10 Years Later: Fallout

[A Black Falcon]

You didn't play this game until now? For shame, GR, for shame... it's one of the best RPGs ever. (I noticed that you posted this at neogaf too... wonder if I should say something there too? Eh, doesn't matter. I'll get more replies to what I actually say here, I imagine. :))

Fallout's graphics look bad compared to Baldur's Gate's, but that couldn't be helped; it uses tile-based graphics, not drawn maps, so of course it's worse (and it's a year older). Its combat is good -- turn-based, with one character. Still, I like parties, so I did find myself wishing that you could control your NPC allies too... still, it's a great, great game.

DJ: in that other thread you were complaining about how common D&D games are in PC RPGs... and then you complain about one of the most prominent PC RPG serieses that ISN'T D&D fantasy? What would satisfy you then? Really, when I read your 'D&D is too common' thing, I thought "play Fallout then!"... and you should. Great game. Open-ended, yet with a fantastic linear story. True choice -- you can be good or evil, and the game lets you do it and progress (no "you can be evil but it makes the game nearly impossible" like in Baldur's Gate... BGII improved on that, but it's still a lot easier to be good than evil. Fallout and Fallout 2 are much more balanced.)

Graphics, sound, music, voice-acting, and all that stuff holds up very well despite being ten years old. More than that however, the game itself is still fun to play and very, very interesting. You explore a vast desert full of radioactive scorpions, raiders, and mutants, finding various towns and places of interest. This is the kind of game that I love. You do what you want, how you want and if anybody tried to get in you're way, you mow them down with a submachine gun. Or an electric prod, if that's more you're style. Well, you can also punch them with you're fists too.

And, unlike the TES games, the story is actually GOOD! Great, actually. The writing too. And a lot of those choices you make are in story quests; this isn't just "you can wander around forever or follow the linear story", it's "you can wander around or follow the story, but either way you can play it the way you want most of the time". Fallout is pretty much the perfect model of how to do non-linear. I like the Baldur's Gate series more because of the more complex strategy required in combat (with six people) and that I love D&D, but Fallout is one of the best.