Revisiting the Wasteland…
In an urge of sentimentality, crossed with the anticipation of Fallout 3, I decided to play through one of my favorite games of the last century, all time, ever… namely Fallout. In this Role Playing Game from the team of Black Isle you play an unlucky individual, sent out into the apocalyptic wasteland that remained of the south-west of the USA after thorough nuclear bombing in the Third World War. Prior to the atomic devastation great shelters were made underground, to assure some people were left after the ‘The Big One’ hit home…
In short: the water purification system of your shelter, or ‘Vault’, breaks down and guess who is sent out to find a replacement ‘Water Chip’? Dwelling through the wasteland, inhabited by giant mutated scorpions, rats and brutal raiders you get to meet the sorry remains of civilization: shantytowns, slave traders and people who are horribly mutated through exposure to radiation. Although the world has changed a lot after the Bomb dropped, it seems it has changed not THAT much. Petty politics and economic conflicts still play an important role in the wastes. The player can help the people of different towns, sabotage their efforts to build some sort of viable society, or simply kill anyone. The beauty of Fallout is that the player’s actions have some real consequences in the gameworld. Obtaining the Water Chip involves taking one from a town called Necropolis. The citizens of this town are all ‘ghouls’, hideously mutated humans who rely on their own Water Purifier to provide the needed water. If the player decides to take the Chip anyway, the whole population of the town will die of thirst. The player can also choose to repair a damaged water pump so the ghouls still have a source of water after he takes the chip, but it’s a moral choice. This, combined with some great dialogues, gritty presentation of harsh violence and a, strangely enough, BELIEVABLE post-apocalyptic world brought Fallout a cult following.
Be that as it may, I actually found last week’s replay of this game… lacking. I’m not sure what happened. Somehow I could’nt keep myself from thinking: “Oh yeah, I know I really enjoyed this part when I was younger”, and “Yeah, I know I found this plot twist pretty dramatic when I first saw it.” It’s not just the fact that I’ve played this game before. Maybe it’s just that nostalgia has partially hijacked my memory concerning a game that I’ve played for some 100 hours. I know it’s a great game, but maybe not just as good as my memory told me. For the people who know this game: finally I’ve completed this game with Dogmeat still alive! The key is to have him cripple his leg so he’ll run away during combat, and keep him stimpacked in the Mariposa Military Base. For people who are not into this game *please* forget I ever mentioned this!
The upcoming Fallout 3, made by Bethesda Softworks, has met some serious controversy. Hardcore fans of the Fallout feel that Bethesda won’t do justice to their favorite franchise, dumbing down the complex game world of the first and second part. Although I share some of their concerns, for reasons too long, numerous and uninteresting for many readers that are not really ‘that’ deep into Fallout, I’m mildly optimistic about the continuation of the series. I’ve seen an early, it must be said, build of the game that promised to bring alive the wasteland in gorgeous 3D. The dialogs, sense of desolation and despair seemed pretty spot-on. The verdict is still pending on this one…
Even if Fallout 3 will turn out being ‘teh best game evaaaaah’, will it be able to stand up against my nostalgia-fed image of the first Fallout, and the second one that I’m leaving out of this comparison? Quoting that unnamed guy saying “It’s pretty hard competing with nostalgia, you know”…
*UPDATE*
I posted the character sheet for those interested, all two of them…
