Fallout 3 is a 2008 action role-playing game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. It is the third major installment in the Fallout series and the first to adopt a fully 3D engine with first- and third-person perspectives. Set in the year 2277, the game casts the player as a Vault 101 dweller who ventures into the irradiated ruins of Washington, D.C., now called the Capital Wasteland, to find their missing father.
The game features an open world, real-time combat, and the Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System (V.A.T.S.) that allows players to pause and target specific body parts. A reputation and karma system tracks moral choices, and the main quest can be extended via five add-ons, most notably Broken Steel, which raises the level cap and alters the original ending.
Fallout 3 was released on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. It received widespread critical acclaim, winning multiple Game of the Year awards, and is widely credited with reviving the Fallout franchise for a new generation. The remaster announced in 2026 aims to bring the wasteland to modern hardware.
