First CRPG

Its pretty old, and looks pretty bad as you can see from thE screenshots. This is definitely NO Elder Scrolls Morrowind, or FEAR. But, it is still the first CRPG(computer roleplaying game) I ever played.

A heady mix of realtime and turn based, its set in the far future when everyone has bombed each other into non -existence, save for some farsighted ppl who sought refuge in underground Vaults. I get to play someone from these holes in the ground, a so-called Vault Dweller who is part of a village who has survived the holocaust and is now living in a post-nuclear wasteland. I get the dubious honor of going to find a cure for a disease thats infecting my village, a cure weirdly named the GECK(Garden of Eden Creation Kit). So off I go, making new friends along the way and killing others.

This game really stuck with me through the years somehow(I can even remember the rather crappy story). Mayb its the wide range of ppl that I get to meet, the array of weapons I get to upgrade myself with, the points I can use to increase my talking skills, my repair skills etc, the situations I find myself in(betting on a mutated pig contest, assassinating a mafia boss by stealing his oxygen mask, investigating weird noises in a deserted canyon etc). You even get your own car to drive, as you can see here...

Or mayb its just the fact that I do get to choose. And that I find myself in an alternate universe where I get to let loose and explore and kill at will. Sounds evil? Well, in my years of gaming, I think it's these alternate lifestyles that drive people to game addiction, and for me, it was a new experience I'd not felt till the first time I heard the lonely desolate soundtrack of this game coming out of the speakers of my dad's Pentium 2.

It took me a long while to run through every city and meet everyone in the game. This was during my Form 6 days, and my parents started to wonder if their son was ever going to make it into university at the rate he was going. So it was with some determination that I settled down one night at the computer after coming back from tuition that day. I was close to the end...I sensed it. It took me all night, but at last, in the early hours of the morning, I FINALLY found the GECK! Triumphant, I bore it back to the village.....only to find no one there. I ran around the whole village, frantic, until I discovered the old shaman who lay dying. He told me the villagers were abducted and that I had to go rescue them.

Weary, I lay back in the chair and rubbed my eyes(the real me), and heard the cock crowing. I'd been playing for around 12 hours straight, and it was already the next morning...and I still had about half of the game to go!!! I'd never done anything else for 12 hours straight before, up till a few weeks ago.

Just a moment there that I've not had with any other game since. Also, Fallout 2 has its quirks and easter eggs....there's numerous references to present world pop culture(mike tyson vs evanderholyfeld, knights of the round table, modern birth control(see below), plus the NPCs(non player characters) spew lines from star wars, indiana jones and countless other movies.

Its really great for a laugh. And really bad for the way it got me hooked onto computer games. Am still waiting for Fallout 3, which doesnt look like it's coming out anytime soon. Actually thats pretty good news. Mayb then I'll have a chance of finishing med school without dropping out!