point gains, Agility gives you more action points to use and Luck helps your critical hit rate. As a collective, these abilities are referred to as the SPECIAL system. Those Fallout vets familiar with these stats also will be happy to learn that you can still make a noncharismatic buffoon that can still be lucky and bash someone in the head with a hammer or make a swift-talking pistoleer who can barely lift a feather without breaking their back. Note, though, that some of the elements from previous games in the series are missing. Take the Charisma checks in conversations as one example. These are now relegated solely to relevant skills and perks.

These perks are an element of the game that give you a chance to differentiate your character from all the others that your friends will create. They start pretty bland, often increasing your skills or giving you a chance to increase certain SPECIAL stats. As the game goes on, though, you’ll start to get some really fun perks. My personal favorite would be Bloody Mess, which I’ll get to into in a bit. Your choice of perks will often reflect your style of play through the game. I, personally, prefer the approach of getting in something’s face and beating it to a pulp, and I like to avoid stealthing. As a result, I work on getting anything that lets me hit harder and anything that makes me take less damage. I can’t always use terrain to block line of sight, and I need to be able to take some hits before I pull up the targeting menu to lop off a Super Mutant’s head.

At this point, you may be sitting there, possibly upset. “What? A targeting system in a game with guns? I need to be able to bunny hop my way to victory man; screw this game!” Rest assured, those of you that want to play this way still can, but your shots and melee weapon swings will be governed to a degree by your stats and skills. For those of you with twitch reflexes that are only slightly better than those of a sloth, however (I include myself in this group), the VATS system will be your best friend. Bringing this up will pause the game and give you a chance to pick certain points on your target to strike if you are using a gun, or just a generic target if swinging a melee weapon. These percentages are dynamic, too. Should an enemy be reloading their gun and have the view to their head obstructed, you’re going to have a low chance to hit them there. However, the chance to hit their arms, body and gun may be increased. There also are perks you can get to increase your chance to hit while using VATS, and they do make a noticeable increase in these percentages.

The best part of VATS, though, are the cinematic kills you can pull off in this mode. Sure, smashing something with a hammer normally may result in some blood flying and a crumpled body. But if you go into VATS mode and deliver the final, punishing strike, you’ll know it. Your character will wind up, take a slow swing and nail the enemy in the head, severing it from the body and sending it flying. Until, of course, it bounces down and rolls along a hill for a moment. It gets even worse when you have the Bloody Mess perk, with some bodies simply liquefying into a bloody mist that would send a vampire into a blood-fueled rage of epic proportions. This alone contributes to my recommendation that I’ll put out now: Parents, do not buy this game for your kids. Trust me, you’ll say thanks later.

There’s a ton of stuff to liquefy through the game, too. The world of Fallout 3 is absolutely enormous. The game takes place in a scaled-down version of Washington, D.C., and the outskirts of the city, where it is now referred to as the Capitol Wasteland. My first playthrough of this game took 20 hours to complete. I did some side quests and finished the main story. I went to talk to a friend who had also played through it, though, and most of my side quests went totally unrecognized on his part. We had both taken the same path through the game, it seemed, but explored different areas and picked up different side quests. I’m now playing through a second time and, for testing purposes, have not touched the main story yet. There’s so much to do in this game — I’m level 14 (max of 20) and still have quite a bit in the way of side quests to do.

Outside of questing, exploration also is well-rewarded in the game. While you can take the chance to explore for the fun of it in some games, Fallout 3 rewards you with things like skill-increasing books, Bobbleheads (+10 to a skill or +1 to a SPECIAL stat) and unique weapons scattered throughout the buildings, sewers and ruins of the Wasteland. Rarely am I an explorer in these types of games, but Fallout 3 has led to me wanting to explore, not only to find more loot but also because I’m really enjoying my time spent in this world. There is one problem that bugged me and had me cursing a bit at my computer, though. Often, you’ll come across areas that have fairly small piles of rubble that impede your progress, no matter how easy it would be to get over a similar pile elsewhere. There also are some horribly artificial fences and walls placed in places that you wouldn’t think they would appear. This seems to have been done as an effort to force players to take a certain path into and out of areas, but it only serves to frustrate gamers.

In essence, Fallout 3 is a game about rewarding you, the player, for playing in whatever manner you see fit. You can play through and run around, guns blazing, making a mess as you rampage through the wasteland. You can play a character who only kills as an absolute last resort. Or, you could do like I am on my current playthrough — grab a powerfist, some grenades and mines, and go to town. The choice really is yours in the Capitol Wasteland, and no choice is truly wrong. This is one of the rare few games that I will find myself coming back to not only for the next few weeks but for months down the line, as players modify certain aspects of the game and make it even more fun to play. I really can’t recommend this game enough if you’re a fan of the Fallout series or have enjoyed games like Oblivion. And if you’re like me and enjoy blood, guts and gore, take the Bloody Mess perk the moment you hit level 6. Trust me. You will not regret it.