Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition

Amazing story.. Amazing Ending... AMAZING gameplay and gunplay... not once in my 42 hours of gameplay did i find myself bored.. This was AMAZING

W A R N I N G This game doesnt work for windows whatsoever,do not buy for PC.

I used to be a Fallout New Vegas diehard, but after replaying this game I have come around. This game is fun; right off the bat as you exit the starting area you can go ANYWHERE. You can run into many different encounters that may end in defeat, but you learn to run away and live another day. Really makes you feel like a lone wanderer.

Unfortunately major issues with getting this game to work exist. If you are just looking to buy the base game I would suggest looking elsewhere. Love Fallout 3, but the struggle is real.

I wouldn't recommend this game for only one simple reason.... And that's the problem with launching it on windows 10. I had to put both the Fallout 3 and fallout launcher on high priority mode on the Graphics settings on my windows to get it to run. Other than that its a fun game, just get it from the internet if you don't want to have to fix the game you just bought in order to run it.

FINALLY RUNS!!! Really good game, but it's not as many unique weapons as there are in NV that has a different look. (Might've been less resources to do that.) Yet I enjoy the guns (not in vanilla ADS) functionality and gameplay.

This game just does not work through steam anymore. Not worth whatever they may be charging because it literally will not even start.

The game is super. It's very interesting. But how do I get out of the shelter? Is there nothing else besides the shelter? Is there a way to get out of it?

Great game! Really is a good alternative when your laptop can't run fallout 4 (For reference, mine is a really old one from the early 2000's) I recommend going to sprindale school early on. Yes, there are raiders, but it can give you some decent loot to trade at megaton for caps

I purchased the game back a few months ago, I am unable to play it, as I own a Windows 11. It crashes as soon as I click to start. I have tried every "fix" ive found, but still, no success. Ive wasted my time and money.... I just want to play it again :( do NOT buy if you have a newer windows gaming computer

One of my all time favorite games, I see a lot of people complaining about crashes making it unplayable on Windows. So far I haven't encountered that at all.

As much as I enjoy Fallout 3, it doesn't track my hours played, have achievement support, and the fact I had to download fan patches to even get the game to run properly I unfortunately gonna have to give the steam version of Fallout 3 a negative review.

holy peak the story is way better then fallout 4. Graphics wise not the best but this game is definitely worth playing and was golden for its time

Fallout fans are too stuck up about which games are good lol. Fo3 may not be the best fallout but it's worth a shot. I love it, if we did'nt have Fo3 we would Not have FoNV.

Rather stroke my shit with nails than play this shitbox unmodded god bless the enclave

I've 100% Fallout 3 (twice). Once I had done so in 2022. This was a playthrough I did after playing Fallout 4. I wanted to see the predecessor to Fallout 4. Twice, I had do so in 2024. So I consider myself knowledgeable on the game. Fallout 3 is not a bad game by any means. Mechanically it suffers in a lot of areas; even for a game in 2008. It thankfully doesn't suffer from Bethesda-Bug-Syndrome; due to patches that have been released. But you'll most likely see a crash once or twice. Depends what mods you have installed (I had none). Fallout 3 doesn't have iron sights that most FPS games have. When you aim your weapon, the gun just moves closer to the screen. I also think as a "Fallout" game, it is poorly done. You remember in Fallout 4 where you felt your choices didn't matter? Or your choices didn't have impact? In Fallout 3 this is where this orginated. Now some of your choices matter, but they aren't felt throughout the wasteland. Granted, Bethesda's true goal was to create a 3D version of the franchise everyone loved in the late 90s, and they did their job successfully. The atmosphere is top notch, and graphics look good (on gamebyro of ALL THINGS). BEFORE YOU BUY: Please get the GOTY edition. You get all 5 DLC packs (one of them continues the main story) and you get to continue playing the game after concluding the original game. The level cap also increases by ten. Some of the DLC is really good/experimental. Barring quality, I would pick the GOTY editon just so you can continue playing after beating the game. What the game does well: Since Bethesda removed traits (brought back in FNV). They incorporated a VATS system. This stops time and throws in a turn-based mechanic into the game. This is the highlight of the game and one of the best things Bethesda added to the Fallout franchise. The basic priniciples are there. Your SPECIAL stats, perks, skills etc... OVERALL: The game is a good FPS/Exploration game. It's also a "decent" RPG, but I think it fails as a Fallout game if you desire consequences to your actions. P.S. hey at least there isn't a voiced protagonist. Right?? (Oops, your character says "dada" in the tutorial. Oh well...)

This game is good but i recommend fellow scientists to get ready to have to deal with many, many bugs.

