Fallout 2 is an amazing masterpiece. In the history of isometric RPG's, first came Fallout 1 (1997.), then Fallout 2 (1998.), then Baldur's Gate (1999.) and Planetscape Torment (1999.), and then Baldur's Gate 2 (2000.) and so on.....
So we are talking about the true legends that shaped all subsequent games in the genre. In the PC gaming world, I feel the most amount of pure entertainment when playing a quality RPG game. A quality RPG draws you to play it constantly, you even think about it when you are doing other things.
I first played this in 1999, then again on a pirate CD in 2007 and now I bought it here on Steam and played it for the third time and I had the equal amount of fun like in 1998. Some players play it dozens of times (high replay value).
In a post-apocalyptic California, you are the Chosen One, a guy who is selected to exit the safe confinements of his village in order to find an important piece of technology that is required by the community. The Chosen One travels to a multitude of towns, locations, military bases (you have a large open world map at your disposal) and engages in a myriads of quests and tasks. The karma system is fantastic, in every town you get a reputation that is based on what you do and how you solve quests (there are many ways to solve them), and there is a general karma that tells the summary of how moral were your deeds during the playthrough.
Fallout 2 can surely be called a sandbox game because you have total freedom to go where you want and do what you like (with some limitations, of course). You can get experience points by doing so many things, not only by doing quests and killing enemies, but also by using a multitude of skills.
The post-apocalyptic, harsh and brutal environment/atmosphere is portrayed perfectly, which is aided by a great selection of soundtracks ( I often listen to the Fallout 2 soundtrack on you tube ).
The dialogue is intelligent and you have lots of humor. You have 14 potential companions to chose from.
It's important to say that this game doesn't hold your hand, it's pretty hard on the normal difficulty. All games were way harder back then. For a new player, it's highly recommendable to read a guide. Character creation is of utmost importance. If you screw up your character creation, it will be hard to face the incredible variations of enemies ( mob families, raiders of all kind, slavers, various factions, para-military organizations, and lots of mutated monsters. For example, it's difficult to play if you didn't put your agility attribute to the maximum ( 10 ), because the more agility points, the more time you can attack in a turn. There is an high amount of skills to chose from, but it's always critical to have small guns and big guns or energy weapons in every playthrough. That and dozens of other tips are important to know in order to finish the game. Combat is fun, there is a great selection of weapons and gadgets.
In this game choices have consequences, and the way you solved (or not solved) quests in each location will have a different outcome in the ending cutscene.
The graphics is poor but it's a 1998 game, you can't expect better. I really love isometric graphics, it can even have advantages in comparison to 3D graphics ( locations are not so overwhelming, you feel more in control of the interface and combat....). I couldn't make screenshots.
I could go on a lot more but I think it's clear that I highly recommend this game. If you buy it, be prepared to invest time and energy. Be prepared to fail many combat situations and re-load hundreds of times. The save system is manual so that can aid you ( you can save even during combat ). It's good to write down the quests on a piece of paper.
Gaming at it's best!
