What you need to know
- 1997's Fallout, the 1998 sequel Fallout 2, and the Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel spinoff are the first three games in the legendary RPG series, but many of today's PC gamers haven't played them before.
- There's never been a better time to try them out than right now, however, as they're all currently free on the Epic Games Store.
- Specifically, the Fallout Classic Collection bundle that includes all three is free to download and keep forever on Epic from now until September 5, 2024 at 8:00 a.m. PT / 11:00 a.m. ET.
- Fallout and Fallout 2 are turn-based isometric top-down RPGs that lay the foundations for locations, factions, and events in future games and Amazon's TV show, while Fallout Tactics is a non-canon spinoff that focuses on squad-based tactical combat.
Bethesda Game Studios' beloved RPG series Fallout has enjoyed quite an explosive resurgence this year, with the post-apocalyptic, post-nuclear roleplaying games benefitting greatly from the popularity of Amazon's excellent Fallout TV series that debuted in April. But while recent releases like Fallout 4 and Fallout 76 saw colossal player spikes, there are several classic Fallout games I suspect many gamers haven't actually checked out yet.
I'm referring to the original 1997 Fallout and the Fallout 2 sequel that followed it a year later, along with the 2001 spinoff title Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel. Due to their aging visuals, limited display settings, and somewhat archaic control schemes, lots of modern PC gamers struggle to get into these turn-based isometric top-down RPGs. Beneath those surface-level frustrations, though, are some truly excellent games that are very enjoyable if you manage to get past their quirks.
Given that all three cost $10 regularly, many opt to wait for sales that knock the price down to the $1-5 range before giving them a shot. Right now, though, you can actually get Fallout, Fallout 2, and Fallout Tactics completely for free thanks to the Epic Games Store's weekly free games program. The Fallout Classic Collection bundle — normally $20 — that rolls the trio into one package is free to add to your Epic library forever from now until September 5, 2024 at 8:00 a.m. PT / 11:00 a.m. ET, so if you're interested in trying the games that laid the foundation for today's Fallout titles, now's the time to do so.
The 1997 Fallout is the game that started it all, and my personal favorite of the three in this bundle. Published and developed by Interplay Entertainment — many employees of which eventually went on to create or work at studios like Fallout: New Vegas' Obsidian Entertainment and Wasteland 3's inXile Entertainment — it takes place in Southern California in 2161, 84 years after nuclear Armageddon devastated the Earth. You play as a vault dweller from Vault 13 who's forced to venture into the wastes to find a replacement water purification chip before the bunker's residents run out of clean drinking water, and will encounter several of the characters, factions, and locations that eventually develop into important places and societies like Shady Sands and the New California Republic.
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The sequel, Fallout 2, jumps forward 80 years and puts you in the shoes of the Chosen One — the grandchild of the protagonist of the first game, and a tribal tasked with finding a Vault-Tec Garden of Eden Creation Kit (G.E.C.K.) to restore the fertility of the soil their village, Arroyo, is built on. The journey takes them through many of the same locations from the first game along with several new ones, and shows the rise of both the New California Republic and the Enclave, an organization that claims to be the remnant of the pre-War United States government and is fiercely dedicated to the eradication of all mutant life. The Brotherhood of Steel is also present, as well; some or all of these factions would go on to appear prominently in Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, Fallout 4, Fallout 76, and the new TV show.
Finally, there's Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel, which is a spinoff that features far fewer RPG elements and places a significant emphasis on tactical and strategic turn-based combat. In this way, it's much closer to something like XCOM than a traditional Fallout experience, though the similar interface does mean it's easy to pick up and play if you've gone through the first two RPGs. Overall, it's an enjoyable game, though the events that unfold in it have been deemed non-canon by Bethesda.
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Again, the original Fallout is my favorite, as I feel the comedy of Fallout 2 is a little over the top and I have to be in a very specific mood to get into games like Fallout Tactics. All three are absolutely worth playing, though, especially if you're a modern Fallout fan curious to see the series' roots. And hey, they're free right now, so even if you don't like them, you're not losing a cent by giving them a chance.
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If you're opposed to using the Epic Games Store, the Fallout Classic Collection bundle is also available on Steam, and you can buy the games individually on Valve's platform as well as GOG and the Microsoft Store. Notably, access to all three games is also included with every PC Game Pass or Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription.
