Having swept virtually all of the RPG awards in 1997, Fallout certainly was a worthy candidate for a prompt sequel. Since Interplay Productions is aiming to release Fallout 2 only a year after the first game hit retail stores, don't expect radical changes in design or gameplay. That's probably just fine with most role-playing game fans, since Fallout had very few flaws to fix. The one big flaw - friendly fire in combat from AI controlled NPCs - is being worked on, however.

Like the original game, Fallout 2 will be a single-player, single-character game (although your character may be joined by computer-controlled non-player characters). The setting is again the postapocalyptic future, this time several years after the events in the first game. Details on the plot to the sequel are slim at this point, but expect some nasty mutants to return, as well as the acclaimed tactical combat system.