Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition vs Fallout 76
Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition is an action-RPG FPS game from Bethesda Game Studios (2009) while Fallout 76 is an action-RPG FPS game from Bethesda Game Studios (2018).
What each one is
Steam files Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition under Action-RPG and FPS. In contrast, it files Fallout 76 under Action-RPG and FPS.
Prepare for the Future™ With Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition, experience the most acclaimed game of 2008 like never before. Create a character of your choosing and descend into an awe-inspiring, post-apocalyptic world where every minute is a fight for survival.
Bethesda Game Studios welcome you to Fallout 76. Twenty-five years after the bombs fall, you and your fellow Vault Dwellers emerge into post-nuclear America. Explore a vast wasteland in this open-world multiplayer addition to the Fallout story.
At a glance
| Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition | Fallout 76 | |
|---|---|---|
| GamingPickz Score | 7.8/10 | 6.6/10 |
| Steam rating | Very Positive (82%, 56,132) | Mostly Positive (72%, 140,429) |
| Critic aggregate | 91/100 | No aggregate |
| Price | $19.99 | $39.99 |
| Install size | — | 96 GB |
| Steam Deck | playable | playable |
| Released | 2009 | 2018 |
| Developer | Bethesda Game Studios | Bethesda Game Studios |
Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.
Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition vs Fallout 76, point by point
Each facet side by side. A round is marked won only where a figure settles it; feel and "which is better" carry no mark, because no number we hold decides them.
Genre and premise
Fallout 3: Game of the Year EditionAction-RPG FPS gameFallout 76Action-RPG FPS gameWhat each is filed as. Each game describes itself in full above; we do not judge a premise.
How it plays
Fallout 3: Game of the Year EditionOpen World, RPG, Post-apocalypticFallout 76Open World, Post-apocalyptic, Dark ComedyThe tags players apply most, in order of votes. A read on feel, not a verdict.
Reception
Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition ✓Score 7.8 · 82% on Steam · 91 criticFallout 76Score 6.6 · 72% on SteamThe GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
Content and scale
Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition56,132 reviewsFallout 76140,429 reviews · 3 add-ons · 96 GBReach and footprint, not quality: more reviews or a bigger install is not a better game.
Price
Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition ✓$19.99Fallout 76$39.99Read live from Steam and subject to change.
On a Steam Deck
Fallout 3: Game of the Year EditionPlayableFallout 76PlayableValve's own Deck compatibility rating.
Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition takes 2 of the marked rounds to 0. That is only what a number can decide, not which you will enjoy more.
The two on the grid
Compare the whole catalogueFallout 3: Game of the Year Edition and Fallout 76 on the axes the GamingPickz Score is built from, on the full 0 to 100 scale so each dot is its real position. Change either axis to compare them on any measure.
2 games have both
Players. The share of Steam reviews marked positive, pulled toward the catalogue average in proportion to how few reviews stand behind it. A game with 200 reviews moves a long way toward the average; one with 200,000 barely moves at all. Without this a title sitting at 100 percent on nine reviews outranks Half-Life 2 at 98 percent on 278,000.
Popularity. A blend of two things that are not the same. Audience is how many people wrote a Steam review, which is a floor on how many played it. Reach is how many language editions of Wikipedia document the game, which is cultural footprint rather than sales. A game can score high on one and low on the other: a huge free-to-play title has audience without reach, and a landmark console exclusive has reach without a Steam audience at all. Where both exist they are averaged; where only one does, that one carries it.
- Multi-platform
- PC
Every point links to that game's entry. The value map and the reception map are fixed views of the same data.
How positions are decided
No paid placement, no favouritism, live third-party data
- Placed by the published method, not by us. Every coordinate is computed from the axis definitions and weights printed on this site. Nobody moves a point. See the axes.
- Nothing here is paid for. No sponsored placements, no promoted slots, no arrangement of any kind affects a position. If that ever changes it will be labelled and sit outside the ranking.
- No favouritism, including our own. The 16 games we have written full reviews of are scored by exactly the same formula as the other 1,510, from the same third-party inputs, and they land where it puts them. Our own opinion of a game does not enter its coordinates.
- A position is not an endorsement. It says how a game was received and what it costs, not that we recommend it. Where we do recommend something, it carries a written review with a name on it.
- Fetched from live third-party data. Player sentiment from Steam, critic aggregates as published on store pages, prices checked hourly, attention from Wikipedia. Each figure carries its source and the date it was read, and we do not adjust any of them.
Which to pick, by what you want
- The higher-rated of the two: Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition (GamingPickz Score 7.8)
- The cheaper right now: Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition ($19.99)
- The safer bet by weight of reviews: Fallout 76 (140,429 reviews)
What they have in common
Both are tagged by Steam players with:
Open WorldRPGPost-apocalypticSingleplayerFPSExplorationAtmosphericShooter
Where they differ
ModdableFirst-PersonSci-fiAdventureActionReplay Value
MultiplayerDark ComedyCapitalismSurvivalBase-BuildingCo-op
Tags players apply to one game and not the other.
Difficulty and who each is for
By the tags players apply, Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition is middle-of-the-road on difficulty. Fallout 76 is middle-of-the-road on difficulty.
System requirements, side by side
| Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition | Fallout 76 | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum GPU | — | NVIDIA GTX 780 3GB /AMD Radeon R9 285 2GB |
| Minimum CPU | — | Intel Core i5-6600k 3.5 GHz /AMD Ryzen 3 1300X 3.5 GHz |
| Minimum RAM | — | 8 GB |
| Install size | — | 96 GB |
Can your PC run them? Check each against your own kit: Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition · Fallout 76.
Accessibility features
Steam store pages declare 0 accessibility features for Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition and 4 for Fallout 76. A declaration is a floor, not a review.
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Common questions
How different are Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition and Fallout 76 in scope?
Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition has drawn 56,132 Steam reviews. Fallout 76 has drawn 140,429 Steam reviews, ships 3 add-ons and installs in 96 GB.
Is Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition or Fallout 76 better?
By the GamingPickz Score, Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition rates higher (7.8 to 6.6). That is a composite of player sentiment, the critic aggregate and popularity, not our taste. "Better" also depends on price, length and platform, which the table above lays out.
Which is cheaper, Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition or Fallout 76?
Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition is cheaper right now at $19.99, against $39.99. Prices move, so this is read live from Steam and can change.
Do you rank one above the other for a fee?
No. Neither game, nor anyone else, pays for placement or a verdict here. The order and every figure come out of the same public data the rest of the site uses.
Related comparisons
How we compare, and what we will not do
The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment (adjusted for sample size), the critic aggregate and popularity, computed by the same code every ranked list on this site uses. The Steam rating label is Valve's own, reconstructed from the positive percentage and review count. Prices are read live. We do not write an opinion of which game is "better": we report the numbers and say which wins each measurable question above.