I'm not even certain how to begin this review. Fallout is easily one of the best games I've ever played in my lifetime. It's not just a game but an entire world that you can become completely absorbed into. I'll skip describing the games story (as it's been done before by people better at it then myself). Suffice to say that the storytelling is rock solid and the setting is completely original (no goblins and dragons here). Fallout is really a precursor to today's "choice" style of RPG, where you determine how you want to confront different situations, and the outcomes usually change depending on your actions. Good/evil, violence/peaceful, etc. In fact, the various wrap-up sequences at the end of the game are totally dependant upon what you did. Gameplay is excellent, originally planned to use the GURPS system for it's rule base, that fell through and they created their SPECIAL system instead (which personally I find even better). You have a Diablo-style viewpoint. You run around the game world and interact with everything in real-time, except in battle where everything becomes turn-based and you have to decide how to use your AP (action points) to move/fight/manipulate items. Many of the major characters in the game are voiced by hollywood actors as well, such as Richard Dean Anderson, Ron Perlman, and Phil LaMarr to name a few. What makes the combat especially fun is in the details. Defeating your foe isn't simply as boring as the usual "do X damage and the enemy dies" (though that is underlying), instead you are offered a variety of weapons which have their own strengths and weaknesses. This may just be a male thing, but I find it especially fun when I can take a laser rifle and specifically target someone's leg, or simply burst them with a sub-machine gun, or toss a grenade at their feet, or beat them down with a mega-fist. Combat throughout the game seems to constantly change, as random variables play a large part in the fights, changing the tactics used and how the enemies react to you. i.e. Firing a rocket launcher at a gangs leader can cause some of them to freak out and try to run, while performing the same action may also lead you to miss you shot and hit a friendly target instead, killing a teammate and turning the battle against you. Also to be noted, much of the combat can be avoided by simply making your character more charming and intelligent instead (and can often reap much higher experience points for doing so). It all depends on your playstyle. What really makes Fallout though, is the art style and the music. I'd like to give out props to Leonard Boyarsky who was the one who really pushed the "future of the fifties" concept, without him I don't believe this game ever would have reached it's current popularity. Take the clean forward-looking fifities America, blow up a few nukes in an alternate future and there you have it, one of the best game settings of all time. The music is completely atmospheric and combined with the stellar artwork is just perfect. The long of short of it is that Fallout is a perfect blend of style and substance, was/is genre-bending and is a game that anyone should give a try. No other RPG has ever come as close to perfection as Fallout has. Grab this one and give it a try, my current copy of the game was a double-pack (Fallout and Fallout 2) for only $10 Canadian, so keep your eyes peeled for this.
I know that by todays standards people would rather be playing Neverwinter Nights or some "newer" RPG game but Fallout does everything perfectly. The game is limitless trust me on that I've been playing since release and... Read Full Review
This is one of my all-time favorite games. It is a very unique game with a story similar only to the game "Wasteland". At first I was a little skeptical on how this game would be, the graphics (nowadays) ar... Read Full Review
