What made Fallout 1 & 2 so good?
December 4th 2008 00:56
GameSetWatch has an article this week on the design brilliance of the original Fallout games, which are held to high esteem by gamers everywhere.
I loved them when they came out, and I recently played them again, enjoying the incredible quality built into the game.
One of the best points is that the game lets you make your own choices, good or bad. For example, you can solve quests by going in and killing everyone, then taking what you need, but your reputation will reflect that, and other people will be less likely to talk to you.
In contrast, you can try to talk your way into getting things, or find sneaky backdoor routes. There's so much depth built into the game that it astounds me at every turn.
The author of the article notes that he tried to get into a city, and was given a day pass. Once inside, he spoke rudely to an official, had his pass revoked and was kicked out... unfortunately, he needed information from that city, and was now unable to complete that quest.
"However, in Fallout, while the consequence of making my life more difficult was apparent, the game wasn't over. There were other sources that had the same information elsewhere. I just had to explore some other cities to find them. I had to find an alternate path."
The point of the article is that the Fallout universe resembles real life: if you make bad choices, the world reflects that, and the real world doesn't give you all the information up front.
Playing an evil character doesn't mean that the game treats you poorly, either. There are some characters in the game that will respect you for being a bastard, and perhaps certain factions will side with you based on how you disrespect their enemies. It's a very lifelike game, despite the old graphics.
"All of this makes the world of Fallout feel bigger and richer than it really is. It doesn't end up feeling strictly like a sequence of designer-created events. It feels like a world that responds to you, that lets you be the person you want to be, and gives you a chance no matter what."
*this image is from RPGamer
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