This is not a review of the game, more just a review of the bonus items in the Collector’s Edition and my first impression with the game. If I finish it in a reasonable amount of time (unlikely due to my upcoming schedule) I’ll post an official review. In the meantime, I’ll drop any highlights as I see them in our forum.
The Collector’s Edition is awesome. I can’t say for sure it’s worth an extra $20, but it was to me because I had $60 in Gamestop gift cards, making the game basically free.
First, the box is a good size and very sturdy with a unique, aged look. I can actually see this getting more use as a good-looking storage item than the lunchbox that came with my Fallout 3 Collector’s Edition.
The next thing I saw during the unpackaging is the “graphic novel.” Hardly. It’s more like a hard-bound single issue comic. Bethesda could have saved me $5 and made this a paper comic instead. I read the entire thing at breakfast this morning. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t good, just over-packaged. The story doesn’t make tons of sense on its own, but I think it’s going to work well with the game. I’m hoping that when I read it again after finishing the game I get something new from it. The art is fantastic. I’m not a fan of multiple page splash fights, which this has, but it’s seriously good-looking.
Removing the comic book I got my first look at the actual game box, but I ignored it for the moment to focus on the large platinum “Lucky 38” casino chip. It’s not quite as solid as I’d hoped, but what did I really think it was going to be? It’ll be a good card protector or dealer button when I play in home poker games. The other seven chips from the in-game casinos are nice. As a poker player I was impressed that they did heavy clay chips instead of cheap plastic. They’ve also got a great look. I could totally believe that these chips were left sitting in an abandoned desert casino for a couple hundred years. I’m thinking my smaller home games will incorporate these as my “deep-stack” chips by making them worth $10k or something.
Next is the deck of cards. It’s pretty, but completely worthless for any gaming other than solitaire. It’s a full deck of 52, but the backs are a mix from all the different in-game casinos instead of a unified deck. It’s only a matter of time until you figure out that your opponent isn’t holding the ace of spades because none of the cards in his hand have the right backing.
The “making of” disc is in a simple cardboard sleeve with a cool graphic. I didn’t realize it right away, but this is actually a blu-ray (PS3 version). Obviously the game disc would be, but I didn’t expect the bonus disc to be as well. I watched the videos last night after playing the game for a few hours. It’s got roughly an hour’s worth of content covering the voicework, story, characters, etc.
As for gameplay, I started and played about 4-5 hours. It took my PS3 roughly 15 minutes to do the mandatory install. I am playing in hardcore mode on normal difficulty. Hardcore requires more diligent inventory management as you must be carrying food, water and health options at all times – plus, ammo has weight. You really need to plan your load out because you can’t just carry one of each type of weapon to accomodate all situations and still have enough ammo to make it matter. I gave my character plenty of strength to carry everything and extra agility for VATS. Then I realized that type of character would be great at unarmed/melee combat, a build I’ve never tried before in a Fallout game. It’s a new experience for me but since I’ve found the spiked knuckles it’s very rewarding. A bit of advice to parents that should go without saying: Don’t let your kids play a game that literally has you punching limbs and heads off on a regular basis. Once the game started I began what I feel is a pretty neutral karmic course. I help everyone, but I expect to be well-paid; and I have no problem stealing something if it’s valuable, light and useful. I’m about to break into an NCR prison and I feel I’m well on my way to a grand adventure.