Fallout 2 PC

Fallout 2 for PC is a sequel to Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game, which debuted on PC in the fall of 1997 and proved to be quite successful thanks to many innovative solutions and the original theme, rarely seen in classical RPGs. It was developed by an internal team of Interplay which had become slightly more independent and got its own name – Black Isle Studios.

Story

The action is set 80 years after the events of the first installment, when the village of Arroyo, which was established by the protagonist of Fallout, is at the verge of extinction after years of drought. The player assumes the role of the Chosen One who is sent by the village’s elder on a mission to the wastelands of North America to find a mysterious device called the G.E.C.K., which stands for Garden of Eden Creation Kit; it is capable of “repairing” the world after a nuclear annihilation. However, rebuilding the village will prove to be significantly more difficult than it initially seemed. In the meantime, the fellow villagers were kidnapped by a paramilitary organization called the Enclave, while the president of the United States intends to purge the world from any radiated creatures with the use of a deadly virus called the FEV.

Gameplay

Fallout 2 for PC uses most of the solutions of its predecessor, although it is significantly more extensive, especially in terms of the game world as well as the modified interface and gameplay mechanics. Similarly to the first installment of the series, we spend most of the time performing story quests with the help of a party of NPCs that possess different skills. However, this time around, the players have considerably bigger influence on the character they lead and can determine, for example, their development path, what weapons and stimulants they use, as well as their behavior in combat.

Fallout 2 offers significantly more weapons and equipment, some if which are completely new. They are more balanced and more expensive at the same time, which makes obtaining a very valuable item much harder. In addition to the Karma known from Fallout, which determines the general image of the Chosen One, a new system of Reputation was introduced. It defines the attitude towards the protagonist in individual cities and what side quests we are given by their inhabitants. The clear increase in the size of the game world has an impact on the movement speed of our character, among other things. It takes a lot more time than in the first game, but at the same time, the developers gave a fully upgradable vehicle called Highwayman to the players’ disposal. Moreover, the quests we take on are now more diverse — not only do they require more interaction with the environment, but often we have to backtrack to the already visited locations.

The last element that makes Fallout 2 different from its predecessor is a significantly larger amount of adult content. The game world is full of sex and drugs. The protagonist may use the services of prostitutes, become a porn star, join mafia, or become involved in slave trade. This fact was the cause for quite harsh censorship of the game and even the deletion of some scenes from the British and German editions.

Technical aspects

In technical terms, Fallout 2 for PC does not significantly differ from its predecessor, which was released a year earlier. It continues not only its story and high playability, but also its graphics and peculiar sense of humor. However, the game turned out to be terribly bugged and the two official patches didn’t improve a whole lot. This forced the gaming community to work their magic — over the years, they fixed over 1000 bugs with a number of unofficial patches.

Last updated on 22 January 2015