Fallout 2: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game is a 1998 role-playing video game developed by Black Isle Studios and published by Interplay Productions. About a year of development time which makes sense given it re-uses a lot of the Fallout 1 assets and the like.
Fallout 2 will likely always be my favourite of the Fallout games, it was a marked improvement over the first one in my opinion though far from perfect. It's generally speaking, a typical sequel, more of the same but better though using the same engine and UI, etc.
I always preferred it due to not having to deal with the initial time limit and how much more open it was. The areas you explored were also far larger usually consisting of multiple connected zones ensuring it felt far less cramped than the first game.
So, without further ado let's get into this look back at Fallout 2, my favourite of the older games.
Character Customisation
The character creation screen is unsurprisingly the same as in Fallout 1, you name your character, select their age and then tinker with their various stats until you have the kind of wasteland wanderer you want to play as. As before tag skills determine what you'll initially be good at when combined with your attributes. The optional traits allow you to add some flavour or take a benefit with a downside, like a small frame giving you an extra point of agility at the cost of carrying weight.
Once you are in the game, the more standard RPG options for character customisation come into play such as armour and weapons. Again, it's the same as Fallout 1 just with more options, there is a greater variety of weapons and even some options to customise some weapons in small ways. The largest change from the first game is the perks you earn for every 3 levels by default, there are more of them by far and the level cap is far higher so you can have more of them. Fallout 1's level cap of 21 is gone and Fallout 2 the level cap is 99 though you'd have to be pretty dedicated to get that high.
You can even earn perks through the karma system (Fallout's take on a good/evil alignment) and even some from jobs or quests. It's best summed up as a typical sequel, it's the same but there's more of it.
I'd argue there are more viable ways to build your character in FO2 than in FO1, more perks and more levels can make most of the sensible builds possible. Nothing is quite as funny as being able to go unarmed against a Deathclaw (even if only technically unarmed, as a Powerfist counts as unarmed.)
Gameplay
Sticking with the theme of it being more of the same but there being more of it and better, we hit the gameplay part of the review. It is split into 3 distinct sections with those being the world map, exploration of areas and the combat in those areas. Pretty straightforward especially if you played the first one, you'll be right at home with this.
The world map is arguably the simplest part, a top-down overview of the post-apocalyptic world on your Pipboy in which you travel into the fog of war in pursuit of your goals. Any locations you have learned about will be displayed down the right-hand side allowing you to click to aim your walking boots in that direction. It can make things a bit easier later on that is for sure. There are also random encounters on the world map, from the weird and wonderful to the terrifying as is par for the course in Fallout. There are no restrictions on where you can go beyond facing more difficult encounters, though if you can avoid them or escape there are no barriers. Otherwise, it's pretty much the same as Fallout 1.
The exploration part is again very similar, you explore areas in real time, talk to people, get quests, trade, steal or cause chaos depending on your inclination. It improves on the first game in my opinion by having far more interesting areas to explore. Areas are generally larger, as mentioned above usually having many interconnected areas to transition between making even early locations worth exploring.
The combat switches the game to a turn-based action point-based system when hostilities start while exploring an area or on the world map. You move, choose who to attack and with what and with the aiming system from FO1 being present and correct, the combat didn't really change much between the games. There is also a far greater variety of enemies to fight and encounters to have, watching a caravan fighting raiders or a melee between molerats and radscorpions.
One thing that did change was your control over companions, you can give some rough behaviours, like when to use stim packs or use burst fire (usually never unless you like reloading a save when a companion blasts you in half.) They can also level up, though not in the same way as your player character they get some general improvements. Usually, their skills go up by a set amount and they get more health.
Story & Characters
Now, I don't see the opening premise as much of a spoiler given it's plastered across most store pages the game is sold on (I checked.) Taking place 80 years after the events of the first game you step into the game as the tribal ancestor to the Vault Dweller. You were chosen to head out into the wasteland to find the one thing that might save your village from failing crops and the harsh wasteland conditions.
