Fallout Collection (Fallout, Fallout Tactics, Fallout A Post Nuclear RPG) Reviews

• Fallout fails to be replaced.

  
  By A15LQF4942XY5G on 2006-12-29
  The Fallout games have still not been replaced after ten years of RPGs. The extreme, even libertine freedom that defines the series has not since been captured in a videogame. One can literally go anywhere, fight with anything, and kill anyone within the setting of the game.
  
  The original Fallout and Fallout are turn-based, top-down perspective role-playing games. Though they feel dated in some reguards (graphics, minimal voice-overs, dated AI), they still exhibit gameplay superior to more recent role-playing videogames (libertine freedom, moral choices, engaging dialogue, and a "sandbox" feel).
  
  Fallout's "sandbox" feel is one of its greatest strengths. While most games will force the player to adhere to a certain rigid path, or force him/her to stay in one area until he/she advances in level, Fallout disreguards these limiters. Players can venture into the most dangerous and hostile areas as soon as they begin the game. In Fallout 2, for example, one can beat the game in under an hour if their character was properly oriented (and if they were so inclined).
  
  Fortunatly, the massive worlds and the many ways to play the games will keep players holding their ultimate victory and exploring more of the game. The first two Fallout games have not yet been replaced. The freedoms granted in the Fallout games are comparable to Morrowind or Oblivion, but The Elder Scrolls games lack the complex dialogues and social engineering of the Fallout games. The worlds and the style of play are comparable to the Baldur's gate series, but Fallout has so much greater a sense of freedom than any Dungeons and Dragons videogame ever released. Fallout and Fallout two have not yet been replaced, and I doubt they ever will be.
  
  Fallout Tactics is a tactical strategy game, and it fails to retain the strengths of the other games in the series. As a strategy game, the in-depth dialogue interactions and moral choices simply do not exist. Likewise, the immense feeling of freedom that defines the earlier Fallout games is non-existent in FO:Tactics, as the game progresses on a linear mission-to-mission basis.
  
  Unlike the previous Fallout games, in Tactics the player -directly- controls a squad of up to six soldiers. The combat is either fought in the traditional, turn based Gurps system of the previous games, or in a newer pseudo-real-time mode. In the new system, "action points" recharge over time instead of after ending one's turn. While an interesting twist, controlling one's entire squad is far easier, and in the author's opinion, more fun in traditional turn-based combat.
  
  Veterans will be pleased to know that the main changes to the game's ruleset are simply re-orienting combat towards real-time. All skills from the previous games remain, as well as most traits and perks. Nostalgia aside, the game is boring for the audience of the original games. While the setting and "ruleset", if you will, stay the same, the focus shifts from a "sandbox" to a monotonous "shoot-shoot-shoot" game. Tactics is only for hardcore fans of post-apocalyptic fiction, and only after they are bored of Fallout 1 and 2. There are much better games in the tactical strategy genre (see Jagged Alliance or X-Com).
  
  This release/printing/issue of the Fallout series is very well executed. While the box art is mediocre at best, the single DVD contains Fallout 1, 2, and Tactics; a set that previously would have appeared on 5, that's f-i-v-e compact disks. The extras are wonderful. While I was at first, dissapointed to see a lack of a manual, I then realized that the DVD contains the wonderfully designed and written manuals of all three games in PDF format. The manuals contain some great background story, and even recipies! (see Fallout 2's appendix 8 for "Carrion Kabobs") The extras on the disk are rather nice, but nothing amazing. The concept art is entertaining, but nothing too insightful.
  
  
  I am extremely happy with my recent purchase of the Fallout Collection on DVD. I highly reccomend that any fan of post-apocalyptic fiction, role-playing videogames, "retro" gaming, and to any fan of the Fallout series should pick up this editition.
  
  PS: This game is rated M! The current display of "T" is a mistake! Finally, this game is on a DVD, as the description states. Not a CD.
  
  

• Stands the Test of Time

  
  By A2J2DPF8G1L9GI on 2007-01-10
  I have played all 3 games in the FallOut series and wish there would be a fourth. The first two are superior, as the previous reviewer noted, for the freedom they provide the player (though, if i recall correctly) in FallOut 1 you have a limited amount of time to complete the first parts of the game or you die of radiation poisoning or something.
  FallOut Tactics was a bit of a let-down from the first two, but none-the-less a very playable game and some very clever nods to late 90's, early 00's culture. (For example, there's a random encounter based on the movie "Pitch Black" and later you can hire a mercenary named Riddick who is very proficient at hand-to-hand combat.
  I know whether these games will work with Microsoft XP.
  
  
  

• Where are the patches?

