Immersion. It's the key to a great book, a fantastic movie, a can't miss TV show, and especially to a video game. It's also one of the hardest qualities to achieve. There are so many breakers in a typical game, what with load times, saving games, poor AI, graphical (especially clipping) issues, and the biggie, death. To find a game that can pull you in on the story/gameplay combination alone is unusual. Finding one that can do that, while overcoming the aforementioned inherent properties of gaming, well, that happens far too rarely.

But happened it has in 2008, with the release of Fallout 3. Despite playing fewer games this year than in the past, I was thinking of not even bothering to award this title to anything. But after the initial play session lasted ten hours, it was clear that not doing so would be a disservice. This game is good. Real good. Fantastic. If you haven't played it, you need to do so. Please. Hurry.

Every aspect works withing the world the Bethesda has created. The landscape is exactly what you would expect a post-nuclear world to look like. There is no green anywhere (with the exception of your Pip-Boy). Everything is gray. Everything is desolate. In a bit of irony, walking out of the confined vault 101 for the first time, and onto the face of the planet, with the sky open above, is what totally sucks you into this world. Prior to that moment, the first thirty minutes or so of the game is nothing special, though they do have a fun take on character creation. But as soon as you step out, and look upon, well, nothingness, you'll be hooked. And that feeling gets even better when you travel to downtown DC, where the endless rubble of destroyed buildings and burned out husks of cars brings home the true destruction that occurred. It wouldn't be surprising to find out that Iraqi war vests would have issues playing this game, given their experiences in similar environments. If a real war zone is worse than what is portrayed here, I want no part of it. It all just feels, for lack of a more suitable term, right.

As this game was developed by Bethesda, it could have very easily felt like another Elder Scrolls games. Somehow, it manages to not only distance itself from its ancestors, but also surpass them in nearly every way. For some reason, while Morrowind and Oblivion were fun, they never quite rang true for me, though if you asked why, I couldn't say. F3 buries its past completely, and distinctly. The only time I felt any twinge while playing was when an NPC was sleeping, and woke up to talk to me. There was a sudden rush of familiarity, followed be the realization of who made the game. Then, it was gone, probably lost in the voice of Three Dog as he started playing Bongo Bongo Bongo again (it will invade your brain), and F3 wrapped me in its warm, tattered blanket for a few more hours.

Maybe if you grew up in Boise, or Eugene, this game wouldn't grasp you as much. But for those of us that went on a field trip to DC each year, and that stomped around the Mall more than once, seeing the nation's capital in ruins makes the suspension of disbelief all the easier. And if that doesn't do it, there are many other aspects of the game that will. The NPCs can be interesting, and are always voiced well. The makeshift towns that have sprung up look as they should, and evoke an old west feeling. The quests are well designed, with some of them stretching deep into the game. If you are used to getting a quest, going out, and wrapping it up, you will need to adjust your expectations as you go along. The sounds is well done, with the music selection standing out most of all (I love 40's and 50's tunes), though they could have used a few more songs.

Short answer: get this game.