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130-457: Fallout 3 is a 2008 action role-playing game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks . The third major installment in the Fallout series , it is the first game to be developed by Bethesda after acquiring the rights to the franchise from Interplay Entertainment . The game marks a major shift in the series by using 3D graphics and real-time combat , replacing

260-443: A "100 best games to play today" list, saying " Fallout 3 empowers, engages and rewards to extents that few games have ever achieved." Some criticisms concerned the bugs in regards to the physics and crashes, some of which broke quests and prevented progression. The AI and stiff character animations are another common point of criticism, as is the ending. Edge stated that "the game is cumbersome in design and frequently incompetent in

390-446: A "role-playing shooter" due to the heavy RPG elements within the game, such as quest-based gameplay and also its character traits and leveling system. Half-Minute Hero (2009) is an RPG shooter featuring self-referential humour and a 30-second time limit for each level and boss encounter. Other action role-playing games with shooter elements include the 2010 titles Alpha Protocol by Obsidian Entertainment and The 3rd Birthday ,

520-593: A 1991 issue of Computer Gaming World criticized several computer role-playing games for using "arcade" or "Nintendo-style" action combat, including Ys , Sorcerian, Times of Lore, and Prophecy . In 1991, Square released Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden , also known as Final Fantasy Adventure or Mystic Quest in the West, for the Game Boy . Like Crystalis , the action in Seiken Densetsu bore

650-399: A focus on character's stats in order to determine relative strength and abilities. These games often use action game combat systems similar to hack and slash or shooter games . The term "action role-playing game" may also describe action-adventure games , which include a mission system and role-playing game mechanics, as well as MMORPGs with real-time combat systems. Allgame listed

780-509: A game that contains a loose assortment of familiar Fallout concepts and names ... Electricity, pre-war electronic equipment, powered and still working computers (just think about that for a second), working cola & snack machines, weapons, ammo, scrap metal (needed by many), and even unlooted first aid boxes are everywhere. —Vince D. Weller, long-time No Mutants Allowed member, former RPG news site director, and lead developer of The Age of Decadence Not all fans were happy with

910-399: A global catastrophe." Jeremy Peel of PCGamesN argues that Fallout 3 's depiction of Washington, D.C. revolutionized video game exploration due to its non-linear design. Peel wrote, "Part of Fallout 3 's legacy lies in setting the concept of a videogame dungeon free. Bethesda's D.C. allows you to approach its dangers from different directions, in different orders, and still find

1040-650: A heart monitor to represent the player's Attack Power and Armor Class statistics. Another controversial aspect of the game involved taking drugs (instead of potions) that increase/decrease attributes, but with side effects such as heart-rate increase/decrease or death. Origin Systems , the developer of the Ultima series, also released an action RPG in 1988, titled Times of Lore , which was inspired by various NES titles, particularly The Legend of Zelda . Times of Lore inspired several later titles by Origin Systems, such as

1170-542: A lot of popularity on the 2010s with titles such as Warframe (2013), Destiny (2014) and Destiny 2 (2017), The Division (2016) and The Division 2 (2019). Attribute (role-playing games) There is no uniform consensus on what ability scores are, even if many role-playing games have them, but games that use them have a common theme. According to the BBC Cult TV website " All characters have Attributes — basic physical and mental abilities. " and in

1300-979: A more dialogue-heavy experience akin to the Baldurs Gate games and even older series like Falcom's Dragon Slayer/Xanadu series had its outing Xanadu Next with similar Diablo influences. The influences also come full circle when the first Diablo game was inspired by rogue-likes Umoria and Angband and in more recent years many games in the rogue-like genre are inspired by more classic dungeon crawler ARPGs that Diablo helped spawn. In this sub genre there are such recent titles as Path of Exile (2013), Grim Dawn (2016), Zenonia S: Rifts In Time (2015), Book of Demons (2018), Shadows: Awakening (2018), Snack World: The Dungeon Crawl Gold (2017), Titan Quest: Anniversary Edition (2016) and its expansions Titan Quest: Ragnarök (2017) and Titan Quest: Atlantis (2019), Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem (2020) and Minecraft Dungeons (2020). The prominence of Diablo 2 in

1430-483: A more traditional RPG-esque system, including experience points and levels with action game elements. Unlike its predecessor, Zelda II more closely fits the definition of an action RPG. Another Metroidvania -style action RPG released that year was System Sacom 's Sharp X1 computer game Euphory , which was possibly the only Metroidvania -style multiplayer action RPG produced, allowing two-player cooperative gameplay. The fifth Dragon Slayer title, Sorcerian ,

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1560-514: A new audience deserves a chance to play a Fallout game; and that if the series had stayed the way it was back in 1997, new titles would never have been made and brought to market. Luke Winkie of Kotaku tempers these sentiments, saying that it is a matter of ownership; and that in the case of Fallout 3 , hardcore fans of the original series witnessed their favorite games become transformed into something else. After its release, Fallout 3 won numerous awards from gaming journalists and websites. It

1690-494: A new benchmark for what open world [role-playing games] were capable of. We view it with such derision in hindsight, because Bethesda never really moved on from it. Fallout 3 's open world map is often cited as the game's greatest achievement. Its portrayal of 1950s American culture contrasted by the devastation of nuclear war helped Fallout 3 stand apart from contemporary high fantasy role-playing games like The Elder Scrolls and Gothic . Journalists have also noted how

1820-539: A perk, which is a permanent beneficial upgrade. For example, the perk Master Trader reduces the price of items sold by vendors by 25 percent. Fallout 3 features an open world map that the player can freely explore. Locations the player can discover range from small settlements and abandoned buildings, to larger locations like the Jefferson Memorial and the Washington Monument . The player

1950-531: A powerful piece of technology intended to assist in rebuilding civilization after a nuclear war. When work on Project Purity resumes, the remnants of the United States government, known as the Enclave, intervene. Its leader, President John Henry Eden, wants to inject the purifier with a deadly virus that will kill any mutated organisms who drink the water, including humans. James sacrifices himself to protect

2080-520: A prime requisite. The current "SDCIWC" sequence was introduced in AD&;D 2nd edition in an attempt to divide physical and cognitive traits into two groups. Many other notable games have followed suit while slightly varying the attributes, like Traveller (Strength, Dexterity, Endurance , Intelligence, Education , Social Standing ) or like Cortex System games such as the Serenity RPG and

