I managed to launch Fallout 3 on the Xbox Arcade, and started the Mothership Zeta scenario. Based on an observation of events in the game trailer, I noticed that the character begins without any armor or weapons. Knowing that I would have to recover anything that I equipped myself with and not knowing what I would find in the spacecraft, I packed up a lot of ammunition, some duplicate weapons, body armor with special attributes (stealth and weapon mastery), and a few power punch weapons. Armed and as ready as I could be, I ventured out into the wasteland in search of the source of the alien radio signal. Save game.
I find the source of the radio signal, but before I can investigate the crash site, I am lifted off the ground by an invisible force field that generates a weightless feeling. Its power renders me unconscious. After an undetermined amount of time, I begin to regain consciousness, barely recognizable images and sounds begin to register. Alien forms loom over me, converse, acknowledge my consciousness and prepares me for some form of examination. The machines that are moved into my frame of visions look threatening. They are activated and I pass out. I wake up in a metallic walled oval chamber. Another human like figure is in the chamber. A conversation ensues, and we plot our escape. Same game.
We use the “prisoners killing each other ploy” to bring the alien guards into our cell. We pounce upon the unsuspecting guards, dispatch them and take their weapons. Phone rings. Save game. Answer phone.
“Dad, I ordered Potbelly. They’ll deliver the food at 5:45.”
“Okay, I’ll come down in a,” check the clock ten to five, “at 5:30. Put money close to the door.”
“Okay.”
I’ve got to see how far I can get before 5:15. The rush is on. Two more alien guards appear and attack us. We again are victorious, but I’ve been injured and lost life force. I don’t know how my partner is doing, she has moved down the hall as I load up on their shock batons. I catch up with her in what appears to be a control room. There are two doors, one won’t open, but the other does. I see more cells. Five after 5pm. Pick up the pace. A quick examination of the control room - nothing but a waste of time, but you can never tell. Save game. I move through the open door an see more closely what is in the cell block. Empty cells, except one, which contains a child who calls out for help. She yells out some directions as she asks us to help her. I don’t understand everything she says, something about switches. I waste more time punching the walls looking for switches-nothing. I look down the hallway. Ten after 5pm. I see something that looks like a control panel I move down there and try to activate it-failure. I notice box-like units around the control panel and investigate them - relays. I activate them, and return to the control panel and activate it-success. Steam, light, noise, and a column rises from the floor. Quarter after 5pm. Save game. Push on for a few minutes more, I decide. The cells are open. I go into the little girl’s cell. A short conversation and she moves out to help us, if we help her. She moves out of the cell, disappears before I can see where she has gone. I move into the control room look around-nothing. I got to save the game. The locked doorway opens, and the little girl is on the other side. Save game. Exit to main menu. Quit to Dashboard. Shut down the console. Ratz! I forgot to remove the game DVD. Twenty after 5pm. Exit stage right.
That is how it goes. You eat dinner, run some errands (dog food, a slip case for the netbook, some dessert), walk the dog, wait for my wife to return after a visit with her mother, and come upstairs to work on this entry. At least Fallout 3 allows you to save on the fly, so the pressure wasn’t that bad.
One of the things that I enjoy about this game (and similar role playing games) is the problem solving aspect involved in the adventure. Planning, interaction with other characters, and moral choices (I could have let my cellmate get killed by the guards and escaped by myself) engage my total attention. When I am done and wonder "What if . . ?" Hey I've saved enough times, I can go back and make different choices and see "What if . . ."
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