"A very unique game, and one of the best ever."

I admit I jumped on the Fallout bandwagon pretty late. For the past few years I've been hearing about Fallout here and there and how great it is. I figured ''It's not that popular, it can't be that great...can it?''

Yes, it IS that great.

The first thing that sets Fallout apart from other RPGs is the setting. It take place in a very gritty post-apocalyptic future. You'll run into robbers, other travelers, and even mutants. You really feel like your wandering a vast gloomy wasteland.

The battle system is setup very well and it is fairly easy to figure out after a few minutes.

The graphics obviously aren't the best (it was made in 1997 or so), but it doesn't detract from the game at all. There are all sorts of brutal death animations that look impressive even today.

The sound isn't anything special, but the sound effects are decent. There is only one song in the game (that plays during the opening and closing cinemas), but it's a pretty catchy song :)

The best part of the game is that it is extremely open ended. The character creation menu allows you to make any type of character you please. Not only do you allocate stat points, but you also get to choose traits and you can ''tag'' (give a bonus) to three skills. The gameplay is even more open ended. You can try to help make the wasteland a better place by killing all the evil-doers, you can use your rhetorical skills to complete your quests, or you can just kill everyone.

I've found myself replaying Fallout many times. It's always fun to make a character skilled in different areas and to take the quests you weren't able to in previous games.

If there is anything imperfect about Fallout it is the NPCs that join your party. You have very little control over them and they become virtually useless towards the end of the game. Some have argued that the lack of control over the NPCs makes it more realistic, but it also makes them less useful as you progress. This was changed in Fallout 2.

Overall, Fallout is in my top 10 (probably 5) PC games I've played. It's an experience unlike any other. You owe it to yourself to check it out. Fallout 1 along with Fallout 2 (another great game) go for $10 at Interplay's store. There's no excuse for not buying it.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/13/04