split/screen co-op

Word cloud of 5 Fallout intros. Click for larger view.

War, war never changes. It is one of gaming’s best-loved catch-phrases. But what does it mean? In what sense does war never change? Certainly, warfare — the ways in which a war is fought — has changed dramatically in the millennia leading up to Fallout’s fictional 2050s. Weapons, tactics, scale: every aspect of conflict has undergone transformation. Fallout’s world is not that dissimilar to our own and we can safely know as much.

Death and destruction are a staple of war but their scale differs vastly from conflict to conflict. Even the most advanced of energy weapons found in the wasteland is a relic from a past that is being forgotten and a far cry from the nuclear war that caused all the desolation. The game’s primitive, back-to-basics setting also suggests that the presumably constant factor may lie much deeper and closer to the roots of conflict than something as superficial as tools and means.

Why do people go to war? Perhaps there is a single fundamental reason underlining all conflicts.

bottle caps by ~avspoisoner on deviantART

On the surface, Fallout’s bottle-cap currency is a clever gimmick, that seems to lend realism to the world in which the games play out. Dig deeper though and you will find its very existence is logically unjustifiable.

The best science fiction out there has the double trait of being both an engaging piece of literature and a credible prediction for the future. Will currently existing systems and social features endure? How will they be transformed by future circumstances? What will be lost, what will be gained? The Fallout games look like they are attempting to answer those questions. But they ultimately fail to provide persuasive answers, as the example of the flawed monetary system in the game world indicates.

Tough Choices by ~frequentlydistracted on deviantART

It happens all the time. People find large amounts of money in inconspicuous bags at unlikely places. They pick it up and return it. Sometimes it’s millions of dollars, sometimes it’s less; but it’s always a big enough sum to make newspaper headlines, or else we wouldn’t know about it.

Why they do it and whether you and I would do it if it were us who found the money is not important right now. The important thing is that those people had a choice and made a decision. By opting to return the money, they’ve chosen to lose it. Irreversibly.

Games are rubbish at offering players that kind of genuine dilemma. Before I go on, a warning: there will be spoilers once you take the jump.

Fallout first aid kit I by dywa

If I were deterministically minded, I’d be likely to say something along the lines of “it seems as though I wasn’t meant to like the Fallout series”. My big Fallout marathon, which I was looking forward to so much, has been plagued by a number of misfortunes that could have shaken the will of one less committed to success.

But not me. Adamantium is weak compared with my determination to like the Fallout universe and the games set in it. I bandage up after each blow and carry on.

After the jump I recap what I have overcome so far: events that have understandably dampened my role-playing spirits somewhat but not to the point of giving up.

Pocket full of Caps by MarkParnaby

The world of Fallout and Fallout II is one of deep conflict. The rivalries of local gangs and city-states paint the facade, but behind it there’s the constant clash between primitive and futuristic in the reinvention of ancient utilities with technology powerful enough to make them obsolete. Dig even further and you will encounter underlying game mechanics that are meant to make you happy but will instead make you angry.

Intrigued yet? Hit the jump to see what I’m getting at.

reminiscence. by Frauette

An RPG should, by definition, be all about assuming and performing a role, about getting into character and acting as though you were them. So how does the first game in one of the most celebrated RPG series of all time fare in this respect?

Read all about it after the break.

Fallout by UndeadBat

Writing this review for Fallout was hard. I’ve already dedicated a post each to most of the things that made any lasting impression on me for good or bad. I thought there was no need to repeat that here, so I would just give you my final verdict. Right.

Now… that’s the tricky part. I’m not sure what I think of this game in the end. I simultaneously loved it and hated it and I just can’t make my mind up one way or the other.

Read on for more of my dilemma.

Scarab Beetle by Jasper Nance

Fallout may not be the buggiest game I’ve ever played, but it is buggy enough to ruin the experience. Everything was going perfectly well for Ashley and her band of five, until a giant nasty fucking bug ruined it.

Hit the jump for the whole story.

Vinnie is a douchey-looking guy in a leather jacket and jeans so blue they hurt a bit. He looks like a carbon copy of Ashley‘s companion Ian, but he’s playing on the bad guys’ side. He’s the leader of a gang known as the Skulz (he probably came up with the name, cementing his doucheness), and does nothing much other than stand in a room in a hotel in Junktown and look threatening.

Learn about his extraordinary ablity to die more than once after the break.

Fifty-five days (in-game time) into Ashley‘s adventure I had to give up and restart Fallout from the beginning. Read on for the details.