There are a lot more characters to meet and they tend to be a lot more varied and interesting than in Fallout 1. Which only helps make each new place you encounter feel far more memorable and enjoyable to explore.
I'll admit the start is a little odd but overall I think the main story and all the side stories you come across in your journey are better than in the first game.
Graphics
The graphics, while identical to the first game in an almost timeless pixel style, improve on the first game in terms of how they are used. Chiefly in the environments and especially the towns, there's a lot more there to explore and they at least tried to increase the variety somewhat which helps make it feel a bit less flat and lifeless. They were using what they had in a much better way.
The camera angle still makes finding things behind walls a bit tricky even with the sort of x-ray view that appears. Having said that you do get used to it and it's not very common it becomes an issue that I ran into. Just the occasional misclick ensures I waste a turn during combat indoors which is more me being dumb than the game's fault.
Overall, I can sum up the graphics as more of the same as Fallout 1 just using the assets better.
Sound
The sound, honestly its one of the things the first two Fallout games do exceptionally well given the time the games were developed. Sound design is I think often overlooked, not just voice acting and music but ambience, weapons feeling right and the like. So, let's start with the music!
The music is as iconic as the first game and as with a lot of things in Fallout 2 it's more of the same good stuff. It adds so much atmosphere to each area that I only have to hear a part of a soundtrack and it pokes me right in the nostalgia.
Now the voice acting, while there isn't a huge amount of it what there is tends to be very good (they even have Michael Dorn among the voice actors.) Sure, most of the game is text, yet the voice-acted things are done well. Then there is the iconic intro voiced by Ron Perlman "War, war never changes."
The sounds such as the UI, weapons, and feedback on attacks are notch. When you fire the hunting rifle and clonk someone in the bonce hard enough to knock them over. You almost feel it through your headset (or speakers.)
Overall, top-notch sound design especially for the era it was made.
UI & Controls
Ah, now we come to the UI and controls bit which is arguably the clunkiest part of the early Fallout games. It's a mostly mouse and hotkey-driven game with some things needing a lot more clicks to get through than most modern gamers would be used to. Such as using an aimed attack, you'll have to click to get to the aimed shot and click where to aim your shot.
The inventory remains as clunky as ever one long vertical column with no sorting can get tedious to scroll through especially if you are a packrat like me. Trading gets a bit of an improvement, especially given the 'money' can now be shifted around in larger stacks.
Using your skills or using items on something in the environment is also something that can take a few too many clicks to feel completely smooth. For skills you either find it in the skilldex then target the cursor onto what you want to use it on then click or option two. Hold down the click until the context menu appears and then choose the skill (which is also how you use inventory items on things, keys on doors etc.) That can be frustrating early on... Clicking about 90 times to lockpick a stubborn door. Make sure you save often and in different slots... Just in case.
There is also no autosaving so proceed with extreme caution, if in doubt... Save. If you still have doubts, save in another slot. Otherwise, you will miss the generosity shown in modern games with checkpoints and autosaves rapidly.
In conclusion, I'd say the UI is the weakest part of the game but you can learn to get past its quirks with a bit of patience. As I said with Fallout 1, it's just a product of its time in that regard but it's not that bad. It is clunky and occasionally frustrating and clumsy but otherwise functional.
Overall
So, to sum up, my overall thoughts on Fallout 2, it's everything a typical sequel should be, more of what made the first game good, improved, refined and built upon in fun ways. I honestly prefer Fallout 2 over 1 simply because the world felt larger and there was more to see and do in it. It also lacks the first game's initial time limit, there is a theoretical one (13 in-game years) but you'd have to go out of your way to hit that one.
As with Fallout 1, the sequel had the same recommendation. If you want to experience one of the places it all started plus you can put up with the interface you'll have a good time with it. That said it's an old game and it plays like an old game, there's very little hand-holding or modern quality-of-life features.
So all in all, Fallout 2 gets a thumbs up from me so long as you can deal with the issues of a slightly clunky UI and old game jank.
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