The history of Fallout

Features

November 10, 2015

Fallout 4 is upon us, and as, perhaps, the most anticipated and biggest game of the year, we can’t wait to invest many a night into playing it.

But before we do, why not take a look into the franchise’s past, a look at what it is today. The history of Fallout.

Fallout – 1997

The original Fallout was first released in 1997 and introduced us to the post-apocalyptic world that we’ve come to know and love as it is today.

The game was set in the mid-22nd century, a century fueled by bright ideas, brilliant inventions and fantastic machines. Rather unfortunately, as has been the case with many a wondrous machine, there were downsides, oil in the case of the many machines that populated our lives.

The eventual oil shortage lead to a war that consumed everything we had come to know.

The war enveloped the world for 20 years, as the world fought for the last of the non-renewable commodities like oil and uranium, but it finally ended in 2077 with a global nuclear apocalypse.

For the next hundred years human society would struggle to re-build as they congregate in settlements barely able to survive in the barren wasteland. This is where the Vaults come in as the Enclave had built 122 of them, each able to carry humanity into the future in spite of the fallout.

The first Fallout looked a little different to what we know today as the game featured a top-down, isometric view rather than a first and third person experience.

The combat was also turn based when attacking creatures on the Wasteland. Fallout also introduced the original SPECIAL system, as well as the Brotherhood of Steel.

The main story in the original Fallout is set around an insidious creature known as “The Master”. He for all intents and purposes believed himself to be humanity’s superior, a near-omnipotent evolution who felt humanity needed to evolve.

To do this, he introduced a Forced Evolutionary Virus (FEV) so to mutate and “improve” humanity. He clearly needed a bullet between his eyes and it’s up to the player to get it done, or do you side with him? You decide.

Fallout 2 – 1998

Just a year after the release of the original Fallout, Fallout 2 came along with a more extensive storyline and the same look and feel as the original game.

The game takes place 80 years after the events of Fallout as you play as the grandchild of the main protagonist in the first release.

In Fallout2, you are tasked in tracking down an ancient environmental restoration machine known as the Garden of Eden Creation Kit (GECK). This machine is the answer to saving your tribe from starvation.

But it’s not as easy as that because the Enclave are back and this time they are far from friendly. Their plan, to wipe out the world as it exists currently and begin again by means of the FEV.

You then learn that the Vaults were actually built as a series of social experiments to help the Enclave test out theories, assisting them in their restructuring of the world.

Fallout 2 introduced the Fallout mascot and humour that we know and love today. It was also the introduction to some of the more mature references in the game like sex, drugs and alcohol.

Fallout 3 – 2008

10 years after the release of Fallout 2, Bethesda now had the series under their wing and using the power of the engine that powered Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, the Gamebryo Engine, they would bring Fallout to life in a way that no one expected but that very nearly everyone loved.

Set in the Capital Wasteland in Washington DC, Vault 101 has been compromised and the player had to make their way out of the underground world into the wasteland.

You get separated from your father and now your only mission in life, among the hundred odd side-quests mind you, is to track him down.

While its playstyle was a huge departure from games prior, it still had a lot of the old Fallout charm.

It offered choice as an incentive and let the player ultimately decide the fate of the world around you. Some choices had larger impacts than others, but many of them affected your game in all manner of ways and it was a hoot to play besides.

The game also introduced the VATS system which allowed you to pause combat and, depending on your skill, target certain body parts, each playing their own role in the behaviour and effectiveness of an enemy, changing your approach to combat.

Fallout: New Vegas – 2010

Fallout: New Vegas released in 2010 and took the player to a brand new location, Nevada.

New Vegas was a spin off in the series, but it also introduced quite a number of new features like gambling, deeper moral choices, weapon mods and even the introduction of crafting weapons, something that’s grown into a much deeper set of mechanics in Fallout 4.

New Vegas also introduced a new mode, Hardcore Mode, which increased the game’s difficulty level by altering the effects of Stimpacks, food and water, and other healing items.

RadAway worked over time now rather than ridding you of your radiation instantly, and skills would also decrease over time with each illness.

Fallout: New Vegas was a great gamer that kept players busy for some time, and many consider it to be superior to Fallout 3, an impressive feat.

Fallout 4

We’ve already said all that needs to be said for Fallout 4, and have done nothing but adore everything Bethesda has shown us thus far.

But the short of it is that as the lone survivor of Vault 111, you’re tasked with exploring the Wasteland and piecing together the events that culminated in the world as it is today as well as play your role in humanity’s push forward.