Real RPG done right on PC
"For Gabriel, thank you for all those years playing RPG. It was fun!"
Reviewing a classic is never easy, even for experienced players. It's Fallout review time and after putting over 100 hours on Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas, I believe I can give a good opinion about the original one.
Although my Steam profile says I’ve played less than an hour of gameplay in this game, don’t be fooled by it. I had the original one in CD and played it thru the end at least 3 times, completing over 90% of the game.
The good:
- Very good environmental and sound designs give you a strong immersion in the post-apocalyptic wasteland scenario
- Wasteland areas are very well set up, matching very well the main plot, and bringing to you that feeling of not knowing what you will find while exploring them
- The game has an excellent story which unfolds very well, as records and logs you find thru the game will give you details of past events thru other people’s eyes
- Different from Wasteland 2, you will hardly be facing choices of having to help one or another, although timing to visit the locations can alter gaming experience and quests / events results
- Very well designed NPC’s to interact with in every town
- Total freedom to take the path you want and deal with the consequences
- Open world, allowing you to travel from place to place in the order you want
- A good amount of Easter eggs with reference from pop culture of the 80’s and 90’s
- Lots of replay ability
- Graphic violence level can be tuned down in the menu, but I got to tell I’ve always played in maximum as I do believe is more appropriate to the game
- Excellent character creation and progress system which, believe it or not, is based on Gurps RPG system
- Fantastic weapons to choose, from melee to firearms, explosives and even energy weapons
- It’s turn based combat, which is excellent for the game type
- There is a high resolution patch which can put the game in 16:9 aspect ratio, without distortion, which I totally recommend
- Not a too long game as Fallout 2, but not a short one by any means
The bad:
- Not as much voice over of dialogs as today’s games, but the main NPC's have very good ones
- It’s an old game, so you won’t have character appearance customization, although his / her in game appearance changes depending in the armor type you wear
- Although the NPC followers do help a lot (specially for carrying stuff), they are nothing to write home about
- The old graphics and isometric view might not appeal to all audiences
- When using the high resolution patch, you will need to choose between having bigger elements in the screen (characters, buildings, etc) with a little of pixelization, or very small elements
The ugly:
- You will need to look for walkthroughs or guides in the internet if you want to take most of the game and complete as much quests as possible, as there are some side quests you don’t even know they exist
- This version of the game looks to be from Europe, in which some sensorship was applied at some areas, so you might consider having a look at the No Mutants Allowed website and check the FIXT mod in the download section, or getting Fallout Et Tu which is even better, but takes more work to properly setup
Some people choose games based in its playing mechanics, other people based in the story, and there are also people who buy games only because they have good graphics, but in the end of the day having fun is what counts.
This game is without shadow of a doubt better than Fallout 2, Fallout 3 or Fallout New Vegas, if you do like the game mechanics and don’t bother the dated game engine. The story is excellent and game mechanics are really solid.
Fallout is a must have for any player looking for a good RPG!
4 gamers found this review helpful