This article was written by the author of 1990s Computer Game History and Computer Role-playing Games History.
Fallout 1 vs Fallout 2
Fallout 1 is inarguably a masterpiece of cRPG reactivity, aesthetics and non-linear questing whereas Fallout 2 is a mish-mash that tried too hard. It's bigger, but not better. In fact, it's a far cry from being on Fallout 1's level.
To be crystal clear, Fallout 2 is a great cRPG. It destroys whatever cRPG you are most likely playing now. It's just that Fallout 1 is on a whole other level.
Fallout 1 basically IS the cRPG Definition and stands as THE template of cRPG Design.
Fallout 1 vs Fallout 2 Difficulty
Early on, Fallout 2 is much harder than Fallout 1. In Fallout 2, we need to use our fists, or a spear, to kill several giant ants and radscorpions. We don't have a gun, and we don't have Ian with a gun. I am of course referring to the Temple of Trials prologue of Fallout 2. Yes, it is possible to get through the Temple of Trials without a fight [1], but new players won't know that. And if new players choose a low strength Fallout 2 sniper build with no investment in melee or unarmed skills, they may only have a 25% chance to hit the early enemies.
This can make ToT and Klamath's Trapper Town seem unreasonably hard and tedious.
In Klamath, our first gun is an all-but-useless pipe rifle. And we find a 10mm pistol only once we have entered a rat-infested dungeon.
Relative to build, enemies are also much stronger in Fallout 2. And there are many more of them. We're talking random encounters with 8x Enclavers, Deathclaws, Aliens, Centaurs and Floaters. The Enclavers wear APA and fire from weapons up to and including Gatling Lasers; aliens and mutants can radiate and poison us. Don't pretend you have never been owned by such enemies.
Even maxed out in terms of build, companions and weapons, enemy mobs can give us trouble and burst-crits can take out supertankers.
On the other hand, unlike Fallout 1, Fallout 2's world map movement speed was coded to CPU cycles. The faster the CPU, the faster we moved on the world map and the less likely we were to be waylaid by enemies. Thus, on modern hardware, we can zip down to San Francisco, NCR and Navarro to get cashed up and get ALL the good arms, armor and experience point rewards IN JUST A FEW MINUTES OF PLAY, thereby breaking the game (and even pushing on to complete the game without exploring 5% of its content). We couldn't do this back in the day without a major struggle. Thus, it is inarguable that the vastness and lethality of Fallout 2's world is grossly trivialized unless sfall Fallout 2 is installed.
[1]
Fallout 2 Temple of Trials No Fight
To get through the Temple of Trials without a fight, you need to run around the giant ants. When they engage in hostilities, you need to use your action points to move past them and then end your turn. They may continue to follow you but you can move again and end your turn a couple more times. After 2-3 turns you should be able to end combat and move on, leaving them behind.
The higher your Agility score, the more action points you have and therefore the more hexes you can move across, which makes it easier to outrun the enemy and end combat. Remember also that combat ends if you can reach an area transition point because enemies do not follow the player character between areas, but only within areas and only within a certain proximity to the player.
Fallout 2 Boss:
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Fallout 1 is just so well-thought-out and complete. Fallout 2 is unfortunately proving that sometimes less is more. Even though it's a great game on its own, compared to the first game it's really a hit or miss for me.
ReplyDeleteI feel like they complement each other quite nicely and really should be both played sequentially for complete experience of the universe. Fallout 1 feels grittier and more intense at times due to proper pacing indeed, but F2 feels like it allows for a more relaxed and in-depth discovery of the dark post-apocalyptic world and I personally enjoyed it immensely on my first run. Only the pop-references are truly annoying and it would be good to have an alternative version of restoration patch to remove or reduce this to a minimum for a more Fallout-1 like feel. Other than than F2 is a rare gem in my view.
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