2210-458: A satisfying loop you can recognize as dungeon-spelunking." Action role-playing game An action role-playing game (often abbreviated action RPG or ARPG ) is a subgenre of video games that combines core elements from both the action game and role-playing genre. Action role-playing games emphasize real-time combat where the player has direct control over the characters as opposed to turn or menu -based combat while still having

2340-672: A separate name with, for example, Mental Finesse being the attribute Wits and Social Resistance being Composure . Some games think that attributes are not and should not be treated as entirely independent, and therefore make a lot of their attributes dependent on others. GURPS uses two levels of statistic: four primary statistics ( Strength , Dexterity , Intelligence , Health ) and four statistics derived directly from those Fatigue , which defaults to strength or health (depending on edition); Hit Points , which defaults to health or strength (depending on edition); Willpower, which defaults to intelligence; and Speed , which defaults to half

2470-580: A strong resemblance to that of Legend of Zelda , but added more RPG elements. It was one of the first action RPGs to allow players to kill townspeople, though later Mana games removed this feature. Arcus Odyssey by Wolf Team (now Namco Tales Studio ) was an action RPG that featured an isometric perspective and co-operative multiplayer gameplay. In 1993, the second Seiken Densetsu game, Secret of Mana , received considerable acclaim, for its innovative pausable real-time action battle system , and its innovative cooperative multiplayer gameplay, where

2600-488: A system of five attributes with four sub-attributes each, resulting in twenty total statistics to roll. This system was criticised for its complexity and for the lack of correlation between related sub-statistics, resulting in oddities such as a character with a higher Average Speech Rate than Maximum Speech Rate. The first three editions of Shadowrun had three separate headings of Physical attributes, Mental Attributes, and Special Attributes, with three stats in each. With

2730-764: A teaser site for Fallout 3 , and in June released the first trailer. The trailer zooms out from inside a bus to show the ruins of Washington, D.C., accompanied by the song " I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire " by the Ink Spots . To promote the game, Bethesda partnered with American Cinematheque and Geek Monthly to hold a film festival titled A Post-Apocalyptic Film Festival Presented by Fallout 3 . The festival showcased six post-apocalyptic films: 12 Monkeys , A Boy and His Dog , Damnation Alley , The Last Man on Earth , The Omega Man , and Wizards . Fallout 3

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2860-459: A triumph. A perfect meld of the old and the new ... The way Fallout 3 strode out, blinked beneath an unfamiliar sun and went on to thrive, genuinely made it one of the greatest experiences of this generation." Fallout 3 brought the Fallout series into the mainstream. Billy Studholme of The Washington Post wrote, "Before Fallout 3 , there was no Fallout as we know it today. The game blew

2990-628: A vial containing the virus and asks them to insert it into Project Purity. Afterwards, the Lone Wanderer leaves and optionally causes Eden to self destruct. Together with the Brotherhood of Steel, the Lone Wanderer retakes the Jefferson Memorial, and learns the water purifier needs to be manually activated, or else it will shortly explode. Before James died, he flooded the control room with lethal amounts of radiation. The player

3120-433: A wider audience. Maxwell McGee of GamesRadar+ also notes that Bethesda made Fallout 3 more accessible to new players. McGee stated, "It's a guided experience that expertly introduces the Fallout universe without leaving you lost in the wasteland." In the years since its release, the initial overwhelming praise bestowed on Fallout 3 has somewhat subsided. Retrospective commentary surrounding Fallout 3 often focuses on

3250-480: Is "the earliest game I'd feel comfortable calling an action-RPG" but notes that "it doesn't fit neatly into our modern genre classifications", though came closer than Bokosuka Wars released the same year. Jeremy Parish of 1UP.com argues that Japanese developers created a new brand of action role-playing game; these new Japanese games combined the role-playing genre with arcade-style action and action-adventure elements. Shaun Musgrave of TouchArcade also traces

3380-693: Is "the very first action-RPG ever made" according to GameSetWatch. Originally released for the PC-8801 computer in September 1984, it abandoned the command-based battles of earlier role-playing games in favor of real-time hack-and-slash combat that required direct input from the player, alongside puzzle-solving elements. In contrast to earlier turn-based roguelikes , Dragon Slayer was a dungeon-crawl role-playing game using real-time, action-oriented combat, combined with traditional role-playing mechanics. Dragon Slayer's overhead action role-playing formula

3510-493: Is President Clinton is who we want for this role or [tell Blindlight to] go chase him." Fallout 3 was announced in July 2004, when Bethesda purchased the rights to the game from Interplay. For years, there was little new information about the game, although Tor Thorsen of GameSpot notes that interest in Fallout 3 rose significantly after the critical success of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion . In April 2007, Bethesda published

3640-544: Is considered the first example of an immersive sim , a genre that combines elements from other genres to create a game with strong player agency and emergent gameplay, and has influenced many games since its release. The engine was re-used and enhanced for Ultima Underworld ' s 1993 sequel, Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds . Looking Glass Studios planned to create a third Ultima Underworld , but Origin rejected their pitches. After Electronic Arts (EA) rejected Arkane Studios ' pitch for Ultima Underworld III ,

3770-407: Is dictated by a statistic known as Action Points. Each attack while in V.A.T.S. costs Action Points, and when the player runs out of Action Points they must wait a short period of time before they can use it again. An important mechanic in Fallout 3 is the player's karma . Whenever the player commits an action that is deemed either good or bad, their karma will change accordingly. For example, if

3900-574: Is equipped with a wearable computer called the Pip-Boy 3000 . The device serves as a menu , and allows the player to access items they have acquired, view detailed character statistics and active quests, and look at the map. The player can use the Pip-Boy 3000 map to fast travel to previously discovered locations. The player can also use the Pip-Boy 3000 as a radio, and listen songs from the 1940s and 1950s on makeshift radio broadcasts. While exploring,

4030-444: Is meant to resemble a game of D&D so it uses the same statistics as above, whereas Monsterhearts , with its mix of teen drama and paranormal romance uses the statistics Hot , Cold, Violent , and Dark. Attributes are commonly referred to by a three letter abbreviation (Str, Int, etc.). Hard statistics are those statistics which are generally physical in nature, and are often used to represent physical characteristics of

