So you’ve all been playing Fallout 4 for a couple of days now and have seen that this is by far Bethesda’s best RPG yet and most certainly one of the best RPGs of the year and in recent years. However, where did all this Fallout hype start and where did the series begin? That’s the question that quite a lot of the younger generation may be asking. Why was Fallout 4 one of the most hyped games in recent years? What started the hype? Well, we’re here to answer those questions now!
Where It All Began…
The original Fallout game was released in 1997 to a rather small audience. The game focused on a post-apocalyptic Southern California in the year 2161. It was a game that was actually worked on by a company called Black Isle Studios, who made the games before Bethesda Game Studios went ahead and bought them nearly a decade later. The game was a basic game that had people hooked with it’s simple turn-based combat system and unique SPECIAL feature which allowed players to alter their character’s personalities. As we have come to expect, Fallout was originally based on artwork from post WWII-era during a time when nuclear warfare was a huge paranoia for many people.
Only a year later, Fallout 2 was released with several improvements over the first game. Fallout 2 included a much-improved game engine, the ability to set the attitudes of NPCs and the ability to push people who blocked doors (apparently a big problem in the first game). The story followed on 80 years after the original Fallout game and had you playing as the Vault Dweller’s son saving his village from famine and droughts and Enclave.
Then Bethesda Came Along…
In 2007, Interplay Entertainment, the rebranded company behind the Fallout series were facing bankruptcy and therefore, sold the Fallout franchise to Bethesda Game Studios. Interplay Entertainment at the time were working on a sequel to Fallout 2 but Bethesda scrapped most of the game and brought their huge funds and new game engine to the brand new Fallout 3.
Fallout 3 was released in 2008 and picks up 30 years after the setting of Fallout 2 and 200 years after the overall nuclear war has devastated the world. Fallout 3 was an absolutely massive step up from Fallout 2, which, coming 10 years after the second, you’d hope it would be.
Fallout 3 introduced 3d graphics, a free-roam gaming world, real-time combat and hundreds of new features that simply weren’t possible with the technology in previous Fallouts. On release it received highly positive reviews, garnering 94/100, 92/100, and 93/100 averages scores on Metacritic for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game, respectively. It won IGN’s 2008 Overall Game of the Year Award, Xbox 360 Game of the Year, Best RPG, and Best Use of Sound, as well as E3’s Best of the Show and Best Role Playing Game. Fallout 3 really put the series on the map and the spin-off title, New Vegas brought in an even bigger audience. That’s why Fallout 4 was so hyped… Oh and plus, it’s just a great game!
