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Fallout 2Previewed By: Bill Stiteler Review Date: July 2, 2002
I have a confession to make. I, Bill Stiteler, dedicated Mac Gamer, once paid full price for a PC version of a game. That game was Fallout 2. I don't know if that counts as a confession however, as I remain unrepentant. The original Fallout had ruled all, and this was during the Bad Old Days when you couldn't be sure we were getting games for the Mac until you had it in your hands. Even then, you made sure to shake the box. In retrospect, it had been a wise decision. Just as Fallout 2 was coming out, the original MacPlay went under.
Fallout 2 takes place many years after the original. Your character is a member of a tribe living in the wastelands of post-nuclear holocaust America. But soon the land will no longer be able to support the tribe, so you are sent off to find a mystic artifact which will transform the land into a paradise for your people. You'll travel across the wreckage of America, looking for this device, but not before you run across an assemblage of towns and characters both familiar and stranger than in the original Fallout.
You'll run into some familiar faces: a lot of the towns from Fallout still exist, and it's interesting (and in some cases, sad) to see what's become of them. When you find the Brotherhood of Steel, and convince them to let you join, you're about 25% through the game. Yeesh. What's new: First off, this game is huge! Like, Baldur's Gate huge, in terms of the number of side quests and different interactions you can get from people. Second, your charisma rating doesn't just affect how much people like you...it also helps you get followers! Certain characters in the game may join up with you and help you along the way. Provided you help them out first, of course. And some pack some serious firepower. Third, the random encounters get more and more random. Not just monsters, you can also run into one-of-a-kind encounters which can give you unique items and really bad jokes. You might never run into them, but it never hurts to look.
Expect to lose a lot of evenings to this game. Fallout 2 is a game that will suck you in. And just in case you're still bearing a grudge about my foray into PC-land, I'll give you a very good hint as an act of contrition: when creating your character, bulk up on hand to hand and primitive combat skills. You won't be seeing a gun for a loooooooooong time.
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So, I bought Fallout 2 and played it on my work computer during lunch time. And maybe other times, but no one can prove anything. Put simply, Fallout 2 is one of those few--those precious few--sequels which does the improbable. It improves on the original. And now, to the joy of everyone who loves sitting in front of a monitor, the new MacPlay is releasing Fallout 2 for the Mac.
What's the same: the game remains a top-down RPG style (for younger gamers, think Baldur's Gate). Combat occurs in rounds, with you deciding what action your character(s) take (see below) before executing them.
Fourth, this game gets very...risque in parts. Your character picks up notoriety attributes as he or she travels through the wasteland, and I think this is the first game where the grizzled loner out to save the world can have a sideline as a porn star. I'm not kidding. For added humor, go into a brothel wearing power armor and see what kind of comments you get. Oh, and drugs are a big, big, big part of the game. And I'm not talking about health packs, people. Parents, you've been warned.