Fallout

Many video games are escapist in one sense or another and have to deal with the maximum agency afforded to the player, and in most cases we're talking about agency in the idealized, physical sense.  If the protagonist is not physically attractive or physically "able" (and this is to say nothing of the marginalizing of the physically handicapped or disabled in video games... perhaps a topic for future discussion), at the very least he/she is youthful... iconic of the kind of template for change and dynamic narrative-based character shifts we all look for in the classic bildungsroman that forms the basis for games ranging from Braid to Fable 2.

Nevermind, Scotty... Don't bother beaming me up.

HIGH Thawing out the anachronous survivors.

LOW The repetitive, needlessly bloated mission design.

WTF The amount of wasted potential on display here.

After some quick Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen impressions, the crew takes a deep dive into The Conduit, Fallout 3: Point Lookout, and Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers. It's our first three-way, so be gentle. Featuring Chi Kong Lui, Brad Gallaway, and Tim Spaeth.

Download: Right click here and select "Save Target As..."
Subscribe: iTunes | RSS

Topic and Game References:

• Fallout 3
• Fallout 3: Point Lookout DLC Review
• Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers
• Halo
• Perfect Dark
• The Conduit

Please send feedback and mailbag questions to podcast (at) gamecritics (dot) com.

Deliverance, Part 2

HIGH Vast and rich, it feels like a perfect extension of the main game.

LOW The ending loot is a disappointment.

WTF Why are these 'shine-swilling hillbillies so bullet-resistant?

"The absence of death in most people's early years creates a psychic vacuum of sorts. For many, thoughts of a nuclear confrontation are one's first true brush with nonexistence, and because they are the first, they can be the most powerful and indelible." The Wrong Sun, Douglas Coupland.

HIGH It's Oblivion... with guns!

LOW It's just—sigh—Oblivion with guns.

WTF How does putting on a lab coat make one better at science?

We're back! With Brad's and Tim's new sons safely extracted, the team reunites to discuss all the games they've been playing during the break: InFamous, Broken Steel, UFC Undisputed, Dead Space, Trino, CaveIn, Mithra and the Project Trico teaser. With Chi Kong "North/South" Lui, Brad Gallaway, Mike Bracken, and Tim Spaeth.

Download: Right click here and select "Save Target As..."
Subscribe: iTunes | RSS

Topic and Game References:

• Project Trico Trailer
• InFamous
• Prototype
• Crackdown
• Fallout 3: Broken Steel DLC
• UFC 2009: Undisputed
• Dead Space
• XBL Community Games: Trino
• XBL Community Games: CaveIn
• XBL Community Games: Mithra

Please send feedback and mailbag questions to podcast (at) gamecritics (dot) com.

Can you really beat (a level of) a Game of the Year contender playing as a baby?

Rewriting history with DLC

HIGH Finally fixing the utterly illogical and contrived original ending

LOW Not enough new gear, though the Tesla Cannon is pretty fab

WTF Was there no way to save and carry over exp. from the last two add-ons?

Think it can't get more oppressively dismal than D.C.? Welcome to Pittsburgh.

HIGH Going to a completely different area of the destroyed nation.

LOW The 100 item collect-a-thon quest is a tedious drag.

WTF It's not clear where your stolen stuff can be retrieved at quest's end.

Bringing the fight to a much colder, less radioactive wasteland

HIGH It's more Fallout, for players like me who couldn't get enough.

LOW Getting warped out of an area before I was done searching.

WTF The battle near the end could have been a bit more epic.