Damnation & Redemption: A Look Back at Fallout

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Today, I'd like to have a look back on one of my favorite game franchises; Fallout.
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 Fallout Background Info

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On October 23rd, 2077, the Great War started and ended, lasting only two hours. No one knows who attacked first but every country responded at once, dropping nuclear warheads and bathing the world in atomic fire. Before the Great War, a nuclear holocaust was in plain sight and was fast approaching. Hundreds of large underground bunkers were built and called Vaults. The Vaults were built by Vault-Tec, a scientific corporation with a dark agenda hidden behind a friendly exterior, built them. The Vaults were really controlled scientific experiments, though they did provide shelter from the radioactive blasts. The Democratic nations and the Reds were at each other's throats and the world had reached its breaking point.

The United States had annexed Canada as China invaded Alaska. With quick timing, the US retook Alaska but had problems on the homefront. Soldiers were falling out of the ranks and riots were rampant. The soldiers that went AWOL were sent to military prisons while the President and his secretive military organization, the Enclave, retreated to an Oil Rig for safety. A plague breaks out as the F.E.V. (Forced Evolution Virus, a biological chemical that mutates genetic data in organisms) is leaked and the world goes up in fear.

At this time, Captain Roger Maxson and his men kill the researchers they were assigned to protect after finding out they were doing horrible experiments on military prisoners. Maxson and his men desert the army and move civilians into the research base they were guarding. After the bombs stopped falling, the research station was unharmed. Maxson led his men and their families to a fallout shelter in what is known as "the Exodus". The years passed and this group became known as the Brotherhood of Steel, an organization dedicated to retrieving technology and storing it. They didn't believe people were responsible enough to have it after the events of the Great War.

Life went on and the Wastleland remained. Vaults opened and people spilled out, those left outside that had survived set up settlements, and factions formed. In California, the NCR (New California Republic) formed and set up a democracy. In the Midwest, a faction based off the Roman Empire formed, known as Caesar's Legion. They gathered slaves and conquered all in their path. Splinter chapters of the Brotherhood of Steel showed up across the country and the Enclave spread across the United States. All manner of people roamed the wastes. Raiders and settlers, Vault dwellers and soldiers, traders and mercenaries. Though purged in atomic heat, the Wasteland held many new creatures, products of mutation from the radiation and the F.E.V. that lingered in the air. Men lived, fought, traded, worked, survived, and died under an uncaring sun.

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Fallout

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The place where it all began. Set in a world that mixes the 50's style, futuristic technology, and Cold War fear of nuclear conflict, Fallout came out in 1997 as a spiritual successor to the 1988 game Wasteland. Taking place around southern California in 2161, 84 years after a nuclear conflict known as The Great War, Fallout stars the "Vault Dweller" on his quest to find a water chip for his home within 150 days, yet the game has a 500 day time limit. His home happens to be number 13 of the Vaults. Fallout brought something new to the RPG table, the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. (Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility, Luck) system. Your base S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats reflect the skills you may have and your interactions with the world. The game was a new experience, based on exploration and time managing. It was fun and definitely not forgettable.

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Fallout 2

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The sequel to Fallout, Fallout 2 brought improvement to the series. It brought many more items, improved AI, better companions, a more expansive story and world, karma, and large scale effect of player's actions. You start in the town of Arroyo, started by the Vault Dweller in Oregon. As the grandchild of the Vault Dweller, you play the "Chosen One", chosen to find the Garden of Eden Creation Kit (G.E.C.K.) to help rebuild the town to ideal conditions. During this, the Enclave has reared its head for the first time since the Great War and has surpassed the Brotherhood of Steel in technological sophistication. You are given your grandparent's Vault suit, Pip-Boy, a flask, and some cash as you set off. As you play, you begin to uncover the Enclave's sinister plots and deeds and you take it upon yourself to fight them. Fallout 2 contained some silly content, but also came with much more than Fallout and came without that timed quest. For that, Fallout 2 was a great experience.

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Fallout 3

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The third game in the series and first developed by Bethesda, Fallout 3 continued Fallout's original style. Often characterized as "Oblivion with guns", this comes from the fact it uses the same engine and gameplay mechanics as Bethesda's fourth Elder Scrolls title. The game brought Fallout into the third dimension and was a dramatic change. The point-and-click system and turn based combat were replaced by an over-the-shoulder view and real time fighting. The auto-travel map was replaced by a seamless exterior world. The VATS (Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System) introduces itself as a throwback to the old combat style of the previous two games. It freezes time and allows you to auto-aim at body parts, giving you a certain chance to hit or miss. The game also moves to the East coast in the Capital Wasteland, Washington D.C. As a survivor from Vault 101, you go amongst the world in search of your father and then get wrapped up in much more than anticipated. This game was a welcome change of pace, combing Fallout with the system of Oblivion, another of my favorite game series.

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Fallout: New Vegas
 
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The second Bethesda published Fallout game was developed by Obsidian Entertainment and was heavier on inspiration from Fallout 2. With a much larger game complete with many more items, factions, and quests, it is easy to see how it draws from Fallout 2 (especially with the "Wild Wasteland" perk that makes events happen that tend to be pop-culture references, much like Fallout 2's random encounters.) Featuring the power struggle between the NCR and Caesar's Legion, you play as a simple courier that was in the wrong place at the wrong time. A quest for revenge becomes a quest for power as you determine the fate of post-apocalyptic Las Vegas. To me, this is the best Fallout game yet. It didn't have the drive of Fallout, the open-endedness of Fallout 2, or the tone of Fallout 3, yet it brought something else. It combined the best of all the games into an outstanding title and my choice Bethesda game. Good show, Fallout: New Vegas, good show.

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Closing

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Wait, aren't you going to do Tactics and Brotherhood of Steel? No. Though I do like the Midwestern Brotherhood of Steel, I never played Tactics. Also let's just pretend Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel doesn't exist. Like it was a bad dream. In fact, its not even canon so to hell with it. Bad game anyway. So, in conclusion, I thank Fallout for its contributions not only to RPGs as an industry, but its contributions to me. It expanded my horizons in a genre sense and a creative sense. Oh what the world would be like without Fallout... nothing but fantasy RPGs and that's no fun. Need a little purgation to have a good time. Well, that's it for me. Until next time folks. See you in the wastes.

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