Accessories

Amazing game, terrible bundle
I'd just like to echo what's been said by others: The game is brilliant, but the survival edition is not worth the extra 50 dollars. The pip-boy clock uses up three batteries in less than a week, and there is no option to plug it into a wall socket. Terrible item for an extra 50 dollars. Get the game in a regular or special edition, and give the survival edition a wide berth.

Shoddy Clock Not Worth Price
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.

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, and overall price point, this clock simply is not worth the extra $50 price.

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.

slow shipping, poor pipboy, but good game
PROS
- Fun game
- VATS is something new for gaming.
- Open world with a lot to do (more than almost any other non-Bethesda game).
- Bethesda is a top developer. Todd Howard seems to be a great guy.
- A lot more voice acting than in prior Bethesda releases.
- Controls. Bethesda has the greatest view/camera system in the industry in my opinion. Simply click a button and you're in 1st person, click again you're in 3rd person -- all games should do this in my opinion -- it should be standard.

NEUTRAL
- Bobblehead. meh.
- Far less glitching and bugs than Oblivion. Oblivion had far fewer than Morrowind. Thus Bethesda is getting better and better at debugging.

CONS
- Pip-Boy is a poorly designed battery killer.
- Graphics and animation have unfortunately not been improved since the time of Oblivion. This was a key disappointment to me. I know everything is supposed to look run-down and devastated, but that doesn't mean it has to look graphically mediocre.

IS THIS AN IMPROVEMENT OVER OBLIVION?
- Not for me no.

IS THIS JUST OBLIVION WITH GUNS?
- Some will so no, some say yes. I say YES. It's little more than a re-skinned Oblivion with guns + VATS...and to that I say "fine by me".

WHAT VERSION OF WHAT PLATFORM TO GET?
- PC/360 get DLC so stick with those. PC if you prefer mouse. I prefer joystick, so 360 for me. Definitely do NOT buy the Amazon Exclusive Edition. Sold out by now, but if you see it via Amazon Marketplace sellers or on Ebay, know that the Pip-Boy is going to be a paperweight (which explains the number of stars).

JUST GET THE REGULAR EDITION
the survival edition is really crappy it comes with a clock that doesnt do anything but tell the time. also the clock broke on me the game was really good but this is too much for nothing save some cash and get the limited edition

Top notch...
Game of the year, without really much question... and probably will end up in my personal top 10 of all time. Brilliant. The game is deep in numerous ways, has replay value that outclasses any other RPG in recent memory, and maintains all of the humor and quirkiness of its predecessors. While the level of gore is quite high, and anyone squeamish will probably find it difficult to play, it is a simply amazing game.