Retro Review: Fallout

Well, I teased this a long time ago and have been teasing it in almost every podcast Tyler and I have done. But here it is, the first of my five cRPG Retro Reviews. This week is the original Fallout which was published by Interplay and developed by its child studio, Black Isle Studios, back in 1997.

In the mid-to-late 90s, computer RPGs (or cRPGs) were really struggling. There weren't many big name titles for them anymore and they just weren't very commercially viable. Fallout was the game that started the comeback with Baldur's Gate later sealing it, but we'll get to Baldur's Gate later on. Fallout received critical acclaim for its freedom, in-depth gameplay, and unique world, which today has been milked to death as the post-apocolyptic setting.

For those who are expecting it to be Fallout 3, well it's quite different in design and gameplay, obviously with the top-down view. It's actually closer to New Vegas in top-down view actually. So let's get down to it and look at the game that helped save the ass of the cRPG.

STORY

For those unfamiliar with the universe of Fallout, in the year 2052 a war began. In 2077, nuclear bombs went off and essentially erased human civilization. Oh sure, humans still exist but they're scattered and the surface of the planet is irradiated to hell. There are underground bunkers called Vaults where groups of people live without fear of radiation or the irradiated monsters above.

Unfortunately, in the main character's vault or Vault 13, the water chip has given out. What the hell's the water chip? Oh nothing important, just a computer chip that gets water into the vault and makes sure it's radiation-free. So yeah, the vault's in a bit of a pickle.

Anyway, the Vault Overseer sends you out with a PIPBoy 2000, some equipment, and bottle caps as money, to get a replacement water chip. You have 150 days to do this, and an extra 100 if you complete a certain objective.

But that's just the beginning. After you complete that, there's a lot more to do. Really, the water chip is just a way to get things moving, though how quickly you do things does affect the ending. Later on the game's story starts to get more complex with murkier morality. It's a good one though it's not what will keep you coming back.

GAMEPLAY AND DESIGN

As said before, this game is a top-down RPG. Now it does have a lot in common with Fallout 3 but there are also a lot of differences. The commonality lies in the different skill sets that you upgrade throughout the game, as well as perks, attributes, etc.

Unlike Fallout 3 and New Vegas, the combat in this game is completely turn-based. For those of you used to the real-time action of those two games, this can take some getting used to. It did for me.

The action points are still there, but unlike those two games where they were kind of optional, in this game they are absolutely necessary. You need to use them for just about everything you do during combat. For that reason, the agility stat is incredibly important as it determines your action points amount.

Also important is the intelligence stat which has the ability to change both gameplay and story. Your intelligence stat determines how many skill points you are given to use each time you level up but it also affects your speech. Having a character with low intelligence really changes up the game and can make it near impossible to complete most sidequests. This was not used much at all in Fallout 3 but saw a good amount of use in New Vegas, though not quite as much as in this game.

Stats screen (Note: not my character).

To move from one place to another, you have a world map in your PIPBoy. The map starts out black and then lightens up as you travel to new locations, sort of like an RTS game. The amount of time it takes to get to certain locations depends on a number of factors such as the terrain. Some will slow down your character more than others. There is also a perk to increase your overall speed on the world map and to have a better chance of finding special locations and people in random encounters.

Oh yes, random encounters. There's no telling what you might run into as you go through the Wasteland. Around every 24 hours in game while traveling, an invisible dice is rolled which will determine whether there is a random encounter. These are things that you should keep yourself well-prepared for.

One of the things that made the original Fallout so groundbreaking was the immense amount of freedom that it gave. You can literally go anywhere and do anything from the get-go, but of course there are consequences to everything that you do. The freedom is also limited by the time limits put in place though it's a very generous time limit.

Finally, there are companions in the game. Some are temporary and some can stick around with you for the duration. First there's Dogmeat, a dog (duh), who you can "recruit". Dogmeat would make a return in Fallout 2 and 3 though whether it's the same Dogmeat, we'll never know *dramatic music* (though it's unlikely since Fallout 3 takes place over a century after this game). Unfortunately you can't control Dogmeat and he's a complete idiot meaning he'll probably die permanently soon.

Next there's Ian who is also a complete idiot though in a different way. While you can control him, he'll often shoot you in the back if your in the way of an enemy. The last two are Tycho and Katja who, while they also may shoot you in the back (yeah the friendly AI in this game is not all that good), have redeeming qualities that make them kind of worthwhile depending on the skills you have and what they have obviously.

At the end of the day, the freedom in Fallout is part of what made it such a big success, both critically and commercially. And it still makes it fun today. The gameplay has not aged as well as other cRPGs and can really take getting used to, but it's still great to go and explore the Wasteland.

GRAPHICS AND SOUND

As stated above, while Fallout may not have created the post-apocalyptic setting, it was definitely a big player in popularizing it. The desolate wasteland, the small villages, the feel of a lawless land, all with a mixture of both primitive technology and weapons and futuristic technology and weapons. It's all there and sets the stage for the future of the genre and the stage for the freedom the game allots you.

So yes, graphics are what you expect from a top-down perspective. But the way they built the world serves to color the setting through more than just technical graphics and polygons.

As for the conversation screens with important people, they still look pretty damn good today. Personally I had some colorization issues during this and during the cutscenes but I feel that's more a result of the game being so old.

Speaking of colorization, some of the creatures are creepy as hell when put against the right lighting. Those radscorpions scared the crap out of me when I saw them creeping towards my party.

On the voice acting front, you've of course got Ron Perlman giving the standard intro for the game, but there are also voice actors like Jim Cummings, Keith David, Clancy Brown, and others. They do their job well though they're really just there to give exposition and lead you to your next area, not provide emotion. As for the soundtrack, it fits the mood but personally it didn't stick out to me that much.

CONCLUSION

These days, Fallout can take a while to get used to. In my mind, the gameplay in Fallout has not aged as well as in other games like it from the time. However, if you can get past that, it's easy to see why Fallout was such a big success when it was released.

The freedom that it gives you was unparalleled and the world that it gave you to explore was unique and fun, full of interesting characters and smart black comedy. It's still a great romp and one that you should definitely check out given the chance, especially if you're a fan of cRPGs or want to see the roots of the Fallout series.