Get caught up with the 15-minute Fallout Retrospective

by Griffin McElroy on Oct 26th 2008 9:30PM

Do you find yourself with a good quarter-hour to kill this Sunday evening? Do you have a relatively fast internet connection? Are you curious about the mythos of the Fallout universe -- curiosity spawned from excitement over Bethesda's upcoming entry into the franchise, Fallout 3? Do you have absolutely no plans to go back and play the earlier installments in said franchise, and therefore have no hangups over having the plots of said games spoiled for you?

If the answer to all of the above questions is an exuberant "yes", you really have no reason not to check out Gametrailers' Fallout Retrospective, which we've posted after the break. Unless, of course, you were lying earlier -- in which case, this conversation is over.

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Tags: bethesda, Bethesda-Game-Studios, Bethesda-Softworks, fallout, fallout-2, fallout-3, gametrailers, PC, PS3, retrospective, RPG, Xbox-360

Reader Comments (49)

it takes two people to lie, one to tell it and one not to believe it

I don't quite recognize that place from Fallout 2, is it the southwest part of the Den where you get the car from Smitty?

This is sweet! I tried to go and play the first Fallout games, but, uh, let's just say they haven't aged well...

oh you kids and your Pokemon's and high definition graphics.

In MY day we got 640x480 resolution. If we were lucky we might get 800x600, and we liked it!

We also had to mike two miles to school, in the snow, BOTH WAYS!

*grumble *grumble sackboy *grumble

I still remember those days, too, and I'm glad I'm not staring at screens with pixels the size of my eyeballs anymore!

I use to hate miking.

hasn't aged well? are you out of your fucking mind? Fallout is timeless..

Hell, some of the best games ever made run at 320x200, and still get plenty of play today. For that matter, command line IF can still be a hoot... and there are always books.. It's not about the res, it's about how willing you are to embrace something and let it spark your imagination.

I love giant pixels. I could play those old Sierra AGI games again and again. When I played Peasant's Quest on Homestarrunner.com, I played the whole game with a smile on my face. Genius.

600p is technically HD judging by a lot of games this generation.

I still enjoy Fallout, just as much as I enjoy many of the others PC isometric RPGs (Plnescape:torment, Baldurs Gate, etc) still. The graphics were never the main point, instead the fantastic writing was. In many ways I still think I will not like Fallout 3 as much as 1 and 2, even with HD, just because I don't know how can Bethesda top the gameplay and script (only games with real choices, you could kill everyone or nobody at all). If they can keep the same quality in humor and conversations, well, then I will certainly play it as much as the others.

By the way, Fountain of Dreams/Sea of Dreams, just coincidence? (I know it is, but they do share some resemblances)(not on quality of course).

Well, for me, the main thing was that movement itself is kinda turn-based. I don't mind turn-based combat, but when you're stuck clicking-waiting-clicking-waiting-clicking-waiting, etc. for 5 minutes to go like 50 feet, it can be just a little tedious.

I also tried to play the first Fallout game and felt that it aged just fine... I played it for about 2 hours before deciding that I just didn't want to get into that deep and complex of an experience.

This video was useful for me cause I downloaded 1 and 2 and couldn't stand the gameplay and deleted them both within minutes. Thankfully Fallout 3 looks fun as hell.

...

You may as well have never played them. Playing Fallout 1/2 for a few minutes is nothing; they were both far to deep and complex to accurately judge so quickly... unless you're just impatient or require simpler gameply.

No I'm just impatient with bad gameplay.

Only an idiot would literally play a game for a few minutes and classify it's gameplay as bad. Especially an impatient one.

tmac, you always say that about older games. How old are you, man?

21. It just shows how far we've come in controls and gameplay. You try replaying the first couple resident evils? It's painful now, whereas back then we didn't know better. I obviously knew the fallout games were going to be ugly going into it so that didn't bother me. I was totally unprepared for how horrible the combat is though.

"I was totally unprepared for how horrible the combat is though."

I think you meant: "I was totally unprepared for how difficult the combat is though."

It's OK to admit you had a hard time with it.

I wouldn't know how hard it was cause I stopped after a couple battles. I just don't like the system, it really shows its age.

"I was totally unprepared for how horrible the combat is though."

Now you're either trolling or you simply can't enjoy turn-based games at all.

Once again, tmac shows just how much of a noobish hardlycore he is...

I don't think you can judge a game in a few minutes either but it's pretty unfair for nostalgic Fallout lovers to get up on their pedestals and look down on players new to the experience of a very old game. Fallout's combat system is very slow and seems out of touch compared to today's more real-time or at least faster turn-based gameplay style. I can completely understand why a lot of people new to Fallout 1/2 would be turned off by its gameplay.

Doesn't mean they aren't worth trying, because they can be gems to those who can appreciate them, but no need to be a dick about it if someone doesn't like an old game you do. It doesn't make you anymore "hardcore" than them. You just have different tastes.

I can see how tmac and others would be turned off by the gameplay. It's not very smooth to say the least. But the depth of it is great, and when you get past the surface, I think it still holds up today. I haven't played a straight-up turned based RPG that I have enjoyed as much as Fallout.

I never thought I'd see the day where someone here tells me to go play halo "again". I would not dare to insult my intellect to play through that garbage game more than the 1 time I did for easy achievements.

