Fallout

The Good
It's the end of the world as we know it and I for one have always wondered about life after World War 3. So, finally, Interplay has given us a chance to explore that world and, of course, become the last, best hope for humanity. And having played Fallout, I can hardly think it could have been done better.

At the moment the opening movie begins to play, Fallout is all about atmosphere. The 1950's/future tech/post-apocalypse styling of the game is well thought out and well implemented with the great graphics and sound. Elements such as wasted cars, burned-out buildings, and the cute 1950's-kitsch "Pip-Boy" character who appears throughout your option screens all bring Fallout a solid sense of its own flavor. And, of course, there are the bits of dark humour thrown in for good measure. Upon entering the game world one feels that this is something which hasn't been experienced before in a computer RPG. In my experience with RPG's, only Planescape: Torment has so engulfed me in its world.

Another of the key points in favor of the game is combat. The wastelands are tough and you must defend yourself or eat radiated dust. If there was one word I would use to describe Fallout's combat it would be "Visceral". The guns sound great, particularly the crack-clink of the assault rifle, and the animations are very well done, making the action almost cinematic. Not to mention the fact that the weapons themselves pack serious punch. From advanced destruction like combat shotguns and plasma weapons to old school stuff like brass knuckles and desert eagle pistols, Fallout has a heavy duty arsenal.

Beyond just the look and feel of the combat, there is the challenging tactical gameplay available. Management of action points between shots and movement is an art essential to victory, as are the choice of weapons, armor, and even what enhancing drugs you take. And while in classic RPG's, you have virtually unlimited usage of your Sword Of Much Head-Busting, most of the useful weapons in Fallout are limited by ammunition. Keep good track of your ammo because, while that minigun may mow down most enemies, it won't last long if you use it for hunting down cave rats. The combat is a game within itself (and, in fact, an expanded version of it will be a game in itself fairly soon in the upcoming "Fallout Tactics").

Most RPG's place a prime importance upon character development and Fallout does as well. Developing my skills in different fields kept me constantly looking for ways to gain experience to bring up my abilities. And of further interest are your reputation, which changes how people will react to you, and "perks", extra-special abilities which are bestowed every 3 or 4 Skill Levels.

There's also the constant management of your inventory to do, of course. I mean, you can only carry 250lbs or so. So you can't carry everything you find. Just mostly everything.

The "music" in Fallout is really more like ambient sound effects combined with various drumbeats or sitar-pluckings that wander into the background. It mimicks the barrenness of the wastes themselves, stirring in the sparks of surviving humanity, which is really the essence of the Fallout story. The only real traditional music is in the opening sequence, in which a crackly old 40's ballad sets an eerie contrast to the devastation.

All in all, with the above mentioned facets as well as the good storyline and good puzzles, Fallout rules.

The Bad
Aaaaaaagh! Bugs! Giant, radiated ones. Geez. You think they could have QA'd this a bit more, but I guess not. Bugs run rampant throughout the program and range from silly to frustrating. I have had problems with unplayable saved games (don't wait very long between saves, friends), untimely game crashes, and a couple other bugs that oughtn't to have been in a complete game. One I haven't encountered, but have heard much about, is the multiplying Ian effect. This is when your party-member Ian is suddenly multiplied several times or more and the duplicates won't go until you kill them.

Then there is AI. The AI is fine for most of the time. But then it can get just plain stupid. I don't mind if the enemy gets stupid on occasion. But I simply won't have my own party-member shooting me in the back of the head with an uzi. It just shouldn't happen. Further, the NPC's of your party seem to have no sense of self-preservation. I don't know how many times I've had to reload the game because Dogmeat bravely jumped at a minigun-wielding super-mutant and got turned to kibbles n' bits. Grrrrrrr. But maybe the worst NPC fault is when they follow you into a tight place and then you can't turn around because they block your way. That really ought to have been fixed. It should be noted that most of these AI bugs were fixed for the equally excellent Fallout 2.

The Bottom Line
All bugs aside, Fallout is one of the best RPG experiences you will ever have.

The Good
Let's look back to the year 1997. I was in college, and a year earlier me and my bud Paul started up an underground magazine called "Nerdgasm." I wrote reviews and managed a column called "The Whiny Movie-goer." The magazine spread around the campus and got a cult following. One morning I woke up with Paul standing over me, holding the box for Fallout. He told me I had to review it. When he told me it was an RPG, I said 'No.' I wasn't too big on RPGs. He literally began poking me with a stick, and two days later I finally gave in to his stick poking and installed the game. Long story short: I fell in love with the game, and it won Game of the Year in our mag. The next year Fallout 2 would win, although as a gag I said that it tied with Fallout 1. It would become a running joke all the way until the magazines death that at each Game of the Year ceremony, I attempt to shoehorn in Fallout as game of the year again or say its the "real" game of the year but I was stick poked into picking a game actually from that year.

12 years later, and the game is still the greatest RPG ever, and already a nominee for Game of the Year 2009, right up with "Prototype."

