Posted April 17, 2010
War. War never changes.
Four words that have probably already changed the life of every people reading this review, assuming you did play Fallout yet. Fallout has came to our screens in the end of the year 1997, thanks to the hard work of Black Isle Studio : yet after one decade it is still probably the best RPG of all times.
I discovered Fallout when I was 8 years old : the game were packed with the new computer of my father, with other old-school classics (Blade Runner, Total Annihilation...). But it just didn't hit me. Then came a day, 3 years later : I was bored. So I installed back Fallout, hoping to spend a few hours on it.
Well I did spend a few hours. Actually I must have spent hundreds of hours playing Fallout : while I was not expecting anything from the game, it punched me right onto the face and made me see stars everywhere.
Let me explain why is that.
Fallout happens one century after the 3rd world war, in a post-apocalyptic universe which is quite a paradox : even if we're in the future and the technology is far more advanced than ours, everything looks retro and nostalgic. Cars, computer, ads, everything reminds us of that glorious time, when Louis Armstrong was singing "A Kiss to Build a Dream On".
While most of the people died during the war, your family managed to hide in a nuclear vault, the Vault 13. But here begins the troubles : you're vault needs a new water purification chip, and don't have any way to build another one. Someone has to go outside the vault and search for another chip... and guess what ! YOU will !
And that's how begin the incredible story of the vault inhabitant. A story that you, as a player, will write from the beginning to the end. Fallout is an absolute non-linear game : every choice you make has an influence on the game... and there's a HUGE amount of choice to be made.
That is probably what makes Fallout such an addictive game : that old fashioned ambiance, the way the player can truly feel himself in the character he incarnates.
However this is only the merged part of the iceberg : Fallout is much much more than that. It's also and mostly an incredible scenario that you will discover - or not, your choices, your curiosity and your temerity will lead you to know or not to know some parts of the Fallout's world history, it's full of characters that you will never be able to forget, and made of a huge amount of words : documents, conversations... a lot to read and to think about : nothing is meaningless in Fallout.
And Black Isle Studio did very well used the power of words : in that Black Isle made of this video game more than just a game.
Fallout is art.
Deep, intelligent, touching, sarcastic : as a book, a painting, a music, Fallout will mark your mind for ever. It will makes you think about humanity, about the story of nuclear and what does it proved about human kind. It will makes you laugh using a very well dosed amount of sarcasms...
To end it up, it will makes you love the truthfulness of Fallout's world.
I know I didn't tell everything about Fallout, but that would be impossible : Fallout is far too big for that. However, I hope I managed to share the passion I feel for that game. And I hope you'll download it, play it and love it as much as I do.
N.B.: If you have played Fallout 3, beware : Fallout 3 has nothing in common with Fallout other than the name. They are two totally different games, Fallout 3 being more of a child-oriented game it features less violent contents, simplest ideas and dialogues. It aims, but fail at being as deep and clever than Fallout.
Four words that have probably already changed the life of every people reading this review, assuming you did play Fallout yet. Fallout has came to our screens in the end of the year 1997, thanks to the hard work of Black Isle Studio : yet after one decade it is still probably the best RPG of all times.
I discovered Fallout when I was 8 years old : the game were packed with the new computer of my father, with other old-school classics (Blade Runner, Total Annihilation...). But it just didn't hit me. Then came a day, 3 years later : I was bored. So I installed back Fallout, hoping to spend a few hours on it.
Well I did spend a few hours. Actually I must have spent hundreds of hours playing Fallout : while I was not expecting anything from the game, it punched me right onto the face and made me see stars everywhere.
Let me explain why is that.
Fallout happens one century after the 3rd world war, in a post-apocalyptic universe which is quite a paradox : even if we're in the future and the technology is far more advanced than ours, everything looks retro and nostalgic. Cars, computer, ads, everything reminds us of that glorious time, when Louis Armstrong was singing "A Kiss to Build a Dream On".
While most of the people died during the war, your family managed to hide in a nuclear vault, the Vault 13. But here begins the troubles : you're vault needs a new water purification chip, and don't have any way to build another one. Someone has to go outside the vault and search for another chip... and guess what ! YOU will !
And that's how begin the incredible story of the vault inhabitant. A story that you, as a player, will write from the beginning to the end. Fallout is an absolute non-linear game : every choice you make has an influence on the game... and there's a HUGE amount of choice to be made.
That is probably what makes Fallout such an addictive game : that old fashioned ambiance, the way the player can truly feel himself in the character he incarnates.
However this is only the merged part of the iceberg : Fallout is much much more than that. It's also and mostly an incredible scenario that you will discover - or not, your choices, your curiosity and your temerity will lead you to know or not to know some parts of the Fallout's world history, it's full of characters that you will never be able to forget, and made of a huge amount of words : documents, conversations... a lot to read and to think about : nothing is meaningless in Fallout.
And Black Isle Studio did very well used the power of words : in that Black Isle made of this video game more than just a game.
Fallout is art.
Deep, intelligent, touching, sarcastic : as a book, a painting, a music, Fallout will mark your mind for ever. It will makes you think about humanity, about the story of nuclear and what does it proved about human kind. It will makes you laugh using a very well dosed amount of sarcasms...
To end it up, it will makes you love the truthfulness of Fallout's world.
I know I didn't tell everything about Fallout, but that would be impossible : Fallout is far too big for that. However, I hope I managed to share the passion I feel for that game. And I hope you'll download it, play it and love it as much as I do.
N.B.: If you have played Fallout 3, beware : Fallout 3 has nothing in common with Fallout other than the name. They are two totally different games, Fallout 3 being more of a child-oriented game it features less violent contents, simplest ideas and dialogues. It aims, but fail at being as deep and clever than Fallout.