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The first two games came out at the worst time for me - A-levels precluded me from spending any time at all with them (that's probably for the best, though - a

The first two games came out at the worst time for me - A-levels precluded me from spending any time at all with them (that's probably for the best, though - a few years later, Morrowind and the absence of parental oversight killed my degree stone dead :) ). Fallout 3, NV and 4 have all in turn nudged me to try the originals again, but they're just old-fashioned enough that I struggle to get into them, every time. These days I think I've resigned myself to only getting to play them properly in the event of a long stay in hospital.

StavrosK 10y ago
I played them when they came out, and consider them among the best games ever to come out, but they haven't aged well. I tried to play 1 for nostalgia, but quickly gave up.
- ido 10y ago
  interesting, i replayed both 1 & 2 a few years ago and had no issues with either (i installed some fan-patches but I think they changed little aside from bug fixes and enabling higher resolutions).
mstade 10y ago
You really should try. They're clunky and old, but they are great stories with engaging narratives, interesting characters, and ambiance aplenty. Which is really what Fallout used to be about – great story telling – before Bethesda started ruining the franchise with cookie cutter narratives, simpleton characters, and being distinctly non-canon. (I appreciate artistic freedom as much as the next guy, but at some point you've created a different world and just slapped Fallout stickers onto it.) What's odd to me is that the Fallout 4 Nuka-World DLC is much more engaging than the main story. Is this typical of games these days? Do a crappy "main" game but "fix it" with DLCs? Or is it just Bethesda and possibly even just Fallout?
- mstade 10y ago
  Another thing the old games has that Bethesda forgot about: replay value. I still play FO1 and FO2 every now and then, and still find things and side quests I never knew existed. And they are interesting – not just randomly generated "there are ghouls that are bothering me over there, plx 2 go and kill them kthnxbye" grinding crap. I've just finished Fallout 4 and can't for the life of me be bothered to play it again. I had fun, it's not a bad game, and I don't mind the price of admission, but just like Fallout 3 it'll end up in a box somewhere and I'll never care for it again. Not so with FO1 and FO2 (my favorite being FO2) – I dread the day I can't play them anymore because they are too old. Also, pro-tip: http://user.tninet.se/~jyg699a/fallout2.html http://user.tninet.se/~jyg699a/fallout2.html That guide has everything, it's awesome.
  - Brakenshire 10y ago
    Are there any modern games that fall into the same category, do you think?
    - Fyorl 10y ago
      You could try Pillars of Eternity. Also, Fallout 3: New Vegas was done by Obsidian, not Bethesda, and Obsidian has many of the same staff that worked on the original Fallouts 1 and 2.
      - PetrolMan 10y ago
        Pillars of Eternity is really fantastic. I dropped more hours than I'm willing to admit on that game and I might pick it up again when I have some more free time. I'm also really looking forward to playing Tyranny.
    - jerf 10y ago
      Fallout is itself a spiritual successor to a game called Wasteland, which is old enough to have been released on the Commodore 64. The people who made Fallout couldn't get the rights to Wasteland so they made Fallout. Well, now they have the rights, and you can pick up Wasteland 2 now: http://store.steampowered.com/app/240760/ http://store.steampowered.com/app/240760/ Currently on sale 60% off, though I'll say I've seen it on sale quite a bit. I'm sure it'll be on sale Christmas again.
namaemuta 10y ago
It would be great to have a rework improving usability but keeping the visual style the same like Pillars of Eternity or Tyranny.
erikb 10y ago
Yes, it's a game where you even had to get into back in the day. And back then what was driving the hype was what we would call "open world" feel nowadays. And in comparison to today's sizes it's quite small. So without nostalgia I wouldn't suggest starting FO1/2. Watch a Let's Play for some story, or read some dialogues online. More is not reasonable at this point.
- Brakenshire 10y ago
  I don't know whether having a massive 'open world' really matters, because you can't scale storytelling. The trick of all of these games is having a feel that a larger world exists, but at the same time leading you along a relatively narrow path, along a meaningful story.
  - erikb 10y ago
    Also true. But still, coming from that point of view, the illusion is easier to see through in FO1/2. E.g. the idea of walking through the wasteland vs just seeing a dot move over a map with some random encounters. Back then there weren't many games were you could really explore the world, so this illusion was quite good at giving you the feel of having a huge map with real events happening. It won't do that to a person who played Skyrim and GTAV.
    - ctrl-j 10y ago
      I don't think that's true. I can still get into a book even though I've seen movies. I think it takes a certain type of individual to get into the Fallout 1/2 style of interface, but the overall game still holds up. Older games require more imagination though. I've gone back in and played the original wasteland recently, and it's cluunky - but I was still able to get into it and enjoy myself. I think back in the day gamers had more imagination. It's possible that's because gaming required it, and that it took better graphics and interaction to get it so that the mass-market could adopt them. It's possible there's a branch of gamers who just won't be able to get into games like Fallout 1/2, but I hope it's fewer than you are describing.
    - 10y ago
Blackthorn 10y ago
I feel the same way about Baldur's Gate 2. While I have a lot of friends who love that game, I tried playing it and just could not get into it. It was just so clunky.
- outworlder 10y ago
  Having played both, it's "clunkier" than Fallout, sure. And it expects a fair amount of AD&D knowledge. If you got that pre-requisite, it is not difficult to get into. And, while I prefer Fallout's ambiance, the characters in Baldur's gate are awesome.
theandrewbailey 10y ago
I built an old P2-era PC (Win98, CRT, ball mouse) a few years ago to play similar vintage games they way they were meant to, both favorite and unplayed games. About the same time, GoG had some Fallout games for free for 2 days[0], so I grabbed the hell out of those. I finished the first one a year later, and I found the UI had many rough edges. Like the first (at first), I've "started" the second a few times by now, but not making it more than 2 hours or so each time. [0] http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/12/psa-gog-offering-fallout-fallout-2-and-fallout-tactics-for-free/ http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/12/psa-gog-offering-fallo...
- jerf 10y ago
  "Like the first (at first), I've "started" the second a few times by now, but not making it more than 2 hours or so each time." Try to save the results of those, then pick up from there next time you're in the mood. I've had all kinds of games I've played across years that way.
  - theandrewbailey 10y ago
    The thing is, I restart games because I want to remember and be cognizant of the story I'm playing through. I often don't play for months at a time, and when I get back I wonder what I'm doing.
    - jimmcslim 10y ago
      I've had the same problem with recent titles too, such as GTA IV and V. I'd like to get into the Mass Effect series as well, but my gaming tends to come in fits and starts. What would be awesome would be recognition of this by developers of AAA titles with long narratives - with the option to watch a dynamically generated cut scene comprised of both cut scene footage and significant in-game footage from the player's own gameplay. 'Previously, in Grand Theft Auto...'
      - photojosh 10y ago
        Genius idea... (Am playing Diablo III at the rate of about 3 hours every 3 months...)

