“Violence Done Well Is F**kin’ Hilarious" Says Fallout 3 Exec

Bethesda executive producer Todd Howard has unveiled some more of the enigmatic Fallout 3, including how he sees violence within the upcoming game.

“Violence done well is f**kin’ hilarious, so we embrace it,” says Howard, who expects a US rating of Mature. SPOnG's not sure that the BBFC, ELSPA and ESRB agree with him on that front, but we're pleased to see a developer un-phased by the latest bout of censorship stemming from Manhunt 2.

Don't expect the game to be all blazing guns and exploding heads, however. Much emphasis is being placed on RPG and story elements by Bethesda.

Firstly, expect Fallout 3 to draw its inspiration from the first game. Howard disregards Fallout Tactics and Brotherhood of Steel, “much as I disregard Aliens 3 and 4”.

Players begin life in the only un-opened bunker following nuclear apocalypse, and at a very tender age. As a wee baby you'll learn to do the things babies do, as well as get to grips with your seven attributes, collectively called S.P.E.C.I.A.L. (Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility and Luck).

Bethesda writer, Emil Pagliarulo, stepped in to expand on how your character will take shape as you hit the age you'll play most of the game at. “You’re a human and you’re 19,” he said. “Other than that you can be male or female, you can be Caucasian, Asian, Hispanic ... all that. And within those confines you take that character to the board. Ultimately you can do anything. You can base that character on you—it will change with you because it is based on you.”

From there, players venture forth into the world in search of their missing father (who's voiced by Liam Neeson).

It's clear that, as you'd expect from the studio behind Oblivion, Bethesda is paying a lot of attention to the game's RPG elements. “So far we’ve been really successful about making every person that’s in the game a unique individual,” Pagliarulo said. “When you talk to them, they have a personality, they treat you based on that personality and you know they’re not walking information kiosks. They feel like real people as much as possible and on the design side, that’s probably been one of our biggest goals.”

“We don’t want to reward twitch play but role-playing”, said Howard, continuing, ” To survive, players will have to 'hunt and quest to stay alive'.”

On the subject of Microsoft's latest operating system, Howard said, “I’m not of the opinion of requiring Vista to run this game, so it will not be required.”

Howard also said of the different platform versions of the game, “They’re all at the same stages of development… We have competency now on the PS3 since we’ve done Oblivion on that, so we’re very comfortable on that platform. We often do things on the 360 first because it’s a little bit easier.”

To see the first scraps of artwork and video from the upcoming game, click here.