The trite phrase of the year in the world of gaming is that Fallout 3 is, "Oblivion with guns." It's something Bill and I talked about a bit the other night. It's a subject that's impossible not to address, yet it's a phrase I'm absolute frigg'n sick of hearing.
Is this game Oblivion with guns?
NO!
It's a red herring.
If you played Oblivion you will see certain similarities between the two games. That is unavoidable. The games are based on the same engine. You know what? The Witcher is based off the same engine used to create Neverwinter Nights and nobody, I mean nobody, would accuse The Witcher of being Neverwinter Nights without the D&D. If you want to compare Fallout 3 to another game, and this is something I've already pointed out in my review, it's Deus Ex and not just because both games are set in the future. There are a lot of gameplay mechanics that I think are similar, not the least of which is the varied paths you can take to reach the same objective.
As much as I think Bethesda deserves to take some crap for some of the elements in this game (not a lot of crap, just some), the notion that they spent the last few years making Oblivion with guns is an unjust disservice to the obvious hard work they put into crafting a pretty damn good game.
(deep breath)
Yes. I feel much better now. Thank you.
