Welcome to the Overnighter!!  This is a different take on first impression review, where I will review a game based on how long I can stay up playing.  I have a history of getting sucked into overnight marathon gaming sessions and just skipping sleep for that nearly two-day period.  I had all of the Halo's beaten with in 18 hrs of getting them, played F.E.A.R. on the PC straight through fully in one sitting, and have sat playing Oblivion for 27 1/2 hours (amazingly enough without doing any main story arc quests, I became heads of all of the guilds) and those are just a few of the games that I have played like that.  I have many fond memories of long nights gaming, which has served as a rather accurate gauge of how good that game is.

The goal for the Overnighter is to play a game the whole night through and see if the game is good enough to keep me interested and involved enough to keep me from going to bed, and then some…maybe.

**BE AWARE!!**THIS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS**BE AWARE!!!**

Fallout 3

Rated M

Xbox 360, PS 3, and PC--Xbox 360 version reviewed
Bethesda Game Studios
Total Overnighter Playtime:  10 hrs. 47min + (15 hours total in the first day)

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9:00--I open the game (the lunchbox was opened before I got in the car) and put it in the Xbox to start playing.  I started a new game and Ron Pearlman’s narration begins, "War...War never changes” very different from MGS4’s opening line, "War...War has changed".  I have started the character customization, and there seem to be lots of options…this could take a while. 

9:09—I am done choosing my character’s look and now I am setting my skill points.

9:11—I got my Pipboy-3000

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Pipboy-3000:  This serves as your map, inventory, quest log and for displaying any other pertinent information reguarding you as you go on your journey through the Capitol Wastelands.

9:15—I got a BB Gun and was introduced to the V.A.T.S. (Virtual Assisted Targeting System) and it looks like its going to be very interesting playing this game.

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About V.A.T.S.—When activated, the targeting system pauses the action(when you shoot the action goes into a slo-mo bullet time camera view), highlights the enemy in front of you, and display the chances of landing a hit on different parts of the enemy.  When using V.A.T.S. the chances for a critical hit increase and also (depending on how well you fallow what the stats are telling you) conserve ammo, if you don more damage you use less ammo.  This unique targeting system also allows for the game to be played several ways.  If you, as a player, choose to play Fallout 3 as a First Person Shooter, do not use V.A.T.S., simply run and gun through anything that gets into your way.  To play it as a turn-based RPG, use the V.A.T.S. in every battle as often as possible.

9:37--I escaped vault 101.  Leveled up to level 2.

9:42--Checking mailboxes, I have found a magazine that gives me a +1 melee skill boost and a letter from Vault-Tec.

9:59--Exploring, found a school and am hunting mutants and checking out the school.  (1st Hour)

10:10--I have left the school and I am now headed back toward the stuff that was off to the right when I came out of Vault 101.

10:14--I have found the community of Megaton...not Megatron, which I keep is what I keep wanting to call it.

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10:32--Supply shops are (like in Oblivion) only open during the daytime, so I have to wait a few (game) hours.

10:39--I have left Megatron (Dyslexia, you win!!!) and I am headed toward The Galaxy News Radio Building.

10:54--A Mirelurk killed me on the shoreline.  Those things are very well protected and very persistent.

10:58--I have found the "Super Big Mart" and unlocked the ability to fast travel to places that I have been to before.  While fast traveling, the time in-game still goes by like it normally would.  It is not instant traveling, it is fast traveling so it doesn't take you 15 minutes to get from town to town every time.

11:04--My First time using V.A.T.S. during combat and it is really cool.  When I took my shot (headshot, of course) the camera switched to a "Wanted" or "bullet-time" angle and you get to watch the bullet fly through the air and finish with a wonderful explosion of mutant brains, jaw pieces, and the occasional eyeball all over the room.

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11:38--I have hacked my First computer terminal and it was rather satisfying.  I like the word puzzle game, it can get frustrating trying to unlock terminals, make sure you save before you start trying your hack just like you would with a locked lock.

11:58--I have cleared out the "Super Big Mart", which had a nice little stash of goodies, but you need to watch your step in here because a lot of shopping carts are lying around with glass bottles, both of which can alert the Raiders to your presence.

12:28--I have found the Brotherhood of Steel's Citadel, and I really want some of that armor that the Brotherhood has.

12:34--A "fire" ant killed me...with its fire breath.