StavrosK 10y ago

I played them when they came out, and consider them among the best games ever to come out, but they haven't aged well. I tried to play 1 for nostalgia, but quickly gave up.

ido 10y ago
interesting, i replayed both 1 & 2 a few years ago and had no issues with either (i installed some fan-patches but I think they changed little aside from bug fixes and enabling higher resolutions).

mstade 10y ago

You really should try. They're clunky and old, but they are great stories with engaging narratives, interesting characters, and ambiance aplenty. Which is really what Fallout used to be about – great story telling – before Bethesda started ruining the franchise with cookie cutter narratives, simpleton characters, and being distinctly non-canon. (I appreciate artistic freedom as much as the next guy, but at some point you've created a different world and just slapped Fallout stickers onto it.) What's odd to me is that the Fallout 4 Nuka-World DLC is much more engaging than the main story. Is this typical of games these days? Do a crappy "main" game but "fix it" with DLCs? Or is it just Bethesda and possibly even just Fallout?

mstade 10y ago
Another thing the old games has that Bethesda forgot about: replay value. I still play FO1 and FO2 every now and then, and still find things and side quests I never knew existed. And they are interesting – not just randomly generated "there are ghouls that are bothering me over there, plx 2 go and kill them kthnxbye" grinding crap. I've just finished Fallout 4 and can't for the life of me be bothered to play it again. I had fun, it's not a bad game, and I don't mind the price of admission, but just like Fallout 3 it'll end up in a box somewhere and I'll never care for it again. Not so with FO1 and FO2 (my favorite being FO2) – I dread the day I can't play them anymore because they are too old. Also, pro-tip: http://user.tninet.se/~jyg699a/fallout2.html http://user.tninet.se/~jyg699a/fallout2.html That guide has everything, it's awesome.
- Brakenshire 10y ago
  Are there any modern games that fall into the same category, do you think?
  - Fyorl 10y ago
    You could try Pillars of Eternity. Also, Fallout 3: New Vegas was done by Obsidian, not Bethesda, and Obsidian has many of the same staff that worked on the original Fallouts 1 and 2.
    - PetrolMan 10y ago
      Pillars of Eternity is really fantastic. I dropped more hours than I'm willing to admit on that game and I might pick it up again when I have some more free time. I'm also really looking forward to playing Tyranny.
  - jerf 10y ago
    Fallout is itself a spiritual successor to a game called Wasteland, which is old enough to have been released on the Commodore 64. The people who made Fallout couldn't get the rights to Wasteland so they made Fallout. Well, now they have the rights, and you can pick up Wasteland 2 now: http://store.steampowered.com/app/240760/ http://store.steampowered.com/app/240760/ Currently on sale 60% off, though I'll say I've seen it on sale quite a bit. I'm sure it'll be on sale Christmas again.