Disclaimer: This review is based on the game with all DLC content installed. Short review; subject to change or replacement later. Fallout 3 has sparked debate for over a decade, some love it, others don’t. I’ve played every DLC and done multiple playthroughs, and honestly, I think it’s worth your time. It might not be the best Fallout game out there, but with all the DLCs included, it offers a ton of fun and interesting gameplay. Definitely worth sinking a weekend (or three) into.

The first FPS RPG I've played that taught me what RPG is all about. Multitude choices are given in every quest leading to different outcomes. You can choose your own journey. The world building, especially different vaults, and characters you encounter are so unique. If you weren't a lore person before, you most likely will turn into one. It knows not to take itself too seriously giving good laughs time to time. Listening to silly radio broadcasts, mapping and using V.A.T. combat system with Pip-Boy greatly heighten the joy of exploration.

My favorite Fallout game is pretty much by far New Vegas, BUT, that is not to say Fallout 3 isn't a great Fallout game, I try not to be an absolute New Vegas supremacist. The only problem I really have with Fallout 3 is that there's no option to side with the enclave or any other faction besides the Brotherhood, so It isn't really an RPG in the same way that New Vegas and 4 are, but that's not much of a big deal. Gameplay is pretty much identical to New Vegas (since it is the blueprint Obsidian used to make New Vegas), so I had no problem getting into it. None of the DLCs are duds, in fact they're all pretty great, and $20 for everything is a pretty insane deal.

I played many hours when it came out, but now that it is available to newer PCs I have given it a few new plays. I like the constant danger and difficulty keeping your equipment functional. I thought I would never want food that delivered more radiation than nutrition, but found myself eating and drinking everything in sight while putting off the radiation problem "later". The factions are simplistic and I have found my character is either very good or very evil with not much chance to follow a middle ground. I guess that alone is reason to try playing it just one more time.

this is the most broken game i've ever played. proceed at your own caution (my actual playtime is about 40 hours)

My first Fallout game, and one of my first RPGs. Nostalgia aside, solid game for the year it came out. Bethesda brought their A game.

Honestly a great game, often overshadowed by NV and 4, which are arguably superior entries in the fallout franchise. However, this game stands on its own and it does it well. I found the game to be both encapsulating and fun, albeit probably the slowest start out of all the games, it does what it sets out to do very well and provides a great story and gameplay to compliment the overall experience. Where this game outshines the other entries is the ambiance or "vibes" it can bring to you as a player. The capital wastleland is desolate and it truly feels like what a nuclear wasteland should be. There is nothing goofy or silly like you find in FO:4 and civilization is much more sparse than in NV. I also found the brutality of combat to be extremely fun. Blowing off a raiders head in one shot with a shotgun in Fallout 3 feels way more raw than in the other entries for some reason I can't put my finger on. I found the main quest to be decent, and some of the DLC were fun as well. They are no lonesome road, but the pitt stands on its own as a great and often overlooked DLC fans don't talk about as much, which is a shame since it's an excellent piece of world-building and amazing RPG elements and decision making. Honestly even point lookout is quite good, and invokes a sense of eerie creepiness not easily replicated (though attempted by other DLC such as dead money etc). In fact, it would seem that point lookout actually inspired FO:4's far harbor, which again is something that is often overlooked by fans. Overall I rate Fallout 3 a 7.5/10. It's a great standalone game that is simply overshadowed by two other games which do certain things slightly better, but on its own it still does a great job. If you are a fan of RPGs or Fallout, even if you are part of the younger generation, do yourself a favor and pick this one up. I think any fan of the series will greatly enjoy it.

A solid rpg. It hasn’t aged the best, but it’s worth playing for the role playing elements. I didn’t like the ending I got but just me.

A great game that introduced me to the Fallout series when I played it ten years ago on the PS3. There's plenty of things left to be desired (Especially if you were like me and went and played Fallout 4 and New Vegas before coming back to this game) but still definitely packed full of fun to be had. It'll make the other entries I mentioned even more fun. It was cheap and lots of fun per dollar value in 2025, especially with $80 games now! If you don't mind some old graphics, give it a try!

okay so what the hell. played this game for 5 hours with my eyeballs touching my screen, thought it was real life. super mutant comes out the screen and tears my scalp off or something haha.

I played this on the xbox 360 for a bit till it took a shit or red ring of death. I picked this up for my steam deck and it works great. It's a good game as far as xbox 360 era things go. It's a decent game and worth a play through, especially if you have some time to get games in at work on the steam deck.

this game still claps .. i remember me and my bro grinding when we were 12 getting all the unique weapons off orcideas videos. i just put in 60 hours and can say its an even better experience now. this game is perfect. its the best fallout by far. i know it says i've played like 40 minutes but thats because i had to rewrite the .ini cuz it kept crashing. ez fix. btw moira brown could get it

since youve never heard of it before. its great, map is buggy, poorly aligned, crashesfairly often, but still prefer playing it on pc vs console

Great game, but good lord getting it to boot for the first time was a hassle. Definitely some fiddling to do before you can play.