Fallout 3 - Misplaced Pages Continue

4160-506: Is presented with three potential endings: the Lone Wanderer sacrifices themself to initiate Project Purity, optionally inserting the virus into the purifier; the Lone Wanderer instructs a Brotherhood of Steel member or - if the Broken Steel downloadable content is installed - a radiation-resistant companion to activate the purifier; or the Lone Wanderer does nothing and lets the purifier blow up. The origins of Fallout 3 date back to

4290-494: The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game " Each character has six ability scores that represent his character's most basic attributes. They are his raw talent and prowess. While a character rarely rolls a check using just an ability score, these scores, and the modifiers they create, affect nearly every aspect of a character's skills and abilities. " In some games, such as older versions of Dungeons & Dragons

4420-860: The Princess Crown series, including Odin Sphere and Muramasa: The Demon Blade . Princess Crown had a more cartoon-like visual appeal. It still had quality visuals due to the George Kamitani style. LandStalker's 1997 spiritual successor Alundra is considered "one of the finest examples of action/RPG gaming", combining platforming elements and challenging puzzles with an innovative storyline revolving around entering people's dreams and dealing with mature themes. Ultima Underworld ' s influence has been found in BioShock (2007), and that game's designer, Ken Levine , has stated that "all

4550-548: The 2D isometric graphics and turn-based combat of previous installments. It was released worldwide in October 2008 for Microsoft Windows , PlayStation 3 , and Xbox 360 . The game is set within a post-apocalyptic open world environment that encompasses a scaled region consisting of the ruins of Washington, D.C. , and much of the countryside to the north and west of it in Maryland and Virginia , collectively referred to as

4680-537: The Cortex Plus Leverage with Agility , Alertness , Intelligence, Strength, Vitality , and Willpower . Others use more, some fewer. Tri-Stat dX (including Big Eyes, Small Mouth ), as the name would suggest, uses three ( Body , Mind , and Soul ), whereas a more common division of three, and used in the Cortex Plus game Firefly is Physical , Mental, and Social , but expands with

4810-616: The Dragon's Crown Artworks foreword: "The motif within Dragon's Crown is all the fantasy works that has affected me until now: the PC RPG Wizardry that I first came into contact with as a student; Ian Livingstone 's gamebooks; games like Tower of Druaga , Golden Axe and The King of Dragons ." He also cites his early 20s work on Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom as "truly something that I had aspired for". Dragon's Crown

4940-646: The Fallout 3 map was comparable to the size of the map in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion . Bethesda incorporated various monuments from the Washington metropolitan area that would serve as visual landmarks to help the player navigate. For example, when the player leaves Vault 101 at the beginning of the game, they see the Washington Monument in the distance, which was meant to help the player determine where Washington, D.C.

5070-994: The Game Developers Choice Awards . During the 12th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards , the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences awarded Fallout 3 with Role-Playing Game of the Year and Outstanding Achievement in Original Story , and nominated it for Overall Game of the Year , Computer Game of the Year, Console Game of the Year, Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction , Outstanding Achievement in Game Design , and Outstanding Achievement in Gameplay Engineering . Some critics have referred to Fallout 3 as one of

5200-790: The MMO vehicular combat game Auto Assault (2006) by NetDevil and NCsoft . Other action RPGs featured both hack and slash and shooting elements, with the use of both guns (or in some cases, bow and arrow or aerial combat ) and melee weapons, including Cavia 's flight-based Drakengard series (2003 to 2005), and Level-5 's Rogue Galaxy (2005). Other RPS games include the Mass Effect series (2007 onwards), Fallout 3 and subsequent Fallout titles (2008 onwards), White Gold: War in Paradise (2008), and Borderlands (2009). Borderlands developer Gearbox Software has dubbed it as

5330-561: The Storyteller System 's attributes. SPECIAL is an acronym statistics system developed specifically for the Fallout series , representing the seven attributes used to define Fallout characters: S trength, P erception, E ndurance, C harisma, I ntelligence, A gility and L uck. SPECIAL is heavily based on GURPS , which was originally intended to be the character system used in the game. Some games have used particularly complex systems. For instance, F.A.T.A.L. uses

Fallout 3 - Misplaced Pages Continue

5460-605: The Washington Metro . Playtesters routinely struggled to navigate the Metro, and complained the increased difficulty made the area less enjoyable. Bethesda attempted to remove the dividers separating the zones, but Burgess said the initial test did not show promise, and the idea was dropped. Burgess claims a proper test could have yielded a different result, and describes the entire Washington, D.C. area as "the big mistake I feel I made on [ Fallout 3 ]". The original size of

5590-541: The average of health and dexterity. Hero System 5th edition has eight primary statistics, and a further five derived from them. Some game systems such as those using the Cortex Plus system or those Powered by the Apocalypse work on the basis that the attributes should emphasise elements of the setting thus making them different from game to game even within the same family. So, for example, Dungeon World

5720-503: The first installment of its Ys series in 1987. While not very popular in the West, the long-running Ys series has performed strongly in the Japanese market, with many sequels, remakes and ports in the decades that followed its release. Besides Falcom's own Dragon Slayer series, Ys was also influenced by Hydlide , from which it borrowed certain mechanics such as health-regeneration. The Faery Tale Adventure offered one of

5850-414: The 1990 games Bad Blood (another action RPG based on the same engine) and Ultima VI: The False Prophet , based on the same interface. Also in 1989, the enhanced remake Ys I & II was one of the first video games to use CD-ROM , which was utilized to provide enhanced graphics, animated cut scenes, a Red Book CD soundtrack, and voice acting. Its English localization was also one of

5980-591: The Capital Wasteland. Downloadable content is set in Pennsylvania , pre-War Alaska and outer space. It takes place within Fallout 's usual setting of a world that deviated into an alternate timeline thanks to atomic age technology, which eventually led to its devastation by a nuclear apocalypse in the year 2077 (referred to as the Great War), caused by a major international conflict between

6110-478: The Enclave, the corrupt remnants of the former US government that seeks to use it for their own purposes. Fallout 3 received a number of Game of the Year awards, praising the game's open-ended gameplay and flexible character-leveling system , and is considered one of the best video games ever made . Fallout 3 shipped almost five million copies in its first week. The game received post-launch support, with Bethesda releasing five downloadable add-ons . The game

