The Lone Wanderer

By Brian • 4 January 2016

Since Fallout 4 is a new release and all the rage, naturally, I haven’t finished Fallout 3 yet. I bought the game on launch day some seven years ago and played it for maybe a couple of weeks before getting preoccupied and never going back to it. This is why I don’t buy games at launch anymore.

I would have gotten back to it, eventually, but at my friend Kyle’s insistence, I picked it up again recently. He even loaned me his Game of the Year Edition so I could have access to all of the downloadable content, as well. Now I’m hip-deep in a Capitol Wasteland adventure, and I must see it through to the end.

When I play a role-playing game, I don’t really do a good job with the whole role-playing thing. Usually I just play as myself, and how I think I might act in whatever situation my character is in. As such, I’ve put together a character who’s not physically strong and doesn’t have much charm, but is smart, enduring, and has a bit of luck. He’s lousy at speech and bartering (bad social skills), but good at science, repair, lockpicking, and being unassuming. He uses small guns (well, relatively speaking—sniper rifles and shotguns are considered small guns in this game) and a baseball bat for defense, and is polite to everyone—even total scumbags! Well, at least until he is wronged by them. He strives to do good, but his time and resources are limited. He’ll try to help as many people he can, and be wracked with guilt for those he cannot.

Anyway, it’s a good game, but full of ruin and at times deeply depressing. The world was destroyed by a nuclear holocaust, so little has been left intact. Treasures and resources are limited, and danger is everywhere. Aside from a few remaining bastions of civilization and the occasional trader or caravan, everything is out to get you. The game makes you want to feel hopeless about the future. But, I suppose your role as the lone wanderer, who despite all of the ruin and chaos is still capable of doing great good, is intended to bring hope to the wasteland. Or, at least that’s how I play the game.

I’ve put about 45 hours into it, so I’m probably just getting started. That is both satisfying and overwhelming at the same time.