Fallout 3: Amazon.com Exclusive Survival Edition

The game is fantastic. The lunchbox and bobblehead are neat. Those points have been made very well in other reviews of them. This review focuses on the one item exclusive to the Survival Edition, the PipBoy Clock. The clock is a poor product, plain and simple, and not worth $10 extra, much less the $50 over the Collector's Edition price.

Performance is terrible. The clock doesn't work unless you use some redneck engineering on it with aluminum foil inserts placed between the positive battery point and the positive contact plate. Once you get the batteries in and actually get power to the display, setting the time can itself is cumbersome. The three buttons provided are often times unresponsive, requiring a good deal of wiggling at times to get the display to change as desired. The display, even with fresh batteries, is very dim, very hard to interpret unless it's very dark.

In terms of power consumption, it devours batteries, consuming three AA batteries every two weeks, sometimes sooner. In comparison, the old one-way pager I carry for my job, which has an alarm, storage for phone numbers and time received, and makes some rudimentary sounds if desired, uses one AAA battery every MONTH or so. This clock doesn't even have an alarm, and uses much more power for it.

Aesthetically, the clock is a mixed bag. The overall design and look match the Fallout universe exactly. My example, however, arrived unpainted, looking nothing like I expected it to look. I know the technology and "look and feel" of the game series is "used retro science fiction", but this clock is as drab as drab gets, with no logos or anything to maintain that sense of having something form the Fallout world, even if it's a fake. Further, the clock was at one point supposed to be wearable like the PipBoy used in the game. That too, has been nullified by poor craftsmanship.

Furthermore, the level of customer service provided for this clock from amazon.com and Bethesda SoftWorks, the game's license holder, is incredibly underwhelming. For one, in order to get any warranty work done on it, you must send in $10, and the clock, to some company in California that no one's ever heard of. So for $60 you lose possession of a broken clock that originally only cost you $50. Compare this sort of "service" to the defective NECA Gears of War Lancer. When the NECA Lancer had its own battery issue, similar to the one described above, NECA and amazon.com worked to fix it in some form. NECA sent out replacement parts, for free, in a timely manner if you contacted them. amazon.com handed out $10 coupons good for the next purchase on ANYTHING they make available. Wither that level of customer service from amazon.com and Bethesda SoftWorks?

All in all, SAVE YOUR MONEY. The Collectors' Edition gives you so much more value, with the lunchbox and bobblehead being the best collectibles this year. With incredibly poor workmanship, lack of attention to detail, unknown warranty service from a company whose reliability can't be ascertained, and overall price point, this clock simply is not worth the extra $50 price.

as soon as you step out of the vault, you have this overwhelming sensation of "ohhhh boy".

graphics are very well done.
a.i. is entertaining at times with bad guys actually going back and getting weapons after you shoot the ones they have out of their hands.

and my favorite part,
watching the head of an enemy rolling down the hill in front of you after you hit him with your sniper rifle.

a must get for fans of the original series.

Not very satisfied with the survival edition, it did come with a great game and a poorly built PIPBoy clock. The clock is not that good. I purchased a couple editions for gifts and they all keep going dead overnight. They all last about 1 day and need new batteries again - forget that!! Seems to be a problem with the clocks draining the batteries down over night. I suggest just buying the cheaper edition.
- The game is great. You definitly need a guide book. The problem is that it does end and you would have to start over again. Not as good as Oblivion. Oblivion is much more colorful and happier.

If you liked the other games in the series and/or Oblivion you will like Fallout 3. The Amazon.com exclusive Survival Edition includes a large battery operated clock shaped like the Pipboy 3000, which although is an interesting addition to your museum of game swag, in a few months it will just be sitting there collecting dust and you will have to find someplace to put it when a girl comes over. For the money stick with the collector's edition which has everything except the clock.

I preordered the Survival Edition as soon as it went on sale last summer, and it never arrived. Nor did the purchase show up any longer in my "Your Orders" section. I double-checked the confirmation email, and clicked the link there, which sent me to an Amazon page for the Collector's Edition. I sent two emails about this and received zero response.

Finally, I talked to someone on the 800 help line who said -- after asking for far more personal information than necessary -- the order was canceled on October 23 & my card refunded. Why? She didn't know. I still don't know. I've ordered from Amazon for YEARS, but can I trust any longer that if I buy something it will arrive? I realize customer service is a dying art, but c'mon Amazon you put your NAME on the product.

I ended up buying the Collector's Edition at a brick n' mortar store, and I'd give the game 4 stars so far. It's fun. Not exactly Fallout. Feels more like Firefly (the tv show) in my opinion, but it is fun.

Zero stars to Amazon, though, if possible. Word to the wise: email is free, and good will is priceless.