  
  By A677SAWN907Q4 on 2007-07-10
  Fallout and Fallout 2 are awesome. Fallout Tactics is also a good game. But how can a company justify releasing decade old games without including the updated patches? That is just completely unacceptable, especially when not only have these patches been out for years, but the bugs left in the games are very substantial. Pathetic.
  
  

• How to solve install problems

  
  By A15IP17MNQ2G9P on 2008-08-26
  Many of us have had problems installing Fallout 2. I managed to fix the problem by opening up the DVD and going to the "Bonuses" folder then the "patches" folder, where I found a "Read me" file which explained that the master.dat or critter.dat files were a possible cause.
  
  I manually deleted the master.dat FOLLDER from the Fallout 2 folder on my hard disk, then dragged the master.dat FILE from the DVD into the Fallout 2 folder on my hard disk.
  
  This seemed to do the trick.
  
  Good luck.
  
  

• BUYER BEWARE

  
  By A1HMJ9H235VXXV on 2006-12-12
  At the time I am writing this, the listing says this collection is on CD-ROM but the fact is that it is on DVD ROM (look closely at the picture). I don't know exactly why but my DVD Rewriter couldn't read the disk and I had to invest in a new DVD reader to install any of the games which more than doubled the bargain price of the collection.
  
  This is now my second revision of this review, updated after completing Fallout 1. I can't revise my star ratings above but if I could I would give it 3 stars in each category. Basically the game wasn't linear enough for me and to avoid excessive replays and experimentation, I had to sift through advice from a number of online walkthroughs. A few miscellaneous comments: Combat is turn based and quite slow. Level of gore is high with some interesting death animations. Graphics are circa 1997 and relatively primitive: 640X480, maybe 256 colors, isometric view only, no zooming or camera control except basic panning. Dialog is okay, occassionally imaginative. Interface is adequate. Soundtrack is not especially notable. Story is okay but rarely transcends comic book level of sophistication. Quest log is basic and not particularly useful. Doubtless there is some replay value for people who like to experiment with different skills and perks to get different outcomes.
  
  
• War. War never changes...
  By A1KABWPAOBLRDU on 2007-07-16
  Fallout 1 and 2 are classic role playing games that feature a post-apocolyptic setting, but one can figure that out by looking at the cover of the box. What cannot be seen at first is the subtle humor that fallout fans have come to love. These games may be over ten years old, but they still have replayability. This collection will put a smile on "Mad Max", "Escape from New York", and other post-apoc fans' faces.
  
  Fallout 1 may have a definite end without the v1.01 patch (it eliminates the 500 day timer after completing the main quest), but it had a great balance of complexity as well as simplicity in play. The player can beat this game in under two or three hours if they knew what/where the objective was, and yet, the game can take 50+ hours if the player wanted to find every quest in their PipBoy 2000, a futuristic personal digital assistant, completed.
  
  Fallout 2 delivers more excitement than Fallout 1 did. It improved upon the various systems of Fallout 1, continued its' dark humor, and provided a never-ending gameplay from version 1. As with Fallout 1, the game can take as little time to play as a few hours to the same amount of time, if not more, Fallout 1 allowed us.
  
  Fallout: Tactics was a slight upset to Fallout fans, but provided an interesting tatical concept. With about 18 missions to complete, the player will find increasingly difficult missions and will attempt to get the best AAR* possible. Your successes and failures do change the outcome of the future, whether it be having a new team mate or a helpful armorsmith.
  
  My final words will be that this collection will provide hours of entertainment for gamers who enjoy RPG's regardless of graphics and for those that have played this/these games, having them on one DVD with extra content is great.
  
  *(In military terms, AAR stands for "After Action Review", or an assessment of what went well in a mission and what could have been improved on.)
  
  
• Fallout Collection
  By AZLD0LCSYJE0A on 2007-05-24
  Outstanding! The entire Fallout series to date, WITH ALL PATCHES! An incredible deal, well worth the asking price.
  
  
• Technical issues but a fun game
  By A132FCKZZYSHBY on 2008-08-05
  This collection includes Fallout 1, 2 and Tactics. 2 and Tactics seem to work fine but i bought it just for Fallout 1 so i'll talk about that.
  
