I loved Fallout and Fallout 2, among the first batch of games I played on my first Mac. I finally got around to playing Fallout 3 in 2023, well beyond its 2008 release. I put several hours into it but didn't stick with it for some reason. In December I installed it again, created a new character, and started from the beginning. This time I played it through until the end. The isometric perspective of the first two games was replaced with a 3D world. I played most of it with the default first-person view but you can switch to a third-person view as well. Although it can feel like a first-person or third-person shooter, it is a role-playing game at heart. You create a character with customizable attributes, skills, and perks. You manage a limited inventory of items including weapons and armor. There is dialogue and character interaction and a story broken into various missions. Although the game progresses in real-time, there is a combat mode called V.A.T.S. (Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System). It pauses the real-time action and allows you to target a specific body part of an enemy. The chance of hitting is based on your character's skills and abilities as well as distance to target, cover, and other factors. I used V.A.T.S. in combat a lot.

Once I got rolling, I was committed to finishing the game. I got to see the cinematic ending but the game wasn't over! Because I have the Game of the Year Edition of Fallout 3, there were five add-on packs included. I will play through them in order and write about it when I finish.

It's time to look back at the video games I played last year. My backlog is so large that I was still playing a lot of games from 2012. Although I had a clear number one last year, the rest of my favorites weren't easy to rank. Here is my top 10 for 2025:

1. The Walking Dead - I started with the original editions for Season One and Season Two. I finished up the series playing the Telltale Definitive Series edition. In addition to being my favorite video games of the year, it sparked my interest in The Walking Dead comics. I read every issue including the Clementine series, which followed one of the main characters from the game. This wasn't just a favorite for 2025 but an all-time favorite.
2. Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Director's Cut - First-person shooter, third-person action, role-playing, puzzle-solving, and stealth gameplay mixed beautifully in this one. It wasn't the first Deus Ex game released. However, this prequel is first in the Deus Ex chronology and is a great jumping-on point.
3. Warlock - Master of the Arcane - Similar to Civilization but with a fantasy setting, I really enjoyed this 4X turn-based strategy game. I struggled whether to rank this #2 or #3. As often happens in this type of game, the endgame can drag a bit so I gave Deus Ex the nod.
4. Out of the Park Baseball 26 - Playing an NALB season with OOTP Baseball every summer is a tradition for me. I usually look forward to it as much as any game out there. I could have placed OOTP 26 at #2 but didn't for a couple of reasons. I experienced one hang and one crash that forced me to replay two games (changing each from a win to a loss). Also, my Brooklyn Knights lost the World Championship Series for the third straight year, which spoiled an otherwise fine season.
5. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty - I realized that I had never played this famous game from 2010 and remedied that last November. It was pretty much as good as I remembered the original StarCraft but with updated graphics and various gameplay improvements.
6. Binary Domain - This one came out of nowhere. I wasn't familiar with it but discovered it in my game library and gave it a try. It ended up being a solid third-person shooter that I enjoyed more than I thought I would.
7. Peggle Nights - I liked Peggle so it was a pretty safe bet that I would like Peggle Nights. PopCap Games delivered another satisfying and addicting game.
8. Offspring Fling! - This was a fun little indie puzzle-platform game with cute characters and many satisfying levels to complete.
9. DiRT: Showdown - I'm not a big racing fan but for some reason I really enjoyed this one. I think it was because it was more arcade racing than hardcore racing simulation.
10. Ticket to Ride - Based on the board game series of the same name, this video game adaptation was pretty well done. I never played against human competition but still had fun playing against computer opponents.