The Classic Flashback 10.18.08: Fallout
Posted by Ty Huston on 10.18.2008
411's Ty Huston takes a look back at the game that started it all - Fallout.
Greetings 411ites, my name is Ty Huston and you probably recognize me for posting news randomly here in at 411Games and my game reviews. For some time now, I've been contemplating writing a column for 411 with the focus being on older, classic games. Well, it's been a hell of a year for me in regards to work so my spare time has been increasingly limited and finding the time to actually play some older games and give a proper perspective on them has not exactly worked out. Fortunately, as the year winds down and with the economy in its current slump, I am finally finding the time to write this column. Since this is the first installment and considering that I suck at graphic design, I have no swanky banner, however, if one of you readers feels the urge to make one for me that'd be fantastic. For the time being, I'm going to consider this column to be semi-regular in that I'll write when I have time.
A Classic Flashback is a return to older games that I personally have enjoyed and have shaped the way I play games. This month is the release of the highly anticipated Fallout 3 from Bethesda Softworks, and to coincide with its release I have decided that my first two columns will be about the game's direct predecessors Fallout and Fallout 2. While there are games in the series such as 2001's Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel for the PC and Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel for the consoles, I have chosen to talk only about the original two games as they are directly related to the new game being released on October 28th.
Game: Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game
System: PC, Mac
Developer: Black Isle
Publisher: Interplay
Original Release Date: September 30, 1997
The Story
Fallout is a game based in an alternate timeline in the United States. According to the game, The Great War occurred on October 23, 2077. Prior to this war, another series of wars The Resource Wars took place across the globe upon which every country was fighting over whom had rights to what natural resources and the result ended with the United Nations disbanding and a plague tore through the United States. Canada was annexed into the U.S. as well. This all lead to The Great War, which lasted a whopping two hours, that essentially left the entire planet in shambles after nuclear warheads plunged into the Earth and destroying the majority of life forms. Few survivors were left; those who remained on the surface were plagued by intense amounts of radiation. A small contingent, however, were unscathed from the destruction on the Earth's surface. Those people were evacuated to underground facilities known as Vaults. Within these Vaults, these people could hypothetically survive forever as long as the Vault continued to be operational. Each Vault had its own air and water purification systems and the ability to create food to survive.
The game is centered on your character known as a Vault dweller. When the microchip which controls the water purification system malfunctions, it becomes the task of your character to leave the Vault and enter in the dangerous post-apocalyptic world to try and find a replacement chip and save the people of your Vault from impending doom as you have a mere 150 days to acquire such an item before they run out of water. Eventually, a much larger plan comes to light where it becomes the mission of your character to eliminate a massive army of mutants that are being produced at a rate that would severely threaten the safety of your Vault.
Gameplay
Fallout is a simple point and click game with a turn-based combat system. The character creation and advancement system is known as "S.P.E.C.I.A.L." It's an acronym for the statistics of the character; strength, perception, endurance, charisma, intelligence, agility and luck. These seven attributes are used to determine your success in regards to the skills and perks in the game.
Skills are simple categories divided up to be used when calculating the success of attempted actions. These skills are divided into three categories combat, active skills and passive skills. Combat skills are used only in combat sequences and depend on the weapon you're using. Active skills are those you choose to use for particular instances such as picking locks or healing. Passive skills are those which need no selection to be activated, such as speech and bartering.
Traits and perks are special qualities allowed to the character. These secondary abilities grant additional abilities not available anywhere else. They can add additional skill points, increase accuracy of combat, and some even have amusing qualities that don't have any direct impact on the game itself, but how you play it. The best example of that is the "Bloody Mess" trait, which forces your character to always see the worst way someone dies. Essentially, it just ensures that each time you kill someone or something, you get the goriest animation for that particular creature's death.
Combat is handled in a turn-based manner using a point system. Depending on your character's attributes, perks and traits, you receive a certain number of action points. Each action in combat will cost points to do: fire a gun, reload or even open the inventory screen to heal yourself. The game fortunately provides you with two equipped slots so you can freely swap between two items (such as a gun and a stimpack an injection of healing medicine) without using up any action points. While you can just use your weapons in the typical point and click manner, the game also features the V.A.T.S. system: Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System. This allows you to choose specific points on the enemy's body to attack and a successful attack has an increased chance of delivering a critical hit, causing more damage.
Audio
This game features some incredible voice talent. While the music is decent, the voice talent will simply blow you away. The prologue to the game is narrated by Ron Pearlman, best known as "The Beast" from the late 1980s television series Beauty and the Beast which featured Linda Hamilton and in recent years he portrayed Hellboy in both of those movies. His opening words "War. War never changes." is one of the greatest catchphrases of the Fallout series. Other voice talent includes Richard Dean Anderson (MacGyver & Stargate SG-1), David Warner (The Omen), Tony Shaloub (USA Network's Monk), Brad Garrett (Robert, Ray Romano's brother on Everybody Loves Raymond), Keith David (Platoon, Requiem for a Dream & Crash among others) and Richard Moll (Bull, the bailiff on the 1980s television series Night Court).
The game's designers originally wanted to use the song "I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire" by the Ink Spots as the game's theme song, but were unable to license the tune and instead used the song "Maybe" by the same group. The song was eventually licensed by Bethesda for the upcoming Fallout 3 game.
Development
The game was designed by Black Isle Studios for Interplay, with Tim Cain Leonard Boyarsky and Christopher Taylor being the primary design team. Cain has since worked on titles such as the Dungeons & Dragons game The Temple of Elemental Evil and Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines. Boyarsky also worked on Vampire with Cain, and is currently a lead world designer for Diablo III. Taylor later worked on Star Trek: Starfleet Command and was producer for Lord of the Rings: Middle-Earth Online before its demise. He is currently working for Interplay again, as part of the team for Project V13 an MMO based on the Fallout universe.
Pop Culture
One thing that is noticeable in the game is the references to pop culture. Due to the game essentially being set in an alternate timeline from the 1950s United States, a lot of 50s references fill the game along with artwork and level design using technology from those days such as vacuum tubes. Energy-based weapons are reminiscent of the Flash Gordon comic strip, illustrations bear a resemblance to those from the board game Monopolyand references are made to the films Mad Max, Godzilla and WarGames.
Conclusion
Fallout is an excellent game which has been universally acclaimed for its attention to detail, quality storyline and that fact that overall it is a fun game. There is no big surprise that a sequel was made as well as a handful of spin-offs, and an upcoming third installment to the series along with the heavily rumored MMORPG. I can definitely recommend the game to anyone who enjoys the roleplaying game genre, and anyone who is interested in some retro gaming. Fallout is a classic in the eyes of not only me, but some of the top media in the industry. PC Gamer listed it as #4 of their all-time games in 2001. IGN has listed it as their #5 top PC game of all time and #55 of their top 100 games in 2005 and #33 in 2007. Gamespot gave it "Game of the Year" honors and has it listed on their "Greatest Games of All Time."
While you can still find the game occasionally used online, there is no better place to play it than on GameTap. It's free and it's a great way to spend a weekend. Join me next week as we take a look back at the sequel to Fallout Fallout 2.
