Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel

The Good
The strategy and RPG elements of Fallout Tactics are top notch. It is possible to create just about any character or combination of characters you ever wanted to play either single player or multiplayer. The variety of play modes (Continuous Turn-Based, Squad Turn-Based, and Individual Turn-Based) allow you to try out a lot of different playing styles. Finally, the addition of vehicles and better traps (land mines, remote detonation devices) to the game was a great enhancement to an already fun combat system introduced in the RPGs.

The Bad
The Fallout series is known as much for its glitches and bugs as for its engrossing story and distinctive characters. Fallout Tactics is no exception. Unfortunately, random crashes and a lack of polish abound, giving me the impression that the game was released a month too early. Examples of the more glaring problems include: random crashes, misspelled dialogue, and making a mission unsolvable if you don't do objectives in the "correct" order (this happened to me in Junction City).

Finally, the opening movie and cutscenes in Fallout Tactics are not nearly as fun as the movies in the previous Fallout games. This may be a minor point, but it is a shame they didn't continue the great Fallout tradition of having excellent opening movies.

The Bottom Line
Fallout Tactics is an impressive blend of an RPG and turn-based squad warfare that is a fun single or multiplayer game despite its lack of polish.