The Fallout Games – Ranking from Worst to Best
Fallout is an RPG that began with a small-scale tabletop RPG. It later evolved into an action game with RPG elements and became one of the most loved RPGs. There have been four games in the series that are numbered and five spin-offs. Fallout fans have taken the time to rank Fallout games from worst to best.
Fallout 76
Fallout 76 was released in a mess. It is still not perfect and overall isn’t very good. Bethesda misunderstood the preferences of gamers about the single-player RPG. Even though Fallout Online was developed in 2007, no one wanted the multiplayer Fallout 76 had to offer.
Although the idea was good, it’s not a bad one. Trawling through the wastelands with friends is an appealing idea. Fallout 76, however, completely botched it. Fallout 76 used Bethesda’s notoriously shaky Creation Engine to power Fallout 76. This engine is well-known for creating wonderful, but sometimes buggy, open worlds. Fallout 4 was already very buggy. But if you add multiple players to a map, the game gets even more chaotic.
It was not a fun game. The Guardian stated that the game featured half baked conflict and witless search, while PCWorld said it would not be great even if it were less buggy. Giant Bomb didn’t even review the game, citing that ” no staff wanted it”. Fallout 76 felt like a Fallout game from the beginning, missing key franchise elements such as NPCs pop culture references, and so, Fallout 76 felt more like a Fallout game than it was. According to Metacritic, it is the least reviewed Fallout game. The PS4 version received the highest average review of 53.
Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel
The popularity of PC gaming declined in the 2000s. Interplay, the original owners of Fallout, wanted to make the franchise available for consoles. Console gamers were not interested in traditional RPGs based on dice. Instead, they decided to create Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel. This action RPG is similar to Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance.
Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel is very similar to the Black sheep of Fallout because it plays completely differently from other Fallout games. You play the role of an initiate of Brotherhood of Steel. However, there is no power armour or energy weapons. It’s mostly hand-to-hand combat, and you can choose from six normal residents of the wasteland. It felt strangely out of place compared to previous entries in this series. Understandably, Bethesda decided to make the game non-canon.
The series’ music received a major overhaul, but not for the best. Cult songs of the 1930s, 40s, and 50s gave way to early 2000s nu-metal. Slipknot, Killswitch Engage, and others replaced the Ink Spots and Nat King Cole. Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel received polarizing reviews. The Xbox version received the highest average at 66.
Fallout Shelter
Let’s try something completely different. Fallout Shelter is an innovative strategy game that you can use to manage one of Fallout’s most infamous vaults. You are the overseer and must build and manage a vault.
Fallout Shelter is not like other free-to-play smartphone games. You can’t buy accelerators to increase gameplay speed. Microtransactions were available, but we think this is the lesser of two evils. With a 71 rating on Metacritic and a reasonable amount of reviews, Fallout Shelter received fairly good reviews from smartphones. It was a pleasant, free-to-play game that didn’t attempt to drain players’ money but made for an enjoyable little strategy experience.
However, Fallout Shelter was not received as well elsewhere. The console and PC versions received mixed reviews. On Metacritic, the PC version was 63 while the Switch version was 6. Although Fallout Shelter was enjoyable, the general agreement was that it was not as deep as other strategy games. Bethesda still enjoyed the game and apparently has a yet unreleased sequel.
Fallout 4
You might be disappointed to see Fallout 4 so low on this list. It’s not a terrible game; it’s quite the opposite. It is one of the weaker games in the series. It is. Although it is a weaker entry in the Fallout series, Fallout 4 is still a solid game. It has improved first-person shooting elements from Fallout 3 and New Vegas. While its base building felt a bit clunky and added on, it brought some new features to the series.
So, why is it so low? There are several reasons. It doesn’t have the same impact as Fallout 3. New Vegas felt fresh and new. Fallout 4 isn’t as innovative as Fallout 3. Large open-world games are now ten dollars. Fallout 3 felt revolutionary, and New Vegas felt evolutionary — Fallout 4 does neither. The soundtrack didn’t get much of an update after Fallout 3. Many of the tracks were back.
Fallout 4 is essentially the same as previous games. It’s “more of the same”, which, while not a bad thing in general, lacked the impact other games had. While the wastelands are beautiful and have many places to explore, they feel stale. The cast of characters is mixed at best. This is a shame as New Vegas really raised the tone and design of the film. Instead of building on New Vegas, Bethesda decided it was better to ignore it and pretend it never happened. They’re more fooled.
Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel
Some Fallout fans will argue that the game should be a) higher on this list or b) lower. It is a game loved by all who played it and loved its tactical gameplay focus. However, it is also hated by those who don’t like it because it lacks open-world gameplay and mission-based focus.
However, the big thing about Fallout Tactics is that it is not an RPG. Instead, it is a tactical game where you can lead a group of Brotherhood of Steel initiates and complete various missions. It features the same turn-based battle system as the original Fallout games. There is also a mode that allows you to play in continuous combat, closer to real-time combat.
Fallout Tactics received a positive response despite its differences from the mainline series. It scored a total of 82 on Metacritic. It felt similar to other 90s squad-based strategy games like XCOM or Jagged Alliance. A modern remake of Fallout Tactics would be amazing. Given the success of the XCOM reboot and games like Gears Tactics, it is not unreasonable that it might return.
