Fallout: Brutal, Unforgiving, and Unforgettable

By NICK McCOY

Tiger Media Network

When it comes to the world of RPGs, the “Fallout” series remains one of the most beloved and popular franchises. With its retrofuturistic, 1950s-inspired aesthetic, deep character customization, and brilliantly crafted stories, it stands up there as one of the best role-playing game series of all time. 

However, nowadays, most people associate the franchise with Bethesda, who really propelled the series into superstardom with the release of “Fallout 3” in 2008, critically acclaimed for its expansive world and numerous quests. They would also strike gold with the Obsidian Entertainment developed “Fallout: New Vegas,” widely considered the best in the series. Future games failed to capture the same amount of acclaim, but the series nevertheless maintained its overall appeal.  But the Bethesda games wouldn’t exist without the masterful minds at Interplay Productions who, in 1997, released the very first “Fallout” for personal computers. Critically acclaimed for its wholly unique setting, incredibly deep customization and well-crafted narrative, it still stands as one of the defining titles of the role-playing genre. 

Now, “Fallout” is certainly not a game for everyone, and most modern Bethesda fans probably won’t make it past 10 minutes. That being said, any self-proclaimed RPG fan should absolutely give the original “Fallout” a shot. Featuring a fantastic story and characters, unparalleled atmosphere, some of the best character customization, and nearly endless ways to play, “Fallout” is a masterpiece in role-playing design through and through. Even with its unforgiving difficulty curve and more dated elements, “Fallout” provides an experience that few RPGs can. 

Release and additional info: 

• Released on October 10, 1997, exclusively for PCs, with releases for different operating systems following. 
• Developed and produced by Interplay Productions directed by Tim Cain, being a spiritual successor to their 1988 game “Wasteland”. 
• Inspired by 1950s culture and Atomic Age technology and aesthetics, as well as movies such as “Mad Max”. 
• Followed by “Fallout 2” in 1998, with the “Fallout” license later being acquired by Bethesda Softworks.

“Fallout” takes place on a post-apocalyptic Earth in the year 2161, primarily in Southern California, after a nuclear war in 2077 reduced the entire world into a barren, irradiated wasteland. Players assume control of the “Vault Dweller,” a citizen of Vault 13, one of many underground Vaults designed by the company Vault Tec to shield large groups of people from nuclear radiation. The game starts as the Vault’s Overseer, its leader and head ambassador, sends the Dweller out into the Wasteland in search of a new control chip for the Vault’s water supply. While they are successful in their mission, they also discover the existence of the Unity, an army of hulking beings known as Super Mutants, led by the mysterious Master, posing a significant threat to the wasteland and the Vault due to their possession of the Forced Evolutionary Virus (FEV), an artificial mutagen responsible for the creation of the mutants. The Vault Dweller’s journey takes them across numerous settlements and against different factions, undergoing various quests and ultimately, determining the Wasteland and their people’s fates by dealing with the Master and his army. 

“Fallout”’s main quest and story might honestly be one of the best narratives of any RPG out there. This is thanks in large part to how expertly crafted the characters and quests are. The various settlements and wastelanders you meet genuinely feel like they’re just trying to get by in the post-nuclear world in their own ways, adding so much to the atmosphere. Even characters who you meet briefly, such as Ghoul Leader Set, crime lord Decker, down-on-his-luck mutant Harold and Junktown Sheriff Killian Darkwater, have so much personality and charm that they stick with you well after you move on. 

That’s not even to speak of the Master, who is genuinely one of the best-designed and well-written antagonists in the “Fallout” series and in RPGs, period. The journey of the Vault Dweller is one you truly feel invested in, complete with an ending that sticks with you long after you turn the game off. The journey of the Vault Dweller is also made more enjoyable by the Companions you can recruit. These guys not only make combat a bit easier, they’re also characters you can’t help but feel attached to throughout your journey. Plus, this is the game that introduced the world to Dogmeat, so it already has points in that regard. Your other companions include former Caravan guard Ian, Desert Ranger Tycho, and scrappy scavenger Katja, all of whom are great to have by your side. 

Truly, the atmosphere is one of “Fallout”’s greatest strengths. While future games in the series would maintain a level of dark comedy throughout, the first game really has none of that. Instead, it maintains a desolate, almost horror vibe the entire time, really showing just how devastating a nuclear holocaust would be. This is only amplified by a fantastic ambient soundtrack composed by Mark Morgan, managing to make an act as innocent as talking to NPCs or exploring the wasteland feel uneasy and mysterious. The settlements the Vault Dweller comes across also do a lot for the game’s tone, each carrying its own unique aesthetic and feel. For example, Junktown is a Wild-West-like town guarded by walls over scrap metal, while The Hub is the closest thing to a real, functioning city that is present in the wastes. The state of the cities, and the surrounding deserts are all contrasted by the clean, pristine white walls of Vault 13. The various factions, such as the isolated and heavily armored Brotherhood of Steel, the various Caravan trading companies, and the pacifistic Followers of the Apocalypse also help add plenty of life. Other locations include Necropolis, a large city for irradiated people known as Ghouls, the remains of Los Angeles now called the Boneyard, and the Cathedral that serves as Unity’s secret base. All of these places come together to make “Fallout” a truly unforgettable journey. 

