Fallout 2 - Defined the Series

Silver · October 4, 2017

PCGamesN believe that Fallout 2 defined the series.

Grotesque monsters. A campy ‘Space Race' aesthetic. Stories that unfold subtly and organically, based on how you play. A lot of Fallout's core characteristics we nowadays take for granted. But back in 1997, when a small, now-defunct studio called Black Isle were just starting out, the classic Fallout style was far from recognisable.

The first game had sold reasonably well, but the critical response had been feverish; hoping to capitalise on the Fallout buzz, Black Isle's publisher, Interplay, quickly commissioned a sequel. Bigger, better, and with much more for players to do, development on Fallout 2 also had to be completed inside nine months. For Feargus Urquhart, co-director of Fallout 1 and one of Black Isle's founders, the nuclear heat was on.

"We'd started working on Fallout 2 before we'd even shipped Fallout 1," he tells me. "That was in the middle of 1997. By the beginning of 1998, when Interplay was having some financial difficulties, they decided they wanted to make Fallout 2 and make it in the same amount of time as the original, and as far as they were concerned, we'd already been developing it for half a year already. So that gave us basically nine months to make the whole game."

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joxer · October 4, 2017

PCgamesN is wrong.

According to @Drithius;:

Drithius said:
Joxer does not know what Fallout is. Fallout 1, as envisioned by Tim Cain, was a bleak and harsh setting above everything else. It was primarily with Fallout 2 (which was not lead by Cain), that we get the dumbass goofiness introduced to such a large extent.

Some people like the dorky side of Fallout - and for them, Bethesda is no skin off their backs. Some people such as myself prefer the more grim undertones of the first game - and for them, Bethesda is an absolute bore. It all comes down to preference and so the Wasteland trait was optional in New Vegas - to everyone's benefit.

According to me, ofc, because I disagree with Drithius 100% when it comes to thoughts about anything Fallout, PCgamesN is not wrong.

daveyd · October 4, 2017

Been a long time since I played Fallout 2 so the only thing I remember aside from the trial in the caves at the beginning was that I became a porn star in Reno. Also, I know they had pop culture references, which a lot of people don't like. And I agree that is a very bad idea for RPGs (immersion breaking and doesn't age well).

Anyway, I still wish I lived in a parallel universe where Van Burren was released / Troika managed to acquire the IP instead of Bethesda.

JDR13 · October 4, 2017

I mostly remember it being buggy as hell. I still enjoyed it, but I found the original Fallout more memorable.

fadedc · October 4, 2017

I mostly remember the vast differences in combat mechanics between Fallout 1 and 2. In Fallout 1 combats were fast but often unsatisfying. Once you got an automatic weapon you could win most fights easily, as firing full auto into anything generally killed them. The only challenge was when they had full auto weapons too, they could also potentially kill you in one attack. Your stats and character build didn't really matter all that much.

Fallout 2 was very different with vastly higher health pools. It allowed for longer combats with many more options, as well as for a variety of combat builds that played differently. But the fights could also become very tedious, with everyone feeling like bullet sponges that happily shrugged off point blank shot gun blasts to the head.

Maylander · October 4, 2017

Yeah, I still remember the tedious ones. Not even sure I completed it. I think my patience ran out, despite the excellent setting.

screeg · October 4, 2017

Fallout 1 defined the series. Fallout 2 was a rushed, rehashed clone. It was definitely bigger, with plenty of reused assets (they even used the Crimson Caravan sign as part of a junk wall), but IMO not better.

Carnifex · October 4, 2017

I just remember how poor the selection of games was at the time, and how delighted I was to see a sequel!! I still replay Fallouts one, two and three quite regularly, and probably always will. For years I didn't have access to the first two but then great old games came to my rescue! You don't realize how much you miss something till you don't have it. =xxx

henriquejr · October 4, 2017

I remember roaming the wasteland by car

Lucky Day · October 4, 2017

Y'now I liked FO2 better than FO1 though I admit that FO1 was tighter. Maybe because in FO2 it was clearer that it was more tongue in cheek. I can never get over the gold watch quest and getting the mechanic to pick a fight over it with another NPC. This is the essence of true puzzle quests - unlocking that kind of "reward" when you figure out the "solution".

With FO2 they rewrote the engine to make it moddable too. I wish more came of that.

Carnifex · October 4, 2017

That gold watch is memorable to this day, if it's the one I'm thinking about, the one where you had to climb down the toilet and it went to some cavern? Now that's a classic with a plunge!

posfan12 · October 4, 2017

Fallout 2 had dumb humor. Fallout was more refined.

Ferris_bg · October 5, 2017

I have no idea how many times I played through F2. Such a classic! The original version is buggy, but that is why we have killap restoration project - definitely check it out if you haven't. A friend of mine, who is a hack'n'slash game fan and never played such RPGs, started F2 recently and finds it amazing.

you · October 5, 2017

I never liked fallout-2.

Silver · October 5, 2017

Still one of my favourites. The highwayman was awesome. When my car got stolen I was always going to hunt them down and make them pay. Then there was whiny Myron who was useless in a fight but could always make me laugh. And yes Bethesda ask Myron who invented Jet.

Archangel · October 6, 2017

Silver said:
Still one of my favourites. The highwayman was awesome. When my car got stolen I was always going to hunt them down and make them pay. Then there was whiny Myron who was useless in a fight but could always make me laugh. And yes Bethesda ask Myron who invented Jet.

Maybe Myron just found a pre war formula and was smart enough to understand it and turn it into a real product. So he said he invented it.. or that is how Bethesda can explain it if they want to

Archangel · October 6, 2017

As for F1 vs F2, I liked both games but I spent more time playing F2 as it had more refined gameplay and UI. I didn't care as much about quests and if it was serious or funny.

mercy · October 6, 2017

Fallout 1 and 2 were way better than any JUNK Bethesda coughed up and dared to call them 3.. 4 whatever..

TomRon · October 7, 2017

mercy said:
Fallout 1 and 2 were way better than any JUNK Bethesda coughed up and dared to call them 3.. 4 whatever..

I agree, but you can't argue they made the right business decision... I'm past being angry at Bethesdas decisions both with TES and FO, I'll continue to growl at all the gamers who made them make those choices though.

posfan12 · October 8, 2017

I'm sorry, guys! I totally am the one who convinced Bethesda to make the decision in an email I sent them in 2005. Really, I won't do it again!

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