This game is an absolute legend. It is worth playing over and over.

huge fallout fan here i would love to be able to play this game again but i am unable to! Once I load my save as soon as i encounter an enemy the game freezes and i have to shut off the computer. wish this would get fixed

[h3]DONT BELIEVE THE LIES YOU READ ON THE INTERNET, FALLOUT 3 IS AMAZING![/h3] Theres a conspiracy of the internet that says that this game is only a prototype for Fallout New Vegas, but that’s not true at all, Fallout 3 stands on its own legs with a decent main story, good side quests and the overall aesthetic of the destroyed Washington DC after the nuclear apocalypse. Some quests are really remarkable like the “Vampire Family” and “Tranquility Lane”. Overal, this is a great Bethesda RPG shooter. [h3]8.5/10 [/h3] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3500425736

Tried to play this dumb ahh game and download mods to make the game better shit broke my ssd and now steam wont download any other games and is breaking everything

I would love to review gameplay, but the game doesn't work. I have tried disabling integrated graphics, tried forcing it to use my 4050 through a mod launcher, windows graphics settings and NVIDIA settings, and tried installing mods for it to function. How a game is on steam that doesn't operate is beyond me. Fix the game and maybe I can play it.

When I first bought this game I encountered the same issue where the game wouldn't start. I tried everything and watched every video and nothing worked, so I left a negative review. But I did some more research and found out a way that fixed the issue for me. Open Settings and search for Graphics settings. Click on browse and go to your Windows (C:), Program Files (x86), Steam, steamapps, common, Fallout 3 goty, then add FalloutLauncherSteam. If Fallout3.exe is not added then make sure to add that too. Click options on each one (Fallout 3 Launcher and Fallout3) then choose High Performance. If this didn't work for you then don't ask me for help. Aside from all that I LOVE this game, it has always been one of my favorite games every even though I never got to play it. The environment, the characters, and the story are all perfect. Truly a timeless game.

This game is a Masterpiece, BUT, if You own a decent gaming PC & you do not know how to use mods, DO NOT BUY THIS GAME ON STEAM! It is not optimized and plays very poorly or Not at All. Play it on XBOX.

even after 10 years I keep coming back and starting new play throughs just so I can attempt to capture the magic again.

This game gets way too much hate from New Vegas chuds, and people who got their opinions from a hbomberguy video uploaded nearly a decade ago. This game walked so New Vegas could run. Period. Is this game perfect? No. It is a Bethesda title, there's going to be some jank. Does this deliver an authentic post nuclear apocalypse experience? Absolutely. This game doesn't have the same political scheming and broader philosophical pondering found in New Vegas's writing because it was never about that. New Vegas is in essence a story about how people pick up the pieces of a bygone age and decide on what guiding principles will carry them forward. Fallout 3 is simply a tale of exploration and survival in a hostile land filled with the husks of civilization and how that can look. The setting is phenomenally bleak and I think there's an overall grim atmosphere oozing from every corner of this title that no other modern Fallout title has been able to replicate thus far. Basically? Liam Neeson is your dad. 10/10

fallout 3 does not appear to be installed and the installer could not be found fallout 3 does not appear to be installed and the installer could not be found fallout 3 does not appear to be installed and the installer could not be found Tried uninstalling, reinstalling, granted admin privilege etc. Please keep making games that just work™

Literally one of the best franchises that I have ever been apart of. Been a Fallout fan since Fallout 3 came out and I gotta say well fucking done Bethesda (and Obsidian for the beauty that is New Vegas)

I'm not sure how my playtime got so messed up (I must have been playing in Offline Mode), but this is a fun time. The random encounters can be terrifyingly dangerous, so you won't quite find the comforting Skyrim-power-fantasy here. Still, the story and worldbuilding are interesting.

