I was a little disappointed a while back when Bethesda mentioned that Fallout 3 would have a smaller explorable area than its previous blockbuster, Oblivion. The huge explorable areas are one of my favorite features about Bethesda games, and I was hoping they’d be brining some of this to the Fallout series. (Of course, they’ll be brining some, just not quite on Oblivion’s scale.) Well, this past week, Bethesda let out a redeeming quality that shows off the flexibility of the game.

In an interview with IGN, the game’s executive producer Todd Howard said that Fallout 3 will have over 200 endings. “Being that we are Bethesda, everything gets a bit big,” he said. The game’s many endings depend on the actions you take throughout the game.

Of course, this doesn’t mean 200 completely unique endings. Howard goes on to explain that there are about ten main endings, with many subtle changes, extra scenes or other additions that are affected by your game choices.

Also, although the gameplay area is smaller than Oblivion’s, it’s larger than was originally planned, with hours of gameplay that Bethesda has been throwing in whenever they’ve come up with a good idea. “Fallout is probably twice the size that we originally had on paper,” he says, pointing out that the 20-40 hours of main gameplay grew quickly into 100 hours of potential fun.

So, 200 endings? I definitely like the sound of that. I enjoy the choices you can make in some RPG games, but in most cases they still boil down to one or two possibilities (like in Bioware’s Mass Effect and Knights of the Old Republic). The choices make for interesting gameplay, but it will be even more exciting to expect lasting consequences of your actions.

Fallout 3 sounds better every time I hear about it. Howard does warn both Bethesda and Fallout fans — this game will take new turns, so don’t expect Oblivion and don’t expect the same old Fallout.

Fallout 3 is set to be released this fall for the Xbox 360, PS3 and Windows. “I’d be shocked if it were not out then honestly.”

• 1 Comment