An unusual twist on the standard “Dungeons and Dragons” RPG, Fallout 3 places the player in a post-apocalyptic dystopia, and provides a background that leaves the character, as well as the player, enthralled and confused about the bizarre world around him. The main character is born and raised in “Vault 101″ one of several underground dwellings meant to survive a nuclear fallout; while also providing the designers some demented scientific experiments. Your character, leaves his home for good one day, in pursuit of his missing father and is exposed to the strange and fantastic world around Metropolitan Washington D.C. set in the not-too-distant future.

Bethesda’s developers masterfully craft this world that seamlessly blends 1950’s kitsch public service announcements with the most gaudy of modern pop-culture to produce a wonderfully garish result. Just one example of this are the retro bobble heads, featuring an in-game collector stand where players can proudly display all 30 collector items within the game

The bobble heads represent just one of the many aspects of the game that allow such a detailed, rich experience. Conforming to the standard RPG characteristics, players have 7 basic attributes: Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility, and Luck (S.P.E.C.I.A.L.) as well as 13 skills: Barter, Big guns, Energy Weapons, Explosives, Lockpick, Medicine, Melee, Repair, Science, Small guns, Sneak, Speech, and Unarmed. Players must configure their character tailored to their individual desires. Personally, I chose a weaker character who excelled in charisma, bartering and luck. While this afforded me more goods, it weakened me by being less capable of wielding all of the equipment throughout the game. Finally, as players level-up, they also can round out Perks; specialized skills/talents ranging from animal friend, an ability to befriend animals, to a sniper ability, improving the chance of executing critical hits. My personal favorite is “Mysterious Stranger” giving the player random encounters from a mysterious man in a trench-coat who appears to finish off enemies during combat. Each visit, logged in a stat screen, produced a “Hell Yeah!” from me each time.

All of these vast player attributes can easily provide gamers with untold hours of game play as one explores the various skills and how they change the interaction within the game. But this is Bethesda, known for its vast side-quests and immeasurable worlds. By the story’s end, I had uncovered over 120 unique locations within the game map, and easily had dozens more left to explore. Even more fascinating are the random character encounters, such as a friendly mutant known as “Uncle Leo”, perhaps homage to the infamous Seinfeld character of the same name. Rounding out this world are the incredible graphics, especially the monsters. Good luck when you encounter a Behemoth; I wasted 3 mini-nukes, 4 missiles and about 5 lives the first time I crossed paths with one.

After all is said and done, the weakest part of Fallout 3, lies in the main story quest itself. A thin premise, searching for your missing father, leads the player through the world but ultimately completes the game with a defined ending. With this, the player has no ability to return and continue exploring the amazing world, except by loading a previously saved game. Similarly, players who want to enjoy Down-Loadable Content (DLC) must play those add-ons from previous saves; a somewhat disheartening experience.

All in, this game is a thoroughly rewarding experience which allows a player to lose themselves in 50 or more hours of game play. Bethseda Gameworks created an immersive experience in a world that you can’t get enough of. Learning about this world was equally enjoyable as exploring and learning about one of my other favorite Xbox 360 games, Bioshock.

I first found Rob’s site after watching the movie “Cast Away” where, apparently Rob had the same thought I did; “How hard is it really to make fire?” Except Rob did what I, and most people, are far too lazy to do- actually try it! On his site he chronicles a six day adventure of trying (and mostly failing) to make fire without matches.

One of the best bits you’ll find in Rob’s site is his ‘Fake Found Money’ test- seeing how (dis)honest people really can be. But perhaps his most noteworthy achievement is that he now has the attention of Cash4Gold for exposing their scam.

More recently, I had nerd fun taking his “One Page Fiction Quiz” Part 1 and Part 2. Take the challenge and let me know how you scored. On the first, I got 5 out of 7 and on the second I got 6 of 7. Apparently I picked Danielle Steele twice and Ayn Rand not at all! Either way, if you enjoy your blend of humor and geek, be sure to check out Cockeyed.com periodically like I do. Even his Halloween costume stories are entertaining!

