The friendly folk over at eurogamer have gotten their hands on a preview copy of Fallout 3 and have posted this nice preview article where they share some very interresting details about the up and coming Fallout 3. Of which maybe the most interresting is the quote at the end of the article :

Read em and weep folks ! 

Given that the developer is responsible for the most successful Western-style RPG of recent years, Oblivion, it was a little surprising, during Fallout 3's demonstration, to get the sense of a team with something to prove. While there's much about FO3 that recalls Oblivion, there are also regular elements that arise as if to signify, "You know - we're good enough to deal with a legend as big as Fallout. Watch this." In itself, this is a tad touching. A team like Bethesda would probably be justified in going, "Damn the lot of you - our way is the best way." The result is something that - on these impressions - seems to be the next logical step on from Oblivion, while infusing as much of what made Fallout Fallout as they reasonably can.

While they showed a lot more afterward, the sensation's most apparent in the opening sequence. The game's central plot - though it allows you to ignore it completely and go and do your own thing - is your Liam Neeson-voiced dad disappearing, and you being sent out into the wastes to try and find him. While having that particular voice be your dad buys significant sympathy, you can easily see this failing to engender enough motivation if you start the game and are given a plain order to Go Get Pops. I don't know Pops! Why should I care?

So, Bethesda's stroke of inspiration is a return to the old RPG standard of moving through your childhood playing out key events and you making decisions which shape your future. Of course, with modern technology this has mutated from simple question-and-answer to a walkthrough of life in the radioactive shelter, the Vault, in which you observe life at birth, one, ten, sixteen and - the start of the game - nineteen years old. It's ten that made me start to see the message-to-gamer most.

Don't seduce dogs in junkyards, readers. Trust us.

It's at your birthday party, and you've just received your Pip Boy wrist terminal and promised your first work detail, but between the amusement of robots ruining birthday cakes, you get your initial conversations. The first one is standard enough (though it introduces the concept of lying), but the next one we're shown is with a bullying peer by the name of Butch, where you appear to have at least six cake-related options available; everything from a diplomatic, sharing-it-fifty-fifty option, to the openly perverse provocation of spitting in it and then giving it him. Bethesda's Pete Hines, demoing, stresses that these options will all play out differently down the line. The point is to show that we're a long way from the "Yes, I'll help you"/"Yes, I'll help you for three pounds fifty and a cheeseburger"/"I WILL KILL YOU AND TAKE YOUR STUFF" conversation options with which most modern RPGs satisfy themselves. Hines and co. have talked about the game being a much more dense conversational game than Oblivion, and this is them showing how they're walking the walk as well as talking the post-apocalyptic talk. About talk.

There's some other neat stuff in the opening, too: any game which starts you between your mother's legs, looking up at your dad, and being able to bawl by pressing a button deserves a round of applause. It's at this point you also decide what you're going to look like as an adult, and then the game - from your choices - generates what your Dad would have looked like. Also worthy of a quick appreciative nod is the age of one sequence, where as a Toddler you make your way around your room making the literal first baby steps in the game. You also select your future abilities in a fully illustrated kids' book called "You're Special!", arranging your assorted statistics. Is it too much to read this as a pointed eye-rolling at the perennial accusation of dumbing down? I suspect not.

Then later, after you've left the Vault, you end up getting your faithful hound, Dogmeat. As well as an ideal thing to satisfy fans of the originals, and keeping up the post-apocalyptic reference of Harlan Ellison's Boy And His Dog, the hound is an ideal companion in a game which promises to allow you a wide variety of moral stances. A dog doesn't care if you're good or bad - just that you're its master. He's a useful pet to have around: you can order him to go off and find something, like a firearm, and he'll go off searching until he finds one lying around. Clearly, telling him to do this near an enemy base may not be that smart. You're also able to order him not to attack or stay safely behind in areas where you don't want a mutt getting hurt. There are other NPCs who can join you, related to your personal karma, which changes depending on your actions. Basically, nice guys tend to get people who are similarly nice, and bastards flock together.

Combat including the VATS (Vault-tec Assisted Targeting System) is also demonstrated - and here my expectations are somewhat confounded. I came not entirely convinced by the VATS system's utility - it struck me as the worst of both possible real-time and turn-based worlds - and leaving quietly impressed. Related to your dexterity, you gain an amount of pause-time, which you can spend on specifically calling shots - for example, aiming at arms to lose their weapons or just pummelling their body to knock them down. This then plays out in a cinematic video of the conflict, with agreeably macho angles. It looks actually stylish - in fact, this turn-based-game with 360-era graphics makes me even think that a fully turn-based game would have worked. Why can't we have a turn-based game which goes for a crazy graphic effect? It'll have the attraction of being distinctive, anyway.

This is especially pointed as the non-turn-based side fails to convince as much as you'd hope. While "Oblivion with guns" has been the rather sarcastic description from cynics, my personal take was... well, I'd kill for Oblivion with guns. Probably using a gun. It'd be everything we traditionally have to opt for an RPG to get at, but with a setting that's a little less derivative. Sold. The problem only struck me after watching a battle with mutants. You see, at the time of release, Oblivion was probably as good as a first-person sword combat game as we'd had. It wasn't mind-blowing, but no-one had done it better. Even now, only the PC version of Dark Messiah is a peer. Conversely, everyone in the world has done gun combat - and the second you take this angle, you're immediately competing on some level with Valve, Bungie, et al.

