DLCFallout 3 - Operation AnchorageLoading store offers
Fallout 3
Fallout 3 combines exploration, choices, and character-building in the Capital Wasteland, with V.A.T.S. adding a tactical pause to combat. At ≈ $2.65 from 
CDKeys, it is best suited to players looking for a solo role-playing adventure with different ways to approach fights. The available interface languages are also worth matching to your preferences. Against Steam's $9.99, ≈ $7.34 saved at CDKeys makes this a straightforward comparable-price alternative.
All-time low ~ $2.00across Steam & third-party stores
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Price History
Past 36 months · Updated dailyHistorical Low~ $2.002025-02Current Low Across Stores~ $8.69Humble Storevs. Historical Low+335%
Prices cover Steam and 39 authorized stores; only legitimate offers are counted. The chart shows weekly market-wide lows and Steam's official price across the past 36 months.
01About Fallout 3
Explore the Capital Wasteland, encounter mutated creatures, and decide how to handle its dangers. Build your character with skills and perks, then approach combat directly or use V.A.T.S. to pause time, target specific body parts, and queue attacks. The description also offers first- and third-person perspectives. Steam player reviews: 80% positive from 18,104 reviews. The Steam PC version was released on October 28, 2008. The interface is available in English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish.
Credits
DIRECTOR
Todd Howard
American video game designer, director, and producer (born 1970)
PRODUCER
Todd Howard
American video game designer, director, and producer (born 1970)
Composer
Inon Zur
Lead Designer
Emil Pagliarulo
Developer
Bethesda Game Studios
Publisher
Bethesda Softworks
Lowest recorded in 36 months
$2.002025-02-07 · Humble StoreBase game · same records as the chart above; USD history, not a regional Steam low.Language support
| Language | Interface | Subtitles | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Yes | — | — |
| French | Yes | — | — |
| Italian | Yes | — | — |
Show 2 more languages
| Language | Interface | Subtitles | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|
| German | Yes | — | — |
| Spanish | Yes | — | — |
Steam PC edition data · 2026-10-30
02Before you buy
Mode and interface
The Steam PC version is categorized as single-player. Its interface is available in English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish.
Combat options
The description presents first- and third-person views. V.A.T.S. pauses combat so you can target body parts and queue attacks.
03Frequently asked questions
Can I play solo?
The Steam PC version is categorized as single-player.
What does V.A.T.S. do?
V.A.T.S. pauses combat, lets you target body parts, and allows you to queue attacks.
Which viewpoints are available?
The description names both first- and third-person views.
Latest news about Fallout 3
Popular Steam reviews
Native-language selection · 10 reviewsSelected helpful reviews in this language show both recommendations and criticisms. This selection does not represent the overall positive rating; opinions reflect the version reviewed.
RecommendedSteam player
Don't lie. You're reading these reviews to build your hype for Fallout 4 for some reason. It's okay, I am too. EDIT 11/10/2015: You know what day it is right? Like, why are you reading this? EDIT 7/08/2017: The guide below has been edited to account for any issues with Fallout 3 and the Win10 Creator's Update. (Jump to the bottom of this post if you are only having issues with the game not really exiting when you try to exit to desktop and you're running Win 10 v. 1703 "Creator's Update") P.S. Because I'm getting messages and comments from people saying "Can I play this on Win 7???" I'm just gonna list out the fixes required to make sure it runs just like it would on Vista (but better because you know, you're running 7 for a reason). 1. Crash/Freezing issue at random points in the game: -Run the game at least once -Go here ( C:\Users\[Username]\Documents\My Games\Fallout3\Fallout.ini ) -Press "Ctrl+F" type (without quotation marks) "bUseThreadedAI" -Should read "bUseThreadedAI=0", change the 0 to 1 (if this line isn't there, add it anywhere in the block of lines above the [Display] category of the file) -(This next line shouldn't be in your file already but do a quick Ctrl+F to make sure, if it is change it accordingly) -Directly underneath "bUseThreadedAI=1", write "iNumHWThreads=2". If it's already there, just change whatever value it is to "2". Save & Exit 2. Radio Music Stuttering Preface: Now even with this fix in place, I still find occasional bouts where either music will not play from my Pip-Boy or