Fallout 3

2008 Bethesda Game Studios RPG

Windows 11With a fix

MacNot sold

LinuxGold

Steam DeckPlayable

Gamicality score

Metacritic 914

OpenCritic Not rated

Steam players 801

How it’s combined

Playability today

Runs today4/5

Design today3.5/5

Steam user reviews

Very Positive

81%

20,930 reviews1

Get it on Steam Watch the trailer

Facts checked November 1, 2026

Does Fallout 3 run on Windows 11, Apple Silicon Macs, Linux and Steam Deck?

Windows 11With a fix

Runs with a fix. See the steps below.1

Mac (Apple Silicon)Not sold

No Mac version is sold.

LinuxGold

Through Proton. ProtonDB: Gold, runs perfectly after tweaks.3

Steam DeckPlayable

Playable, as rated by Valve. May need some setup.1

Played Fallout 3 lately?

One click, no account, so the next player knows. How we check where it runs

How to get Fallout 3 running today

Keep the frame rate at 60, because the engine struggles above it; for higher rates use the High FPS Physics Fix as described on PCGamingWiki.
If the game crashes when loading a save or starting a new game on Windows 11, players report that DXVK or a newer Windows update clears it.
If a controller does not respond, start the game through Steam with the Fallout3.exe launch option workaround.
If the radio stutters or the game crashes on load, rename the Music or Video folder to test for a codec conflict, as listed on PCGamingWiki.

Synopsis

An open-world role-playing game set in the ruins of Washington, D.C., two centuries after a nuclear war. After growing up in an underground vault, the player heads into the Capital Wasteland to find their missing father, taking on quests, scavenging gear and fighting in real time or through the V.A.T.S. targeting system.

Developer: Bethesda Game Studios
Released: 2008
Best version: The Game of the Year Edition is the better buy today, since it bundles the base game with all five expansions, including Broken Steel, which raises the level cap and continues the story past the original ending.
Genre: RPG
Where to get it: Steam

Reception

Critics gave the PC version a 91 on Metacritic and praised its bleak, memorable world, its side quests and the freedom to solve problems through talk, stealth or force. The gunplay was weak even at release, and a former Bethesda designer has since called it not good. Later retrospectives note dated textures, awkward voice work and plenty of bugs, yet still find the wasteland worth exploring. Players today often report crashes and frame rate trouble on current PCs and turn to community fixes.

Trailer from Steam

Playability today

The average of two parts, each from 1 to 5. Tap a check to see why. How it works

Runs today

4/5

Sold or given away today by an official source
Needs fan patches to run well on Windows 11
?Not confirmed yetSingle-player works without an internet connection
No source covers the current version yet, so this check counts as open, not passed. Played it lately? Tell us
All of its content still works (servers, DLC, unlocks)
Games for Windows Live was removed from the Steam version without losing content, and the five expansions remain on sale (PCGamingWiki).
Supports modern resolutions and widescreen
Widescreen and 4K are supported natively, and ultrawide works through an ini edit with Hor+ view and no HUD stretch (PCGamingWiki).
Full controller support or remappable controls
XInput controllers work with Xbox 360 prompts, though support is not complete and keyboard and controller cannot be used together (PCGamingWiki).
Steam Deck Verified or Playable
No intrusive DRM or required third-party launcher account
No pay-to-win or pushy microtransactions
Known game-breaking bugs in the current version
PCGamingWiki says the game is not optimized for Windows 8 and later and still recommends stability mods for every store version, and several Steam threads from 2023 to 2026 report crashes on a new game or on load under Windows 11 (PCGamingWiki, Steam Community).

Design today

3.5/5

Controls feel awkward on a modern controller or mouse and keyboard
Real-time shooting is loose enough that a former Bethesda designer called it not good, so most fights lean on V.A.T.S. Mouse acceleration needs an ini edit to turn off, and with a controller the inventory drop button can vanish. Source: gamesradar.com, pcgamingwiki.com.
Menus, text and interface are clear on today's screens
The game runs natively at widescreen and 4K resolutions, keeps the HUD and menus unstretched on ultrawide, and has subtitles and full key remapping. Source: pcgamingwiki.com.
Saving is fair: free saves or frequent checkpoints, little lost progress
Players can make manual saves and quicksaves, and the game also writes autosaves, each kept as its own save file. Source: fallout.fandom.com.
It teaches itself: no guide needed to make progress
A prologue inside Vault 101 walks the player from birth to adulthood, introducing stats, the Pip-Boy and combat, and an aptitude test suggests three tag skills that can be changed before leaving the vault. Source: fallout.fandom.com, goombastomp.com.
Pacing holds up: little grind, filler or forced backtracking
Side quests are handmade and varied rather than generated filler, and the map rewards free exploration with no forced grind. Source: goombastomp.com.
Camera or movement fights the player
The field of view is fixed in the menus and can only be widened with an ini edit, vsync cannot be turned off, and the engine misbehaves above 60 frames per second. Source: pcgamingwiki.com.