Fallout 3 Collector's Edition Reviews

• A Big Bunch o' Extras for your Fallout 3 needs!

  
  By A1C139F5C7Y38P on 2009-01-07
  This review is solely on the extra items included in the Fallout 3 Collector's Edition.
  
  In addition to the Fallout 3 game, this box set includes the following:
  
  (1) The Art of Fallout 3: Conceptual Imagery, Volumes iii-xiii
  (2) Vault-Tec Lunchbox
  (3) Vault-Tec Bobblehead
  (4) VDSG Holotape: Making of Fallout 3, Historical Series (Volume I)
  
  Let's go into each of these items in more detail.
  
  The Art of Fallout 3 - This is a 95-page hardcover booklet with conceptual drawings and artwork that cover several aspects of the game, with artist's notes included.
  
  Pages 4-12: Pre-Production - Includes sketches of cities such as D.C., Rivet City, Project Purity, Wasteland, and Paradise Falls.
  Pages 14-16: Pip-Boy - This section shows several concept sketches of the Pip-Boy device.
  Pages 17-32: Costume Design - Here we see designs for wastelanders, raiders, slavers, merchants, Vault suits, and more - see how 50's brand clothing gets a post-holocaust treatment.
  Pages 33-44: Creatures - Brahmin cows? Bloat flies? Deathclaws? They're all here, in their irradiated glory.
  Pages 45-52: Robots - From the Protectron to Liberty Prime, every robot and their arsenal make an appearance.
  Pages 53-60: Weapons - This section shows the more exotic and homemade weaponry of Fallout 3 with intricate detail.
  Pages 61-70: Hardware - Everything from fission-powered automobiles to stainless steel bomb-protected buildings gets a sketch in this section.
  Pages 71-90: The World - Several of the key locations, environments and structures are reviewed here.
  Pages 91-95: Storyboards - Here, we see the storyboard sequence for the intro movie and a small battle segment.
  
  The Vault-Tec Lunchbox - There's no shortage of artwork here. The top has the Vault-Tec mascot leading an exodus into a mountainside vault, the sides have S.P.E.C.I.A.L. attribute pictures, and the bottom shows an idyllic family picnic with the mascot reminding everyone to "Prepare for the Future".
  
  The Vault-Tec Bobblehead - I must confess; I was a little disappointed at first. While the bobblehead was cute, the base had come off during delivery, but it was nothing a little super-glue couldn't fix.
  
  Finally, the Making of Fallout 3 video.
  
  The main video is 39 minutes long, made up of 4 sections:
  
  (1) Fallout 101
  (2) Retro-Futurism
  (3) Duck & Cover
  (4) The Art of Noise
  
  Throughout the video, we get to hear from the following people, who offer a deeper and richer understanding of the time and effort that went into making Fallout 3:
  
  Todd Howard - Game Director
  Emil Pagliarulo - Lead Tester & Writer
  Gavin Carter - Lead Producer
  Steve Meister - Lead Programmer
  Joel Burgess - Lead Level Designer
  Istvan Pely - Lead Artist
  Adam Adamowicz - Concept Artist
  Pete Hines - Project Manager
  Ashley Cheng - Production Designer
  Grant Struthers - Special Effects & Gore (oh yes, that's his official department!)
  Mark E. Lampert - Audio Director
  Liam Neeson - "Dad"
  Malcom McDowell - "President Eden"
  
  The Special Features Menu offers the following choices:
  
  (1) Official Fallout 3 Trailer
  (2) Teaser Trailer for Fallout 3
  (3) Poster Art - includes 8 pictures
  (4) Concept Art - includes 35 pictures from the Art of Fallout 3.
  
  For the hearing impaired, there are 5 language choices for the subtitles.
  
  And what's the icing on the cake? When you use the Pop-Up Menu option on your Blu-Ray player, it opens in a Pip-Boy window!
  
  There's a lot to love with this edition. If you like the game and want to know as much as you can about the creation, development and production process, you'll be in hog heaven with the Making of Fallout 3 DVD. For the aspiring artist, the Art of Fallout 3 is simply amazing to look at and offers a unique glimpse into the process of taking retro-50's concepts and projecting them 200 years into the future. The other extras are purely for the collectors - but if you'd like to be the envy of your classmates with a Vault-Tec lunchbox, or decorate your cubicle with a Vault-Tec bobblehead, go for it!
  
  Now, the only difference between this edition and the Fallout 3: Amazon.com Exclusive Survival Edition is the Pip-Boy clock. I would NOT recommend buying that package because there are numerous reports of the Pip-Boy clock malfunctioning. I personally haven't had any trouble, but several people have noted the low battery life.
  
