A phenomenal start to one of gamings most iconic franchises that manages to get the gameplay and setting so right despite some mechanics not aging the best.
In comparison to the rest of the series, Fallout 1s general story and atmosphere are a bit of an oddball, with the focus of its main quest mainly centered around saving the Vault Dwellers home of Vault 13. Of course things don't finish this way but the escalation that does occur feels incredibly natural. The various towns and such are also one of Fallout 1s strongest points, with each brimming with fun and interesting Characters that play off the world well (my favorite being Junktowns mayor Killian Darkwater). Gameplay wise Fallout 1 also rocks, with the turn based system working incredibly well making each fight pretty exciting (especially with Bloody Mess). The games non-combat options also work well in the world, with special mention to how dealing with the endgame quests in the most efficient way requiring both a high speech and science to circumvent some pretty brutal mutant encounters.
While I adore the turn based system of Fallout 1 I can't say the same about navigating its world. Even with numerous patches and mods NPCs have the worst tendency to block you from important areas or bunch up in fights leading to lots of unintentional carnage in fights that should be relatively simple. The final areas in particular have so much splash damage going around that 90 percent of my groups casualties came from my own group (fucking Blades). Another odd quirk of Fallout 1s is how some systems tend to break quests and other relatively simple systems, with one in particular locking out an early set of high tier armor requiring a fight I wouldn't have done otherwise. Speaking of fights Fallout 1s balance is perhaps the most fucked I've seen so far, with Energy Weapons clearly being top tier making some early investments feel a bit squandered (though Guns still stay effective for the minor skirmishes of the game).
Despite all that I'd still say to give Fallout 1 a shot because behind all the clunk is a phenomenal CRPG that laid the groundwork to some of my favorite games of all time (and Fallout 76).
9/10.
In comparison to the rest of the series, Fallout 1s general story and atmosphere are a bit of an oddball, with the focus of its main quest mainly centered around saving the Vault Dwellers home of Vault 13. Of course things don't finish this way but the escalation that does occur feels incredibly natural. The various towns and such are also one of Fallout 1s strongest points, with each brimming with fun and interesting Characters that play off the world well (my favorite being Junktowns mayor Killian Darkwater). Gameplay wise Fallout 1 also rocks, with the turn based system working incredibly well making each fight pretty exciting (especially with Bloody Mess). The games non-combat options also work well in the world, with special mention to how dealing with the endgame quests in the most efficient way requiring both a high speech and science to circumvent some pretty brutal mutant encounters.
While I adore the turn based system of Fallout 1 I can't say the same about navigating its world. Even with numerous patches and mods NPCs have the worst tendency to block you from important areas or bunch up in fights leading to lots of unintentional carnage in fights that should be relatively simple. The final areas in particular have so much splash damage going around that 90 percent of my groups casualties came from my own group (fucking Blades). Another odd quirk of Fallout 1s is how some systems tend to break quests and other relatively simple systems, with one in particular locking out an early set of high tier armor requiring a fight I wouldn't have done otherwise. Speaking of fights Fallout 1s balance is perhaps the most fucked I've seen so far, with Energy Weapons clearly being top tier making some early investments feel a bit squandered (though Guns still stay effective for the minor skirmishes of the game).
Despite all that I'd still say to give Fallout 1 a shot because behind all the clunk is a phenomenal CRPG that laid the groundwork to some of my favorite games of all time (and Fallout 76).
9/10.