Classic Game Review: Falloutby Kovac |
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Genre: RPG
Release Date: 1997
Developer: Black Isle Studios
Publisher: Interplay
Rating: M
Platform: PC
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"War. War never changes". These words foreshadow one of the most recognized and respected role playing game franchises of the late 90s. Recently revitalized by the release of a third game into the series, it seems like an excellent time to delve back into the original game that spawned several excellent sequels and a multitude of mediocre ones. Set in the dark ruins of the 22nd Century, Fallout's futuristic imagery is a blending of the idyllic vision for future of the 1950s and the twisted paranoid nightmares of the cold war. Combining both nuclear technology and advanced genetics with primitive monochrome screens, valves and dials, to me the game is reminiscent of the original Star Trek and The Jetsons. In how the story deals with the consequences of too much technology it also brought to mind some aspects of H. P. Lovecraft, particularly when you start dealing with radioactive monsters.
Ron Pearlman (Hellboy - The City of Lost Children) delivers the narration for the initial cut scene that explains just how humanity has been reduced to the ruin which your character will be thrust into.
Most survivors have been living in a huge vault structure while they wait for the irradiated earth to slowly return to a liveable state. The initial starting conditions for your character find you as one of descendants of the survivors of a nuclear apocalypse which decimated most of the earth. After centuries of monotonous survival cut off from the outside world, a serious situation develops within the vault. Your one source of clean drinking water has been put out of action due to a technical breakdown. As the most capable member of the vault your overseer/leader chooses you to go out into the unknown and deadly wastes to search for the computer chip required to make repairs to the water purifier.
If you fail your friends and family will face an inevitable death.
Unfortunately the game does have one "feature" that makes your chances of success even more difficult.
This is a time limit imposed on your quest dictated by the dwindling water supplies of your vault. Unlike many other games where such threats are usually empty, Fallout will actually end the game in a cut scene that will show the destruction of your vault. The developers eventually did decide that the 100 day time limit was problematic and frustrating, so it was removed in one of the official game patches. I would definitely suggest downloading this, as being forced to rush to complete the first primary mission in the game adds nothing to the experience.
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On leaving the safety of your vault and moving out into the remains of the West Coast of the United States, the scope of the story and gameplay expands markedly as you attempt to not only save the denizens of your vault, but also become a vehicle of transformation in the wastes. How much you help, hinder or ignore the plights of the villages, towns and cities will eventually shape what kind of conclusion you will receive at the end of the game, who will prosper, and who will be destroyed and left in the radioactive dusts.
Starting the game requires the player to create an individualized character based on how you want to move through the world, with a huge selection of character options. It is very flexible about how you can choose to do so. Skills allow you interact with the challenges you will face, and will decide if success will be possible when you perform actions.
Fallout differs from many of the RPGs of the period in that it does not use the popular DnD game play stat system; instead the game uses an internally developed character creation system called S.P.E.C.I.A.L, each letter representing a characteristic that links into a skill:
Strength
Perception
Endurance
Charisma
Intelligence
Agility
Luck
Additionally, you get access to traits when you first create your character which can be useful, absurd or next to useless, but these traits are usually balanced by some kind of negative aspect.
These statistics and skills will primarily come into play when you face combat against the many threats populating the dessert wastes; various kinds of radioactive and giant insects, genetically modified/radioactive super mutants, human raiders and more.
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Fallout is a third person, turn-based game which can be manipulated by using both the mouse and the keyboard. Where the game is distinct from other RPGs like Baldur's Gate or Neverwinter Nights is that each character's actions (firing weapons, reloading, and moving) are all performed using "action points" (APs). When your character or an NPC uses up their APs, their turn is over and the enemy can react. I enjoyed the pace of this kind of combat as opposed to some others, like Neverwinter Nights 2 or other such realtime RPGs. It allows real thought to go into planning how your fight will proceed.
Throughout your journey you will run across various non player characters that you can choose to join you as party members. These can provide valuable assistance, particularly in the early game when an extra weapon can be very handy. Where this falls down, however, is in the AI and the interaction with the NPCs. In any combat situation, there are risks of missing your target and hitting another. This can be very helpful if you miss your initial target only to hit a secondary one, but it is also true with your NPC characters, and they can prove to be menaces when provided with weapons. If you inadvertently get between your NPC and his target, he can very easily shoot you in the back by mistake. In the end I resorted to taking the ammunition away from my NPC just so that he would stop shooting me when I least expected it.
Unlike most other RPGs, or even the eventual sequel to Fallout, you can't configure what armour NPCs wear, and you can't easily choose what weapons they can use. If you want to add or remove items from their inventory, you need to buy or sell the items to them despite the fact that you are working together.
Visually, the game is drab and oppressive with a lot of grey and brown. In regards to games in general this has been a contestable subject among both critics and game enthusiasts alike, who have made the point that there is an over-abundance of games with this excessively brown and grey colour scheme. In the context of Fallout and its post apocalyptic background, however, this makes perfect sense. The game has a gritty realism which a wider colour palette would not have provided.
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The voice talent is where Fallout really shines. Black Isle Studios managed to obtain some of the most talented voice actors available.
Aside from Ron Perlman who provided the narration for this and the later games, notable actors include:
Richard Dean Anderson (MacGyver, Stargate SG1),
David Warner (TRON, Twin Peaks, Sweeney Todd),
Tony Shalhob (Monk, Galaxy Quest),
Clancy Brown (The Shawshank Redemption, Starship Troopers),
Tony Jay (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Legacy of Kain)
Brad Garrett (Everybody Loves Raymond).
Giving this game a miss just because the graphics are limited would be a great disservice to yourself. While it may be showing its age due to its older visual effects, and the lack of some more modern features, it is still one of the best RPGs to date. To fully delve into Fallout will take many rich hours that will be well spent. With the recent release of Fallout 3, now is an ideal time to experience both the original and the sequel. It's not necessary to have played the original to enjoy the third game, but you will gain a far more complete understanding of the story if you step into the boots of the original vault dweller.
Obtaining Fallout is easier than ever due to services like www.goodoldgames.com, a site which provides a download service exclusively for classic older titles such as this. They have been tested and are fully ready to run with Windows Vista. Alternatively it may be possible to find some game stores that still carry the game on CD, or purchase it second hand online.
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