Fallout 3

Fallout 3 is a post-apocalyptic single-player RPG by Bethesda Game Studios. You leave the underground shelter Vault 101 and explore the destroyed Washington, D.C. A search for your missing father leads you between rival groups, abandoned places and people who have rebuilt their everyday lives after a nuclear war.

The open world combines freely explorable areas, dialogue choices, RPG stats and combat from first-person or third-person perspective. Unlike the first two parts of the series, Fallout 3 takes place in a three-dimensional real-time world.

Fallout 3 was released in Europe on Oct 31, 2008 for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. In North America, release began as early as Oct 28, 2008. The three original platforms differ from the newer Xbox consoles, on which the Xbox 360 version runs via backward compatibility.

The later-released Game of the Year Edition bundles the base game and the five major expansions. It is not a standalone sequel.

Fallout 3 was released natively for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Microsoft offers the Xbox 360 version for Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S too. These consoles play the older game via backward compatibility, not as a separate native release.

On PC, Fallout 3 is available on Steam, among others. The original console versions remain technically and in terms of available features separate from the PC version.

Fallout 3 combines free exploration, RPG choices and armed combat. You travel through the Wasteland, talk to residents, open locked places and look for equipment. Quests can often be solved through dialogue, tech skills, sneaking or violence.

Weapons, ammo, medical supplies and protective clothing are key resources. Radioactive areas also make your radiation level and preparation for longer expeditions matter.

Fallout 3 received five major expansions: Operation: Anchorage, The Pitt, Broken Steel, Point Lookout and Mothership Zeta. Operation: Anchorage takes you into a military simulation, The Pitt into the ruins of Pittsburgh, and Point Lookout into a swamp landscape in Maryland.

Broken Steel continues the story after the original ending and raises the level cap to 30. Mothership Zeta takes place on an alien spaceship. The Game of the Year Edition includes all five expansions.

The original PC version of Fallout 3 requires at least Windows XP or Vista, a 2.4 GHz processor, 1 to 2 GB RAM and a DirectX 9.0c graphics card with 256 MB video memory. Bethesda lists around 7 GB of free hard drive space. An Intel Pentium 4 is given as the processor example.

Recommended are an Intel Core 2 Duo, 2 GB RAM and a graphics card with 512 MB video memory. These figures come from the original PC release. Support for current Windows systems and older mods may differ.

The story begins in 2277 with the search for your father, who left Vault 101. Outside the shelter, you encounter a region where super mutants, settlers and armed groups fight for security and influence.

A key plot driver is access to clean water. The interests of the Brotherhood of Steel and the Enclave clash. Your choices determine which paths you take and how people react to you.

The Capital Wasteland is the open game world around the ruins of Washington, D.C. It includes destroyed monuments, subway tunnels, smaller settlements and former industrial sites. Megaton, Rivet City and the ruins of the capital serve as different starting points for quests and exploration.

Beyond the main story you will find bunkers, radio stations and places with their own small stories. Many areas can be explored without following the main quest.

The seven S.P.E.C.I.A.L. attributes determine the basic traits of your character. Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility and Luck affect abilities and gameplay options.

When you level up, you distribute skill points and choose perks. This lets you focus your character on guns, melee, science, repair or conversation. Some dialogue options and solutions are only available with matching skills.

V.A.T.S. allows targeted attacks on individual body parts of enemies. Instead of aiming exclusively in real time, you can select actions with hit chances in the Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System. This uses up action points.

The system combines the direct control of an action game with the tactical considerations of a role-playing game. Outside V.A.T.S., you fight freely in real time.

Many choices in Fallout 3 affect your karma and how other characters react. You can help people, threaten them, steal from them or offer them other solutions in conversation. These choices affect individual quests and possible companions.

The game gives you several paths in many side quests. Not every consequence is immediately visible, and some options rule each other out.

The Brotherhood of Steel and the Enclave play a major role in the main story. While the Brotherhood fights various dangers in the capital region, the Enclave pursues its own plans for the future of the Wasteland.

Alongside them, traders, settlers, raiders and smaller communities shape life among the ruins. Through quests you learn about their interests, without the whole game world being reduced to two conflicting parties.

Fallout 3 offers several possible companions for your journey through the Wasteland. These include the dog Dogmeat and other characters you can meet during the story or in settlements. Whether they are willing to travel with you partly depends on your choices and your karma.

Companions support you in fights and change how you deal with enemies and dangerous places. Fallout 3 remains a single-player adventure all the same.

The Game of the Year Edition includes Fallout 3 and all five add-ons. If you only own the base game, you can also buy the additional adventures separately depending on platform.

The edition does not change the game's basic platform identity. Soundtrack releases are standalone music products and not additional console versions.

Fallout 3 is a purely single-player role-playing game. You can explore the Wasteland at your own pace and switch between first-person and third-person perspective. A shared campaign or competitive multiplayer mode is not part of the game.

The Xbox version offers German language. The PC editions are available with German text and audio. The exact language range may vary by store and edition.

Fallout 3 can be expanded on PC with mods. The community has developed additional quests, graphical changes and technical adjustments. Which changes work together depends on the game version and the extensions used.

The Steam version has not required installing Games for Windows Live since an update in October 2021. The old PC minimum requirements therefore do not equate to a current requirement to sign in to this service.

Bethesda Game Studios is working on a modernized version of Fallout 3. The studio confirmed development on Jul 17, 2026, along with a remaster of Fallout: New Vegas. The original PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 versions remain standalone releases.