It’s hard to start a preview when you don’t quite know where to start. In my mind, and before I had even attended the event I had already catergorised this game. It was going to be simple, there wasn’t going to be much advancement from the E3 version we saw. It was going to be clunky and need a lot of polishing.

I was wrong.

Fallout 3, and I don’t care what anyone says, has come leaps and bounds. It’s feeling like a game, looking like a game and playing like, well, a game. Apart from the list of things we aren’t allowed to talk about, there is still too much to try to cram into a preview without missing anything out. So this what I’ve decided to do is outline the things that sparked my interest and leave for the rest of you to find out when, and if, you buy the game when it’s released later this year.

I’m not going to bore you with the back story, although I will tell you that it’s set in Vault 101 and no one has left the Vault since the nuclear war some 20 years earlier. So why leave? Well, someone needs to find your father, and if it ain’t you, who the hell’s it going to be?

Let's just keep in mind that this game is a personal quest, a journey for the character you are playing, and along the way you’ll have floods of customisable combat options, as well as side stories to follow. You can play the game as a FPS or as an RPG. You’ll be able to influence the morality of your character by the choices you make; you’ll be able to hook up with other AI players in the game to form alliances. In short, whichever way you chose to play this game, you’re going to have fun.

Finding yourself in the barren wasteland of Washington D.C. you have a whole city to discover. And don’t worry, this is a massive, and I mean MASSIVE sandbox environment. And it’s seamless. So no more loading or waiting to get to that tower that you see in the distance, but you may have to watch where you’re stepping and whose path you are crossing.

The game is no doubt beautiful, there is a feeling of good, whole-hearted American dream, even though the America seems to be scorched beyond all recognition and the dream is in tatters. It really feels like you’ve stepped into a world where Mad Max has met 1984, where the Handmaid’s Tale is clashing with Blade Runner. But enough about the atmosphere, let's get to the combat system.

You can play Fallout 3, as we mentioned before, in any way you want to and that includes the combat mode. If you’re not happy with the FPS view, you can easily switch to a 3rd person view, just over the shoulder. You also have the option of the VATS, a throwback to the first Fallout, which effectively allows you to pause the game and choose where and how you want to dispose of your enemy, selecting different body parts to aim at crippling them, or even shooting the weapon they have out of their hands.

Bear in mind that there are a hundred and one different customisable options, and depending on how you stat your character in the S.P.E.C.I.A.L (Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility and Luck) menu, the basis for the whole game, you’ll find some way to defeat your opponent. Unfortunately, we can’t talk much more about that, as we don’t know much more about it - that is, how it affects the game, how it influences your progression - but we do know that, being the solid basis for the game, it will play an invaluable role to the detail of customisation the game has to offer. You truly are building a bespoke character.

Skills that can be acquired are a whole other catergory too. We mentioned the S.P.E.C.I.A.L backbone of the game, but what we didn’t talk about was a) how many achievements there are and b) the sheer amount of perks you can acquire throughout the game to make you as hard ass as you like. We can’t delve too far into this either, but what we can say is perks really do mean perks. These perks are achieved when you’ve finished a certain level of the game and achieved a certain amount of experience points. Adding perks makes you more charismatic, or better with small weapons or more sociable with the opposite sex.

All of your achievements and your stats, as well as your perks and other vital information, such as your inventory, are listed in you PipBoy computer, a system that you carry at all times. This not only gives you your vitals, but also tells you how much radiation is in the area as well as outlining your health status.

It’s important to note that the amount of stuff you can carry depends on how storng you are, another customisable option. So choose carefully where and how you stat yourself. This is a basic, but a true example of how this game works, compromises have to be made in order to achieve what you want from the game.

In short the game is massive, and Sci-Fi fans will find many references to their favourite films or books. Although we saw a lot, it still isn’t the half of it, and with around 500 endings, yes 500, you’re going to need to play this game more than once we’re sure. But what we can tell you is that it’s a pretty awesome game. It’s a gruesome game. It’s a dark game. It’s a game that will send you not only on a quest to find your father, but also will show you what kind of a person you really are too. And that’s not a bad thing. Because of its ability to draw you in and the way it allows you to inhabit your character in every sense of the word, you’ll find your own story and your own missions, and I’m talking from just the Alpha build. Imagine the fun you’ll have with the final release.

To read the interview in German, please visit our sister site.