'Fallout 3' could ruin your life, but is fun gaming experience

"War. War never changes." The voice of Ron Perlman from "Hellboy" re-introduces gamers to the "Fallout" universe with the release of "Fallout 3."The action-packed role-playing game came out Oct. 24, only 10 years after itslast installment. It's available for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

The game takes place 200 years in the future, after the world was nuked into oblivion at the height of the Cold War. A few survivors in bomb shelters cling to what's left of civilization. You, the player, are one such survivor.

The game begins with your birth. You choose your gender, name and physical appearance. You can edit every aspect of your face, skin tone, hair color, eye color, hairstyle and facial hair.

Flash forward one year to your first birthday. You walk around, hearing the patter of your bare feet against the floor as you chase your father. Liam Neeson from "Batman Begins" provides the voice of the father.

The screen fades to your 10th birthday. You get a pellet gun and a Pip-Boy 3000, a mini computer module that clasps to your wrist that you use to keep track of your quests and inventory.

Years later, you set foot outside the vault. The sunsears your eyes as they adjust to harsh light for the first time. The city that was once Washington, D.C., is now a dry husk. A landscape filled with mutated monsters, raiders and crazed bands of slavers looking to press you into service.

The world is laid out with several real places to explore, such as the Jefferson Memorial, the Pentagon and even the White House, which is now a crater. You can travel in the subway system, but it is crowded with derailed trains and ghouls.

The moral choices players make impact characters and the world. For example, Megaton is a shanty village built around an undetonated atom bomb. The player is faced with a choice: disarm the bomb and keep the village safe, or remotely detonate the bomb, slaughter the town and collect a reward as a mushroom cloud appears over the horizon.

You can defend yourself with an array of weapons. Pistols and rifles are abundant and easy to use, but energy guns can vaporize foes into piles of ash, which is really cool to watch.

Another interesting feature is the ability to find schematics forcertain special weapons. By findinga leaf blower,vacuum cleaner, fire hose nozzle and an electric conductor, you can create the "Rock-it Launcher," a handheld catapult that can hurl anyitem in your inventory at dangerous velocities into your foe. You can watch in slow motion as you decapitate atwisted crab monsterwith a fast moving teddy bear.

Through your Pip-Boy 3000, you can pause mid-combat and individually target your opponent's legs, arms or head. This leads to incredibly gory scenes as you blast apart giant scorpions.

The most satisfying moment with this system is shooting a grenade in your enemy's hand before he hurls it at you. This usually ends the fight.

With all the excitement "Fallout 3" brings, it has its flaws. Confusing camera angles are frustrating during gun fights. Character animations, while better than Bethesda's last game, "Oblivion," are still not very fluid and stocky.

The biggest problem by far is "Fallout 3" being too fun. I couldn't stop playing. I flunked several exams. My girlfriend broke up with me. My roommates are wondering if I'm still alive in my room.

All kidding aside, "Fallout 3" is by far one of the best games to come out this year. While some have complained that the main storyline leaves something to be desired, the most enjoyment comes from simply wandering around the area, finding unique places and people, then blowing them apart.

It takes an estimated 15 hours to complete the main quest, but over 500 hours to see and do everything in the game. It's definitely worth $60.