Posted June 29, 2009
Fallout 2 is much like it's predecessor, Fallout. Using an unmodified engine from Fallout 1, there are no new shiny features. But that doesn't mean the game hasn't improved at all. This is the only game that I have stayed up all night playing, and for good reason. The total amount of control you have over your character, and the ways to develop him/her are astoundingly numerous.
The Karma system serves it's purpose well, affecting how people interact with you, and allowing you to further pursue the path of good or evil. There are a multitude of towns, all with their own characters, issues, and storylines. It would take dozens of hours to complete all of the side-quests in each town. Which vary greatly, from defending crops from mutant rodents, all the way to eliminating a rival religious sect.
Combat is challenging and fun, although you will many times find it repetitive, because the VATS system allows you to aim for the eyes, which has an extra high % to critical hit. This makes combat somewhat monotonous, but when you're toasting aliens with flamethrowers and headshotting Enclave soldiers with sniper rifles, you'll find it hard to complain.
The storyline is rather unique, and has an interesting twist at the end, although the boss battle leaves something to be desired. I've yet to play Fallout 3, so I'm unsure whether the ending comes into play at all in the third game, but all I am sure of is that the ending was satisfying.
As in the first game, all of your achievements are listed in the end movie. If you kill the head Slaver, it gets a mention. If you clear a town storyline, it's mentioned. If you eradicate a certain species, it gets mentioned. All of this leads to the feeling that your achievements have been noticed, and rewarded.
At the end, you enter a sandbox mode, and can hunt for humorous encounters, like attacking or defending a spammer from malicious forum-goers. All of this adds to the humorous side of the apocalypse, and adds further to what is definitely a classic RPG.
The Karma system serves it's purpose well, affecting how people interact with you, and allowing you to further pursue the path of good or evil. There are a multitude of towns, all with their own characters, issues, and storylines. It would take dozens of hours to complete all of the side-quests in each town. Which vary greatly, from defending crops from mutant rodents, all the way to eliminating a rival religious sect.
Combat is challenging and fun, although you will many times find it repetitive, because the VATS system allows you to aim for the eyes, which has an extra high % to critical hit. This makes combat somewhat monotonous, but when you're toasting aliens with flamethrowers and headshotting Enclave soldiers with sniper rifles, you'll find it hard to complain.
The storyline is rather unique, and has an interesting twist at the end, although the boss battle leaves something to be desired. I've yet to play Fallout 3, so I'm unsure whether the ending comes into play at all in the third game, but all I am sure of is that the ending was satisfying.
As in the first game, all of your achievements are listed in the end movie. If you kill the head Slaver, it gets a mention. If you clear a town storyline, it's mentioned. If you eradicate a certain species, it gets mentioned. All of this leads to the feeling that your achievements have been noticed, and rewarded.
At the end, you enter a sandbox mode, and can hunt for humorous encounters, like attacking or defending a spammer from malicious forum-goers. All of this adds to the humorous side of the apocalypse, and adds further to what is definitely a classic RPG.