Thoughts of a Random Gamer

Welcome to a new weekly column here at Thoughts of a Random Gamer. Each Monday, I will highlight one of the games being released the following Tuesday.

This week's big release is the long overdue Fallout 3. For those of you who are wondering what happened to Fallout and Fallout 2, you missed a major point in gaming history. Fallout was released in 1997 by Interplay, with Fallout 2 being released the following year. These bird's-eye-view RPGs were set in America after a nuclear war with China. They were known for their vast open ended story lines, over the top gore and violence, and dark, yet hilarious humor.

Fallout 3 is coming 10 years after the release of Fallout 2, and boy has it been a long 10 years. The gaming industry is a very different place. Bethesda, the creators of the much praised "Elder Scrolls" series, has taken over development for the long since dissolved Black Isle Studios. No longer will Fallout be conveyed in a bird's-eye-view, but in a third person and far more three dimensional view. No longer is it acceptable for a game to allow the murder of children. However, the key elements remain. Dark humor, ridiculously violent gore and the iconic Pip-boy will still be present.

Will Fallout 3 revive a long lost series, or will it turn out to be another failed attempt? We will all have to find out tomorrow. Until then, here is a short message from the boys over at the Vault-Tec.