  Fallout 1 was released over a decade ago. This DVD installs Fallout 1 version 1.2, released in 1997, long before Windows XP. i already owned this game but my copy didn't run on XP so i bought this. And learned that this has exactly the same problem. Specifically, the game screen goes black every few seconds. i spent a couple of hours searching Google and found that this was a common problem but that there was no solution. Common solutions offered include updating (or downgrading) graphics drivers, trying patches, setting the compatibility mode and adjusting screen resolution, none of which have any effect. So i was really, really sad when i got this game (again) and realized i still couldn't play it
  
  i spent another couple of days researching it and i think i've got something. The screen in Fallout 1 (but not 2 or Tactics, which are newer games) goes black because some application changed the way it looked. Maybe a Web browser refreshed itself or an icon in your status bar changed colors. Anything that changes the way it looks causes Windows to redraw the screen (to update it to the new way it should look). Fallout 1 doesn't know that, even in Win 95 compatibility mode, so it gets blacked out by Windows but doesn't redraw itself
  
  The solution is to shut down everything before starting Fallout 1. It's not a great solution and it took me several days (this time; i tried before months ago) to figure out. None of the Fallout sites that i found mentioned it. But i've been playing with it for a few hours and if i shut down my Web browser i only get the black out screen once every five minutes rather than every five seconds
  
  i'm assuming you already know about the game. It's ancient and it feels that way (especially the inventory management) and looks that way but it's a ton of fun. The game itself is 5 stars but getting it to work on any computer sold in (roughly) the last decade is a 1. Few people will put up with the technical issues but it's great if you can get it to work
  
  
  
  
• A classic
  By A1TASMMOLJRZ85 on 2007-05-14
  I am an avid gamer. Nowadays games don't seem to have the quality like the fallout games. Each game was very well written and has humor scattered throughout. I would put all 3 of these games on my top 10 list.
  
  
• Fallout Collection Set
  By AN5QAO6W95Z24 on 2007-08-26
  It was def. everything I was hoping it would be.
  Contains all 3 Fallout games, quickly installs, and easy to play.
  A great buy if you love RPGs, and don't mind less quality graphics, but better emphasis on storyline and a focus on the game play instead.
  
  
• Heck of a deal for two of the best RPGs ever made and Tactics is okay I guess
  By AIFU7WJI65OJ9 on 2007-09-08
  Fallout fans tend to measure all other cRPGs by the rather tough standards Fallout 1 and 2 laid out and have for the most part been disappointed as a result of it in recent years.
  
  The game's weren't considered particularly pretty even for their time but the relevance of player and character choice in the games is unmatched by any modern cRPG out there. The perk system is probably one of the the first elements of a computer roleplaying game to actually get adopted by pen & paper games and is sheer genius considering the original devs had to improvise on the fly when GURPS creator Steve Jackson pulled himself and the GURPS license off of the project.
  
  It's quite possibly the most replayable RPG series I've ever experienced owing to the vast number of different ways quests and obstacles can be resolved.
  
  So come find out why Fallout Fans have a reputation for being so incredibly insufferable when it comes to the slightest changes, real or perceived when it comes to speculation on Bethesda's Fallout 3.
  
  
• Fallout collection DVD
  By A3O0XNZEFB5QNO on 2007-09-24
  Amazing been looking for this installation files have been updated to let fallout one and two run on xp/vista
  
  
• Would be great, if I could play it
  By A3MA7SDWD1HJE5 on 2008-03-21
  This collection has Fallout, Fallout 2 and Fallout Tactics all bundled into one. Its a great deal on 2 great and 1 good game
  
  The problem is, Fallout 2 won't play after I install it. I get an error message, and even after repeated emails, customer service (which is in the UK) hasn't been able to tell me anything useful
  
  So I paid the bargain price for 2 games, instead of 3. That is my only complaint about this, the lousy tech support that's robbed me of the best game of the 3.
  
  Assuming you can get all the games to play, this is a 5 star collection at a great price
  
  
• Old, but still a good time
  By A2GUF1575GL2IJ on 2008-05-24
  I had never played Fallout and I wanted to get into it before Fallout 3 comes out so I purchased this collection. So far the story is pretty good. At this point, with the game's age, the story and the action are what's important. I can't remember the last time I played a game with graphics that old.
  When I get my character into trouble, it's pretty exciting to get her out of it alive. When I don't I know what is going to befall the other characters that are depending on me.
  I understand why so many people have so many good things to say about this game, even today. It was well worth the low price for the collection.
  
  
• Can't wait for 3!
  By A33GB3MUS5S66E on 2008-09-02
  I was not yet into PC games when Fallout originally was released in '97. Having seen the screenshots and press about Fallout 3, I thought I'd try to find the original 2 and get some backstory on the look and feel of the Fallout world. I've played the first and am partway through the second and let me just say, I thoroughly enjoy it! You can customize a character to fit virtually any type you can think of. Want to play a smooth-talking thief type? You can. Want to play a big burly bruiser? Go for it. There are some types that are easier to play than others, of course, but it's a pretty well-balanced game. I would highly recommend this game to anyone who likes RPGs and/or is planning to get Fallout 3. I'm going to go reserve mine copy now!
  
