Fallout

"Over-rated and Incoherent"

Fallout. The mere mention of it's name will send most RPG fans into a slobbering orgasm. After years of hearing how "good" Fallout was from the Internet community, I finally picked up the "White Label" Collection from Amazon. After playing it, my level of letdown was equal only to the absurd level of hype the game has picked up over the years.

Graphics:
Grainy pre-rendered 3D backgrounds and sprites make up Fallout's drab, post World War III world and are all quite boring to look at. To be blunt, the game is just plain ugly.

Game play:
Fallout is open ended... Really, REALLY open ended. This proves to be Fallout's greatest strength, but in the end it's ultimate flaw. Don't get me wrong, I love big, open ended games, but Fallout has some rather glaring flaws that just ruin the whole open aspect. First of all it has a time limit. Yes, a time limit. You have 90 game days to find a replacement water chip for your Vault's broken water purifying plant. Now to be fair 90 game days is more then enough
time to find the chip if you know where to look. However if it is your first time playing, running around like a chicken with your head cut off looking for the damnable chip before time runs out is not my idea of fun. And your incredibly vague quest log does little to help. Even after you find the accursed chip for your Vault and finally think your done with the damned time limit, you are slapped with yet ANOTHER time limit! Although one of the later patches upped the limit to a few game years, you're still left with the overwhelming fact the game is going to come to a screeching halt if you like it or not.

In fact one of the only redeemable sections of Fallout is the great character customization. You can pick from a wide selection of stats, skills, feats and perks that will let you play anything from a walking tank to a sniper or a sneaky lock-picking ninja.

Fallout's combat is a simple and solid turn-based
system which is helped along with a nice selection of high and low tech ranged and close quarter weapons with some "things-that-go-boom" thrown in for all you pyromaniacs out there.


Sound:
Nothing to jump and down about here. guns go boom, people grunt in pain when hit. The sound gets the point across. Move On.


In closing, Fallout comes out as a game that just does not live up to all the hype. However if you get past the flaws, Fallout proves to be a decent RPG, just not a great one.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 10/24/07

Game Release: Fallout (US, 09/30/97)