Difficulty:

Hard

Time Spent:

100 or More Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Innovative"

So, back in the late 90's my brother brings home this game for our home computer. This was a big deal because the home computer was...in fact...the HOME computer. There was nothing even close to present day wh every one had there own laptop or computer device. All members of the family had to basically schedule time on THE computer and you better believe that once your time was up you better have saved your data or progress because it would be lost to the next person in line. So this was a big deal to bring home a PC game as envolved as Fallout 2. The opening sequence was mind blowing. I say that in 2012 terms as much as I do 1998 terms. There were post apocalyptic games before and it will continue to be a staple plot line in games and movies because it is and always has been a main stay in life itself since the creation of humanity i.e. Gilgamesh, Revelations, Beowulf, and so on. The open cinematic, in fact all the cinematics, are simply fantastic. The music is also such a weapon in games and Black Isle uses the score like a Scottish claymore. By that I mean it is brutal and intimidating at times and yet it can also be wielded with precision when needed. The controls are simple point and click with the mouse and the turn based combat is very well done. The RPG factor in the game is also very well done along with the skill point system. This makes replay factor very high because you can specialized in different weapon sets along with armor specializations. The loot factor is dizzying. Every box is searchable, every enemy corpse is easily relieved of his or her previously owned possessions. The combat is very cool even today. There is still nothing more satisfying than a well placed critical shot from a gauze rifle or the sound of a large caliber hand gun shredding the better part of an enemy into a pool of spongable paste. The game stays challenging by keeping you on your toes. Fallout uses a kind of Final Fantasy randomized enemy encounter system and by this I mean that as you travel around the overall map you uncover the map and also are randomly transported to encounters. These are very cool because its not just enemies that you run into but also NPCs and towns and random locations so it pays to explore the whole map. The graphics are very good for late 90s and over all it is a must play and if you can get a copy or have a copy than keep it in good shape and keep it loaded on your computer. Its one of those that is still fun to play every once and a while. Until next time..Keep Gaming