Posted March 15, 2009
Pros: Fabulous post-apocalyptic world, interesting characters, rich story line, excellent role-playing
Con: Awkward (by today's standards) and tedious interface
I had already played all three Fallouts (original, 2 and Tactics), but enjoyed them so much I wanted to be able to play them again without having to track down the CDs each time.
All three are excellent RPGs, with relatively diverse enemies, great character development, and cool objects to find, sell and buy. 1 and 2 have fabulous non-linear story lines, with complex choice paths being available depending on past actions and some stats (like charisma and intelligence). Tactics, which I have played off of CD recently, has a much blander story line - far more linear, and did not seem to be as affected by how you built your character.
I purchased Fallout 2 to re-play the more interesting story. What I forgot to recall was how much better the interface in Tactics is. 1 and 2 are limited to turn-based combat, which is very handy when dealing with strong opponents, but real tedious later in the game, when you just need to mow down an irritating group of low level critters. Tactics adds the option to toggle back-and-forth between turn-based and real-time; those annoying packs of radscorpions are now satisfyingly obliterated in a rapid-fire hail of bullets and directed energy fire from your team. In Fallout 2, you need to click, click, click your way through each of them.
Tactics also allows attribute management of all team members; you can level them up just like your primary character. AFAIK, that's not possible in 2 - I believe team members will advance in level with you, but you can't control how.
All in all, I find Tactics far more enjoyable to play. The down-graded story in tactics is a disappointment, but the smoother game play makes Tactics much easier to play in small time segments, and is not aggravating when pulling an all-nighter.
Con: Awkward (by today's standards) and tedious interface
I had already played all three Fallouts (original, 2 and Tactics), but enjoyed them so much I wanted to be able to play them again without having to track down the CDs each time.
All three are excellent RPGs, with relatively diverse enemies, great character development, and cool objects to find, sell and buy. 1 and 2 have fabulous non-linear story lines, with complex choice paths being available depending on past actions and some stats (like charisma and intelligence). Tactics, which I have played off of CD recently, has a much blander story line - far more linear, and did not seem to be as affected by how you built your character.
I purchased Fallout 2 to re-play the more interesting story. What I forgot to recall was how much better the interface in Tactics is. 1 and 2 are limited to turn-based combat, which is very handy when dealing with strong opponents, but real tedious later in the game, when you just need to mow down an irritating group of low level critters. Tactics adds the option to toggle back-and-forth between turn-based and real-time; those annoying packs of radscorpions are now satisfyingly obliterated in a rapid-fire hail of bullets and directed energy fire from your team. In Fallout 2, you need to click, click, click your way through each of them.
Tactics also allows attribute management of all team members; you can level them up just like your primary character. AFAIK, that's not possible in 2 - I believe team members will advance in level with you, but you can't control how.
All in all, I find Tactics far more enjoyable to play. The down-graded story in tactics is a disappointment, but the smoother game play makes Tactics much easier to play in small time segments, and is not aggravating when pulling an all-nighter.