  Dial 888-4VAULT-TEC to reserve a spot for your family: operators are standing by!
  
  

• Fun and Gory

  
  By AVTJSLGG57YR4 on 2008-11-04
  I just beat Fallout 3 (PS3) in around 20 hours. I did not mean to.
  
  With Oblivion, I could give a damn less about the story. The game was decent enough, but the story was blah blah blah to my ears.
  
  Fallout 3, the story is actually engaging enough that I ended up only wanting to complete the story missions. And in the end, I think I only completed maybe 3 side quests. And as I said, I beat it in roughly 20 hours. Too short, in my humble opinion.
  
  But, that's just the main quest. And I was an evil bastard the entire way. It was fun, but now I'm going to go through and be different, and once I'm out of the vault, I'm putting the main quest on the backburner and doing nothing but side quests. Looking at the strategy guide (after I beat the game), there seem to be just as many if not twice as many side quests as there are main quests.
  
  I finished the game the first time halfway through level 15. I didn't even have all the perks unlocked, and never did find any ammo for a Fat Man, or fight a Super Mutant Behemoth after that initial encounter with the Lyon's.
  
  I don't know why they offer 3rd person perspective: It sucks. The animation is horrible and the over the shoulder type view just did not work for me. Luckily, 1st person view works just fine.
  
  The felt very immersed in the world of post-nuclear war Washington DC.
  
  The graphics, the gore, the sound effects, the story, the gameplay, were all done very well. Though nothing is perfect: there were occasionally NPCs sinking through floors and as I said, the animation is sometimes just stupid and stiff.
  
  Plenty of guns, not a ton of but a good amount of various enemy types, a myriad of quests and character builds will have me playing for months to come.
  
  It's just fun.
  
  

• Bleak and expansive

  
  By A2P4MEDCU6J8QN on 2008-11-25
  Enjoyed it from beginning to end, and beyond. I didn't realize the main storyline was as short as it was, so I was surprised when I finished the game (high karma ending). I've since gone back to an old save and am taking my time exploring the world. I've easily doubled, maybe tripled my play-time by doing more of the side-quests and uncovering new bits of the map.
  
  The environments are bleak, sometimes oppressively so. The world is designed to be a nuclear wasteland, after all. Traversing the landscape feels lonely and dangerous. The world feels huge and it's amazing to see something off in the distance and just be able to walk to it.
  
  This isn't going to be fun for people expecting a precision FPS, but it does scratch some of the shooter itch. Feels a lot like Mass Effect to me, in that regard.
  
  

• Breathtaking!

  
  By A21Q29J3ZWPDNP on 2009-01-01
  I was a HUGE fan of the original Fallout game, and when I lost about 4 or 5 months of my life to Morrowind. I'd say that both are ranked among my favorite games of all time. When I found out that Bethesda was making Fallout 3, I new it would be great! I pre-ordered this one (the collector's edition, no less! a very rare thing for me to do!) and I'm really glad I did. Opening it up when it was delivered was about as fun as Christmas was when I was a kid! The lunch box and bobble head doll were a nice touch. But more importantly, the game itself is simply AMAZING! Graphics, sound, story, character interactions... all phenomenal! Anyone who's played Morrowind or Oblivion with a controller will also feel right at home. They did a great job with the real-time combat, as well as the VATS. This is a must have for anyone who likes CRPG's, and possibly fans of FPS (provided they have the patience to play a RPG.)
  
  

• The patches make it better

  
  By AGYR6TGNJ3JGD on 2009-01-03
  I received this as a Christmas gift and noted that upon start up a patch was downloaded. Subsequently, I have not seen any NPCs fall through anything.
  
  As for the "Collectors Edition" items. I like all of them. Watching the movie was cool and the bobble head doll is cool. I could live with out the art book but it is OK.
  
  The game shows improvement in the engines used from Oblivion IV. At this point in time, however I still prefer Oblivion as the learning curve seems less steep and therefore easier to just pick up and play for a few hours then leave for months.
  
  
• Too great for words
  By A3IR2Q3B0GGV9Z on 2008-12-28
  I beat this today, and didn't mean too like some others, since I didn't explore but half or less of the world. I was also a bit nervous about buying it because of the bugs some people have had, but the only problems I had were two lockups and seen enemies showing through floors and walls here and there.
  