12:49--I have found the Anchorage Memorial while exploring the Capitol Wastelands.

1:09--Going underground, and using the Metro Tunnels to get from place to place the first time so that I can fast travel to that spot from now on.

1:25--I have found The Chevy Chase Metro station and fast traveled back to Megatron to get some supplies.  While in Megatron, I completed the quest "The Power of the Atom".  I chose to save the settlement and disarm the bomb.

1:48--I fast travel back to the Chevy Chase station and resume my search for the GNR Building looking for information about my father.

2:01--In the GNR Building plaza, the guards and I had to dispose of a "Behemoth" and I picked up a "Fat Man" and some Mini nukes.

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2:07--I have spoken with the GNR disc jockey, ThreeDog, and "my princess is in another castle" apparently.  I find out that I have just missed my father and that in order to get anymore information on his whereabouts, I have to help get the radio transmitter working properly.

2:09--Seeing the armor on the Brotherhood members that help protect the GNR building makes me really want to have that armor, I am going to fast travel there and see if I can't find someone to train me in heavy armor.

2:11--It didn't work, I don't have enough standing to get into the Citadel right now...I wonder what they are hiding in there???

2:27--I found a Stealth Boy, which temporarily +100 to your sneak skill and a 50% boost to your lock picking and pick-pocketing.  It like having the Grey Fox Hood from Oblivion, without automatically becoming a fugitive.

2:55--The sounds in this game are really good.  Sounds have direction in this game so sometimes you can't hear a Ghoul until they are grunting halfway through their slash at you.

3:04--I have found the National Mall area.  The entire area has been utterly devastated and there is a tangible sense of how messed up things are in this reality.

3:14--I fast traveled to the Irradiated Metro Station.

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3:34--I have found the Jefferson Monument.

3:46--I have found Rivet City, a community that has established them selves in the wreckage of a huge U.S. Naval Aircraft Carrier.

3:58--I am still going strong, this game has totally sucked me in and has got a hold of me something fierce.  I think that I can feel an "Oblivion-esque" gaming session in the making.  I have been playing for seven hours straight now and I don't see or feel any signs.

4:01--I have gone to the Jefferson Memorial, a Dr. in Rivet City gave me information leading me to believe that my father is there, or at least has been.

4:31--After going through the Memorial, I have found some of Dad's Holotapes...not Dad himself.  He mentions one of the other vaults and I have to head there if I am to find him and help him fix everything.

4:38--I have to find Vault 112...wherever that is.

4:52--A Yao Guai killed me.  These things are very fast and lethal.  I am conserving ammo for when I get to vault 112 and tried to outrun this thing.... bad idea.  I got mauled.

5:18--After searching the Wasteland in the area where information told me to look, I have found an abandoned car service station/garage.  The entrance to Vault 112 could be inside.

5:35--As I enter Vault 112, the security bot give me a Vault 112 jumpsuit and gives me instructions to find and enter a "Tranquilty Lounger".  My lockpicking and science skills aren't high enough to break into any additional areas, so I guess its into the chair.

6:00--I have left "Tranquility Lane".  Dad is going to head back to Rivet City and now seems like a good time to finish up some freeform quests before I meet back up with Dad.  I head off to talk to ThreeDog and take care of some other things.

6:54--I have worked my way through the Museum and picked up another quest that should have a nice little payoff.

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7:02--I am at the deteriorating Washington Monument to install the transmitter dish and get another radio station besides Enclave radio going.

7:15--I just got done talking with Three Dog to complete the quest and now I am headed to Rivet City to meet back up with Dad.

7:27--We have to go back to Dad's Lab at the Jefferson Memorial.

7:47--The Enclave has found us and have stormed the building.  I have to fight my way past them to get back to help my father.  An Enclave Soldier killed me, my wife (real life now) has gotten up and this seems like a good place to stop playing for the Overnighter.

**After taking my wife to work, I came back home and used a sick day to keep playing.  I played from 9 A.M. until the Xbox 360 froze and locked up at 1:35 P.M. that afternoon.  The game is that good that I played it longer than my Xbox could stay cool and keep working.  So on top of the 10 1/2 hours playing for the Overnighter, I played another 4 1/2, bringing my first day playing total to 15 hours.**

This game is amazing….Good luck out there in the Capital Wastelands!!