the stuttering will return in a certain area for some odd reason. This is just a general fix that will help alleviate stuttering for ~95% of your game time. -Download MADFilter ( http://sourceforge.net/projects/maddxshow/files/MAD%20Filter/MADFilter%201.0.0.3/ ) -Extract "MADFilter.ax", "register.bat" and "unregister.bat" file to ( C:\Windows\SysWOW64 for 64-bit OS's or C:\Windows\system for 32-bit OS's) -Once you've extracted the files to your directory, run the register.bat that is currently in your SysWOW64 or system folder. -Just to make sure you did the work correctly, download "InstalledCodec" ( http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/installedcodec.zip ), extract the zip and run the .exe once extracted -Look for "MAD Transform Filter" and make sure it's installed. THEN, find "Fraunhofer IIS MPEG Layer-3 Codec" in the utility. Right click it and select "Disable Selected Items" Run the game and on your pip-boy radio, select Galaxy News radio and listen to see if the stuttering is still there. If it is, then you should go back and check which directory you pasted the MADFilter file into and check InstalledCodec to ensure the MAD filter is installed and enabled and then make sure the Fraunhofer codec is DISABLED. If this didn't work, there is a conflict within your codecs and you may have another MP3 Codec installed and working on top of your MAD Filter. I'd check InstalledCodec and see what may be conflicting. Credit to GoldenShadow for helping me fix this years ago ( http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=844931 ) 3. Random Crashes and Freezing fix AFTER the Fallout.ini fix: This little guy over at Nexus may have a fix for you. If you're still crashing and freezing and have no clue why, try downloading his d3d9.dll file and insert it into your game's source directory. Download link: ( http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout3/mods/18900/? ) (If you're in the same boat as myself and still have random crashes, freezes and all sorts of odd mishaps in your game and you've done all of the fixes listed above, I'm afraid I have no other help considering I've dug pretty far to find some other fixes and nothing has really helped. Best to just Quicksave (F5 by default) as often as possible) P.P.S. Edited for Win 8 & 8.1 compatibility fixes (The following is provided thanks to the very generous blue_light1554) 1. Basically, if your computer has two cores, you have to follow French Girls' steps for only "1. Crash/Freezing issue at random points in the game:" 2. Save the modified notepad text and exit. 3. Then you put compatibility mode: Windows XP Service Pack 3 You do that for "Fallout 3 Launcher" and the application named "Fallout 3". (...\Steam\Steamapps\Common\Fallout 3) 4. Then visit this website: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/pc/DownloadClient This will make you download a missing client required to make Fallout 3 work. 5. When you've done all that, you right click on the Fallout 3 application and do "Run as Administrator" 6. It should work! 7. I'm not an expert so if you have questions or it didn't work for you, go see the website shown here: http://help.bethsoft.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/9977 Maybe you'll find something else useful. EDIT 11/6/2013: I just upgrade from Win 7 to Win 10 and I can confirm Fallout 3 runs fine on the same exact system I did an entire playthrough on. Loaded it up and ran around a bit and it played just like it did on 7. EDIT 7/08/2017: Alright so as you may have read above that you needed to come here for help with issues with playing the game with Win 10 version 1703. I'm assuming you're having issues like myself where the game may run fine but when you try to exit, you can't get back to your desktop. And if you encounter this issue with a single monitor, you find yourself SOL and needing to reboot your computer. Well the unfortunate side of things is there isn't really a fix yet. HAVING SAID THAT, the potential fixes could depend on your system. Try the basic touches like running it in Admin and/or compatibility mode. This will help you narrow down the potential causes. Another thing to note is that I am still using the GFWL client with my game. If you find you are using GFWL, try disabling it with the GFWL suppressor tool I linked to earlier in this post. GFWL is not native or optimized for Win 10 so it could be causing the hiccups. Literally nobody else on the internet seems to be having much luck with solving this issue because so few people have it but just try pretty much everything in this thread and the usual attempt at running the game in different modes. Good luck, and if anyone finds any new fixes, please feel free to post in the comments and I will update this page accordingly!Show moreShow less
