Following the premiere of the Fallout show, nostalgic fans have returned to their favorite Fallout games. People have been posting their favorite moments from their favorite entries in the franchise. For some people, the Fallout show may be their first taste of the franchise, and they want more. The Fallout catalog is decently sized, with six mainline entries and a few spinoff titles, so it may be unclear where to start. If you’re a franchise newcomer looking to dip your toes into Fallout’s rad-infested waters, here is where we think you should start, depending on your gaming experience.
What Fallout game is best for newcomers?
For experienced gamers: Fallout 4
For experienced gamers finally making their rounds to the Fallout franchise, any of the wasteland adventures would be a fine starting point, but we suggest Fallout 4. Fallout 4 is the largest of the mainline Fallout games, with a main story that takes about 27 hours to beat and additional content that could put your playtime at around 80 hours, not including DLC content. This gives gamers looking for more a lot to sink their teeth into.
Fallout 4’s biggest strength is that it implements additional mechanics that weren’t in previous Fallout games, such as base building and crafting. These mechanics offer an incentive to find and scrap junk, as their resources can be used to craft buildings for the player’s base or modify weapons. The game also changes previous mechanics, such as clothing, melee combat, and power armor. Players now have the option to layer their clothing and add armor on top of a base layer. Melee combat adds more, allowing players to counter enemy attacks and execute their foes. In previous titles, power armor acted as a set of clothing that could be worn, but in Fallout 4, it is more customizable. Players can swap out or change individual limbs on the power armor, and it’s bulkier and requires fusion cores to operate, making it feel more like a suit of armor.
With all of its changes and additions, Fallout 4 certainly feels like one of the more unique Fallout games, as it sets itself apart from the titles that came before it. It is also the first game in the series to use Bethesda’s creation engine, making weapon handling feel slightly steadier. With Fallout 4 receiving a free next-gen update, now may be the time to jump back in.
For non-Experienced Gamers: Fallout 3
We suggest Fallout 3 for those inspired to pick up a controller after watching the Fallout show. After acquiring the rights to Fallout from Interplay in 2007, Bethesda worked on Fallout 3 using the Gamebryo Engine, which Bethesda had also used on Oblivion. The main story is a little more than 22 hours long, and additional content could give a player around 50 hours of playtime.
Fallout 3’s story can feel more linear than the games that follow it; with fewer factions involved in the story than the following games, the story doesn’t diverge from playthrough to playthrough. This allows new players to learn some of the franchise’s foundations without being overwhelmed by the story and lore of the franchise. Fallout 3 also has the smallest map of the franchise. New players will still be able to explore and discover things in Fallout 3’s post-apocalyptic Washington, D.C., and they’ll be able to do so without the anxiety a larger map may cause for first-time players.
Fallout 3 set the stage for the franchise’s future and set itself apart from previous entries by shifting from a top-down, turn-based RPG to a first-person action RPG. Every Fallout since Fallout 3 has followed the same formula. Playing Fallout 3 first will allow new players to get familiar with the formula of the Fallout franchise in a smaller package. Once players finish Fallout 3, it may be a good choice to check out Fallout: New Vegas, which uses the same engine.