More detail can be found here: http://www.iwatchstuff.com/2009/02/alright_so_were_really_doing_a.php

BTW – what a worthy reason to dust off this site and put it back online!

Somewhen on somewhere is New Amerstdam. That looks good. Sadly I don’t know when it is turning up on the schedules. Mid-season. Is that good news or bad news for the show?

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It does really irk me to see Cuse saying that.  Lost needs to spend some quality effort telling story and not just writing suspense.  Their insistence on spoon feeding out story line makes the entire drama frustrating, and worse, implausible.  How many times will they confront people that have information and just not bother to ask questions? Or when questions are asked, not care that no answers were given? 

And I’m completely lost as to what to think about their Season 1 assurance that "everything on the island will have a mundane explanation".  Really?

What a run.  Of course my all time favorite episode is going to be Season 3’s "Pine Barrens" followed closely by Season 3’s Doctor Melfi’s rape which was juxtapositioned against Tracey the stripper beaten to death by demented Ralphie Cifaretto.  But you can’t neglect other key moments:  T

ony’s father-daughter tender moments of college hunting with Meadow mashed together with his stalking a mob rat.  He’s a family man; and he’s a family man.

Another key moment often neglected, the whole complex dynamic between Father Phil Intintola and Carmela Soprano.  I really enjoyed that.

Lots of things didn’t go anywhere, and often things didn’t add up for me too well.  Furio?  The Russian from the Pine Barrens?  Tony contemplating whacking Paulie out of…annoyance?  But the more subtle moments were brilliant in their underplayed simplicity; those usually revolved around his family.

As most of you know, I can be horribly closed-minded about things, especially movies/tv/music.  From another review or even a trailer, I size up the intruding film and dismiss it.  The problem is, even at those times, I still think I’m right far more than I’m wrong.

This time Miller teams with Zach Synder and creates another glorious triumph in 300.  Visually the film is as stunning as facing down an invading army of millions.  Synder brings artistic touches to the screen; changes in color saturation and grainy film scenes are blended together enrapturing.  Fore-armed with the knowledge that most of the special effects are CGI wizardry, I expected to find a chink in this armor.  Struggling until the very end, I never found one.

300 does have an Achilles’ Heel, however.  The plot.  With the screenplay, Snyder augmented the story with auxiliary elements.  First is King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) and son.  According to Plutarch’s accounting, the childless King encouraged his wife "Marry a good man, and have good children" as he strode off to battle.  Secondly, Queen Gorgo (Lena Headey) sacrificed her body in a political maneuvering to garner support for her husband.  Frank Miller’s original comic, 300, lacked any of these details.  Even with these elements, 300 possess a dangerously thin line of story.  Yet, because this tale is based primarily on real events, one of the most heroic and inspiring events in all humankind, it impresses and inspires the audience.   Much like the 300 Spartan warriors, 300’s powerful and formidable tragedy speaks far more about humanity.  It mesmerizes the viewer while it brings forth the importance of freedom in the human condition.  It addresses the value in self-sacrifice for the greater good.

The history behind these events of this movie is awe-inspiring.  The 300 brave Spartans who sacrificed their lives in the belief of freedom and defense of their country will be remembered for all of human history.  This basic message of sacrifice for a worthy cause is an invaluable lesson.  The 300 Spartan soldiers, augmented by 6000 greek militia (merely farmers and other tradesmen) used brains over brawn to defend their homelands.  Their sacrifice united the Greek peoples, Athenians and Spartans alike to repel Persian God-King Xerxes and his incalculable horde of men.  They did not go quietly into the night; they did not back down against insurmountable odds, and they did not die in vain.

Frank Miller has a unique gift for story telling; and 300 champions that talent.  Synder shows a flair for visual presentation with the breath-taking special effects.  Combined, these forces are unstoppable, much like a Spartan Hoplite.  Each man’s talent overlaps and enhances the other.  Together they form a mighty phalanx.  I can only hope to see more of their combined efforts to entertain us in the future.