By Wesley Eaton
When Black Isle Studios and Interplay realized how well-received the original Fallout was, they immediately scrambled to make a sequel, and I don't blame them. There were some very real financial motivations involved as Interplay faced financial trouble, but I can’t imagine Black Isle wasn’t elated to run it back. Fallout was a rich, unique, and immersive experience; it only makes sense that they'd want to see what else they could do with it. This was an opportunity for the developers to spread their wings, flesh out their world, explore new themes, and just give players more Fallout to play. They achieved all of this, for better and for worse.
STORY - Greater Scope, Lesser Intrigue
Fallout 2 takes place exactly 80 years after the original game. The post-war world has begun to form its own cultural elements far removed from the initial apocalyptic shock and carryover, mostly in the form of tribal communities and a new emphasis on spirituality. The player character is a member of one of these tribes, and a direct grandchild of the protagonist from the previous game. The scope of the story this time is much larger, involving a great geopolitical conflict against what remains of the pre-war American government who call themselves “The Enclave”.
I ended up enjoying the story more than I thought I would. The Enclave gets a much better treatment here in its debut appearance than it did in Fallout 3. The organization presents as a straight up, no apology, parody of the US government. Their motivations were interesting and felt well-connected to the already established conflicts and themes of the world. However, the structure of the main quest does suffer. I actually appreciate how open and free form the main quest is allowed to be in both this game and the first game, which can be a great strength of CRPGs, but since Fallout 2's overall scope is greater it was much easier to lose momentum going from point to point. I also felt there was a lot less to anchor you to the story and give you direction, but again, some could see that as an increase in the players freedom and how open the game is.
GAMEPLAY - A Great Formula Stretched Too Far
The gameplay formula is relatively the same as the first game, but here it feels quite strained. There are a few contributing factors to that, all of which I’ll get into at one point or another, but the increased size of combat encounters is a major part of it. Almost every combat encounter in Fallout 2 has more enemies than the first game, and the number of enemies can go up depending on how many companions you have with you. Fundamentally, I enjoy the combat mechanics of these Fallout games, but I don't want to wait for 10 enemies and four companions to take their turns for every one turn I take. These are just a couple examples of Fallout 2 taking too big of a bite with its design. I think the 20 hours I spent with the first Fallout was perfect for a game of its type. It was just enough time to highlight its strengths and hide its flaws, and because of that I think the game has aged very well. In contrast, I spent exactly twice that amount of time with Fallout 2, which has most of the same flaws and more time for them to grate on you.
Fallout 2 falls into the "bigger and better" category of sequels. It boasts a map that is roughly twice as large as its predecessor, and with many more quests to fill it. Without a doubt, there is plenty to do, and plenty of role-playing opportunities for players, but for me the appeal of the expanded world ended there. The world feels thin at times. There's more to do, but not all of it is worth doing. That's a pretty common risk to run when expanding a game world, but in this case it feels like Fallout 2 only breaks even with the first game in terms of worthwhile content, and falls further when it comes to memorable moments.
Fundamentally, I think I might just find the world of Fallout 2 a lot less interesting than what comes before or after it in the franchise. Many of the visual motifs from the previous game are dialed back, and the tribal elements that replace them come across as both jarring and bland. I applaud Black Isle for trying to do something unique, but the changes threaten to turn Fallout into something unrecognizable, or at least detract from what was so initially appealing.
If I can pinpoint one thing about Fallout 2 that is 100% improved, it's the companion system. Managing your companions is so much easier than it was in the first game, and they have a lot more personality. Another net positive would be your car, The Highwayman. I'm pretty sure all they did was decrease the speed of traveling on foot, and using the car is the same travel speed from the first game, but it's still cool and it also provides unlimited storage for all of your junk, which was very welcome.
SIGHTS & SOUNDS - A Strange Lonely Wasteland
The first two Fallout games utilize a form of claymation for many of the most important characters you’ll encounter in the game. These “talking heads” are a primary driver of Fallout’s unique feel and aesthetic. Unfortunately, Fallout 2 has less talking heads than the first game, even though it's twice as big. You'll encounter two right at the very beginning, a few as companions (which you'll hardly need to talk to and are entirely missable), three as leaders of different factions (one of which I mostly locked myself out of), and two right at the very end. I think they placed talking heads in most of the places that really matter, but overall it made my trek through the wastes feel more empty and lonely. You could argue that serves an intended purpose, but it doesn’t feel that way. The talking heads were a tremendous source of charm and character in the first game, they made the world feel alive and helped to break up any sense of monotony brought on by endless text boxes and large turn-based combat encounters, which this sequel exacerbates.
My biggest complaint with Fallout 2 might be the soundtrack. For me, it is a huge downgrade from the moody and dark ambiance of the first Fallout. The tribal aspects that have evolved in the 80 years since the previous game already didn’t work for me, so hearing it heavily represented in the new original pieces composed for this game doomed it from the start. If I can say anything good about it, it's that I was reminded of just how important a soundtrack is to a game and how much we can take them for granted. If the music and atmosphere fail to draw you in, that severely hurts the overall experience of the game, which was definitely the case for me unfortunately.
FINAL VERDICT
I regret that so many of my thoughts on Fallout 2 skew negative because I think it's still a very good game, and it doesn’t surprise me that some consider it a masterpiece. Back in 1998 more Fallout would have been a great thing to me no matter how you sliced it, but playing it 25 years later has given me a different perspective. The first game was fresh and exciting, and I was expecting an even greater degree of that with Fallout 2, but most of the games strengths are borrowed from its predecessor. It doesn't do a lot to separate itself from the first game, and when it does I'm not sure if I like it. It feels more like a Fallout 1.5 than a full on sequel, even though it has a lot more to do and see. Regardless, Fallout 2 definitely is more of a very good thing, even if it didn't blow me away.
Fallout 2 - 7.5/10 - GOOD