6240-594: The Jefferson Memorial would have purified the irradiated water in the Tidal Basin and Potomac River . However, Catherine died during childbirth, and James abandoned the project to raise his child in Vault 101. The Lone Wanderer finds and rescues James from a virtual reality program in Vault 112. James reveals that he wanted to revive Project Purity, and left Vault 101 to seek the Garden of Eden Creation Kit (G.E.C.K.),

6370-539: The PlayStation 3 version. Lazard Capital Markets analyst Colin Sebastian speculated that this was likely the result of a deal with Bethesda by Sony 's competitor, Microsoft . Howard offered a different explanation, and said it was due to more Xbox 360 owners paying for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion DLC than PlayStation 3 owners. By 2009, all five add-ons were made available to PlayStation 3 owners. Fallout 3

6500-557: The United States and China over natural resources. The main story takes place in the year 2277. Players take control of an inhabitant of Vault 101, one of several underground shelters created before the Great War to protect around 1,000 humans from the nuclear fallout , who is forced to venture out into the Capital Wasteland to find their father after he disappears from the Vault under mysterious circumstances. They find themselves seeking to complete their father's work while fighting against

6630-458: The United States decimated. The player controls a 19 year old character who grew up in a fallout shelter called Vault 101. The goal of the game is to complete a series of quests to find the character's father, who unexpectedly left Vault 101. In addition to the main quests, the player can participate in optional unrelated quests known as side quests. GamesRadar+ critic Andy Kelly estimates there are over 100 hours of content in Fallout 3 . At

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6760-456: The V.A.T.S. system was called fun, enemy encounters were said to suffer from a lack of precision in real-time combat and little variety in enemy types. The review concluded, Fallout 3 is a "hugely ambitious game that doesn't come around very often." IGN editor Erik Brudvig praised the game's "minimalist" sound design, observing how "you might find yourself with nothing but the sound of wind rustling through decaying trees and blowing dust across

6890-426: The attribute is used on its own to determine outcomes, whereas in many games, beginning with Bunnies & Burrows and including more modern versions of D&D, the attribute works with a skill to affect the overall outcome. There is no standard amongst role-playing games as to which attributes are important for the game, though there is a school of design which says you pick the attributes after you decide what

7020-414: The barren plains ... Fallout 3 proves that less can be more." The review noted that the "unusual amount of realism" combined with the "endless conversation permutations" produces "one of the most truly interactive experiences of the generation." In a review of the game for Kotaku , Mike Fahey commented: "While Inon Zur 's score is filled with epic goodness, the real stars of Fallout 3 ' s music are

7150-585: The beginning of the game, the player can customize their character's physical appearance by choosing their gender and race. They can then allocate points into seven primary attributes : strength, perception, endurance, charisma, intelligence, agility, and luck. These attributes are known as S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats, and range from 1 to 10. Additionally, there are 13 secondary attributes whose point totals are affected by S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats: barter, big guns, energy weapons, explosives, lockpick, medicine, melee weapons, repair, science, small guns, sneak, speech, and unarmed. If

7280-517: The best game in the Fallout series, and as one of the greatest games of all time . Fallout 3 was included in The Art of Video Games exhibit at Smithsonian American Art Museum , where it was described as the defining adventure game for current computers. In an article about the greatest games of the seventh generation of video game consoles , Eurogamer 's Will Porter wrote, " Fallout 3 was, in my exploding and increasingly dislocated eyes,

7410-535: The camera to some degree. As such, these are often grouped with other "isometric RPGs". The popularity of the Diablo series spawned such franchises like Divinity , Torchlight , Dungeon Siege and Sacred . Commonly, these games used a fixed-camera isometric view of the game world, a necessity of the limitations of 2D graphics of early computers; The Diablo series spawned many terms like being referred to as "dungeon crawler" "slasher RPG" "hack and slasher",

7540-529: The cancellation of Van Buren , which was intended to be the third game in the mainline Fallout series. Under the development of Black Isle Studios , Van Buren was to be set in Arizona , Colorado , Nevada , and Utah , and would have included a mixture of real-time and turn-based combat. Black Isle Studios' publisher Interplay Entertainment was struggling financially, and in December 2003 Van Buren

7670-456: The characters, setting the standard for first-person computer RPGs for several years. It inspired many other developers to make real-time dungeon crawlers, such as Eye of the Beholder and Lands of Lore: The Throne of Chaos . Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss , released in 1992, has been cited as the first RPG to feature first-person action in a 3D environment. Ultima Underworld

7800-488: The combat to be a mix of real-time and turn-based combat, which led to the creation of the V.A.T.S. system. Howard emphasized "cinematic" combat, and Simonet accomplished this goal by adding slow-motion effects whenever the player used V.A.T.S. The inspiration for the slow motion effects while in V.A.T.S. came from the slow motion replays of car crashes from the Burnout series. Bethesda developers later discussed how they felt

7930-484: The details of execution", taking particular issue with the nakedness of the HUD , the clarity of the menu interface, and that the smaller problems are carried over from Oblivion . Edge liked the central story but said "the writing isn't quite as consistent as the ideas that underpin" and that the "voice-acting is even less reliable." It's not a Fallout game. It's not even a game inspired by Fallout , as I had hoped. It's

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8060-482: The developers had to follow the outline of the original design document regardless of their opinions. In multiple interviews, Bethesda developers noted the difficulty of working on a game from an established series they had no prior connections to. Product manager Pete Hines said Bethesda's mindset was to treat Fallout 3 as if they had worked on the original Fallout games. To this extent, they kept Fallout 3 an in-house production, and did not hire anyone who worked on

8190-647: The development of Dragon Slayer (1984) and Hydlide (1984). Dragon Slayer , Hydlide and Courageous Perseus (1984) "vie for position as genre precedent" according to John Szczepaniak, and there was an ongoing rivalry developing between the Dragon Slayer and Hydlide series over the years. The Tower of Druaga , Dragon Slayer and Hydlide were influential in Japan, where they influenced later action RPGs such as Ys , as well as The Legend of Zelda . Falcom's Dragon Slayer , created by Yoshio Kiya,

