Fallout 3 is without a doubt one of the most anticipated games for the PlayStation 3. Unlike many of its other release platforms, Fallout 3 is essentially the first RPG for the console. So how does the game fair as the love child between RPG's and PS3's? Excellent.

          Fallout 3 delivers on almost every front.. The hardcore fans get a fair amount of what they've come to expect from the series, the Oblivion fans get a share of what makes Oblivion a great game, and the new comers get all this with a no knowledge of either series. The game plays superbly, V.A.T.S is both innovative and fun, making for strategic elements, such as aiming for the legs as to slow down your opponents or of course the infamous head shot.

          The most intriguing part of Fallout 3 is the world and its presentation. You start the game literally straight out of the womb, with some not so pretty erm.. spatter on your screen. You then continue through some major events in your life, along the way setting up some key character creation groundwork and learning the mechanics.

          The real action however comes the moment you leave your home in Vault 101. Blinded by your first ever glare of sunlight, it fades off to show what has become of the of the world, which is essentially a giant wasteland.. in fact its even called that. What little buildings survived the horrid bombs are either plagued with mutants, raiders or themes id rather not have to deal with (gore bags anyone?). What ever little form of surviving humanity is left is nothing to brag about, featuring cities built out of scraps, or inside of boats. The Fallout world is truly one to behold, and nuclear holocaust has never looked so gorgeous.

          The game doesn't fall short in game play either. V.A.T.S allows you to pause time and aim a specific body parts, showing the percentage of which you will hit them. Of course your chances go up as you level certain areas of your character, and the possibilities are endless.

          Create an expert in small arms and gunsling your way through the game. Throw your points into explosives, and find yourself planting mines, tossing grenades and defusing atom bombs. Or, if your feeling a little persuasive, throw your points into speach, convincing people to do things for you. These are only a few of the many roads you can take, with tons of attributes to level up, and perks to add in, you could literally re-roll hundreds of unique characters. With the vastness of the world created, you probably will want to as well, with loads of locations and side quests to do, you'll probably want to go through at least twice. One as good, and one as bad of course.

          The side quests are excellent as well, and don't really play out like side quests at all. Instead of simple fetch quests, your treated with fantastic story and unique locations to venture through. This makes it feel very much like the main quest, keeping you interested in whats going on around you.

          Of course perhaps the most interesting element is the power of choice, at which you'll find yourself gaining bad karma, or good karma. You'll often find yourself saving before making choices, just in case of an NPC's reaction, which are fantastically directed. The most refreshing part is the game isn't tailored to either side. For example, you may be able to do a quest for somebody, helping them out and causing them to give you there weapon. On the other hand, you can take the low road, and kill this person and loot the gun yourself. Both sides have nice perks to them, which is very refreshing.

          Unfortunately, amongst the greatness that is Fallout 3, comes some drawbacks. As with any large game like this, its riddled with bugs. You'll find yourself locking up, lagging, and falling through floors more times then I would like to admit. There are also a few horror stories of lost data amongst the internet. Sometimes it almost feels as if your a beta tester, whom paid a whopping 60$ to test and although the main story is fun to play and generally great, lackluster endings and a few dumb plot devises will knock you out of your Fallout 3 love trance.

          But a love trance it is, and Fallout 3 is a great game, worth almost every penny you knock down on it. With the ability to patch games these days, the bugs could be gone before we know it, and other games suffer crueler launch problems then Fallout by a long shot. The story may droop at points, but it'll pick you back up again soon enough, and with more then enough endings, and an endless amount of ways to go through it, its a worthy game to feature in your collection.

          Happy travels in post apocalyptic D.C.!