I had the choice of either buying Fallout 2, or Baldur's Gate. Everyone I asked suggested Baldur's Gate, and it got a higher score than Fallout 2 in most magazines. I chose to get Fallout 2 however, because it had a unique setting, and looked like it would be a lot more fun. I never regretted that decision. While I bought Baldur's Gate later, Fallout 2 will always remain my favorite RPG.

Fallout 2 is the only RPG that I've played that let me actually roleplay. Most "RPGs" give you the character that you will play, and you control him, while in Fallout 2 you have absolute control over what you're character is like. You can even be evil if that is what you desire, and the game doesn't punish you severely for it, and in several occasions, you can even be rewarded for it.

The character creation process is almost too simple. I've gone through it hundreds of times, trying to make THE perfect character, only to realize that there is none. Every character I made was unique in some way, and I had a lot of fun role playing each one. While creating your character you have the chance to customize your stats, pick what skills you want, and then you may pick traits, which have both positive and negative effects on your character.

The story of Fallout 2 is fairly well written, but some things could have been improved, and I felt a little disappointed by the ending. The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic version of western United States, devastated by war to the point that almost nothing recognizable is left. There were few survivors from the nuclear war that caused this future, and everyone is struggling to merely stay alive. Your character is a tribal in a small village that is slowly dying. You have been assigned to the quest of finding the G.E.C.K., the only thing that can save your tribe. The radiation from the nuclear war has caused the wasteland to be filled with mutant creatures like radscorpians and giant geckos.

The weapon selection in Fallout 2 is simply amazing. You can pick between a wide selection of hand-to-hand weapons if you wish, or you can pull out the heavy artillery like rocket launchers or energy weapons. Many of the weapons are unique designs that can be a lot of fun (and leave a very gory mess behind) There are no magic spells in the game (and don't let those NPCs convince you otherwise), but there are some pretty cool abilities called perks that you can learn from others or gain from experience. Perks work very similar to the feats added in Dungeons and Dragons Third Edition, but are not copies of them (Fallout 2 came out before D&D 3E).

I love the combat system of Fallout 2. While maybe not as good as the one used in Baldur's Gate, it is an excellent system, that very few rpgs live up to. Characters have the ability to move around, attack, or other do other actions using action points which are based on stats. The turn based system seems very simple, but it is difficult to master. You can make targeted attacks to cripple your opponent, or just repeatedly attack him while standing still. The more action points, or AP, you have left at the end of your turn, the harder it is for you opponent to hit you, so it is a balancing act between using action points, and leaving some for defense, especially if you are low on HP.

Even without multiplayer, Fallout 2 has more replay value than any other RPG I've played. I have played through the game with different characters, and much of the game felt completely different than other times I've played through it. This is the only RPG I have played where I could just play through the whole game repeatedly without getting bored of it. The game has huge amounts of quest to accomplish, so if you want to play through all of them, it may take you about a year to get through the game.

The graphics are fairly low detail, but the animations are amazing in my opinion. They obviously spent a lot of time working on this, though the graphics are fairly outdated by today's standards. Just remember that this game came out in 1994, so graphics have made many improvements since then.

The comedy in Fallout 2 may annoy serious roleplayers, but for the gamer that just wants to have a lot of fun, be careful and remember to breathe. There are some extremely funny random encounters throughout the game from various sources like Monty Python and the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. And you can even cause the problem that started the first game.

The bugs in Fallout 2 are my only real complaint. These are the only reason I cannot give this game a 5 star rating, no matter how much I love this game. First, the car. This is the most bug-ridden feature I have ever seen. The trunk of the car sometimes randomly follows you around, and sometimes the car does as well. When it gets stuck in some random place you cannot reach and you haven't saved your game in about 3 hours, it can really annoy you. A patch has been released to fix many problems, but I still encounter many bugs. Make sure you download the patch before you start playing, because it makes your saved games useless.

P.S. Rumors of Fallout 3 being in development have begun. I pray that these are true, it's been too long since I've played a really good RPG.

Recommended: Yes