The History Of Fallout Is Deeper Than You'd Imagine...

Fallout is widely regarded as one of the best video games series of all time and it's easily one of my favorite video game franchises ever created. Today, it’s gotten even more popular due to the success of the Amazon Prime show, Fallout. So much so that Fallout downloads have seen an increase on a grand scale and even eclipsing over 5 Million players in one day alone across the entire Franchise! The History of Fallout is much deeper than you'd ever originally think...

The Origin - Wasteland

Way before even the thought of a TV show, most people knew the Fallout series because of Fallout 3, New Vegas and Fallout 4. But Fallout’s origin story starts over two full decades before even Fallout 3’s release in 2008.

Fallout’s birth goes all the way back to 1988 when Wasteland was developed by Interplay Productions and published by EA. It was originally a game for APPLE II which was one of the first highly successful mass-produced computers. Wasteland’s gameplay was based on tabletop role-playing games, kinda most similar to the Oregon Trail for those who played back in the day.

Wasteland’s story was set in a post-apocalyptic America destroyed by a nuclear holocaust generations before…sounds a little familiar... But that’s why the outside world is known as “the Wasteland.”

Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game

Fast forward 9 years to 1997 and Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game was released as a computer game, again developed by Interplay. The game was a massive success - it won Role Playing Game of the Year and sold 600,000 copies worldwide!

One year later in 1998, Fallout 2 dropped and you guessed it, another banger. Players and critics were always so captivated by Fallout’s gameplay, setting, deep storyline, open-ended gameplay and unbelievably in depth character system. Simply put, the game had every aspect down to a tee.

Fallout 3

Now let’s jump a decade forward to 2008 when Fallout 3 hit the scene and Interplay underwent massive changes. In 2007, Bethesda acquired the rights to the Fallout franchise and developed the beloved Fallout 3.

As is common with all Fallout games, it’s set in a post-apocalyptic open world environment set in the ruins of Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia. Better known as the Capital Wasteland - but one major difference made Fallout 3 stand out more than its ancestors...

For the first time ever, Fallout was now released on consoles and therefore available to the mass public. Not everyone had PCs back in the late 90s, but a lot more people had PS3s or Xbox 360s in the late 2000s - so Fallout really took off in popularity among almost all gamers.

At the time of release, Fallout 3 was unlike any other game we’ve ever experienced. You begin in Vault 101, having never stepped foot outside the vault for 19 years. Then, chaos erupts when your Dad, James, leaves the vault and causes the overseer to try and capture you. You end up fleeing and seeing the Capital Wasteland for the very first time.

Outside of one of the most intricate storylines out there, the game’s character customization was second to none. The beauty of the Fallout series lied in the ability to play the game however you wanted. This was amplified through the SPECIAL system - this is where you assign attributes to customize your character to your playstyle.

Then, through earning XP, you’re able to assign skill points to whatever skills you’d like to improve. If you want to be a behemoth that loves big guns, then go for it! Or you can go down a different route becoming more stealthy and acting like a thief in the night.

Another major upgrade to the Fallout series was the introduction of the VATS combat system - this let you slow down time and pinpoint where you wanted to attack an enemy, at the cost of your action points. Think of this as a combination between turn based combat and also real-time combat. And you need to be strategic about how you use VATS, as you can see a headshot does more damage, but with a much higher chance of missing your target altogether…

Then you have the true beauty and aura of Fallout 3…exploring the Wasteland. Bethesda spared no energy in making sure exploration was always worth your while. With so many different POIs, hidden cave, secret quests and special loot to be found - the wasteland was an explorer’s dream. But, as explorers know that also comes with some serious threats and surprises Fallout 3 was also one of those special games where you can get completely lost doing side quest after side quest.

One of the genius ideas for Bethesda in the Fallout series was to fully let players play however they wanted and you really see this thru the character customization and complete open world experience.

Lastly, the survival element was key for Fallout’s success. Your guns had conditions, so if they were overused, you’d have to repair them. You couldn’t carry and infinite amount of loot or else you’d run slower than Payton Manning in the open field.

