It is surely the sign of something special when one has to unwillingly tear themselves away from a game to write a review. Bethesda's latest epic RPG does just that, with a sprawling world of deep characters, absorbing storylines, and detailed settings. It's unsurprising that a title this ambitious has its share of flaws, but the few minor technical imperfections do little to detract from a final product that is an impressive achievement in game design, storytelling, and artistry.

Fallout 3 takes place in a post-apocalyptic Washington DC. You begin as a Vault-dweller, having known only the safety and security of a glorified bomb shelter for your entire life. The party line is that no one has ever entered or left Vault 101 in the couple hundred years since the world was ravaged by nuclear war. But one day, your father inexplicably leaves the vault and you're left with little choice but to chase after him. This becomes the central plot: going from one place to the next in search of Liam Neeson - he's the voice actor that plays daddy dearest. On the way, there are countless characters and side plots, hundreds of locations, and thousands of items to scavenge and sell. You'll meet the stalwart Brotherhood of Steel, the patriotic Enclave, and packs of bounty hunters, mutants, ghouls, and Wasteland raiders that are straight out of Mad Max.

Fable II isn't the only RPG this year with a memorable canine companion.

If the post-apocalyptic plot isn't familiar from a host of books and movies, maybe you'll recognize it from the game's predecessors. Fallout 3 is, essentially, the love child of two popular and critically adored franchises: Fallout and Elder Scrolls. The former was released for PC in the late 90s by Interplay. The latter debuted on the Xbox 360 in January of 2006 with Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Fans of the original Fallout games will find much of the same humor, apocalyptica, emphasis on decision-making, and the wide scale of villainy and virtue. Bethesda has also borrowed from the original combat system, offering an amalgam of real-time and turn-based action. Fans of Oblivion will feel right at home with the character design and many of the game's particulars: the map, the inventory, the conversations, and even some of the controls. If you didn't like either game of this esteemed parentage, it's a fair bet that you won't like the progeny.

If you're a fan of one of the originals, if the idea of an epic post-apocalyptic role-playing game interests you, or if you want to try something new and engrossing, Fallout 3 is a winner. The things that Bethesda did so well in Oblivion are again the strengths of Fallout. The "Capital Wasteland" is truly an enormous world: walking the length of the map from one end to the other can take hours. Every square inch of it is crafted with care; there seem to be few locations that don't exist for a purpose. Action-oriented gamers could probably stick to the objectives and wrap up the main plot in about 10 hours, but that wouldn't be doing justice to the incredible landscape of people and places. If you love exploring, you can easily sink several hundred hours into Fallout 3.

The endlessly rich detail of the world can be a weakness as well as a strength, though. Anyone that prefers their games to be a little more linear could be overwhelmed by the scope of Fallout 3. As you travel from one destination to the next, you're likely to come across a place that has nothing to do with your search for your father: nearly every location has been knit into an unrelated (or tangentially related) side quest or subplot. So, you'll either need to invest untold hours into playing the game or be willing to skip some areas.

Can the game actually remain interesting after so many hours of gameplay? With so many new stories, characters, and locations, most will answer this with a resounding "yes". If you like fast, non-stop action, you might not get a hundred hours out of the game, but many others will find themselves steeped in the Capital Wasteland for an eternity. As with any other title, a lasting experience can also start to expose some technical imperfections. The most noticeable flaw is the invisible walls surrounding the downtown metro area; piles of rubble that look easy to climb are inexplicably inaccessible. There's also the occasional bug: corpses clipping through the ground or pieces of junk that get your character stuck. Fortunately, the glitches are rare and never keep you from finishing a quest.

It doesn't take turn-based combat to mow down this ghoul with a mini-gun.

Of course, an endlessly engrossing world is only one piece of the RPG formula. Fallout 3 also offers a well-designed system for experience-based character development. The system borrows heavily from the previous Fallout games, with all skills based on the major S.P.E.C.I.A.L. attributes (strength, perception, endurance, charisma, intelligence, agility, luck). Your attribute scores determine how good you are at the various skills: each attribute governs a handful of them, which you can improve each time you level. Those skills include things like lock picking, big guns, bartering, and medicine. Plus, you select one "perk" each level: a unique ability that will improve stats, open up new conversation options, or help you in combat. How you allocate skills points will probably influence how you play the game; you can go in with guns blazing, sneak around backstabbing people, or find diplomatic solutions. Your character won't progress above level 20, so be sure you plan out your path well and use perks and skill points wisely.