Lets say that during the height of the cold war crisis, the nuclear bombs actually fell. Lets say that the Chinese attacked America. Lets say that the future is a post apocalyptic hellhole where raiders and slavers menace poor civilians and mutants wait outside peoples homes expecting a nice meal of human flesh. That's the idea behind Fallout. The story itself has you taking upon the role of a Vault dweller from Vault 13. The Vaults are numerous underground Fallout shelters that were made to protect humanity from the bombs. Vault 13 hasn't opened since the war, and generations have bred there, all living and dying in the vault. Yet recently Vault 13 has a little problem... The machine that gives you water is busted, and there's no way to replace it without getting another one from another vault. Vault 13 is opened for the first time in thousands of years, and you walk out into the frightening world of The Wasteland. As you quest for a spare waterchip, you will encounter many strange denizens, mutants, and learn that the world outside the Vault ain't exactly heaven. The games second act takes a dark yet brilliant turn, but my reviews are certified spoiler free. The story is great, and the world is immersive and unique, exploring it is a treat and hunting down the many unique denizens proves rewarding, especially when you run into HAROLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :B I really like Harold. He's the funniest game character ever. Although his level of hilarity isn't as epic as it is in Fallout 2, he's still the funniest mutant ever to not menace society. He's also one of the few mutants you WONT want to shoot. On the topic of humour, Fallout has a great sense of humour. The sense of humour in Fallout is brilliantly dark, sadistic, and perverted, yet even those who usually cringe at jokes about death, disease, mutation, sex, and sex with diseased undead mutants are likely to laugh at something in Fallout. The games 50's "Duck and Cover" style aesthetics and charm really help lighten the horror of the post apocalypse. The massive contrasts are surprisingly balanced. The opening cutscenes alone set both tones and get you in the mood for something scary and something funny.

The combat system is great, and has been unmatched in the realm of CRPG games. The game is turn based, but rather than just repeating the process of "Select move, select monster, watch what move does, reselect move again, select monster again, watch what move does" every friggen' time you fight something. Instead, Fallout requires you to pay more attention and rely on your wits. When you enter combat, whether you're fighting one monster alone or a group of baddies with some squad mates, you will enter a grid based combat scenario and are given "Action Points." How many action points you have is based on the games S.P.E.C.I.A.L. attribute system. Each item and move costs action points. If you have a few extra action points to spare, you can target a specific body part of your foe, which can really help the outcome of battle. Action points will run down during your turn, and will restore when it is your turn again. Bad guys and team mates use the same system, so the game never feels unbalanced, although naturally beefier enemies will have their own unique attributes and of course all the foes/team mates in the game will have different skill sets based on their race/faction.

On the topic of factions, Fallout has the freedom of choosing who you ally with or don't. Who will you ally with? The vicious raiders that murder and steal? How about the ever mysterious Brotherhood of Steel, a group of modern knights bent on keeping the peace and preserving our technology and history. Many other factions await, and regardless of their moral beliefs, you can make the choice to join their ranks. The game has a karma system, which takes into account your good and evil actions. You are given a great amount of freedom, and whether you will save the world, burn it greater, or leave no impact at all through neutrality, its all up to you.

Fallout has a relative difficulty curve, but once you get the swing of things, the games intuitive interface will become second nature. Some parts can be frustrating, but you will be compelled to overcome your weaknesses and build your strengths. The SPECIAL attribute system and a system of "Perks" and a large skill tree all offer an expansive character building system.

The graphics may not "Wow" in 2009, but when I'm looking at older games, I always look at the graphics from the eyes of someone living in the year it was released, and rate it based on that. I remember the games looks in 1997, and they looked great. The sprites are large and pixelation free, and the various gruesome death animations, characters and "talking heads" looked great. The sound is great too, sound effects all match up, and the eerie atmospheric score puts you in the mood. The game has great production values. The only complaint I had then that I still have now, is that I wish there were more full vocals and talking head graphics.

The game is so engrossing and fun, its hard to put down at all, if ever. Everything is great.

The Bad
Uhm... Uhh.... Poor compatability on modern computers?

Well, that's not an actual problem with the game, just for modern computers...

Uhm.. Radioactive scorpions are scary? No, that's not a complaint either since they're supposed to be scary....

Ooh! Ooh! I know! Harold is the funniest character ever! Wait.. no, that's another praise...

Uhh...... You know what? This game is perfect. The only true negative is that it ends. :'(

The Bottom Line
I still love this game, I love Fallout 2, and although it can't compare with the first two games euphoric feeling, Fallout 3 is a great successor to the series. Fallout Tactics is a great spin off as well. I may review Fo3 on here, but my review of Fallout 2 wouldn't be any different than this review. It would get 5 perfect stars. This is the greatest RPG of all time, if not the greatest game of all time. If you like RPGs, buy this. If you like strategy games, buy this. If you don't like RPGs, buy this. If you don't like strategy games, buy this. It has something for everyone, and if you haven't played it you are missing out. The complete collection - save for Fallout 3 (Although it can be bought from here as well) - is available DRM free on Steam for only 20 bucks for the whole set. It's also available on GameTap and Good Old Games. If you have it, or even if you don't and are missing your discs, buy this incredible game.

The Good
Zovni's review of this game, "Vault-Tec Approved", was probably the most brilliantly written, dead-on accurate, comprehensive review I could imagine being written for what is essentially the Grandfather of Post-Apocalyptic RPG's. As much as I feel that Fallout is without doubt one of the crowning jewels in my computer game collection, I don't know that I could possibly say anything about this masterpiece of gaming that he hasn't already covered. How many ways can one say "priceless"? I can say with certainty that if the bombs fell and the world was thrown into post-apocolyptic anarchy and only a handful of working copies of this game survived, I would beg, bargain, barter, con, steal, or kill to ensure that one of them was mine.

The Bad
As much as this review is likely to be awarded a 1 on the MobyGames scale of 1 to 5, I just can't say anything that hasn't been said. Granted, yes, the game had some bugs - like all games do - but I honestly couldn't say that the worst of them would make me want to play Fallout even five minutes less.

The Bottom Line
I post this review for one sole reason: To throw my vote in, to raise my hand for, to emphatically stand behind, as so many have before me, Interplay's Fallout as the all time #1 Absolute Must Have Computer Game of All Time. Stop reading this page right now - click the Buy/Trade link on the left there and get your hands on this game!! If you don't, you might as well put your PC up for sale on eBay, because without a copy of Fallout installed, your computer is nothing. =)