holoz0r's A-Z of Steam: Fallout - moving out of the vault of ignorance

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I never played Fallout. In 1997, when it was released, I didn't even have a computer - and even more so, I didn't know what a role playing game was. It wouldn't be until many years later when I discovered the likes of Baldur's Gate that I would enter the genre.

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Thus, I find myself in the year 2020, where I've never played Fallout. I changed that.

You enter the world with a character selection screen, and a mission is given to you - go find a water purification component that has failed, in order to allow the other residents of your vault to continue drinking safe water.

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What you're not immediately told, however - (probably said this stuff on the back of the box) - is that the world is ravaged by the aftermaths of nuclear warfare. That, of course, is the whole hook of the Fallout franchise.

What if the whole world was a wasteland of apocalypse following a nuclear conflict? Mutants, dangerous gangs, depravity, and an aesthetic that is wholly unique.

How does it play, 23 years later?

Well, that depends. It's a voyage, not only into history; but into the genesis of a landmark gaming series. The interface is incredibly dated, and not as responsive as one would expect of a modern game. There's a large latency between pressing a button and having a reaction - which is part of the game engine itself.

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Beyond this, controls are easy to use, and atmosphere is awesome - the world (and the creatures that inhabit it) - are deadly, oppressive, and dangerous. As you progress, it gets slightly easier, as the story unfolds in classic style for a RPG - with the added opportunity to do slightly more than what the game developers originally intended.

I wouldn't recommend that someone go back and play Fallout for the first time in order to experience the birth of the series - like most of the other titles in this series - I had difficulty becoming engrossed in world - its level of cheesiness is too high.

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I can definitely see the groundwork the title laid for the future - without it, we wouldn't have had games like STALKER, or The Outer Worlds, which took the genre of dystopia in different directions.

A fine, ancient piece of technological curiosity, - but also something that reminded me of the joys of playing Jagged Alliance - as this game has similar combat mechanics and perspective.



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4 comments
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Been wanting to play the originals for a little now, since I randomly noticed on Steam I was given Fallout, Fallout 2 and Fallout Tactics.

Would be a whole different feel, but I am wanting to complete or at least get a lot of those games finished.

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It is a completely different feel, it is just very, very slow paced compared to modern games!

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That looks a lot like all the isometric top down games I was playing around that time and like noen of the Fallout games I've seen since I became vaguely aware that the franchise existed XD

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Skyrim, but with Mutants.

Jagged Alliance, but with Mutants

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