1. Did you know that the Fallout franchise may have never existed if Electronic Arts
had decided they wanted to license the “Wasteland” brand back out to Interplay Entertainment
in 1994? Fallout came into our world with the developers wanting to continue the universe
the had created, but they had to re-brand.
The Fallout franchise has run through multiple generations of gamers, and Fallout 4 brought
in a new band of potential waste-landers to the series. Knowing where the series all began
can help you appreciate it much more and that’s why we’re are here right now: to do crash
course on the history behind the production of the Fallout franchise...and don’t worry,
if you're already a big fan of the series, you MAY still learn a few things you could
have missed over the years.
2. Fallout 1’s Directive lead, Tim Cain, did a large portion of the game's development
and truly helped shape the fallout landscape by creating the engine which you see today
in the original. The original introduced the world to iconic gameplay mechanics such as,
the S.P.E.C.I.A.L system for developing your character and the Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting
system or V.A.T.S for taking out your foes.
3. For a large portion of the creative stage, Cain even worked on it alone with just his
thoughts. BUT that seems to have worked out fairly well, with the final product releasing
on September 30th, 1997, to most of the world receiving overwhelmingly positive scores of
around 90%, having reviewers praising its detailed graphics, compelling plot, and intuitive
gameplay for the time.
With such a great reception from the first game, the team wanted to expand on the universe
but still wanted to keep it fresh. This prompted a certain Black Isle Studios to intervene
and take on the challenge.
4. Black Isle upgraded the whole game’s engine to allow for several improvements including
the ability to set attitudes of NPC party members and the ability to push people who
are obscuring doors and other paths, as that was one of few complaints about the first
game.
5. The team also wanted to give a proper post-apocalyptic feel for the audience, so they implemented
a pseudo-immersive economy system, where certain items spiked in prices due to the reality
that they would be more useful in the circumstances that the player had been presented with.
6. Fallout 2 released exactly 1 year after the first game, following its predecessor
receiving critical acclaim and pleasing fans alike with an average of 89%.
This is where the series sorta hits a brick wall. There is no main series installment
seen for years. It stagnated until mid-2004 when Bethesda Softworks bought the series
from Interplay.
7. In between 98's Fallout 2, and this time though, there were a couple of spin-off titles,
both of which had some sort of focus on the Brotherhood of Steel. The first being, Fallout:
Tactics released on the 15th of March in 2001 and was developed by an Australian studio,
Micro Fonte, brought in, yet again, a similar feel to the franchise. It also kept up a good
name for the series with pretty positive scores
8. While this was going on, Interplay were planning and developing a few new projects.
Extreme, Van Buren and Fallout: Playstation to name a few, however only one made it to
store shelves, Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel. It differed from the older games, being released
only on the Playstation 2 and the original Xbox. It also sported a more real-time combat
system and a different perspective to the whole wasteland.
9. Brotherhood of Steel was actually the first game to put the franchise in a bad light,
receiving mixed critiques, with many denouncing the dull dialogue, poorly crafted characters
and character models, together with the game holding your hand too much. It was a Fallout
game only in name and to date by far the lowest rated Fallout title.
As I previously mentioned, the series changed hands in 2004. Some exciting prospects came
when Fallout fans found out the newest installment was being developed by Bethesda Game Studios,
led by Game Director Todd Howard. Bethesda's Fallout 3 had a massive task on its hands.
To rejuvenate the Fallout world for this new generation of gamers.
10. Howard and his team made the decision to put the fallout universe into a first person
view for the first time yet. This allowed for a much more immersive experience and create
the atmosphere the players could truly enjoy.
11. This definitely wasn’t the only change to the franchise Bethesda Game Studios made.They
utilized the newly developed Gamebryo engine, crafting a 3D open world sandbox for the player
to explore. They moved away from the typical turn-based combat system, introducing free
flowing real-time combat to the series, along with keeping some of the staples of the franchise,
including the S.P.E.C.I.A.L and skill point system and of course V.A.T.S mode.
12. Fallout 3 released on the 28th of October in 2008 to all of North America and the rest
of world received it on the 30th for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and, of course, PC. The
game was an incredible success. Bringing back amazing gameplay for Fallout lovers and doing
the previous main games justice. The release had critical AND fan backing, receiving an
average score of about 92% across all platforms respectively.
13. Bethesda Game Studios now had two of the largest franchises in the RPG genre and possibly
gaming in general. So a break from working on Fallout was coming. With them working on
the next Elder Scrolls installment, they decided to license the series out, passing the torch
onto Obsidian entertainment, who had dealt with RPGs in the past, helping with “Knights
of the Old Republic” and “Neverwinter Nights 2”.
14. The team at Obsidian that ended up developing New Vegas actually included some of the original
members of Interplay and Black Isle. Some of which brought some older ideas back to
the table and actually implemented them into the game.
New Vegas was, overall, very similar to 3 but brought some very effective things to
the table, including a Hardcore mode, more factions to side with- who have an impact
on your courier's story-, improved V.A.T.S, weapon mods, gambling and more. It was a solid
bet for a successful game, if the writing and mechanics were kept to the same standard
most Fallout fans were accustomed to. 15. The game launched on the 19th of October
in 2010 for North America, the 21st for Australia and the 22nd for Europe. It brought in an
appropriately positive response, similar to that of Fallout: Tactics, getting roughly
84% on all platforms, with many outlets saying that Obsidian followed the formula to a tee
whilst putting their own spin on things. However the game may have even matched or surpassed
previous installments if the team weren’t rushed and allowed some more lea-way.
16. After an amazing show of performance by Obsidian Entertainment, and The Elder Scrolls
V: Skyrim entering post-production, Bethesda Game studios were ready to start on the next
Fallout project. Fallout 4, which i’m assuming most of you have already encountered in large
doses, added a colourful cast of new companions, refreshing new looks of some iconic and new
weapons and clothing and of course I cannot forget the new Marmite mode… - sorry I mean
Workshop mode, same response to Marmite though, you either love it or you hate it, no middle
ground here-
17. Fallout 4 also brought record breaking statistics to the table. It was the fastest
selling and highest grossing game Bethesda have developed by a lump-sum. The game sold
over 12 million copies within the first 24 hours of its launch generating a massive 750
million US dollars. Many many people were talking about it on and after its release
of the 10th November 2015, with a strong positive reception - It critically averaged out at
86% across all platforms. There were however a few bumps from more of the hardcore fans,
but let's not jump into that right now.
The series has certainly seen a fair share of brilliant ideas over the years, and for
the most part, executed them very well. As this year's E3 closing Fallout 4’s Season
Pass with the 3rd and final expansion “Nuka World” we can expect more to come out of
this outstanding franchise in the future, hopefully in the right direction. Although
I’m pretty sure we’ll see Elder Scrolls 6 before the next Fallout title arises.
That was the History of the Fallout franchise from its origins in 1994 to 2016. I am pretty
sure you will agree with me here, but I do hope the series lives on for many years to
come. I also hope you enjoyed this video and if you want more of this format, you should
definitely drop this video a like and share it with your friends.