8320-417: The direction the Fallout series was taken in after its acquisition by Bethesda. Notorious for their support of the series' first two games, Fallout and Fallout 2 , members centered on one of the oldest Fallout fansites , No Mutants Allowed , have criticized departures from the original games' stories, gameplay mechanics and setting. Criticisms include the prevalence of unspoiled food after 200 years,

8450-425: The drug morphine with a generic drug, and removed the drug injection animation. Bethesda further altered every version of Fallout 3 to accommodate for these changes. Another version of the game subject to censorship was the Japanese version, due to its depiction of nuclear weaponry. A quest that allowed the player to either defuse or detonate a nuclear warhead was altered so that it was impossible to detonate it, and

8580-487: The first to use voice dubbing . The game received the Game of the Year award from OMNI Magazine in 1990, as well as other prizes. Another 1989 release, Activision 's Prophecy: The Fall of Trinadon , attempted to introduce "Nintendo-style" action combat to North American computer role-playing games. Action RPGs were far more common on consoles than computers, due to gamepads being better suited to real-time action than

8710-834: The following games released prior to 1984 as action RPGs: Temple of Apshai (1979) and its sequel Gateway to Apshai (1983), Beneath the Pyramids for the Apple II (1980), Bokosuka Wars (1983), and Sword of Fargoal (1983). Jeremy Parish of USgamer claimed that Adventure (1980) was an action RPG. Bill Loguidice and Matt Barton claimed that the Intellivision games Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (1982) and Treasure of Tarmin (1983) were action RPGs. Shaun Musgrave of TouchArcade notes that Adventure lacked RPG mechanics such as experience points and permanent character growth, and argues that Gateway to Apshai

8840-413: The fulfilling open-world component; he criticized the writing of some characters and some of gameplay's choices in balancing the skills of the player character . Will Tuttle of GameSpy commended the game for its "engaging storyline, impeccable presentation, and hundreds of hours of addictive gameplay." Although Edge awarded the game 7 out of 10, in a later anniversary issue it placed the game 37th in

8970-490: The game had sold 12.4 million copies worldwide. Due to its content, some versions of Fallout 3 were subject to censorship. The initial Australian version was refused classification by the Australian Classification Board (ACB) due to its realistic depiction of drug use. As it is illegal to distribute or purchase an Australian game without an ACB classification, Bethesda replaced all instances of

9100-547: The game is about. Dungeons & Dragons used six attributes (there were brief attempts to add a seventh, Comeliness , in Unearthed Arcana and Dragon magazine , but this was short-lived ). The six attributes used in D&;D are: These range from about 3 to 20 (depending on the edition). The original attribute sequence in D&D was Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, Constitution, Dexterity, and Charisma in

9230-448: The game is played from a third-person perspective. Players can customize their player character , which learns to cast spells, brew potions, and master combat abilities, eventually developing their own special combat style. In late 1987, FTL Games released Dungeon Master , a dungeon crawler that had a real-time game world and some real-time combat elements (akin to Active Time Battle ), requiring players to quickly issue orders to

9360-409: The game's mouse-based combat were mixed. In 1997 Blizzard's Diablo was released and became massively successful. It was an action RPG that used a mouse oriented point-and-click interface and offered gamers a free online service to play with others that maintained the same rules and gameplay. Diablo ' s effect on the market was significant, inspiring many imitators. Its impact was such that

9490-501: The game. Burgess remarked, "The sense was we had to make our own game." Development on Fallout 3 began in late 2004 with a small team of around 10 people, as most of Bethesda's staff was busy working on The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion . After the release of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion in 2006, the size of the team drastically increased. Programmer Jean Simonet estimates that when development concluded, there were around 75 team members. Lead designer and writer Emil Pagliarulo wrote

9620-585: The gaming market and its influence on the MMORPG genre later popularized the strongly used mouse-oriented point and click combat. While in the Diablo series this type of combat does not have a lock-on key, World of Warcraft and most MMO games uses some kind of key to target an enemy, usually TAB, to lock into it, usually referred to as "tab-target". In tab-target combat the player's character automatic do attack animations with some kind of regular attack, while

9750-468: The genre's roots to Japan, noting that the "Western game industry of the time had a tendency to treat action games and RPGs as separate things for separate demographics". Jeremy Parish argues that action RPGs were popularized in Japan by The Tower of Druaga . It was released for arcades in June 1984, and was intended as a "fantasy version of Pac-Man , with puzzles to solve, monsters to battle, and hidden treasure to find". Its success in Japan inspired

9880-478: The hinges off the franchise in the best way." Due to the tepid reception toward the spin-off games Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel and Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel , and the cancellation of the Van Buren project, the series stagnated in the mid 2000s. Bethesda's decision to swap the isometric graphics of the older games with 3D graphics as well as release the game on consoles helped Fallout 3 reach

10010-521: The keyboard and mouse. Though there were attempts at creating action-oriented computer RPGs during the late 1980s and early 1990s, very few saw any success. Times of Lore was one of the more successful attempts in the American computer market, where there was a generally negative attitude towards combining genres in this way and more of an emphasis on preserving the purity of the RPG genre. For example,

10140-448: The largest worlds at the time, with over 17,000 computer screens without loading times. In 1988, Telenet Japan 's Exile series debuted, and was controversial due to its plot, which revolves around a time-traveling Crusades-era Syrian assassin who assassinates various religious/historical figures as well as 20th-century political leaders, The gameplay of Exile included both overhead exploration and side-scrolling combat, and featured

10270-462: The license, he would have come up with a completely original story for the East coast. Chris Avellone , Fallout 2 ' s main writer, described the game as having "enough options and tools at [his] disposal to insure [he] was having fun no matter what the challenges", praising the immersion in Fallout ' s world, the success in carrying on the legacy of the previous two games, and

10400-432: The majority of the main story early in development, and when the team expanded, he allowed other designers to make rewrites and suggestions. This process exemplified Bethesda's decision to foster a more collaborative approach and allow developers to voice their opinions on various aspects of the game. Pagliarulo notes this approach differed from the rigid and "unhealthy" development of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion , in which

10530-408: The map emphasized exploration, and allowed players to find unique side quests and scenes of environmental storytelling. Khee Hoon Chan of Rock Paper Shotgun remarked, "The Fallout 3 world is probably better traversed when you abandon all pretense of trying to find your father, and wander about the endless wilderness as a roaming wayfarer, discovering these vignettes of humanity's perseverance after

