Fallout 3 - Small But Beautifully Formed

Size matters, or so the saying goes, but it would appear that Bethesda are going against traditional 'bigger is better' thinking by opting for a smaller world for their upcoming title, Fallout 3.

Their previous game, Oblivion, featured a sprawling world for you to explore freely. For Fallout 3 the team are currently planning to reduce the size of the game world slightly, but with more of an emphasis on quality.

In a recent interview with Gameplayer, Pete Hines (spokesman for Bethesda) says that although no-one had yet walked Fallout 3's post-apocolyptic landscape from end to end, it's estimated to be 50 to 80 percent of the size of Oblivion's map.

This makes great sense to me. While the Oblivion landscape was beautiful and initially great fun to explore, it did get a bit boring after a while. After all, when you've seen one grassy hill with a secret cavern, you've seen them all. Also, don't forget that Oblivion's landscape was enormous, so even if Fallout 3 is only 50% of the size, it's still going to be a big place to explore.

One of the strengths of the old Fallout games was the detail in the landscape that really added to the atmosphere of the game world. Concentrating on a tighter but more interactive environment for Fallout 3 should help with the sense of immersion, and combined with the 3D engine will really bring the gloomy world of apocalyptic Washington D.C to life.