Fallout 2

Fallout 2
Developer(s) Black Isle Studios
Publisher(s) Interplay Entertainment
Director(s) Tim Cain[1]
Chris Avellone[2]
Producer(s) Brian Fargo
Eric DeMilt
Fred Hatch
Designer(s) Chris Avellone[2]
Matthew J. Norton
Programmer(s) Jesse Reynolds
Chris Jones
Robert Hertenstein
Artist(s) Gary Platner
Jason D. Anderson
Leonard Boyarsky
Writer(s) Tim Cain[1]
R. Scott Campbell
Jason Taylor
Composer(s) Mark Morgan
Series Fallout
Platform(s)

Release date(s) September 30, 1998
Genre(s) Role-playing
Mode(s) Single player

Fallout 2: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game is a role-playing open world video game developed by Black Isle Studios and published by Interplay in September 1998. While featuring a considerably larger game world and a far more extensive storyline, it largely uses similar graphics and game mechanics to those of Fallout.

The game's story takes place in 2241, 80 years after the events of Fallout and 164 years after the war.[3] It tells the story of the original hero's descendant and their quest to save their primitive tribe from starvation by finding an ancient environmental restoration machine known as the Garden of Eden Creation Kit (GECK).[4]

Gameplay

Fallout 2 is a role-playing open world video game. The player is free to move at will until they enter into combat. Combat gives them a number of action points to move, fire, check their equipment, reload and the like. When a player uses up all of their action points, they end their turn and enemies start theirs. If the player survives unharmed, he or she has their action points restored. Injuries and poisons can reduce the number of action points available both in a single term and semi-permanently until combat ends and the player can be treated. Combat and completion of jobs or quests rewards the player with experience points with which they can level up their characters and apply beneficial perks to become more suited to the dangerous post-apocalyptic world. General gameplay consists of traveling and interacting with local inhabitants and organizations to complete goals and aid or inhibit the NPCs. The player's actions dictate what future story or gameplay opportunities are available. Mature themes such as alcohol consumption, drug usage and sex are present.

Organized crime, prostitution and slavery are major elements of the setting. Character creation is based on the SPECIAL role-playing system.

An example of dialogue between characters in Fallout 2.

Plot

In 2241, the primitive Arroyo suffers the worst drought on record. Faced with the calamity, the village elder asks the direct descendant of the Vault Dweller, referred to as the Chosen One, to perform the quest of retrieving a Garden of Eden Creation Kit (GECK) for Arroyo. The GECK is a device that can create thriving communities out of the post-apocalyptic wasteland.[4] The player, assuming the role of the Chosen One, is given nothing more than the Vault Dweller's jumpsuit, a RobCo PIPBoy 2000 handheld device, a Vault 13 water flask, a spear and some cash to start on his mission.

The player can eventually find Vault 13, the supposed location of a GECK, devoid of the majority of its former human inhabitants. The Chosen One returns to find his village captured by the remnants of the United States government known as the Enclave. The Enclave often terrorizes the inhabitants of continental United States with their supreme arsenal of advanced technology. The player, through various means, activates an ancient oil tanker and engages its autopilot, thus allowing him to reach the Enclave's main base on an offshore oil rig. It is revealed that the dwellers of Vault 13 were captured as well, to be used as test subjects for Forced Evolutionary Virus (FEV). Vault 13 was supposed to be closed for 200 years as part of a government experiment,[3] making them perfect test subjects. The Enclave modified the Forced Evolutionary Virus into an airborne disease, designed to attack any living creatures with mutated DNA. With all genetic impurities removed, the Enclave (who remain protected from radiation) could take over. The player frees both his fellow villagers from Arroyo and the Vault 13 dwellers from Enclave control and subsequently destroys the Enclave's oil rig, killing the President of the United States Richardson as well as a genetically modified Secret Service enforcer Frank Horrigan. In the end, the inhabitants of Vault 13 and the Arroyo villagers create a new prosperous community with the help of the GECK.

Reception

Reviews
Aggregate scores
AggregatorScore
GameRankings87.13%[5]
Metacritic86/100[6]
Review scores
PublicationScore
GamePro5/5[7]
GameSpot8.8/10[8]
IGN8.9/10[9]
PC Gamer (US)89%[10]
Award
PublicationAward
PC Gamer#3 Best RPG of All Time (2015)[11]

Fallout 2 received positive reviews from critics. Online review aggregators Metacritic and GameRankings gave it a score of 86 out of 100 based on 15 reviews, and 87.13% based on 26 reviews, respectively.[6][5] Positive reviewers praised the gameplay, storyline, and worthiness as a successor to the original Fallout, while detractors criticized frequent bugs and lack of improvement over the first game. Daniel Morris of GamePro praised the mix of action and character interaction as well as the non-linear gameplay.[7] IGN applauded the developers for the sizable game world, the writing, and "not fixing something that wasn't broken".[9] Game Revolution praised the game's depth and storyline, but criticized its graphics and interface.[12]

In 2013, GamesRadar ranked Fallout 2 number 68 on their list of top video games of all time.[13] That same year, IGN ranked it as the 28th best role-playing video game ever.[14] In 2015 PC Gamer ranked the game #3 on its list of best RPGs of all time.[11]

References

  1. 1 2 "The Top 100 Game Creators of All Time - 85. Tim Cain". IGN. 2008. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
  2. 1 2 "The Top 100 Game Creators of All Time - 80. Chris Avellone". IGN. 2008. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
  3. 1 2 Avellone, Chris (2002-03-08). "Fallout Bible 0". Black Isle. Archived from the original on 2006-02-10.
  4. 1 2 "The Story". Fallout 2 Website. Interplay. 1998. Archived from the original on April 2004. Retrieved 2006-09-03.
  5. 1 2 "Fallout 2 for PC". GameRankings. CBS Interactive Inc. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  6. 1 2 "Fallout 2". From Metacritic. Retrieved December 5, 2008.
  7. 1 2 Morris, Daniel (2000-01-01). "Fallout 2". GamePro. Archived from the original on 2008-10-05. Retrieved 2008-12-05.
  8. ↑ "Fallout 2 Review". GameSpot. 1998-12-09. Retrieved 2010-10-22.
  9. 1 2 "Fallout 2" (November 13, 1998). IGN. Retrieved December 5, 2008.
  10. ↑ "PC Gamer Online". pcgamer.com. Archived from the original on 16 January 2000. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  11. 1 2 Banks, Cory; Johnson, Leif (December 18, 2015). "The best RPGs of all time". PC Gamer. Future US. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  12. ↑ "A kiss to build a dream on...". Game Revolution. February 1, 1999. Retrieved 27 Oct 2013.
  13. ↑ "GamesRadar Top 100". GamesRadar. February 15, 2013. p. 37. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
  14. ↑ "IGN Top 100 RPGs (Fallout 2)". IGN.com. Retrieved December 18, 2013.

External links

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