Fallout 3 is an action role-playing game, currently under development by Bethesda Softworks. It will be the third major game in the Fallout series, which has also spawned the spin-offs Fallout Tactics and Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel. It will take place in the year 2277, 36 years after the setting of Fallout 2.

Similar to previous Fallout games, Fallout 3 takes place in post-apocalyptic United States. The player character is a member of Vault 101, a fallout shelter serving in Washington D.C.. The player character lives with his father (his mother having died in childbirth), until, one day, the player wakes up finding that his father has left the vault and ventured into the wasteland for unknown reasons. The vault overseer gets suspicious that the player had something to do with the father's disappearance, so the character must go out into the wasteland in search of him.

During a March 21, 2008 Official Xbox Magazine podcast interview, Todd Howard revealed that the game had expanded to nearly the same scope as Oblivion, and had over 500 variations of the final cutscene, which was determined by all of the actions taken by the player.

Interplay Entertainment
Main article: Van Buren (Fallout)
Fallout 3 was initially under development by Black Isle Studios, a studio owned by Interplay Entertainment, under the working title Van Buren. Interplay Entertainment went bankrupt and closed down Black Isle Studios before the game could be completed, and the license to develop Fallout 3 was sold for a $1,175,000 minimum guaranteed advance against royalties to Bethesda Softworks, a studio primarily known as the developer of the The Elder Scrolls series. Bethesda's Fallout 3 however, was developed from scratch, using neither Van Buren code, nor any other materials created by Black Isle Studios. In May 2007, a playable technology demo of the cancelled project was released to the public.


Bethesda Softworks
Bethesda Softworks stated it would be working on Fallout 3 in July 2004, but principal development did not begin until after The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion was completed. Bethesda Softworks has announced their intention to make Fallout 3 similar to the previous two games, focusing on non-linear gameplay, a good story, and black comedy. Bethesda has also stated the game will be rated M for mature, and will have the same sort of adult themes, violence, and depravity that are characteristic of the Fallout series. They have also decided to shy away from the self-referential gags of the 2 predecessors that broke the illusion that the world of Fallout is real. Fallout 3 will use a version of the same Gamebryo engine as The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and is being developed by the team responsible for that game. Liam Neeson has been attached to the project as the voice of the player's father.

In February 2007, Bethesda stated that the game was "a fairly good ways away" from release, but that detailed information and previews would be available later in the year. Following a statement made by Pete Hines that the team wanted to make the game a "multiple platform title", the game was announced by Game Informer to be in development for Windows, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. A teaser site for the game appeared on May 2, 2007, featuring music from the game and concept art, along with a timer counting down to June 5, 2007. The concept art was commissioned before The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion was released, and has been confirmed by the artist and developers that the images do not reveal anything from the actual game. When the countdown finished, the site hosted the first teaser trailer for the game, and unveiled a release date of "Fall 2008".

Reaction to the rights transfer
Leonard Boyarsky, art director of the original Fallout, when asked about Interplay Entertainment's sale of the rights to Bethesda Softworks, said that he felt as though "our ex wife had sold our children that she had legal custody of."


Teaser trailer

The iconic Vault Boy's teaser trailer cameo. The full sign reads "Sign up at your local vault, A Brighter Future - Underground!"On June 5, 2007, Bethesda released the Fallout 3 Teaser trailer. The press kit released with the trailer indicates that Ron Perlman is on-board with the project, and cites a release date of Fall 2008. The trailer also features the Ink Spots song "I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire", which the previous Fallout developer Black Isle Studios originally intended to license for use in the first Fallout game[16]. The trailer, which was completely done with in-engine assets, closed with Ron Perlman saying his trademark line as the narrator of the first two Fallout games: "War. War never changes." The trailer shows a devastated Washington, D.C, evidenced by the partially crumbled Washington Monument in the background.

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PLAYING:
GTA IV (PC)
Halo 3 (X360)
COD4: MW (PC)
Fallout 3 (PC)
Prince of Persia (PC)

most violent game in history

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