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Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Return to the Wastelands

One of my favourite computer roleplaying games is Fallout 2. Set in an alternate universe in which atomic war erupted in the 1950s, the player takes on the role of a survivor struggling to survive in the resulting wastelands. (The first Fallout has a similar theme, but I've never played that one.) More than a simple shoot-em-up, the game presented the player with moral choices all along the way, with supporting characters you could love or loathe, fascinating career options, challenging puzzles, and a real sense of poignancy. This was a fallen world, one that may have turned out better than our own if not for the nuclear holocaust. Music by the Ink Spots and incredible retro design added incredible depth and versimilitude to the game's atmosphere. It was a great place for a twentysomething bachelor with a love of SF and its post-apocalyptic subgenre to while away the hours.

Even though it's over a year away, I'm eagerly anticipating Fallout 3. From the looks of the official website, the developers are trying to keep the look and feel of the original games. I hope they succeed.

7 comments:

Sean Woods said...

Oddly enough, I've been playing the first "Fallout" lately. It is just as amazing as its predecessor and sequel.

Too bad the parent company (Interplay, a classic game designer) has had nothing but legal troubles lately.

Sob.

Sean Woods said...

By "legal" troubles, I actually meant "financial" troubles (which usually do lead to legal troubles).

Sean Woods - OUT.

Sean Woods said...

One more post about Interplay.

I believe they kept the MMORG rights to Fallout, even though they sold the rest of the series to Bethesda.

AllanX said...

I played Fallout three times before finally taking the time to finish it properly about five years ago. I love that game.

Sadly, I never finished Fallout 2, although I've heard Earl proclaim his love for it on several occasions.

Liam J. said...

I don't think I've played Fallout but I love Interplay games. I think they're the ones that came out with the Flashback game and the one that was just like it whose name I cannot remember.

Anonymous said...

"Out of this World" was the other game, was it not?

AllanX said...

As Sean mentioned, Fallout 3 is in the hands of the guys who make the Elder Scrolls games, such as Oblivion. I have high hopes. Oblivion has some game balance issues, but it has some good AI -- their so-called Radiant AI. Anyways, Fallout 3 should look great.