What began with Fallout 1 on September 30, 1997, has now become one of the most famous video game series ever. How this came about and what development the Fallout series has gone through over the years, I would like to clarify here.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 Fallout 3
2 Fallout New Vegas
3 Fallout 4 – The Negative
4th Fallout 4 – The Positive
5 The new fallout, a downgrade?
The Fallout franchise has a lot of fans. Among other things, I am one of them. Although I originally started with Fallout 3 and not one of the classics Fallout 1 & 2, I still developed a burning passion for the games. Despite rather disappointing developments in recent years, I am not alone. The Fallout community is still active and continuously busy not to let the Fallout games fall into the spirit of the times.
FALLOUT 3
There was a change between Fallout 2 and Fallout 3. Not only was the Fallout franchise sold to the well-known developer studio Bethesda, the entire game changed. From an extremely role-play heavy, turn-based 2D game, Fallout suddenly became an action RPG with real time combat and a completely different appearance.
The graphics of the Fallout series have always been a bit inferior to contemporary games, but Fallout 3 brought its very own charm to the Capitol Wasteland . The former capital of the USA is in ruins, the atmosphere is gloomy and melancholy. Everywhere you look, destruction and misery. The world of Fallout 3 is captivating, you get an insight into a time after the war, a world that is in ruins.
The story of Fallout 3 is eclectic and iconic in its own right. Long-term fans of the series are already complaining about the loss of beloved elements from the series’ predecessors, but Fallout 3 can still convince with its story.
The protagonist – you – is born in the Vault and grows up there with his father, who by the way is spoken by Liam Neeson. But suddenly panic breaks out because your father is nowhere to be found. He left the vault. An act that should actually be impossible. You follow your father through the now open Vault doors to freedom. But what now? Where is your father and why did he leave the vault in the first place? In your search for answers, you will encounter all sorts of different factions and ideologies.
Some of these factions are already known from the predecessors, Fallout 1 and Fallout 2. These include the Brotherhood of Steel and the Super Mutants, who also play a role in Fallout 3. The end of the game depends entirely on your decisions.
FALLOUT NEW VEGAS
Fallout New Vegas is arguably the favorite among hardcore fans of the Fallout games . Developed by Obsidian Entertainment and released in 2010, the game is still making waves today. Many fans long for another fallout developed by Obsidian. Especially against the backdrop of the last titles, which left the role-playing aspect of the series more and more behind, these requests are getting louder.
The story of Fallout New Vegas takes place in the Mohave Desert and New Vegas. You start the game as a courier who was shot in the head. You still do not understand why an attempt was made to take your life, but soon you find yourself in the middle of a great conspiracy. It’s about ruling the Strip, the most attractive part of all of New Vegas.
Currently this is firmly in the hands of Mister House, but revolution and conspiracy are looming. In New Vegas you will meet Mister House, the Brotherhood of Steel and the New California Republic (NCR) as well as factions such as Caesar’s Legion and the supporters of the Apocalypse. It’s up to you to decide which faction shares your values and which one you want to take over New Vegas with. The possibilities seem almost endless here, from dictatorship to anarchy.
Because of the strong story and the sophisticated story elements, the game has found numerous fans. Many followers of the Fallout series are of the opinion that Bethesda is increasingly neglecting the role-playing element, which was in the foreground from the beginning. Especially since the release of Fallout 4, this is a point that is often criticized.
FALLOUT 4 – THE NEGATIVE
Fallout 4 is the latest Fallout game that I want to focus on in this review. The game was released on November 10, 2015, and with more than 1,200 hours of play, I’ve seen every little detail in Fallout 4 at least once.
For comparison: in both Fallout 3 and New Vegas, I earned almost every ending. Still, I barely accumulated half as many hours of play in both games combined as in Fallout 4. How can that be? An important aspect here is the open end of Fallout 4. In Fallout 3 and New Vegas, the game ends as soon as an end is reached. Then you can start a new game. Fallout 4 doesn’t end after the final quest . So you can continue playing a game forever, even if every quest in the game has already been completed.
This brings me to one of the biggest criticisms many fans have of Fallout 4. The game does contain RPG aspects , but the open ending makes it almost never feel as if the player’s choices really make a difference. Instead, the RPG feels much more directed and calculated compared to previous games. Decisions like the simplification of the dialogue system and repetitive quests only reinforce this impression.
FALLOUT 4 – THE POSITIVE
But not everything is worse about Fallout 4 than about its predecessors. For example, Fallout introduces a completely new construction system into the game that offers an incredible amount of potential for creative development. Once you start expanding a settlement, a few hours can quickly pass before you run out of resources. The weapon and combat system is also a lot better and almost on the level of FPS games. This saves a whole lot of frustration and makes it much more fun to experiment with the different weapons in the game.
However, the story of Fallout 4 is pretty weak compared to previous games. Not least because few players can identify with the role of the concerned parent. For example, it is difficult for me to slip into the role of a worried mother when I really only want to kill mutants with a Vertibird. At this point I can recommend the expansions, especially Far Harbor, to everyone. Far Harbor convinces with an exciting story, interesting factions and a whole new game experience.
THE NEW FALLOUT, A DOWNGRADE?
Long-established fans of the Fallout games often complain about the new Fallout under Bethesda. But is the new Fallout really that much worse than the original games were?
My personal answer to this question is no. The new look of the series gives a wide variety of new players access to the world of Fallout. In my opinion, this is never a bad thing. We should be happy that Fallout still has a loyal and growing fan base around it, because that’s the only way we can hope for improvements in future games.
In general, like any other form of entertainment media, video games are incredibly subjective. What gives some great joy may disappoint and bore others. So even if some long-term fan is not satisfied with the newer games, they definitely have a right to exist. Because no matter how good the role-playing game in the classic Fallout games was, nobody can deny that video games age badly and that innovation is necessary for every game series if it is to continue in the future.
