With the recent release of Fallout 3, I thought it might be a good time to look back on the series of games before it: Fallout, Fallout 2 and Fallout Tactics.

In 1997, Fallout was released to critical acclaim and moderate commercial success. Set in the year 2161, eighty years after The Great War, a global nuclear war that lasted two hours has left the world a broken wasteland. You play the role of the vault dweller, living in the relative safety of one of the huge underground nuclear shelters – vaults – that was built before the war. The game begins when you are tasked to venture out into the wasteland to find a replacement water chip, a device that provides the vault with fresh water. So off you go into the brave new world full of bad people, mutants, giant scorpions, skulls on sticks and towns made of corrugated iron. It’s a game heavily influenced by such films as ‘Mad Max 2’ and ‘A Boy and his Dog’, as well as many other post apocalyptic sci-fi fiction stories.

Although dated by today’s standards, the graphics still have a certain charm to them, being hand-drawn and animated from an isometric perspective like games such as Baldur’s Gate and Planescape:Torment. The animation was functional but had its moments, especially the death scenes which could be extreme to say the least. The most distinctive thing about the Fallout series graphics and artwork is its 1950s retro look, which gives a clever nod back to the Cold War nuclear paranoia that nearly made Fallout a reality all those years ago.

"...a clever nod back to the Cold War..."

Fallout 2 came a year later and in my own opinion is a much better game than the original. It’s bigger, tougher and more detailed than Fallout, with more depth and emotion in the story (awful opening hour, though, isn’t it? – Lewis). In Fallout 2 you play ‘The Chosen One’ a descendant of your character in the original game.  Set eighty years later, this time around your quest is to find the G.E.C.K, or Garden of Eden Creation Kit, and also save the wasteland from a new threat even more sinister than before.

Fallout 2 uses exactly the same engine as before, so it looks identical to the first game - there is just more to look at this time around. Cities and towns are bigger with more varied buildings, citizens and more quests in each place. A lot of Fallout fans say it’s an inferior sequel, but I am of the opposite camp, and think Fallout 2 is far superior - but that’s something us Fallout fans can never agree on.

Another notable feature of both games was the special encounters. These would happen at random when you travelled through the wasteland and would be more likely to occur if you had the outdoorsman skill. A few examples of these are the Tardis from 'Dr. Who' appearing, a giant Godzilla footprint and a crashed flying saucer. Pretty much all of them are humorous references to pop culture, both modern and old. Whichever ones you come across, they always make you smile.

Both Fallout and Fallout 2 are very well written games with some brilliant dark comedy and genuine drama. Most situations can be solved with quick wits and clever replies when talking to people, which makes a change from just killing everything in sight, but that’s always an option with a wide variety of killing tools to use. I’d highly recommend giving these games another play through if you’re an old fan, and if you have never played them before at all then go pick up the collection for pennies and have a blast - you won’t regret it.