Size Zero diets are a no-win.

Which is unfair, but that's how it is. On a personal level, I found Mass Effect had a similar problem - the hope has to be that Fallout has a similar grace to Bioware's game. That is, the combat is just about good enough to serve the purpose the game demands of it, and leaves the rest of the game's charms to get its hooks into you. When there's elements like the nuclear rocket launcher - with very rare ammunition, obviously - which irradiates the area of the strike, you begin to see how placing this sort of combat in a larger setting could lead to something with a character and appeal of its own.

In other words, there's much to be excited about with Fallout 3. With BioShock putting 1950s retro-futurism back on the scene, Fallout's return serves as a timely reminder of who actually applied the approach to games in the first place. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. showed how an open world and claustrophobic setting could pay dividends, but for those of us who found it a little too light, a more true-RPG approach is welcome. And for those who Oblivion was a bit too Land-of-the-Fairies, the dense and atmospheric Fallout universe offers a very different experience. As with any game as big of this, we'll only really get a chance to see how it hangs together when we stride out into the waste to see what's out there. I'm looking forward to it.

This week’s Inside the Vault is with producer, Jeff Gardiner. If you are a fan of Oblivion’s downloadable content, Jeff is one of the folks you can thank. Besides being the producer for our designers and level designers, Jeff is instrumental in a lot of game system tweaking and prototyping. On Thursday nights (game night here at the studio), you can find Jeff getting his tabletop wargaming on.

What’s your job at Bethesda?
I’m a Producer. AKA, the ‘cattle prod,’ the ‘snake-oil salesman,’ or ‘smiley-glad-hand.’ On Fallout 3, I’m in charge of keeping the designers busy. I also have a heavy background in design from previous projects, so I coordinate and help design various game systems; combat and VATS in particular, among other things. It’s a great job. Being able to shoot at things in a videogame all day, and then getting paid, isn’t something I take for granted.

What other games have you worked on?
As a Designer I worked (with Michael Kirkbride, who some of you know) on Defender. I then was promoted to Lead Design on Fantastic Four for the first movie. From there, I held the title of Design Director over various projects. Here at Bethesda, I helped produce Oblivion, and was Lead Producer on Shivering Isles, Knights of the Nine, and the rest of the DLC.

What is the best part about working as a producer? The worst part?
The best part is I get to set and achieve my own personal goals. I get the privilege of being able to help, in any way I can, on Fallout 3, and other great games. Day to day my job responsibilities change, so I’m never bored. Today I got to play with various types of weapons and make small tweaks to damage, gun spread, field of view, etc. A month ago I was helping oversee the production of some of our most important main quest events (sorry, no spoilers.) Tomorrow I’ll probably be shuffling around a schedule trying to get this game finished someday. I’m lucky I get to work with the designers, as that where my true love lies! There really is very little downside. Sometimes I’d rather not spend so much time using MS Project, but that’s about it. Game development is very much a dream job if you find the right company.

How did you get into the industry? Do you have any tips for breaking in?
I got hella lucky. I had moved to LA to become a screenwriter, ended up bartending on Sunset Strip for years, and not writing much. I went back to school, got a Master’s, and started working in web development just as it began to implode. I was at a party one night and wound up talking to a producer for about 3 hours about games. He suggested I apply to become a designer with a buddy of his, and so I called up for an interview. I had no assumption that I would get the position, so I was very nonchalant during the interview. I even showed up late. Somehow, it worked for me, and I got an offer. It came with a salary cut, but it was well worth it…If you want to break into this industry (as a designer), make sure you have interests and abilities outside of simply playing games. The best designers I’ve seen aren’t necessarily the best gamers. Design requires a well-rounded mindset. Make sure you play games that aren’t on an LCD, as well. Understanding rule-sets is a valuable tool, one you don’t learn while just playing electronic games. Getting good with an RPG system will help with writing as well.Perhaps the most important ‘skill’ is a good work ethic. Make sure you’re the best at whatever you’re doing; even if it’s not what you want to be doing. So if you get into a QA gig, be the best you can be. Others will take notice. People around you will be promoted, and when they’re asked whom they’d recommend, if you were a good co-worker your name will come up.

What would you say is your personal favorite game of all time?
Not a fair question! My favorite five are: Populous, Baldur’s Gate 2, Ultima VI, The Legend of Zelda, Gothic, and Call of Duty 4. Wait that’s six. Sue me.

What games are you looking forward to?
Fable 2, GTA 4, Dragon Age

What makes you get out of bed in the morning?
My alarm. Then a shower, then a half hour of asana, pranayama & mantra yoga. Then as much coffee as I can ingest.

Worst job you’ve ever had?
I worked for years renting tuxedos. Dealing with an angry bride’s wrath when her fiancée’s tux doesn’t fit isn’t something I’d wish on anyone. Honestly, I really didn’t enjoy Web Development that much either. My first job was frying chicken wings. It’s great to throw them in the grease still frozen, and then have your hands and forearms sprayed with boiling oil. Good times.

Any other hobbies and interests? What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
Spending time with my kids, reading, hiking, painting & playing Warhammer Fantasy Battle, watching movies, tending my reef tank, meditating, working-out and playing videogames! I keep pretty busy.