Mechanically, the first “Fallout” is also very different from Bethesda’s future entries. For starters, the game is entirely played from an isometric, top-down perspective, with maps being laid out in a grid-like manner. Movement and interaction are controlled through a point-and-click interface, with keyboard control being heavily limited aside from a few hotkeys. Traveling from different settlements is done through a map screen, rather than having a fully explorable world. Aside from random encounters, which range from hostile groups, merchants or pop culture references, the vast desert between each city and town is entirely devoid of life or anything of value. Combat is also entirely turn-based, with the character’s “Action points” dictating how much they have done during their turn, from attacking, moving, or opening their inventory. All of it definitely takes some getting used to, but once that happens, it’s a very satisfying system that feels surprisingly natural. 

Many staples of “Fallout” were introduced with the first title. The now iconic S.P.E.C.I.A.L system, arguably one of the greatest customization systems ever created, makes its debut here. This allows players to put into the Vault Dweller’s Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility and Luck. Even stat has a drastic effect on gameplay, from how many items the player can carry, how much damage they can take, how accurate they are in combat, the amount of XP they earn, their options in dialogue, how many action points they have, and so on. Players can also choose from various individual skills, from small and big guns, lock picking, speech, sneak, and so on. Putting points into a particular can drastically affect how you play the game, whether you want to be a sneak thief or an absolute beast in combat. Various perks and traits can also be unlocked, which grants benefits such as extra Action Points, better chances of critical hits, and much more. 

The best aspect of “Fallout’s” gameplay by far is just how many options the player has. Basically every single encounter present here can be dealt with in a number of ways, and it’s entirely up to the player’s choice. You can, of course, choose to deal with situations with violence, or you can go for a diplomatic approach. There’s a reason the Speech skill has become such an iconic part of the series, as it opens up more dialogue options and can lead to some truly unique encounters. You can also go the sneaky route, choosing to stealthily avoid your enemies and complete your objective that way. A perfect example of all of this is the final encounter with the Master. You can kill him in a pretty difficult boss fight, sneak underneath his lair and activate a bomb without even seeing him, or talk him out of his plans. The last option, in particular, leads to a genuinely gut-wrenching speech and shows that, despite his grotesque appearance, the Master’s human side is more than intact. This level of freedom really makes “Fallout” special, and adds endless replayability. 

Now, being a game released in 1997, there are several aspects of “Fallout” that will seem dated and frustrating. Make no mistake, this game can be unbelievably hard, for a number of reasons. For starters, combat, especially in the early game, feels stacked heavily against you. The first time you fight a group of mutated scorpions or a band of raiders, you’ll get killed almost immediately. And if you even think about fighting Super Mutants or ridiculously powerful enemies like Deathclaws without decent armor and a good party, you’ve got another thing coming. As you move through the game, this becomes admittedly less of an issue, as you acquire better equipment, and your companions definitely help turn the tides. That being said, they are a double-edged sword; Dogmeat and Katja are, unfortunately basically useless in combat settings, and while Ian and Tycho certainly help, they also have a nasty habit of hitting each other, and hitting you, which is always fun. 

Admittedly, a lot of the difficulty of “Fallout” comes from its age. While it has aged pretty well all things considered, and works nearly perfectly on modern systems, there are several hurdles you must overcome due to it being a 90s RPG. For starters, there is no tutorial or any kind of guide for the player; It’s one of those games that throws you to the wolves right out of the gate. I have vivid memories of dying to cave rats, the weakest enemy in the entire game, because I didn’t even know how to attack. Even when you do learn the controls, they are undeniably clunky; You have to right-click to cycle through moving, interacting, and attacking, and while you can get used to it, it definitely takes a while. Funnily enough, however, the bartering system is the one that is affected the worst. 

Basically, buying things in game with caps, the series now iconic currency, is a major pain. In future “Fallout” titles, buying a new weapon, armor, or item was as simple as clicking on what you wanted, and if you had the caps, it was yours. In the very first “Fallout”, you have to physically select how many caps you want to trade for a specific item. This is also clunky and unintuitive on its own, but it gets worse; The limit for the number of caps you can set down is 999. If the item you want to buy is above 2000 caps, “Fallout” turns from an RPG to a math game, where you have to count out exactly how many caps you want to put down without screwing yourself out of a good deal. The worst part of all of this is the fact that you have to manually increase the number of caps, with no way to type out or quickly select the exact number of caps you want. It’s a genuinely horribly designed system, and one that “Fallout 2” would significantly improve. 

However, despite these hiccups, I can confidently say that the first “Fallout” is a masterpiece, or at the very least, as close to one as a game can get. It features an excellent world, unique and interesting characters, and some of the finest, most in-depth RPG gameplay you can ask for. Even if its age shows in some ways, “Fallout” stands as one of the best in the genre, and an absolute classic from the era of 90s RPGs. Whether you’re a hardcore RPG fan or just want to see where the series started, I can’t recommend the first “Fallout” enough. 

Nick McCoy is a senior at Fort Hays State University, studying digital media and journalism. An avid gamer and music listener, he reviews video games and songs and hosts the radio show “The Understanding of Nick” for KFHS.