May 27, 2014

Let's Talk About Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game

From humble beginnings, right? The original Fallout was released on September 30th, 1997. If you were to play it today without ever doing so before, you would probably be shocked at far it came. So how did it come so far?

How did this plucky little game made 17 years ago get to being one of the most recognizable names in video games? Well, it's a long, bumpy road, and this series "Let's Talk About" will be covering all the ups and downs of your favorite saga. Let's dive right in with Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game.

Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game
The original game established pretty much everything we would know about the series going forward: The Vaults, Ghouls, Super Mutants, the Brotherhood of Steel. The story follows The Vault Dweller, a Vault dweller from Vault 13. The Water Chip that provides clean water for everyone in the Vault had crapped out, and you are the unlucky sumbitch who has to go find one. The game played in an isometric perspective, and the role-playing elements were nicely crafted. If you were to pick very low intelligence, your character could only speak in monosyllabic words.

The Master
The path itself was rather straightforward but still open-ended, and there was a very easy exploit in the game that let you do basically whatever you wanted (Gambling of 70% or higher ensure infinite money.). You could even wander out in the middle of nowhere in the desperate hope you'd find an alien spaceship! Through a series of events, in which you trek from settlement to settlement (Or you could cheat and go straight to Necropolis, you dorks know who you are.), you eventually uncover a plot to conquer the wasteland. The plot would come to be the basic plot of every Fallout game: You play a blank slate character who sets out to accomplish a simple task, but in the process discover an even greater quest. This quest being one of the best villains in RPGs: The Master.
"Play Fallout 1, it is fun role playing game."
This nightmare fuel is The Master, the creator of the Super Mutants. Those of you who played other Fallout games have only heard of this guy...This is him...Or it. Not only is he physically horrifying, the dude speaks in this freakish sort of cyborg speech. While Fallout would never get quite this twisted ever again, it would set the standard; Fallout is a mature experience. There's mutilation, extreme violence, drugs, and other risky material. Hell, you used to be allowed to kill children! I ultimately have to say that while Fallout is old, it has aged gracefully. I'd still play it today in my spare time, if I had spare time. Fallout was very fresh, the world it created was one that immediately got everyone's attention, and would effectively remain in the minds of those who played it forever...Only one question remains....

Where did he get that Armored Vault Suit?

Now it's your turn! Discuss the good and bad of Fallout, the things you remember from that mythical first in the series. Join us with your comments on this post at Facebook or Google+.

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