10660-399: The map unpredictable, they added random encounters the player can witness, such as a group of contract killers attacking a character, or a giant scorpion attacking a robot. Inon Zur composed the score for Fallout 3 , which was intended to balance traditional American music like blues and folk , with the powerful cadence of military music . The goal was to showcase American life before

10790-578: The name of a weapon was changed. Excess blood and gore were removed from the German version by the Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons , and Microsoft chose not to release Fallout 3 in India due to perceived "cultural sensitivities. In 2023, a leaked financial forecast presentation indicated that Bethesda was working on a remaster of Fallout 3 . The presentation stated that

10920-474: The nuclear war while simultaneously emphasizing the theme of militant progress. Zur was influenced by post-apocalyptic films like Mad Max 2 as well as Vietnam War films like Full Metal Jacket . The music is fully electronic, with occasional samples of live instruments. When asked about the music, Zur said, "I wanted to create something that almost [sounds as if it] comes out of a boom box, rather than something that feels symphonic and heroic. Because all of

11050-439: The original 1974 rules. This listed the three "prime requisites" of the character classes before the "general" stats: strength for fighters, intelligence for magic-users, and wisdom for clerics. The attribute sequence in D&D was changed to Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, Dexterity, Constitution, and Charisma, sometimes referred to as "SIWDCC". This change was made due to the addition of the thief class, which used dexterity as

11180-407: The original games. Bethesda used the first Fallout game as a model while designing Fallout 3 . Pagliarulo favored the oppressive and bleak atmosphere of the first Fallout game in contrast to the excessive and camp dialogue of Fallout 2 . Pagliarulo wanted to instill a "rawness" to the dialogue, and included occasional profanity. Another goal was to instill a sense of moral ambiguity whenever

11310-746: The player can focus on activating other skills and items by pressing other keys. Usually this type of combat is not heavily based on aiming or hit boxes thus the player can hit enemies from different distances and even from a far. Some tab-target MMOs have other targeting options such as an "Action mode". Shooter-based action RPGs include Strife (1996), System Shock 2 (1999), the Deus Ex series (2000 onwards) by Ion Storm , Bungie 's Destiny (2014), Irem 's Steambot Chronicles (2005), Square Enix's third-person shooter RPG Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII (2006), which introduced an over-the-shoulder perspective similar to Resident Evil 4 , and

11440-425: The player can follow to complete the game and replaced the karma system with reputation among specific factions. Due to its expanded role-playing mechanics, some players and journalists not only favor Fallout: New Vegas , but also deride Fallout 3 in comparison. In response to the backlash, journalist Jade King wrote, "It feels elitist to suddenly pigeonhole it as some sort of failure ... Back in 2008, Fallout 3 set

11570-417: The player can recruit some non-playable characters as companions, who will accompany the player and assist them in combat. There a variety of weapons in the game, including standard guns, energy-based guns , melee weapons, and explosives. While in combat, the player can utilize a gameplay mechanic known as V.A.T.S., which pauses the game and allows the player to target specific body parts of an enemy. V.A.T.S.

11700-413: The player has a high charisma stat for example, then they will be more proficient with the barter and speech skills at the beginning of the game. The player can add more points into skill stats whenever they earn enough experience points to level up . Experience points can be earned through several methods, such as killing an enemy or completing a quest. When the player reaches a new level, they can select

11830-457: The player investigates the disappearance of a young girl. In the final DLC, Mothership Zeta , the player is abducted by aliens , and must escape from a UFO . Development on the DLC add-ons began roughly two months before Fallout 3 's release. Only three add-ons were initially planned, but due to player feedback the number was increased to five. Initially, the DLC add-ons were not released for

11960-467: The player made an important decision. According to lead producer Gavin Carter, the karma mechanic was designed to let the player know the immediate consequences of their actions, and make the player question whether they made the right choice. The player character's father, James, was created as a moral compass, and would react to the player's previous actions. A common joke among fans and journalists before

12090-593: The player provides water to a beggar, their karma increases. Likewise, if the player breaks into a home, their karma decreases. The player's karma effects how other characters perceive them. Some companions can only be recruited if the player meets the companion's karmic expectation. Some non-recruitable characters will be more accepting of the player depending on their karma level. For example, slaver characters will be more accepting to players with negative karma, and provide services that would not be available to players with neutral or positive karma. Fallout 3 takes place in

12220-426: The player's stats, or as a currency to purchase items, and penalizing player deaths without imposing an outright failure state. It also incorporated online features allowing players to leave messages in the overworld that can be read by other players, to temporarily join other players' sessions to assist them cooperatively, or "invade" another player's session to engage in player versus player combat. Especially after

12350-520: The purifier. In response, the Lone Wanderer enlists the help of the Brotherhood of Steel , a military organization that protects the residents of the Capital Wasteland. The Lone Wanderer finds the G.E.C.K. in Vault 87, but is captured by the Enclave and held in Raven Rock . They escape imprisonment and meet President Eden, who is revealed to be an artificial intelligence program. Eden gives them

12480-412: The region in and around Washington, D.C., now known as the Capital Wasteland. Along the way, the Lone Wanderer learns about their father's background from other characters, including residents of the nearby settlement Megaton , radio DJ Three Dog, and scientist Madison Li. Before the Lone Wanderer's birth, James and his wife Catherine had been working on Project Purity, in which a water purifier built in

12610-484: The release of Fallout 3 was to describe it as " Oblivion but with guns". Due to Bethesda's previous oeuvre with high fantasy role-playing games, some players questioned whether Fallout 3 would simply be an iteration of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion . Bethesda sought to incorporate elements of first-person shooter games, while also allowing players to approach combat with a more tactical nuance commonly found in role-playing games. Executive producer Todd Howard wanted

12740-514: The release of its spiritual successor Dark Souls (2011) and its sequels, other action RPGs emerged in the 2010s that incorporated mechanics influenced by those of Demon's Souls , which have been popularly referred to as " Soulslike " games. In 2013, Vanillaware released the fantasy beat 'em up ARPG Dragon's Crown , a spiritual successor to Princess Crown and a "deeply moving product" of Vanillaware director George Kamitani. Kamitani cites many classic RPGs as his inspiration, stating in

