The Inside Scoop on Gaming

What went wrong with Fallout 2? Not as much as what went right. I found it to be a solid CRPG.

The original Fallout's intro animation, frankly, blew me away. The wry combination of music and images left me stunned. This time around, it kind of felt like the trailer for a Bruce Willis movie. While attention grapping, very shallow. But don;t judge this game by its "cover."

I usually like to go into what I liked about a game, but somehow the more negative aspects of the game are on my mind after finishing it. You'll get the good and the bad, press on.

The primary problem with Fallout 2 is that it has a few critical bugs that range from annoying to crashing the system.

The second problem with Fallout 2 is the texture of the story. I found holes and incongruities with the history. it felt like it did not exactly mesh with Fallout. Not that a timeline was provided in either game, but like I said the feel is just slightly askew.

As well, Fallout 2 tried to be too funny and too derivative in humor. From the Hannibal Lecter scientist in the depot to the NPC comments. All this added up to cliched, not entertaining. I think if they had played it a little straighter, it might have come off as intense. Not annoying.

A slight flaw in the game is some of the quests are not really intuitive. Some things that will affect the end game synopsys are not really obvious. I will not tell you what they are.

Lastly Black Isle could not fix the game's problems in an easy way. This is due to the fact that the patch makes all saved games imcompatible with the updated game. After playing for nearly two weeks and hearing this, I decided I just wnated to finish the game not replay it. Black Isle atleast fessed up this was a mistake and is offering a character editor to aid players so they can cruise through to the point they updated the program. Also you do not need the patch to finish the game.

One flaw in the game was the AI. NPC's had a penchant for ganging up on your character and usually ignoring you followers. Not so bad when you are beefed up, but in the beginning it gets rough. Also the random encounter generator seems a bit off. You can get 3-5 random encounters in a row (in a single map square). Luckily many encounters are peaceful, or two group beating each other up.

Okay okay. Geez you would thing I hated this game! Far from it!

A great addition to the game was the NPC control. Now you can tweak their combat reactions, give them armor and have them use weapons appropriate to their combat reactions. The minus on this is that while they advertised that the AI was better, your NPC's are just about a stupid as they were in Fallout. You still get shot a lot, and often they do not react to hostile NPCs. Another plus is that there are a number of NPC's to take with you in your adventures.

The equipment in Fallout 2 is much expanded, especially the weapons. There are so many good weapons to choose from, its tough to find just one you like. My personal choices were the pulse rifle and guass rifle. But the other equipment was expanded as well, from lock picks to tool kits. And the car, despite the trunking bug, that worked out to be really cool.

Why was the car cool? Well the playing map is considerably bigger and you do a great deal of traveling about. Mostly new locals, but some fun surprises as well. I won't spoil it for you! The cities were pretty well done and looked slightly more refined than in Fallout (Reno is very spiffy).

Is it as good as Fallout? Yes and no. It is a more refined version of Fallout, but lacks the freshness of the original game. If you are looking for a solid CRPG, Fallout 2 foots the bill. It flows reasonable well and most importnantly is fun and the quests are often challenging. In other words, its worth the $39.95.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 3 (Average)

Fallout 2
Author: Black Isle Category: Computer RPG Company/Publisher: Interplay Cost: 39.95 Page count: n/a Capsule Review by Wes Johnson on 11/19/98. Genre tags: Post-apocalypse	What went wrong with Fallout 2? Not as much as what went right. I found it to be a solid CRPG. The original Fallout's intro animation, frankly, blew me away. The wry combination of music and images left me stunned. This time around, it kind of felt like the trailer for a Bruce Willis movie. While attention grapping, very shallow. But don;t judge this game by its "cover." I usually like to go into what I liked about a game, but somehow the more negative aspects of the game are on my mind after finishing it. You'll get the good and the bad, press on. The primary problem with Fallout 2 is that it has a few critical bugs that range from annoying to crashing the system. The second problem with Fallout 2 is the texture of the story. I found holes and incongruities with the history. it felt like it did not exactly mesh with Fallout. Not that a timeline was provided in either game, but like I said the feel is just slightly askew. As well, Fallout 2 tried to be too funny and too derivative in humor. From the Hannibal Lecter scientist in the depot to the NPC comments. All this added up to cliched, not entertaining. I think if they had played it a little straighter, it might have come off as intense. Not annoying. A slight flaw in the game is some of the quests are not really intuitive. Some things that will affect the end game synopsys are not really obvious. I will not tell you what they are. Lastly Black Isle could not fix the game's problems in an easy way. This is due to the fact that the patch makes all saved games imcompatible with the updated game. After playing for nearly two weeks and hearing this, I decided I just wnated to finish the game not replay it. Black Isle atleast fessed up this was a mistake and is offering a character editor to aid players so they can cruise through to the point they updated the program. Also you do not need the patch to finish the game. One flaw in the game was the AI. NPC's had a penchant for ganging up on your character and usually ignoring you followers. Not so bad when you are beefed up, but in the beginning it gets rough. Also the random encounter generator seems a bit off. You can get 3-5 random encounters in a row (in a single map square). Luckily many encounters are peaceful, or two group beating each other up. Okay okay. Geez you would thing I hated this game! Far from it! A great addition to the game was the NPC control. Now you can tweak their combat reactions, give them armor and have them use weapons appropriate to their combat reactions. The minus on this is that while they advertised that the AI was better, your NPC's are just about a stupid as they were in Fallout. You still get shot a lot, and often they do not react to hostile NPCs. Another plus is that there are a number of NPC's to take with you in your adventures. The equipment in Fallout 2 is much expanded, especially the weapons. There are so many good weapons to choose from, its tough to find just one you like. My personal choices were the pulse rifle and guass rifle. But the other equipment was expanded as well, from lock picks to tool kits. And the car, despite the trunking bug, that worked out to be really cool. Why was the car cool? Well the playing map is considerably bigger and you do a great deal of traveling about. Mostly new locals, but some fun surprises as well. I won't spoil it for you! The cities were pretty well done and looked slightly more refined than in Fallout (Reno is very spiffy). Is it as good as Fallout? Yes and no. It is a more refined version of Fallout, but lacks the freshness of the original game. If you are looking for a solid CRPG, Fallout 2 foots the bill. It flows reasonable well and most importnantly is fun and the quests are often challenging. In other words, its worth the $39.95. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 3 (Average)