Also, while you fallout fanboys didn't exactly react like I wanted you to you all still took the bait. I love insulting elitist PC fanboys who are stuck in 1998, back when pc gaming was relevant still. No that doesn't mean I like fallout 1 and 2, cause I don't but I went the extra mile to get you all riled up, because I know how elitist fallout fanboys are.

@John

"If you didn't like the combat, then you should probably not pick up 3 either"

Where the hell have you been these last 2 years or so? The combat in 3...hell most of the whole game is nothing like the first 2 fallouts, which combined with the fact that I loved oblivion, are the 2 main reasons why I'm excited for 3.

"If you didn't like the combat, then you should probably not pick up 3 either, cause then we'll have to read your 1500 posts about how you don't like that one either."

Except the combat in 3 is nothing like the old ones? The VATs are totally optional, and even so aren't particularly like the old games.

I have to admit, I tried to play through Fallout 2 and was stopped by the combat system as well. I loved games like Baldurs Gate and Planescape, and I have nothing against turn based games, but the system Fallout uses is really dated. I spent about 20 minutes fighting some robot at one point, and we didn't hit each other even once, it was just constant misses.

Even as a huge fan of Morrowind, it was tedious. Shame, because I was really enjoying the story and dialogue sections.

Fallout 1 and 2 ROCK so fucking hard.. It boggles my mind people can poo poo on them, especially after only playing it for a few mins, But it also boggles my mind people enjoy games like Oblivion... so there ya go..

I played the first two games back in 98 and 99, so they were pretty new to me back then. I've played them several times since then.

I guess if you are playing them for the first time now, they will be too dated for you.

Plus the story of Fallout 3 has nothing to do with the first two games, not even set in California like the first two games, and the gameplay of this will be totally different.

But if you can give them a chance now, their still phenomenal RPGs in my opinion.

I just downloaded both of them from GOG.com about a month ago, and in Fallout, it takes a little while to get into, but after that, I don't really feel like it is from 1997. In other words, as a newcomer to Fallout, it doesn't feel dated at all to me.

Good summary, helps those who never played or have heard of the originals. I am ready for pt 3. Its gonna be sweet.

Word. Thanks Joystiq!

I miss Wasteland. I wish someone would update that, instead of this pretender, Fallout.

Look at me, I'm more authentic because I like something older and more obscure than the thing that you like!

o.O

I discovered Fallout two years ago and didn't find it dated at all. If anything, I was blown away by how much better it was than most console RPGs. It also motivated me to give a chance to other CRPG classics.

Haven't looked back since then.

The retrospective was great. I missed the series when they were new but bought a Fallout 1&2 disk a couple of years ago (before they were made massively easy to buy digitally). Despite a high love for RPGs, I couldn't get more than a few hours into Fallout 1 before succumbing to a restrictive combat system, a perk system I knew was good but didn't want to take the time to learn, and painful death difficulty.

I'm interested in Fallout 3 but will not buy it if it is all about the combat as just about all the videos I've seen suggest. I want an RPG, not an open-world Doom.

It's from the makers of Oblivion and I have a feeling there's going to be plenty of decent dialogue. If it's anything like Oblivion the main storyline will be a little weak but the side quests and sheer number of options will more than make up for it.

There's two reasons you're only seeing videos about the combat. Firstly, combat is more interesting. While we like to see what kind of dialogue to expect, none of us are going to sit there for long periods of time and just listen to people talking. Secondly, dialogue is full of spoilers. You can't spoil combat, we all know it involves shooting, but story and conversation are quickly ruined.

Let's hope they fixed the "5 actors, 500 characters" problem of Oblivion. That one problem prevented me from enjoying the game after the first 20-30 hours.

so i don't need to play Fallout 1 and 2 two understand 3?

Right. Like the video said, it takes place on the other side of the country with completely different characters and has totally different gameplay. Don't sweat it

God damn GT is good at what they do.

I so love GameTrailers and their retrospectives. I've yet to see one that wasn't executed with pure awesome.

I don't consider myself a fan of the series, having never played a Fallout game before ((Intend to pick up F3 after the holiday rush)), but I do have a legitimate respect for the IP.

I just wish GT would come on and dish us out a Resident Evil Retrospective.

Pwease?

How about Silent Hill? http://www.gametrailers.com/player/10142.html That's pretty much the same, right? /sarcasm

Actually, I wasn't aware there was a Silent Hill Retrospective.

Thank you, kind sir.

...Still want a RE-Retrospective, though...

To be fair to tmac, Fallout 1 does start out with you knifing rats in a cave for twenty minutes.

To be fair to Fallout 1, it's a fucking incredible game.

Great vid. I played the first Fallout, but none of the sequels unfortunately. I'm really excited for the 3rd outing. I've given up on a few games so I could get the Survival Edition, just cuz I want the PipBoy!

Man I love everything about these games, the graphics, humour, atmosphere, gameplay, wandering around the wastes, blaa blaa blaa..

The one review I've checked out said most of what I love has been removed..

Hopefully that one review is wrong.. or maybe I should just except that this is not Fallout and take it for what it is.. A non boring version of oblivion..

Get caught up with the 15-minute Fallout Retrospective

Reader Comments (49)

Posted: Oct 26th 2008 9:42PM jhowlett said

Posted: Oct 26th 2008 9:56PM RKN said

Posted: Oct 26th 2008 10:08PM Fox City said

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Posted: Oct 26th 2008 10:24PM Fox City said

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