I just finished both games, and I highly recommend this bundle set to anyone who likes (1) RPG games, (2) Post-apocalyptic themed anythings, (3) games that don't make you do anything or (4) science fiction in general. The basic premise of both games, as recounted by numerous previous reviews, is that you have to make it in a world defined by the typical nuclear fallout (ahem) disaster. However, there are so many ways to make it, and they're all such fun, that these games should appeal to most people. Fallout 1 is a shorter game but in many ways is more elegant; if you play it conscientiously you'll have a feeling of satisfaction at the end for having seen and done most of it. Fallout 2 is much larger in scope and in time commitment, and unfortunately suffers a bit from it.. there are more bugs, more 'dead' items and quests that were intended to have some purpose in the game but never did, and so on. Some could argue this, in fact, merely adds to the gritty reality of a game where everything doesn't end up in a neat little package at the end, and there aren't answers to all the questions. Or maybe the programming staff was just overworked. In any event, the games are addictive and reward curiosity. High points:
1) Emphasis on character development. A karma counter keeps track of your overall good/badness, and as you progress you are offered various 'Perks' that enhance or define your character, such as Salesman or Demolition Expert or Kama Sutra Master. Others you earn through gameplay itself. Multiple avenues of play exist for any type of character..while your first character in both games is probably going to emphasize gunplay and high Agility, later on you can try a diplomatic or manipulative or pure thieving character as you see fit, and play what amounts to an almost completely different game.
2) So many explosions. These games have lots of fighting, on a turn-based system allowing for micromanagement of both yourself and your 'friendly' NPCs. Use burst fire to take out packs of charging wolves, aim your scoped hunting rifle at someone's leg to keep them from chasing you, send a rocket down a corridor into a pack of unsuspecting guards. It's all there..and the death animations are not for the faint of heart.
A few negatives:
1) As is typical in RPGs, making 'bad' or 'evil' decisions or dialogue choices tends to screw you. If you want, just pretend your evil character secretly enjoys the hypocrisy of agreeing to rescue someone's orphaned kitten with a boo-boo on its paw; it would be nice someday if RPGs rewarded evil characters for doing evil things.
2) Armor. Basically the goal of both games is to get your first suit of Power Armor. This transforms both games from a grueling, constantly-reloading ordeal of random accidental deaths and burst-fire horrors to a breeze. This, of course, makes perfect sense...once you're a walking tank, most things bounce off. However (although Fallout 2 handles this a bit better) there is very little middle ground..even with Combat Armor II (the next step down) you get mauled a lot.
3) Uncontrolled NPCs. Sure, by definition you shouldn't be able to control an NPC, but it can get truly annoying when one of your NPCs blasts something, and then moves 1 space directly in front of your other NPC for no reason, and then that second NPC, naturally, fires a machine gun directly into his head. It makes you wonder if 'friendly fire accidents' are really accidents. Depending on your party size, you can spend a lot of time watching your allies gun each other down like post apocalyptic three stooges.
Those aside, the games are very detailed and can be played as quickly or as slowly as one wishes, with numerous subplots branching off the main plot. The first game does have a timer for the completion of the main task, but that can be extended during the game, and in fact the game goes on (sans timer) once that task is completed. Fallout 2 does away with that completely, allowing you effectively all the time you want to explore. So if you always wondered if how Mad Max would have done if he'd had more ammo for his shotgun and access to the occasional flamethrower, pick them up.
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