You had to monitor your radiation intake, try to find a bed to sleep and always try to be improving your weapons and armor. Fallout 3 sold a staggering 12.4 MILLION copies and won the Game of the Year at the 2009 Game Developers Choice Awards. Fast forward to 2010 and we have one of the most popular Fallout Games to hit the scene → Enter Fallout: New Vegas.

Fallout: New Vegas

So here’s where the community of Fallout gets split. For the most part, you’re either team Fallout 3 or Team New Vegas...I myself am ride of die Fallout 3 - it was the best Fallout of all time without question! It was a very similar experience to Fallout 3, it took place 4 years later but featured Nevada, Arizona and parts of California.

They reintroduced factions which were a key element in Fallout 2, but was actually absent in Fallout 3. These factions gave you a sense of belonging with certain groups, but with it, it also put a target on your back for other groups.

Now, I’m gonna do something very, very rare here - I’m gonna be self aware and I think this hits home with a lot of Fallout players experiencing New Vegas. Fallout New Vegas introduced hardcore mode which took realism and intensity to all new levels.

I think the developers really wanted gamers to embrace the hardcore mode as it was their next vision of progression for the series. I initially never played Hardcore mode, but having gone back and played it on New Vegas - it’s a completely new experience and it really makes you appreciate the design of the New Vegas map.

But don’t get it twisted, it’s still Fallout 3 ALL DAY!

Fallout New Vegas went on to sell 11.6 million copies, just 800,000 shy of Fallout 3.

Fallout 4

Then, we finally get to Fallout 4 - the prince who was promised! Released in 2015, Fallout 4 was hyped to be the next big game. This time the scene was set in the Commonwealth aka Boston and the surrounding Massachusetts region.

One of the coolest features that Bethesda added, was the ability to build and manage your own settlement in the Commonwealth. So you would build defenses, bring in new settlers and power your settlement through a whole building system.

It was really fun to develop your own little city or village while being able to customize it how you wanted

Whereas it was a major success at release, it did have some slight issues at launch. This was the first Fallout on the “next gen” of consoles meaning PS4 and Xbox One - while also trying to optimize the game for PS3 and

Xbox 360 users.

I always think that’s the worst time for a developer because you can’t focus all your energy on one platform. You’re kinda split playing limbo between the 2 and it just splits focus and resources. So some players were facing issues with frame rate glitches, some graphical errors and just overall gameplay stability.

Thankfully Bethesda quickly fixed these things and Fallout 4 went on to be another massive success

Fallout 4 went on to sell 25 MILLION copies!

Fallout 76

Now, I’m gonna take you to a weird time…we’re gonna go to 2018 and the release of Fallout 76

Ya see, to this point Fallout absolutely dominated the single player RPG world. Fallout 76 was it’s next progression and with it, Bethesda wanted to test the waters and feature multiplayer. But not just feature multiplayer - make online multiplayer the key ingredient for Fallout 76...

To put it nicely…Fallout 76 was a… experiment and it didn’t do too well…for years…several years...It only sold 1.4M copies but funny enough - right now Fallout 76 is in the best place it’s ever been in. Due to the show’s popularity and the updates throughout the years - Fallout 76 is a really fun multiplayer game

However, it’s launch was the polar opposite of its predecessors.

So let’s have a little refresher,, OG Fallout was a massive success at the time with 600,000 copies sold

Then Fallout 3 hits 12.4 MILLION copies sold, New Vegas is right behind it with 11.6 million and Fallout 4 doubles Fallout 3 with 25 million copies!

**Coughing Fallout 76 with 1,.4 Million Coughing

Fallout was always going to make an incredible TV show, if executed properly - which obviously Amazon Prime has absolutely nailed on the head.

Outside of the gameplay, character development, etc., the depth of the Fallout storyline is wildly impressive. Myself and others have been absolutely captivated by the stories of this amazing franchise. One of the beauties of single player video games is that it can almost feel like you’re part of a movie. But instead of watching, you’re causing the actions on the screen and have this intricate role to complete the storyline. Fallout allows you to really make any decision you want at any time - so you can mold the storyline and world to your imagination.

At the time of this recording, Fallout just got renewed for season 2 and I can’t wait to keep watching, keep playing and keep praying for Fallout 5 to hopefully be released soon.

So there it is, your history of Fallout and the beloved Wasteland!