12870-561: The remaster was scheduled for a 2024 release, although PC Gamer notes that the release projection predated the COVID-19 pandemic , which has likely delayed development. Fallout 3 was supported with five downloadable content (DLC) add-ons. The first DLC was Operation: Anchorage , which takes place inside a virtual reality simulation that depicts a battle between United States and Chinese soldiers in Anchorage, Alaska . The second DLC

13000-459: The second or third players could drop in and out of the game at any time, rather than players having to join the game at the same time. The game has remained influential through to the present day, with its ring menu system still used in modern games and its cooperative multiplayer mentioned as an influence on games such as Dungeon Siege III (2011). Most other such games, however, used a side-scrolling perspective typical of beat 'em ups, such as

13130-411: The series was also heavily criticized by players and media for not being a proper RPG due to it being focused more on fighting enemies and creating character builds than following a proper narrative and dialogue-heavy journey. After its success many other games tried to mix its influences with different structures and narratives, there are multiple games like Divine Divinity that were an attempt to have

13260-486: The setting changed to the Washington metropolitan area. Pagliarulo said this decision stemmed from the adage "write what you know", as Bethesda was based in Rockville, Maryland , a city close to Washington, D.C. Burgess wanted Washington, D.C. to be a difficult location to explore, with harder enemies and more radiation. Due to how the game engine worked, Washington, D.C. needed to be split into separate zones connected by

13390-463: The shooting mechanics in Fallout 3 were one of the weaker elements of the game. Burgess remarked, "We didn't really have first-person shooter experts, we didn’t really know ... If nothing else, it speaks to some of the ways we were successful that the mediocrity of the shooting didn't matter." The original setting for Fallout 3 was the West Coast of the United States , but early in development,

13520-533: The six non-special attributes being Strength , Agility , Body, Charisma , Intelligence , and Willpower, and two of the three special attributes relating to magic and the third being derived, this is arguably a six attribute system. The Storyteller System used in games like Vampire: The Masquerade took this one step further, breaking the attributes down into three by three classifications. Power , Finesse , and Resistance, and Mental, Physical, and Social , leading to nine different combinations each of which has

13650-506: The studio instead created a spiritual successor : Arx Fatalis . Toby Gard stated that, when designing Tomb Raider , he "was a big fan of ... Ultima Underworld and I wanted to mix that type of game with the sort of polygon characters that were just being showcased in Virtua Fighter ". Ultima Underworld was also the basis for Looking Glass Technologies' later System Shock . The 1988 Origin Systems title Times of Lore

13780-493: The survival of wood-framed dwellings following a nuclear blast , and the ubiquity of Super Mutants at early levels in the game. Also criticized are the quality of the game's writing, its relative lack of verisimilitude , the switch to a first-person action game format, and the level of reactiveness of the surrounding game world to player actions. In response, James Stephanie Sterling of Destructoid called fan groups like No Mutants Allowed "selfish" and "arrogant", stating that

13910-469: The technology is sort of low-tech in Fallout , then the actual sound is representing and helping to represent this aspect, too." In addition to the original soundtrack, Fallout 3 features licensed music that the player can listen to via in-game radio stations. The licensed music includes songs from artists such as Roy Brown , Billie Holiday , Billy Munn , Cole Porter , and Bob Crosby . Over 40,000 lines of dialogue were recorded for Fallout 3 , which at

14040-620: The template for many future action RPGs, even though it does not strictly fit the definition of later action RPGs. In contrast to previous action RPGs, such as Dragon Slayer and Hydlide, which required the player to bump into enemies in order to attack them, The Legend of Zelda featured an attack button that animates a sword swing or projectile attack on the screen. It was also an early example of open-world, nonlinear gameplay , and introduced new features such as battery backup saving. These elements have been used in many action RPGs since. In 1987, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link implemented

14170-427: The temples to refuse to level him up. Xanadu Scenario II , released in 1986, was an expansion pack , created to expand the content of Dragon Slayer II: Xanadu . Hydlide II: Shine of Darkness (1985) also featured a morality system. Eurogamer cites Fairlight (1985) as an early action RPG. An important influence on the action RPG genre was the 1986 action-adventure The Legend of Zelda , which served as

14300-468: The term "action RPG" has come to be more commonly used for Diablo -style games, with The Legend of Zelda itself slowly recategorized as an action-adventure. Very commonly, these games used a fixed-camera isometric view of the game world, a necessity of the limitations of 2D graphics of early computers; even with 3D graphic engines, such point-and-click games are still presented from a similar isometric view, though providing options to rotate, pan, and zoom

14430-713: The things that I wanted to do and all the games that I ended up working on came out of the inspiration I took from [ Ultima Underworld ]". Gears of War designer Cliff Bleszinski also cited it as an early influence, stating that it had "far more impact on me than Doom ". Other games influenced by Ultima Underworld include The Elder Scrolls: Arena , Deus Ex , Deus Ex: Invisible War , Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines , and Half-Life 2 . FromSoftware 's Demon's Souls (2009) emphasized unforgiving enemies and environments, combined with risk-and-reward mechanics such as limited checkpoints, collecting "souls" that can be consumed as experience points to increase

14560-553: The third game in the Parasite Eve series, features a unique blend of action RPG, real-time tactical RPG, survival horror and third-person tactical shooter elements. Shooter-based RPGs include Imageepoch 's post-apocalyptic Black Rock Shooter (2011) , which employs both first-person and third-person shooter elements, and Square Enix's Final Fantasy XV (2016) , which features both hack and slash and third-person shooter elements. The online live service version gained

14690-660: The time, set a Guinness World Record for the most lines of dialogue in a single-player role-playing game. Some celebrity actors were brought on to provide voice work, including Liam Neeson and Malcolm McDowell . In an interview with Edge , Blindlight manager Lev Chapelsky noted that former president of the United States Bill Clinton was jokingly offered a voice role, but the offer was swiftly rejected. Hines later noted that even if Clinton had agreed, Bethesda would have not allowed him to provide voice work. Hines said, "In no way, shape or form, did we say

14820-439: The vintage songs from the 1940s." Tim Cain , Fallout and Fallout 2 game director , praised the art direction and the attention to details but did not like the way the endings were not enough constructed around player's actions and decisions. He was also critical of how Fallout 3 recycled plot elements from the first two games, such as Super Mutants and the Enclave, saying that if his company, Troika Games , had acquired