Be me. - A 10 to 11-year-old watching a video on gaming creepypastas. -Video mentions Fallout 3: Numbers Station, then starts with their love of Fallout 3. -Part of me wonders how good this game is, and with my older brother's PS4 that we shared, and PS Now. I'm able to play Fallout 3. The first playthrough was followed by numerous crashes, deaths, and an overall loss of direction, but the music and just a part of me wanted to keep playing. -Learns how lockpicking and terminal hacking work from my older brother while playing. -It only follows the main quest and Moria Brown's W.S.G. quest. - Then, during the geek part, encounters Fawkes. - dies a lot during Raven Rock. -Then suddenly, Fawkes becomes my first ever companion. -Then, after beating the game, confused as to why I can't play again after beating the game. -Afterwards, I see my brother playing New Vegas, and I start playing that. -learns a few months later about both 3 and New Vegas's DLCs, and tries accessing them, but cannot. -and again because of the older brother's old HP laptop..(He's a big factor in me being a fan.) I'm able to download Steam and finally play the games I've wanted to play. But because it's so old, it plays games at 20 fps, but it doesn't bother me. -tries playing Fallout 3, keeps crashing when I boot up the game. -learns I have to mod it for it to perform well. -downloads my first mod and does not touch the game for a few years -then a few years on 13/14th birthday(dont remember which age). Got a gaming laptop for both school and gaming. - Then, after playing New Vegas, I make another Fallout 3 playthrough and explore the world. 2nd playthrough summary -Plays all DLCs, uses console commands when wanting to do certain things, and unlocks things I couldn't obtain. -barely collect all the bobbleheads -uses Charon and Dogmeat for the first time -Dogmeat dies and makes a whole domino effect of glitches when trying to resurrect him since I didn't grab the Puppies perk. -abuses quicksaves and loads -Never beat broken steel due to not knowing where to go. Then a few years pass, and we are now in the weekend before summer break starts. -decided to replay Fallout 3, just to revisit 3rd playthrough summary -No console commands -still abusing quicksave and load -No explorer perk and just wander around. -decide to start collecting all the bobbleheads -Also decides not to go through the main quest until beating all DLCs before Broken Steel. -starts going through more side quests. -saves up as many caps as possible by stealing my money back from Haley in Point Lookout. -follows Ashur's side of the Pitt quest out of moral conflict -kills Harold again out of morals -Mothership Zeta just Mothership Zeta -Finally, I am at level 26 -The only Bobblehead I'm missing is Energy Weapons Now I'm gonna go through the rest of the storyline. Overall thoughts: if I never watched that video about gaming creepypastas, I wouldn't have been a Fallout fan.. until a bit later. But I'm glad that 3 was my first game of the series, so it's more nostalgic. Thanks, HoodoHoodlumsRevenge(the YouTuber who made the video). And my older brother for letting me play on his PS4. :]

my hours are glitched i actually have way more but this game is fire s tier fallout

Complete dogshit, awful story, wont run for 5 minutes without crashing, gave me stage 4 ball cancer and killed my grandma, 10/10

Well, here's where modern Bethesda Fallout started. If you liked Fallout 4 or 76 and want to check out the older stuff, you'll probably like it. If you're just starting getting into the Fallout series, then I recommend playing Fallout New Vegas, and then stopping after Fallout New Vegas. 'S okay.

Gameplay Mechanics: 8/10 Narrative: 9/10 Graphics: 6/10 Sound and Music: 9/10 Replayability: 8/10 Innovation: 9/10 Fallout 3 was a turning point for the franchise—and honestly, for open-world RPGs in general. The Game of the Year Edition bundles in all the DLCs, making an already expansive post-apocalyptic experience even more massive. If you missed it back in the day, this is the version to play. Gameplay mechanics hold up pretty well. The V.A.T.S. system is still fun and satisfying, especially for players who prefer a pause-and-plan approach instead of pure FPS action. The mix of exploration, looting, and dialogue choices keeps things engaging, and there’s a real sense of freedom in how you build your character. Score: 8/10. Narrative is one of Fallout 3’s strongest points. The opening sequence in Vault 101 sets the tone perfectly, and the journey across the Capital Wasteland is filled with memorable quests, moral dilemmas, and weird, often darkly funny encounters. The DLC adds even more variety, from exploring an alien ship to waging war in a simulator. Score: 9/10. Graphics haven’t aged gracefully. The art direction is solid, and the world design still delivers that bleak, ruined aesthetic, but the character models and animations feel clunky by today’s standards. Mods help a lot, though. Score: 6/10. Sound and music are excellent. The radio stations (especially Galaxy News Radio) give the world personality, and the ambient soundtrack nails the lonely, eerie tone of wandering the wasteland. Voice acting is solid, too. Score: 9/10. Replayability is strong. Different builds, moral paths, and exploration choices mean there’s plenty of reason to go back for more. The DLC expands the sandbox even further, giving you tons of hours to dive into. Score: 8/10. Innovation was off the charts at release. Taking a classic isometric RPG and transforming it into a first-person open-world game was a huge gamble—and it paid off. Bethesda’s take on Fallout set the template for future entries and helped redefine what an RPG could look like in 3D. Score: 9/10. In short, Fallout 3: GOTY Edition is still worth playing today. It's gritty, immersive, and surprisingly flexible for an older game. It might be a little rough around the edges, but it’s packed with soul.

I have to try so hard to find the way to fix and its not work most of the time. (Its only work 1 time but never happen again)

They took away controller support in 2025. After 160 hours turns unplayable. I don't Fallout with a keyboard. Bad business this.