Every Fallout Game, Ranked
Every Fallout Game, Ranked
War never changes, but Fallout certainly has. This storied postapocalyptic franchise started life as an isometric role-playing game, before Bethesda took over and turned it into the series of sprawling open-world adventures you know and love today. With the all-new Fallout 76 around the corner, we've taken a look back at our fondest radiation-induced memories and ranked every game in the series from worst to best. Make sure to catch up on the games in time for Prime Video's new Fallout TV series, which just started filming.
Credit Bethesda
Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel (2004)
Not to be confused with the similarly named Fallout Tactics title, Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel just goes to show you that combining two great ideas does not automatically result in success. Interplay set out to make a fast-paced dungeon crawler in the vein of Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance. And, to be fair, transitioning from "serious, complex RPG" to "pick-up-and-play action/RPG" worked for Baldur's Gate, so why not Fallout? The trouble was that the game's story flew wildly in the face of the existing canon and didn't offer much aside from repetitive gameplay and uninteresting level design. A planned sequel never materialized, which is probably just as well. — Marshall Honorof
Credit: Interplay Productions
Fallout Shelter (2015)
Fallout Shelter is a free-to-play management sim where you are an Overseer who manages the daily life of the inhabitants of your own Vault-Tec vault. To keep your community of vault dwellers happy, you'll need to make sure they are fed and safe, and you'll have to venture out on missions into the Wastelands with just your wits, and recover resources. When you're not under attack by radioactive roaches or looting abandoned Nuka-Cola factories, you're expanding and customizing your vault any way you see fit. Fallout Shelter is updated regularly with new missions for free and is the perfect companion for your own postapocalyptic commute. — Jorge Jimenez
Credit: Bethesda
Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel (2001)
Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel is "interesting" in both the positive and negative senses of the word. Depending on whom you ask, Fallout Tactics is either a streamlined or stripped-down take on the first two games. Exploration and role-playing play second fiddle to combat, which is the main focus of just about every mission in the game. On the flip side, you'll get to recruit and build up a powerful party, rather than just a lone wanderer with a handful of fairly basic companions. Fallout Tactics is fairly difficult and not nearly as immersive as the games that inspired it, but if you want something action-centric, it's a pretty deep experience. — Marshall Honorof
Credit: Interplay Productions
Fallout 4 VR (2017)
Ever wanted to know what it's like to lumber around in a suit of power armor and get up close and personal with a rampaging Deathclaw? With Fallout 4 VR, you can do that and much more. As one of Bethesda's first entries into virtual reality, Fallout 4 VR is a revelation. Put on a HTC Vive, and you're instantly transported into the Wasteland, with access to all the cool weapons, settlement interactions and scavenging. As cool as wandering the irradiating wastes is, navigating and fighting in VR is still ungainly, which will keep all but the most tenacious fans from playing from beginning to end. Either way, Fallout 4 VR is a tantalizing glimpse into the potential future of the series. — Sherri L. Smith
Credit: Bethesda
Fallout: New Vegas (2010)
Taking place four years after the events of Fallout 3, New Vegas answered some demands from users who missed features from Fallout 2 — chief among them, Reputation as a value, which is worth it for gamers who play on the straight and narrow, working as nobly as one can in a world of compromised morals. This chapter also made companions — those often frustrating characters who act without explicitly provided orders — easier to wrangle with its Companion Wheel game system. All of these changes make life in the Nevada desert even more exciting for our protagonist, a courier who begins the game ambushed by the mob. — Henry T. Casey
Credit: Bethesda
Fallout 4 (2015)
Taking the winning formula established in Fallout 3 and bringing it gracefully into the current generation, Fallout 4 is one of the best open-world RPGs you can find on modern platforms. You'll still be roaming apocalyptic wastelands, crafting tons of gear and blowing apart mutants using the revamped V.A.T.S system, but this time, you're doing it in beautiful 1950s Boston. The game's excellent soundtrack, world design and characters offer a cheerful slice of Americana that clashes brilliantly with the harrowing nuclear apocalypse you're trying to survive. Add in a robust base-building system that lets you craft your own settlements as well as an always-growing stable of mods to enjoy on both PC and console, and you've got arguably the biggest and most ambitious Fallout experience yet. — Mike Andronico
Credit: Bethesda
Fallout 2 (1998)
Fallout 2 took everything that worked about the first game and ramped up the experience even further. There were more items, more weapons, more quests, more areas, more ways to affect the story and more ways to customize your character. Like the first game, you played as a survivor in the far-flung postapocalyptic future. This time, though, you were out to heal part of the world, not just maintain a very small bunker. The story's bigger scope made the game feel just a little less focused than the first, but if you can forgive that, Fallout 2 is still one of the classics in the PC RPG genre. — Marshall Honorof
Credit: Interplay Productions
Fallout (1997)
You'll never forget your first trip into the Wasteland. Fallout debuted in 1997, and players had never seen anything quite like it before. Unlike many postapocalyptic RPGs that had come before it, Fallout featured an attractive isometric interface, gorgeously animated characters and intuitive gameplay that didn't require committing an entire instruction manual to memory. You take control of the Vault Dweller, a survivor from an underground bunker who must venture out into the world to secure a new water supply. Fallout is full of tough moral choices, huge areas to explore and hidden secrets to unearth, but the biggest draw is still the tight, customizable gameplay that lets you fine-tune your character's reputation, skills and play style. — Marshall Honorof
Credit: Interplay Productions
Fallout 3 (2008)
Fallout 3 marks the first time Bethesda took over developer duties from Interplay Entertainment. Early fan trepidation soon turned to universal acclaim as players became the latest Vault Dweller (aka The Lone Wanderer) and explored the expanse of the Capital Wasteland. I can't tell you how many hours I sank into this game, exploring every nook and cranny, recruiting every possible teammate and agonizing over every choice and stat allocation. The quest for your missing father soon transforms into a mission that will affect the future of everyone residing in the Capital Wasteland, super mutant and human alike. But my favorite part of Fallout 3 (aside from the music) are the morality choices the game makes you contend with. Should you try to integrate ghouls and humans? Do you kill a human mutated into a tree despite its worshippers' wishes? It's choices like these and the excellent DLC, like Point Lookout and Broken Steel, that make Fallout 3 the greatest entry in the series. — Sherri L. Smith
Credit: Bethesda
