While you’re out shooting the super mutants and looking for the next adventure, you’ll likely want to check out the sights. Gazing at the tattered ruins of the Washington Monument is one thing, but climbing to the top of the monument and then looking out over the ruined remains of downtown DC is something else entirely. The environment, full of the nation’s now derelict monuments to freedom and liberty, is simply breathtaking. Soaking it in, you might even forget to keep a hand on the trigger because someone or something is likely to come out shooting. The art direction and presentation of Fallout 3 manages to both captivate players with a stunning world and cause them to meditate on what life may really look like after a nuclear holocaust. The ramshackle towns and hastily thrown together settlements show that humanity may do what it takes to survive, but the horrors of a raider den or the sight of ghouls who have lost their sanity will also remind you that in a world plunged into anarchy, the atrocities will far outweigh the beacons of hope.

The visuals, while stunning, pale in comparison to the game’s music, which is perfect in nearly every way. As players progress through the game, they will gain access to a few select radio stations that provide the only soundtrack. While some may first discover the propaganda channel of the Enclave, the United States’ pre-war governing body, the real joy comes in the discovery of Galaxy News Radio. This station, run by the Brotherhood of Steel, broadcasts a slick mix of anti-government ranting and an incredible music selection from the 1940s and 50s. All the tunes are licensed tracks, and there’s something deliciously ironic about listening to “Butcher Pete” while sneaking through a raider camp and spotting tortured and mutilated bodies at every turn; or catching a whiff of “Let’s Go Sunning,” as you traipse across the sun-scorched wastes looking for the next sign of civilization. The only weakness in the music comes from a lack of songs, but if you ever get tired of listening you can always turn the radio off and be accompanied by the stony silence that comes with the end of the world.

There is one last thing to say about Fallout 3, and it can be taken as either a complement or a criticism depending on how you view it: There is a good deal of merit to statements that the game is essentially “Oblivion with guns.” Substitute swords and magic for firearms and explosives and you basically have the same weapons system. Replace goblins, ogres and bandits with ghouls, super mutants and raiders and you have your enemies. While the games are distinct in many ways, the two titles share a lot of similarities, and the core of the two games is very much alike. If you loved Oblivion, then likening this game to that one is likely the highest praise, but if you abhorred it, then this one observation may have taken Fallout 3 off the table entirely.

Ultimately though, Fallout 3 really deserves to be tried by everyone, as it is one of the rare games that can be all things to all people. If you wish to play as a stealthy assassin, luring enemies into mine traps and taking out foes from the shadows, that path is available. If you’d prefer to stand and fight, delivering rocket rounds or mini nuclear warheads to your enemies’ faces, that’s here too. Furthermore, you can tread the path of the good and virtuous or walk the road of the deceitful and mean. Fallout 3 can be whatever you want it to be, which is rare in this age of shoehorning game characters into specific roles. So get out there and explore the Wasteland; your father is waiting -- if you should ever choose to find him.