So my first foray into CRPGs was Fallout 1. I rather enjoyed the dark humor, excellent characters, and the SPECIAL system just roxors my soxors. Got Fallout 2 the day it came out, and, though it wasn't as good as the first (as with many sequels), it is probably my favorite game to just randomly play. I'm sure it is a taboo to talk about Fallout on a TES fan-board (I know you get insta-banned on Bethsoft's board), but since they've got the rights for FO3, I see no problems posting openly about it.

I prefer Fallout 1 & 2 over games such as Oblivion and Morrowind (though I play and enjoy them as well) because I would rather the character's stats control the outcomes of certain actions such as battles, barter/trade, and even basic dialogue trees. In FO, your character was actually controlled by stats and not your ability to click a mouse on a target. Plus, other than Wasteland, FO was and is still one of the few series of games in the Post-apocalyptic genre.

I loved the setting with the retro-futuristic feel. Plus, the outcomes for the game are different depending on the quests you've completed. Your actions in the game had real consequences. If you went into each town with guns/hammers/crowbars/powerfists ablaze, the future of that town was affected. If you completed the quests (either talking your way through them, or killing whomever needed a good killing) your karma grew and the outcomes for the areas changed accordingly. I felt immersed which is something few CRPGs leave me feeling. The closest I've come to feeling like I played a vital role in an RPG since Fallout 1 & 2 was with the Gothic series. Gothic 1, especially. Gothic 2 kind of left me with a "meh" feeling.

Fallout 2 is probably my favourite game. The sheer amount of choice you had in what you did and where you went, coupled with the fact that your actions had real consequences, was a massive aid to immersion.

The cheeky sense of humour was good as well for creating an atmosphere that fits - the item descriptions in particular were very fitting and the special dialogue created for stupid characters was great.

It wasn't a game like Oblivion though. Oblivion, although a great first person RPG, lacks the sheer scope for different decisions that made Fallout so entertaining and replayable.

I disagree with extremeryno that the fallout series wasn't about clicking - there was a fair amount of careful movement and gunnery needed to win through - but its combat system, with its emphasis on tactics, was just as enjoyable as Oblivion's more action-orientated approach.

I give Fallout 2 5 stars.

I agree with u bro....Fallout 2 is still the best RPG game...maybe FO3 will available this years...???

Yeah, yeah, I know, this thread's been dead for a long time, but I just stumbled onto it.
Fallout....love that game. The intro song for FO was "A Kiss To Build A Dream On" sung by Louis Armstrong. Play it once in awhile and it makes me think of the game.
I get PCGamer magazine, and read that Fallout 3 is being worked on.....using the Oblivion engine. Can't remember if it's due for release late this year or early next year.

It's best to ask a mod or admin about an old thread, give them a sample post and ask if it violates the 'thread necromancy' rule, then if you get the green light, mention in your post that you got permission.

But on topic of this, considering Bethseda got the FO liscens, I see a rather bleak future for the series.

Oblivion was a very large disappointment (on the whole) and if they make FO 3 like Oblivion, they'll kill the series and piss off many retro gamers who still love that series (I'm one of them).

I recently saw fallout 2 for PC, but wasn't sure if it would work on windows XP. Now though, I wish I'd gotten it, instead of this crappy game "The Crystal Key", a.k.a the worst game in the history of gaming. It doesn't even work!

Oh, and xenxander, I agree completely. Oblivions plot was terrible.

I remember Wasteland!!!! Same game engine as Bard's Tale I/II/II, which for those days, was a fun way to play, and during combat, if you needed to get up, and attend to something, you were able to with nary a problem. I thought it was interesting the way they made Russian ammo and weaponry more available than American stuff.
I finished Fallout 1, took a while. Never did finish 2, though. Got partway through the game, had to slick the drive due to Windows corrupting, and just never got back to it.

very nice!

Ohhh... They are so great...

How Bethesda will succed in making Fallout 3 I don't know but if there were any developers I would trust for this job it would be them :>

Vif...

I don't know. Oblivion was certainly less RPG and more action than Morrowind (same goes for Daggerfall->Morrowind actually), and was rather dumbed down to appeal to the masses. I wouldn't want this to happen to Fallout 3. An 'Oblivion with guns' wouldn't be a good sequel.

At one point I thought Bethseda was "the man for the job" for Fallout 3. Even when Oblivion first came out, I was blinded by the shiny s--- and thought, "excellent game!".

Oblivion is still a 'good' game but it isn't my taste anymore. As my views have changed, I wonder if they will botch up FO3 or 'stick to its roots'.

I'm a skeptic now, instead of a romantic; amazing how one game, over the course of two years, can do that to a person.

Ah, I remember FA1, my friend had it... but we never got far in the game... maybe I should find the 1st and 2nd games and play through them in time for FA3?

One nice thing about Fallout is that it was one of, if not the, first non-linear games. It was so much fun to go from point A to point Q or maybe point H instead of to point B then to C. You might get your butt kicked, but you could still go there. Also, there was a timing thing. If you made a certain purchase as part of the Vault 13 water problem, it started a timer and if you didn't complete the main quest before the timer ran out, Vault 13 was over-run and everybody was killed. The game Starflight also had a similar timer thing in it. Not so for most games. The events and AIs will wait for you. Case in point: The Grey Fox was what I considered a bit rude to my PC, so I let his sorry arse sit in that house in Bruma while I did other things. Think about 3 weeks past before I got back to him.

(((((I have recently stolen Fallout 2 from Newt, and have realized that Morrowind, Oblivion etc. seem to be based on it. Go Fallout 2)))))
<giant scorpion stabs Bob in the heart> Ha ha Bob. Now I have Fallout 2.
<rat kills Newt> Gosh dangit!

Same engine, different graphics....like a lot of games used the Quake engine to run their own games. Look for Fallout 3 to be released late September.