Fallout Tactics

Genre:	Real-Time or Turn-Based Strategy
Developer:	Micro Forté
Publisher:	14 Degrees East / Interplay
Release Date:	15 March 2001
Released On:	PC

Amazing Ben Describes the Plot in 10 Words or Less: 

Travel the post-apocalyptic wastelands bringing order to the uncivilized.

Overview: 

If you've ever seen Mad Max or played any of the other Fallout games you should be familiar with the subject material - in the future nuclear war has eradicated most life from the face of the Earth and America's lush farmlands and bustling cities have been replaced by wastelands and rubble.  Those poor bastards unlucky enough to survive the war find themselves scrounging for whatever food and supplies they can get their hands on while dealing with raiders, nomads and mutants.  It's a difficult existence, but it makes a great backdrop for an action/strategy game.

Fallout Tactics takes place between the events of Fallout 1 and Fallout 2 but plays nothing like either of them.  Instead of leading one man alone through the wastes, you play as an initiate in the Brotherhood of Steel, a group of organized soldiers determined to restore order to the chaos.  You are the leader of a squad of up to six warriors and it is up to you to navigate the dangers of the wasteland and exercise the power of the Brotherhood.  Along the way, you'll face desert raiders, insane non-Scientologist cultists, robots, primitive tribesmen and the more-than-occasional mutant insect with only your tactical knowledge, iguana-on-a-stick and a trusty AK-47 to help you negotiate.

Brotherhood of Steel is a straightforward strategy game.  You're given the option to play it in either turn-based mode (like the original Fallout games) or in a real-time "continuous turn-based" style.  I never play in the turn-based mode so I can't really comment on it, but the CTB works pretty well.  The strategy elements are decent, and the AI is passable.  There are some pathfinding issues, but they aren't too difficult to work around.  Generally speaking it isn't too difficult to get your six-man squad in position in the middle of a firefight despite the fast pace of the CTB mode.  The game also does a good job in the graphics and sound departments.

After customizing your character and completing the first mission, you are tasked with putting together a squad capable of conquering the wastes.  Every soldier has his or her own abilities and you will need to round your squad out with soldiers who can operate heavy weapons, serve as medics, drive your vehicles or whatever.  As they progress through the game you will be able to level them up however you wish and basically customize your party however you see fit.

There is a plethora of equipment lying in the wastes for you to discover and smoke people with.  Weapons range from homemade shivs, broken bottles and molotov cocktails to Browning heavy machine guns, automatic shotguns, laser pistols and sniper rifles.  There are also a number of vehicles that become available as you progress through the game, allowing you to speed through the wastelands of the central US in things like armored humvees or APCs -- provided you have soldiers who can repair and pilot them.  There is an exhaustive array of weapons, items and equipment in this game and it would be near impossible to try and find everything.

X-Tremeness Level: 

Eating a twenty year-old radioactive moon pie and then having crazy hallucinations about oompa-loompas riding on the backs of giant scorpions and throwing nachos at you while shouting swear words in Esperanto.

Overall Badassitude Score: 

There is a lot of shit that kicks ass about Fallout Tactics.  First off, you have a huge variety of weapons with which to disembowel anyone stupid enough to try and cross you in a geyser of blood and body parts.  There's even a skill you can get called "bloody mess" that ensures you see the most graphic and horrible death animations for everyone and everything.  For your money, there's really nothing better than facing a company of marauding desert raiders charging you with 9mm handguns and combat knives and then having your squad open up and lay waste to them with assault rifle and heavy machinegun fire.

The nuclear holocaust setting is also bad as all hell.  The entire game takes on a very dark feel and pulls no punches in dragging you into the plight of the common man wandering the desert.  It's all very disturbing and totally badass.  The only real issue is that your enemies are always shouting lame-ass one-liners as you while you're trying to blow their faces off and there's no way to turn that setting off.

        

SCORE:  4 out of a possible 5 post-apocalyptic mutant cacti.

Addictiveness: 

RATING:  Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

This is a good game.  Some of the battles can get a little bit long and tedious and some of the missions that require you to sneak around undetected can be frustrating, but all in all you will keep coming back to Fallout Tactics, if for no other reason than to try and get your sniper to level up or to find another box of Uranium-depleted .50 caliber ammunition and armor-piercing rockets for your heavy weapons specialist.

Multiplayer Component: 

There are some online deathmatch modes.  I've never tried any of them out.

Hot Andrea's Take: 

"Ew."

Awesometer Score: 

+3

The only thing about Fallout is that it's incredibly long, and the battles aren't diverse enough to keep your attention for the 20-30 hours you'll need to finish it.  The game does do an excellent job of continually presenting you with new threats and enemies that you must adapt to, but often times you will end up having an incredibly difficult time with the new threat because you haven't trained any of your soldiers to deal with it.  It makes for some hard-fought battles near the endgame, but all in all it is a very enjoyable experience.  The gameplay is excellent, the AI is passable and the scope and setting of this game are more than enough to make it worth your while.

Bonus Offer:  In my infinite dorkitude, I spent an afternoon one day creating a mod for this game where I replaced all the typical recruits from the game with people I know.  If you're interested in playing through the game alongside the My Stupid Website crew, email me at benthompson@amazingben.com and I'll hook you up.  If you ask nice, maybe I'll put your face in the game as well.