  
• Legendary.
  By A3KS2QD9TUSEDE on 2008-09-06
  Are you kidding? What else can be said about the best series of RPGs ever. My love of the post-apocalyptic realm started with Wasteland on C-64 and culminated with these classics. With only the excellent Stalker:SOC to tide me over until Fallout 3, its been a long wait. If you've never played them and turn-based is not your cup of tea then I would recommend Fallout:Tactics, faster paced and real-time.
  BTW not being able to get the game to run on your system is not a reason to give a game a bad review..patches are easily found by competent users.
  
  
• Still a fun potentially anarchic classic, after all these years
  By ABRKIJ6D4V42O on 2008-11-30
  So...you've taken the nth run-through of Oblivion and are thinking how wonderful it is to play in a sandbox? Black Isle originally perfected this style of gaming many years ago in Fallout.
  
  What made the Fallout games unique were not just its post-apocalyptic setting, but its character creation scheme - called S.P.E.C.I.A.L (Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Ability and Luck). You get some totally hilarious perks - my favourite is Bloody Mess. I have many fond memories of scoring a critical hit with my sniper rifle and watching my target's head disintegrate in a glorious explosion of blood and gore.
  
  My favourite aspect of the game (IMHO) were the incredibly strong storylines. "War...war never changes...". It's a powerful and evocative opening line. Junktown and Necropolis in Fallout 1. San Franciso in Fallout 2. Each and every city in both games had unique identities, and the stories, quests and characters developed naturally from those environments.
  
  So if you see these wonderful games on your local game store shelf - for goodness sake, do yourself a favour and buy it now. They really don't make 'em like this anymore, and you'll be rewarded with a great gaming experience for a great price. You won't regret it.
  
  
• Fallout on Vista?
  By A14NWAOPBBYMSX on 2007-06-12
  Anyone know if this works on Vista?
  
  
• One of the best PC series ever.
  By A3VUNMSZVEUI1Z on 2007-09-05
  Having purchased all three of the original games when they first came out I was overjoyed to hear that they grouped them all together in one collection. Both my Fallout and Fallout 2 CD's were scratched so bad they would not load on my PC anymore and the 1st disk of my FO:T was snapped in half rendering it useless. After hearing word that the loooong awaited Fallout 3 is due out in Fall of 2008 (on PS3 and XBox 360) I had to get my hands on the original 3 again.
  
  
• Great games for a great price
  By A3LA8SY8MIFDG4 on 2008-01-14
  If you want all the fallout games for a good price go buy this one.
  Even though fallout tactics sucks the price makes it worth it with bout fallout 1 and fallout 2 and it's difficult to get a brand new fallout games without this game set.
  go buy and enjoy one of the greates groundbreaking games ever:)
  
  
• Fallout Collection
  By A10IOOZO8K4K39 on 2008-07-10
  excellent game but does not work with vista/.xp-can work 1st 2 games but Fallout 2 does not load
  
  
• Got to be ready for FAllOut 3
  By A6KJMPT3LKXYR on 2008-07-14
  excellent product to take a memory trip, OR TO GET TO KNOW THIS excellent saga
  
  
• Worth the purchase
  By A3T0FFL86JIF99 on 2008-08-31
  This is a classic game, and the fact that it works like a charm on both Vista and XP is a bonus. After the install the disc isn't needed to play, which is a nice convenience. The disc also has some cool bonus stuff on it...nothing major, but a nice touch.
  All in all, three great games for a great price. Well worth it.
  
  
• Buy this disc for Tactics. 1 & 2 are a waste of time.
  By A3BSJUYGMIWI2Q on 2008-10-29
  Tactics is still the best computer based video game out there. It's coming up on 10 years old, but still complely immerses the player in the post-nuclear world. The real time option is the way to go. Customize and control your squad in this immense game. I am not a fan of turn based games. I never saw the point of taking turns in a firefight. You wouldn't do that it real life would you? Keep your squad moving, finding cover, charging in with guns blazing, it's up to you. Tough guy mode rewards the lack of mid level saving ability with extra points to customize your character's abilities. I love the time in the bunkers almost as much as the missions. Steal everybody blind, go sell the stuff you steal, and buy more cool stuff for your squad. Excellent.
  I highly recommend this game.
  
  
• Sand & Slag
  By A1Q1YU4FZ57ZBP on 2008-11-21
  What a great collection and at a great price, too! I encountered only small technical issues while playing the game on Windows XP--like certain resolution problems and getting the games to run in windowed mode-- but they work great now. I also discovered some bonus material on the DVD like Fallout Tactics bonus CD material which you can find if you "Explore" the dvd. All-in-all, Great buy and great game series!
  
  

• Fallout 3: Amazon.com Exclusive Survival Edition
• Fallout 3
• Baldur's Gate 2: Ultimate Collection (Shadows of Amn and Throne of Bhaal)
• Fallout 3 Collector's Edition: Prima Official Game Guide
• Baldur's Gate - 4 in 1 Box Set Compilation