14950-458: The writing, which some players and journalists have bemoaned for the lack of choices the player can make to affect the story and unrealistic character decisions. For example, at the end of the game when the player can choose to sacrifice themself to activate the purifier, they are unable to ask a companion to do it instead, even if the companion is immune to radiation. Fallout 3 's successor, Fallout: New Vegas , introduced multiple questlines

15080-458: The year 2277, 200 years after a nuclear war between the United States and China. Some survivors of the war took refuge in high tech fallout shelters known as Vaults. The player character, nicknamed the Lone Wanderer, grew up in Vault 101, located near Washington, D.C. After the Lone Wanderer's 19th birthday, their father, a scientist named James, leaves the Vault without explanation. The Vault Dweller decides to track down their father, and journeys

15210-604: Was The Pitt . Set in Pittsburgh , the player infiltrates a slaver compound, and looks for a cure for the mutant disease affecting the slave population. The third DLC, Broken Steel , takes place immediately after the events of main story, and revolves around the Brother of Steel's campaign to eliminate the remaining Enclave soldiers. The fourth DLC, Point Lookout , is set in Point Lookout State Park , where

15340-478: Was also one of the earliest action RPGs. Dragon Slayer II: Xanadu , released in 1985 (billed as a "new type of real-time role-playing game"), was an action role-playing game including many character stats and a large quest. It also incorporated a side-scrolling view during exploration and an overhead view during battle, and an early "Karma" morality system where the character's Karma meter will rise if he commits sin (killing "good" enemies), which in turn causes

15470-508: Was also released that year. It was a party-based action RPG, with the player controlling a party of four characters at the same time in a side-scrolling view. The game also featured character creation, highly customizable characters, class-based puzzles, and a new scenario system, allowing players to choose from 15 scenarios, or quests , to play through in the order of their choice. It was also an episodic video game , with expansion disks later released offering more scenarios. Falcom also released

15600-433: Was an action RPG with an icon-based point-and-click interface. Bad Blood , another Origin Systems game from 1990, would use the same interface. The designers were inspired by console titles, particularly The Legend of Zelda , to make their interface more accessible. The 1994 title Ultima VIII used mouse controls and attempted to add precision jumping sequences reminiscent of a Mario platform game, though reactions to

15730-416: Was awarded Game of the Year by Gamasutra , GamesRadar+ , GameSpy, IGN , and UGO Networks . The game also won Xbox 360 Game of the Year from GameSpy, IGN , and Official Xbox Magazine , and PC Game of the Year from GamePro , GameSpy, GameSpot , and GameTrailers . At the 2009 Golden Joystick Awards , Fallout 3 won Ultimate Game of the Year. It also won Game of the Year along with Best Writing at

15860-481: Was cancelled. In 2004, Bethesda Softworks purchased the rights to develop their own rendition of Fallout 3 from Interplay for $ 1,175,000 minimum guaranteed advance against royalties . At the time, Bethesda was known for their work with The Elder Scrolls series, but wanted to expand their catalogue with another project. According to developer Joel Burgess, Bethesda's holding company ZeniMax Media turned down multiple offers from other companies who wanted to work on

15990-463: Was followed by a spin-off, Fallout: New Vegas , developed by Obsidian Entertainment in 2010. The fourth major installment in the Fallout series, Fallout 4 , was released in 2015. Fallout 3 is an action role-playing game that can be played from either a first-person or third-person perspective. It is set in the Washington metropolitan area , years after a nuclear war left much of

16120-466: Was in relation to Vault 101. About six months before release, Bethesda felt the map was too small. Whereas The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion was able to hide the distance between locations with mountains and trees, Fallout 3 's barren wasteland setting meant that players were noticing locations too quickly. As a result, Bethesda increased the map size by roughly 20 percent, and spread out locations. Another map related issue brought up late in development

16250-530: Was met with controversy upon release in Australia, for the recreational drug use and the ability to be addicted to alcohol and other drugs; in India, for cultural and religious sentiments over the mutated cattle in the game being called Brahmin , a varna (class) in Hinduism ; and in Japan, where a questline involving the potential detonation of a nuclear bomb in a prominent town was heavily altered. The game

16380-575: Was re-released with a PS4 "Pro" edition in 2018. Assassin's Creed , a long-running Ubisoft franchise, also shifted towards the action RPG formula, inspired by the successes of The Witcher 3 and the Dark Souls series, with its titles Origins (2017), Odyssey (2018) and Valhalla (2020). Avalanche Software released Hogwarts Legacy in 2023. Set in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and its surrounding areas,

16510-641: Was released for Microsoft Windows , PlayStation 3 , and Xbox 360 on October 28, 2008 in North America, October 30 in Europe and Australia, and December 4 in Japan. In its first week of release, Fallout 3 had sold 4.7 million copies worldwide, and grossed $ 300 million. Fallout 3 outsold every previous Fallout game combined, and sales were 57% stronger than The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion in its first week of release. The market research firm Electronic Entertainment Design and Research estimated that by 2015,

16640-539: Was the fact that no one had modeled the White House . As there was not enough time to create another significant location on the map, the decision was made to instead display the remnants of the White House amidst a giant crater, and explain that it was one of the locations targeted by nuclear attacks. Bethesda spread out enemy encounters so as to not inundate the player with excessive combat. In an attempt to keep

16770-515: Was used in many later games. T&E Soft 's Hydlide , released in December 1984, was created by Tokihiro Naito, who was influenced by The Tower of Druaga . It was the first action RPG with an overworld . The game was immensely popular in Japan, selling 2 million copies across all platforms. According to John Szczepaniak, it "cannot be overstated how influential Hydlide was on the ARPGs which followed it". The same year, Courageous Perseus

16900-645: Was well received by critics. On the review aggregator website Metacritic , the Microsoft Windows version of Fallout 3 was assigned the game a weighted average critic score of 91/100, the PlayStation 3 version a 90/100, and the Xbox 360 version a 93/100. The Xbox 360 version is tied with Braid , Gears of War 2 , and Super Smash Bros. Brawl as the fourth highest rated game from 2008 on Metacritic. 1UP.com ' s Demian Linn praised its open-ended gameplay and flexible character-leveling system. While

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