142.8 hours at review3,398 people found this helpful
Not recommendedSteam player
"Notice: Fallout 3 is not optimized for Windows 7 and later." This is an understatement. The game is not functional on Windows 7 or later. It crashes constantly, and there are no reliable workarounds to get it to run for more than a few minutes at a time. Bethesda has abandoned this game, and us with it. Edit: I don't know why people assume I must have played the game on an OS that didn't even exist when the game was released, but allow me to explain: According to Steam, my date of purchase was Jul 2, 2009. That's 20 days before the Win7 RTM, and another three months before Win7 was available to consumers. Yes, I have over 90 hours on record. This is because the game worked when I bought it, and then later stopped working.Show moreShow less
90.6 hours at review155 people found this helpful
RecommendedSteam player
Fallout 3 isn't just a game, It's an experience. Wow, since I'am getting so many thumbs up, I feel I should write something useful about this game and why I personally recommend it. + One big continuous open world. Loading screens appear only when entering major cities or buildings. + Very atmospheric and immersive world to explore. + Every NPC’s are really living in that world. They follow their own daily routine from morning to night. You’ll meet them, talk to them and even remember their names. + Good writing and a touching story. It is fun to talk to NPC’s and trying out different dialogue options to see the outcome. + Freedom in almost every aspect. A quest can be completed in many ways. You can almost kill anybody you meet (even an entire town). You can be a good guy, a bad guy or have a mix of both. You can play as an action game or you can play stealthily. You can choose to play in 1st person or 3rd person. You can roam anywhere you want but…. + Enemies don’t scale. So if you wander off to the wrong area during early levels, you will die easily. + Many types of interesting enemies. Some are scary. + Graphics. + Voice acting. + VATS + Mods. A lot of them. + Galaxy News Radio and... + Three Dogs. +- Progression system and level cap (max level 30). The progression system is fun and addictive (with a lot of useful perks to choose) but I personally prefer Elder Scroll’s progression system where you get better at what you use. This way you can shape your preferred character with more flexibility and can even change your play style anytime. That’s why it is not a negative, it’s something that I have a mixed feeling. +- Dynamic day & night cycle. This game has day and night cycle but it is purely for cosmetic effect and doesn’t change or affect gameplay. - A.I’s are stupid sometimes, especially if you play stealthily. - Stealth gameplay could be better. Most area design doesn’t encourage stealth gameplay. No non-lethal option either. - Crafting options are very few. (Mods fixes this) - No iron sight aiming in 1st person. (Mods fixes this)Show moreShow less
265.2 hours at review1,088 people found this helpful
Not recommendedSteam player
This game does not like to work with windows 10,Its about time they remaster it.Show moreShow less
10.8 hours at review139 people found this helpful
RecommendedSteam player
I stole the Declaration of Independence 1776/10 would Nicholas Cage conspiracy againShow moreShow less
24 hours at review928 people found this helpful
Not recommendedSteam player
Would be Great if They optimized it for newer versions of windows...Show moreShow less
0.1 hours at review137 people found this helpful
RecommendedSteam player
went into womens restroom and drank from a toilet 10/10Show moreShow less
9.2 hours at review703 people found this helpful
Not recommendedSteam player
Just bought the game for Steam Summer sales. I got to the launcher, and first tried to click on "Play", but the game crashed. I debugged it, and I could go to the title screen, but then again, I clicked on "New Game", and the game instantly crashed. I tried a lot of things, but I couldn't work it out. Such a shame to sell a game when it doesn't work for Windows 7 and + PC... Bethesda, do something please...Show moreShow less
0.1 hours at review135 people found this helpful
RecommendedSteam player
10/10 Murdered everyone I made eye conteact with then died of radiationShow moreShow less
10.2 hours at review465 people found this helpful
Not recommendedSteam player
its sad that it isnt working on win 10Show moreShow less
21 hours at review105 people found this helpful
Received for free
Source: original Steam user reviews. Helpful votes are an archived snapshot, not live data. Last collected: 08/15/2026.