Fallout 2

"A classic, original and solid RPGing experience unlike any other."

I bought Fallout 1 & 2 at the same time but played them 2 years apart. Why, I really don't know. I suppose I wanted to save what I knew was going to be a
spectacular RPGing experience for last.

I'm not sure why, but I haven't heard alot about FO2. FO1 gets praises left and right but FO2 most seem to think of as a so-so or 'been there, done that' sort of sequel. But personally I think its superior to FO1!

It only takes a little while of playing (If you've been playing CRPGs for more than 8 years or so) before you realize what you've been missing all these years. Nothing but pure and excellent CRPGing. An indepth and interesting plot, some incredible conversation dialogue trees, adult oriented content (No be nice to everyone or else constraints, your character can do pretty much anything), an incredible assortment of weaponry, viciously satisfying enemy death scenes, loads of humor, excellent voice acting, lots of interesting places to explore, a fleshed out post apocalyptic world with multi-leveled intertwined politics and beliefs, excellent skill progression system, ability to have up to 5 teammates (Unlike some RPGs nowadays I could mention), great background music, plenty of references to popular sci-fi and fantasy which you can only love, a wide assortment of overland encounters (You never know what you're going to come across) and more.

I cannot believe that this game isn't compared to Planescape Torment more. Its JUST as good as that classic RPG IMO and may be a bit better. There are plenty of RPGs based on medieval fantasy settings, but there's only one series based in a post nuclear setting.

Graphics: 7

As to be expected, they are primitive by today's standards. Isometric bitmapping went out a long time ago, but they do the job. Sometimes its troublesome trying to find something behind a wall or building, sometimes your teammates will block you in when you enter a small room and refuse to move. The death scenes are great. The 3D animated portraits of some of the more important characters are great.

All in all, not as glossy or shiny as 3D hardware games of today, but the good thing is everything runs very smoothly and after a very short time you realize you really haven't played a 'good' RPG game in a long long time.

Sounds & Music: 8

Some of the background music is really great. Kind of a old west meets Mad Max funkiness to an ambient eerrie wail of desolation. Perfect fit. The weapon sounds are distinct for each weapon and nicely done. You'll know what's being fired at you from the Ratta-kat-kat of a submachine gun, the boom of a shotgun or the twanging of the pulse laser rifle. And the death screams are so realistic its painful sometimes. Not alot of ambient sound effects, but this doesn't detract from the game and probably allows the music more of a presence.

Interface & Controls: 6

The Bad: They didn't fix some of the issues from FO1 which I found pretty annoying. Having to scroll through a long inventory one item at a time, having to scroll through the amount of money you want to transfer (Think how Morrowind's money was handled in its barter interface and you'll know what I mean immediately), no direct control over your teammates (I know they have a mind of their own, but its somewhat time consuming to have to leave a character in another town because he insists on charging straight at Gatling Gun Turrents alone (DOH!). And there was the teammate blockage issue I mentioned which you can only reload a previous save to recover from. Its not that much of a bother though. Just takes some extra caution. This is being nit picky, but I thought some of the animated screen interface transitions were time consuming and unneeded (That animated popup when talking to your teammates for instance...got to be annoying after awhile).

The Good: Combat is turn based (No weird button/keyboard/mouse push combinations. You tell your character what to do and they do it), you know exactly how many movement/turn points doing a certain action will cost you before you do it.), everything can be done with the mouse, so you can set the keyboard aside except if you want to give a save a specific name, maps could be better, but at least you've got them, a mission profiler which tells you which missions you've accepted, completed and have not completed, great overland map which details your travel and how many days it takes as well as what you've explored and haven't explored as well as special areas and the Pip Boy a PDA-like precursor similar to systems used in System Shock 2 and Doom 3 which allows you to download info from other systems.

Gameplay: 10+

Mutants, radiation zones, slavers, drug dealers, prostitutes, mobsters, annoying kids, foreboding towns, abandoned junk heaps, top secret installations, excellent NPCs, lots of items, futuristic weaponry, modern day weaponry, loads of hidden stuff, a wild assortment of encounters, an enveloping and progressive storyline, a fantastic skill system with a diverse range of 'Perks' such as the Kama Sutra perk which makes you a fantastic lover (Yes..you can have sex in this game though its nothing graphic...in some situations though it can be tasteless and embarrassing...watch out for a freaky someone in the Broken Hills!! You'll be mad, but you'll most likely burst out laughing as well :-) ), your limbs can be broken, you can become a drug addict, you can become a slave trader, you can repair things, you can steal things, you can heal things, etc. etc. etc. There's no other game series like this that I know of. The closest that comes to it in terms of gameplay is Planescape Torment and frankly you can't do half the amount of things in that game as you can in FO2.

All of that on one CD. My how times have changed...*sigh*...

Do yourself a favor and play this game before you can't find it anymore or you forget what gaming really meant to you before the recent rpging drudge was spawned. Or if you like the current drudge see how it fares to what's still considered great by many people. You might be pleasantly surprised.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 08/30/05