namaemuta 10y ago

It would be great to have a rework improving usability but keeping the visual style the same like Pillars of Eternity or Tyranny.

erikb 10y ago

Yes, it's a game where you even had to get into back in the day. And back then what was driving the hype was what we would call "open world" feel nowadays. And in comparison to today's sizes it's quite small. So without nostalgia I wouldn't suggest starting FO1/2. Watch a Let's Play for some story, or read some dialogues online. More is not reasonable at this point.

Brakenshire 10y ago
I don't know whether having a massive 'open world' really matters, because you can't scale storytelling. The trick of all of these games is having a feel that a larger world exists, but at the same time leading you along a relatively narrow path, along a meaningful story.
- erikb 10y ago
  Also true. But still, coming from that point of view, the illusion is easier to see through in FO1/2. E.g. the idea of walking through the wasteland vs just seeing a dot move over a map with some random encounters. Back then there weren't many games were you could really explore the world, so this illusion was quite good at giving you the feel of having a huge map with real events happening. It won't do that to a person who played Skyrim and GTAV.
  - ctrl-j 10y ago
    I don't think that's true. I can still get into a book even though I've seen movies. I think it takes a certain type of individual to get into the Fallout 1/2 style of interface, but the overall game still holds up. Older games require more imagination though. I've gone back in and played the original wasteland recently, and it's cluunky - but I was still able to get into it and enjoy myself. I think back in the day gamers had more imagination. It's possible that's because gaming required it, and that it took better graphics and interaction to get it so that the mass-market could adopt them. It's possible there's a branch of gamers who just won't be able to get into games like Fallout 1/2, but I hope it's fewer than you are describing.
  - 10y ago

Blackthorn 10y ago

I feel the same way about Baldur's Gate 2. While I have a lot of friends who love that game, I tried playing it and just could not get into it. It was just so clunky.

outworlder 10y ago
Having played both, it's "clunkier" than Fallout, sure. And it expects a fair amount of AD&D knowledge. If you got that pre-requisite, it is not difficult to get into. And, while I prefer Fallout's ambiance, the characters in Baldur's gate are awesome.

theandrewbailey 10y ago

I built an old P2-era PC (Win98, CRT, ball mouse) a few years ago to play similar vintage games they way they were meant to, both favorite and unplayed games. About the same time, GoG had some Fallout games for free for 2 days[0], so I grabbed the hell out of those. I finished the first one a year later, and I found the UI had many rough edges. Like the first (at first), I've "started" the second a few times by now, but not making it more than 2 hours or so each time. [0] http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/12/psa-gog-offering-fallout-fallout-2-and-fallout-tactics-for-free/ http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/12/psa-gog-offering-fallo...

jerf 10y ago
"Like the first (at first), I've "started" the second a few times by now, but not making it more than 2 hours or so each time." Try to save the results of those, then pick up from there next time you're in the mood. I've had all kinds of games I've played across years that way.
- theandrewbailey 10y ago
  The thing is, I restart games because I want to remember and be cognizant of the story I'm playing through. I often don't play for months at a time, and when I get back I wonder what I'm doing.
  - jimmcslim 10y ago
    I've had the same problem with recent titles too, such as GTA IV and V. I'd like to get into the Mass Effect series as well, but my gaming tends to come in fits and starts. What would be awesome would be recognition of this by developers of AAA titles with long narratives - with the option to watch a dynamically generated cut scene comprised of both cut scene footage and significant in-game footage from the player's own gameplay. 'Previously, in Grand Theft Auto...'
    - photojosh 10y ago
      Genius idea... (Am playing Diablo III at the rate of about 3 hours every 3 months...)