Gaming

A quality product on the surface that falls flat on its face in fundamental areas.
Any who have played Baldurs Gate II: Dark Alliance will know this game inside out. In fact, one might even say that BOS and BG II are virtually identical in every way bar the setting. The gameplay is exactly the same. You bounce across various maps, killing everything that comes your way, slowly unveiling a weak plot and levelling up your character so that you can advance and become tougher.

The story is a random affair involving missing soldiers, super mutants and erm... random violence. Ultimately it's nothing new and although it is interesting enough as it evolves it hardly captures the imagination, primarily because narration and other story elements are so few and far between that by the time you reach the next chapter you've forgotten why you are there and what you're supposed to be doing.

Hack and slash gameplay is so difficult to get right. Striking a balance between combat, exploration and plot development is the worst part. Diablo managed it, Dungeon Siege managed it, even Baldurs Gate managed to strike the fine balance... unfortunately Fallout: BOS doesn't even come close.
The action is repetitive and mindless and while you have a choice between ranged combat and melee, it doesn't really make a difference.
The learning curve is more of a learning bungee jump, only without the rope. Even on the Normal difficulty setting you may have to restart the game at least once in order to level your character up, lest ye gets your backside bruised by the time the end of the first chapter comes about.

The RPG elements are ok and levelling up your character is satisfying. Each of the three "initial" playable characters, Nadia, Cyrus and Cain (another throwback from BG II) has their own unique set of skills, but really don't go far enough to differentiate between the three set play styles. For example, Cyrus is supposed to be the melee guy, but chances are you'll revert to ranged weapons and ignore the melee stuff later on.
There is only a bare minimum of character interaction, however, the characters you do interact with are charismatic and extremely well animated (even down to the breast wobble technique from BG II :P). Unfortunately, like the story elements, character interaction is so few and far between that it essentially becomes pointless, as you'll forget who's who and what's what by the time you get back from the combat areas.
And as for side quests? There may as well not be any. Most of the time they're simply a case of picking up a key object on your travels and remembering to return it to a certain character once you get home. Chances are you won't remember it anyway and will be pleasantly surprised when you get back to town and receive a reward for something you didn't even know (or forgot) you were supposed to be doing.

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There are other bad points that I could bring up, most of them silly things that grate on the player... the occasional bug... but I want to get on to the good points because this game does have "some" playabilty in it.
The two-player co-op campaign is fun enough... better than the single player experience anyway. Essentially you're doing exactly the same thing as the single player campaign only now there are two of you to prevent boredom from setting in so quickly. Secondly you have to be somewhat diplomatic with your partner as ammunition and healing supplies are limited, which adds a welcome dimension to the game. Lastly, once you're dead you're dead. That's it. No continues. Thus you have to keep your partner alive. This could, in theory, be a really bad design flaw, but it works here, primarily because the campaign is so difficult that keeping each other alive and working together becomes essential, which is most unlike most co-op games these days and in a way this becomes a game in itself.

The weapons aren't really different enough from one another to be interesting but are fun to use none the less. Of course you'll have your side arms, your rifles, heavy weapons and energy jobs, as well as the scant melee options, and they all do what they are supposed to, just don’t expect to fall in love with any of them.
Graphically you could fault the game, but thankfully the environments are detailed enough to keep you interested, although are stark in terms of interactivity. Music is interesting... that's all I have to say about that. Sounds are decisively average. Not bad, but not great either. The cut-sequence videos are cool though... if a little short...

Long story short? Fallout: BOS is an "average" game that becomes an "above average" game once a second player is introduced. You probably won't love it unless you are a fan of the Fallout series, and even then you may feel a little betrayed.

79/100

A fair enough attempt, but far from up to par with the rest of the series. Difficulty and length dictate only hardcore gamers need apply. Rent it if you can, otherwise look for it in the bargain bin.
See instead:- Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood Of Steel.