  That being said...This is a great continuation of the originals and maintains the flavor and fun of the first two installments. There are numerous references to the past games. My favorite is Harold from Fallout 2, who had a tree growing out of his head, who is considered a talking tree god now that the tree rooted him in place. Too bad he's gotta die in one way or other.
  
  The graphics are almost too good. There's so much detail that it takes time to pick some things out and see what's going on. A little lag here and there caused some things to appear halfway across the horizon, but this was limited.
  
  The only real disappointment I had is that the numerous vehicles laying about can't be repaired and driven. Maybe that will be addressed in a later installment, which I'm sure Bethesda is already thinking about.
  
  
• Prepare to not see the outside world.
  By AYBGNQW2ETQQL on 2008-11-30
  Fallout 3 is truly a great sequel to the previous installments from the 90's. There is so much depth in this game, the details and gameplay are quite amazing. Fans of the last 2 Fall out games shouldn't miss out on this.
  The one little gripe I have is that the PS3 version which I have has some graphical inconsistencies compared to the Xbox and pc version. But the gameplay is still the same. Fallout3 is huge, you'll most likely spend 40 hours or so to find out all the nooks and crannies of the game; unless you stick to the main story, but you'll also miss out on the whole fun of the game.
  Get this game and you won't be dissappointed.
  
  
• Fun, with a lunchbox
  By A1QX7VHAKKDWGC on 2009-12-07
  Fallout 3 is a really great game, but, for me, it is a slow game. This is good and bad because I have to be in the mood to play a slow game to play it. But regardless, it has a ton of content and will last upwards of 100+ hours never mind the addon DLC will extend that even more.
  
  And hey, you can't beat the nice, *useable*, lunchbox! :)
  
  If you haven't bought this game already... go for the GOTY edition instead. It comes with all the DLC so you don't have to buy it all separately.
  
  
• Just a GREAT GAME!
  By A1IF9PMBYMB6RD on 2009-07-09
  Wasn't too sure about this game. But I broke down and gave it a shot and I haven't been able to put it down. Great Game tons to do. Totally worth it. Plus a great amount of DLC coming. I would definitely recommend this one. Love it. There's a reason it won game of the year. If you like FPS give it a shot.
  
  
• Fallout 3 = Glitchy Fun
  By APMTZUA234IEU on 2009-07-04
  I love this game mainly because you decide what kind of character you will be..good or bad. There is plenty to explore and do in this game, I would say that it has as much replay value as Grand Theft Auto San Andreas. The only problem is the random game issues that seem to happen with every copy. I love the bobblehead that came with this version and the art book is cool too, it's interesting to see what could have been in the game but isn't. The Lunchbox case that resembles an actual in-game item can be used for pretty much anything.
  
  
• great game, great collectors edition.
  By A3NF4XEYGEXUNV on 2009-06-18
  Metal lunch box and a bunch of doodads? Sign me up. It puts other collectors editions to shame. I'm looking at you RE5!
  
  
• Pretty Amazing Game!
  By A1GT709JGFLFQ0 on 2009-01-19
  anyone who is even questioning about getting this game, just stop and buy it. It's really worth every penny. I've already spend 60 hours on it and still have not explored the entire world yet. Fantastic Game.
  
  
• Great game, few flaws
  By A2B97BZY21SMC7 on 2009-01-18
  Great game, there are a few glitches that remove you from the experience during the game. Also, for an open world it can seem a bit scripted but that doesn't detract from the overall experience. There's plenty of shining moments to more than make up for it.
  
  
• Awesome Game
  By A1LQ96AL2VZU5Y on 2009-01-18
  This game is incredible. I wasn't sure if I would like it or not, but after only playing the game for a few hours I fell in love with the incredibly detailed world of Fallout 3. If you loved Oblivion, you're likely to love this game. Or even if you disliked Oblivion, you still should give this game a try. As far at the collector's edition is concerned, the extra content is pretty sweet. It comes with a cool lunch box, an awesome concept art book, a nice bobble head and a making of dvd. All in all a pretty good amount of extras that's probably worth [...]. I got the collector's edition when amazon had it on sale [...], which was a an incredible deal. So anyway, if you have the money, get the game.
  
  
• Fallout 3
  By A30ZLK41QGWERB on 2009-01-13
  the game is great. very in depth sandbox style rpg. its like oblivian with sci-fi instead of fantasy.
  
  the one problem i have is its glitchy-ness. the more you play the game and and change the games world the bigger your game save becomes and the more likely something is to spazz out. at least thats the way it seems to me. but overall its still a great game. the glitching isn't constantly occurring or even all that frequent and if your forced to replay an area it will usually not glitch the next time.
  
  
  

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