<cite>Fallout 3</cite> Not as Wide Open As <cite>Oblivion</cite>

Much of what we've heard about Fallout 3 so far has made it sound like a sort post-apocalyptic Oblivion, but that's not quite accurate according to Bethesda's Pete Hines. While offering players a great deal of choice about how they work through the story, *Fallout 3 *won't be nearly as wide open as Oblivion is:

Fallout basically is fewer number of quests with lots of ways to complete them and things are opened up to you or locked off to you as you go through the game. There will be somewhere between nine to 12 different endings to the game based on what you've done in the game. So it's something that is inherently a diverging path. It may be some of the same things but doing them in very different ways, and ultimately that will define your gameplay experience.

Hines figures players will want to go back and replay events a number of different ways, just to experience the various ways the story can unfold. Sounds a bit like a Choose Your Own Adventure book. I loved those things.

Interview: Fallout 3 [CVG]