[i]Fallout 1 was the prototype for many future game designs, including survival and RPG elements. It was also the forerunner of the Fallout lore, which evolved into a juggernaut. Thus, as a historic piece in gaming media, it's great. As a game, it is immensely disappointing.[/i]
[h1]Flows[/h1]
[list][*]Plenty of replayability, both in RPG choices and your build. I did my final, most optimized playthrough with an unarmed build, and I pretty much dominated most of the game with ease.
[*]As a female character you can just "flirt" your way out of most troublesome situations. Points for realism.
[*]Very active modding scene. I suggest checking out Warlockracy videos for some of its highlights (great youtuber). This is a review just for Fallout 1 though, not its mods.
[*]The voice acting and 3d faces are great.
[*]Gore. And it looks glorious.
[*]Somewhat tactical combat... But not really.[/list]
[h1]Flaws[/h1]
[list][*]It is ugly as sin. The whole game is a mixture of grey and brown, and because you are pixel-hunting, you are squeezing your eyes the entire time. The gore death animations are some of the very few good spriteworks in the game.
[*]The UI is very impractical (for example, in the end-game you have to use roughly 7-8 Stimpacks to fully heal. I have to open the inventory, drag 1 of them to the off-hand weapon, close the inventory, switch to the offhand weapon and use it. SEVEN-EIGHT TIMES.)
[*]The game desperately needs a journal of some kind. The pipboy notes for your quests are extremely lacking. You [i]will[/i] need a walkthrough for this.
[*]It suffers from adventure-game logic, where things have an extremely specific solution even though they should have multiples. This becomes VERY apparent in the final location, the mutant base, with its force-fields (possible to hard-lock yourself there btw). It's where I quit the game out of sheer lack of interest and accumulated exhaustion, despite being extremely overpowered.
[*]On that note, grinding is very much encouraged. And I hate grinding.
[*]Critical failures are fun in small doses. When every single one of my 3 brotherhood paladin companions manages to hit me with a minigun, I am wondering why I even brought the bastards along.
[*]The extremely bleak tone of the graphics is heavily contrasted with the extremely immature humor of the descriptions, if you actually pay attention to that kind of thing. It is very off-putting.
[*]A lot of systems are completely unutilized and pointless to have. I am almost certain the trap detection stat only (barely) matters for a single room in the entire game, while doctor and first aid objectively have no reason to exist.[/list]
[b]Fallout 1 is ugly to look at, impractical and, in general, simply boring. The good gore and nice face-dialogues (what few there are of them) are not enough to make this enjoyable. Thumbs down for purchase, watch Warlockracy's videos on it instead.[/b]
