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Superb

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 24 / 25
Date: November 06, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Fallout Tactics is a great, great game. I loved Fallout and Fallout 2 (as well as their early predecessor, Wasteland) but I was leery of this game because of reports it lacked the intricate plot of the first few games. While that is technically true, in the sense that your main character is not necessarily the focal point, the game is just as complex and challenging. You simply need to recast your focus as leading a squad rather than being an individual. In the earlier games you could recruit NPCs, in this game, you finally get to run them. Your main character matters only in the sense that if they die, they game ends. Otherwise for all practical purposes you have 6+ main characters; you level them up, pick their various stats and perks, and control them. No longer need you fret that your NPC will randomly start using grenades in a hallway or gun down your other NPCs in an attempt to shoot something beyond them (this can still happen, but it'll be your fault). This makes Tactics a real draw to me, because now you can develop 6 or more (you can swap characters in and out of your squad at bases, so you can really have as many characters as you want) different characters at the same time, rather than one game at a time with the earlier Fallouts.

The missions are mostly fighting, but not entirely.. there are often NPCs to talk to, items to recover, things and people to protect, and other objectives. The Fallout games were 75% talking and bartering, 25% fighting, while these are 75% fighting, 25% talking and bartering. And Tactics is still obviously grounded in the same warped sense of humor as the others; the many random encounters are hilarious, and the comments people make even while fighting can be both grotesque and hilarious at the same time (one raider I shot in the leg to slow down his retreat started stumbling along while mumbling "...bone so white..").

Fallout Tactics is probably most accurately described as Post-Apocalypse XCom, because most of the time you're on missions with your squad. I loved XCom too, but Tactics has better graphics, more interactive environments, a much wider array of skills and equipment, and that scathing sense of humor. It also has many vehicles you can use in missions and travel around the world map in, including armored Hummers and army tanks. Here are just some of the many different tactics you can employ:

1) Make a character crawl on their stomach in Sneak mode past a pair of sentries to put a proximity mine on a bridge to blow up reinforcements when the fight actually starts.
2) Fire away merrily from inside your speeding hummer, running over anyone who gets in the way.
3) Target attacks at victims' eyes or legs or other body areas for increased damage or status effects from broken limbs, dropped weapons, etc.
4) Lob grenades over walls or into doorways while shooting in through windows.
5) Sneak up on sleeping enemies and use pointy knives or spears to avoid alerting the entire camp.
6) Dodge from tree to tree in a city park trading fire with people on the roofs, in nearby buildings, or running around in the streets.
7) Perform combat first aid with field packs and doctor's bags while ducking incoming sniper fire.
8) Use your Repair skills and tool kits to repair your damage tank or robot PC.
9) Play as mutants, robots, ghouls, or even deathclaws in addition to humans.

In short, you can do almost anything..the game rewards curiosity and experimentation. If you liked the Fallout games, you'll like this one. If you haven't, this is a great introduction.

Tactics is a worthy addition to the Fallout Universe

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 23 / 25
Date: April 19, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Honestly, I'm pretty surprised by some of the reviews people are leaving here. This game is so absorbing and engrossing that I've had a lot of trouble looking away from my computer.

Please note that this game is not Fallout 3. A lot of people seem to be having trouble realizing that. A common complaint people have been leaving is that this game isn't like the first two Fallout games. Of course it's not. It says on the box that the game is "tactical squad based combat." It's not a RPG game likes its predecessors, and reading the box before buying the game would inform you of that. Secondly, some people complained way back that Fallout 2 was too much like the first Fallout, and complained that you couldn't control other members of your combat party. Fallout Tactics gives you full command of a six person elite killing squad, and is a completely different game that Fallout 2. Isn't that what people wanted?

But I digress back to issue at hand. Fallout Tactics is a marathon of 20 military missions that span the radiated wasteland between Chicago and Denver. You begin as a meager tribal initiate in the Brotherhood of Steel. Your task is simple: sucessfully complete each mission presented to you by your superior officers. As you move from mission to mission, 1)your military rank within the Brotherhood increases, 2)you acquire more potent and powerful arms and ammunition, 3)the number and skill of the recruit pool(used to fill your squad) increases, and 4) you come to face to face with one deadly enemy after another.

You are given a variety of options in combat, all of which cannot be listed because it would take forever. Among the noteworthy: you can set traps and mines to take out enemies; you can kneel or lie on the ground, decreasing your chances of being hit and improving the success of the sneak skill; you can climb towers and rooftops to attack enemies on the ground; you can drive vehicles and run over anyone that gets in your way; having control of all six members of your party allows you to flank enemies, or flush them out into open space, or use snipers to provide outside cover for big guns specialists etc. The list goes on.

The type of missions that the Brotherhood sends you on cover a broad range of military operations: you infiltrate bunkers to assassinate leaders; you must move cargo trucks through enemy filled towns; you must find stranded and wounded fellow Brotherhood members and evacuate them to safety; you must destroy power generators in a major city; you must rescue captured civilians, etc.

Now the issue of gameplay. You can fight in either tradional or continuous turn based combat. Traditional works in the same manner as the other Fallout games, where each character has a alloted number of action points to be used before his/her turn is up. Continuous turn based combat is lunacy - pray your strong enough to not get slaughtered. While I agree that the AI could be a little better, you can easily compensate by turning the difficulty level up. And please note that some enemies - such as animals and Super Mutants - are meant to be unintelligent. That's part of their character. And despite what some other people wrote in reviews, I consistently face enemies that duck behind sandbags or obstacles when fired upon. And I repeatedly encounter enemies that will move to help fellow enemies that are being fired upon.

Fallout Tactics is an incredible squad-based combat game, where the gamer controls the Perks and skills of every member of his party. If you liked the combat aspects of the first two Fallout games, you will have a lot of trouble putting this game down. The missions are long, complicated and can be completed in a variety of ways (you can use stealth, evasive tactics, or just plain load your guns and shoot at anything that moves). This is a terrific game. Highly recommended.

I have been waiting for this one!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 13
Date: February 16, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I had the chance to play this game at a gaming show in December. I have been waiting for it to come out ever since. The game has absolute stunning graphics. The morbid worlds are very realistic, not a detail is left out. This game pushes the envelope on maturity level too, I love it. I could only play a section of one level but that was enought to get me hooked. I highly recommend giving this game a chance.

Designers - More Like This One!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 13
Date: February 20, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I wish more game designers released games like this one. This one has an excellent mix of what every mature and experienced gamer is looking for: great graphics, incredible sound for atmosphere, detailed character development, a great mix of items and weapons, a REAL storyline!, and REAL strategy that rewards thinking and planning - not endless and mindless mouse clicks! Try the demo, and buy the game - its one of the best coming down the pike for 2001.

A Refreshing Departure From the Classic Fallout

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: September 20, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Fallout I was the first RPG that I feel in love with. When Interplay released its third installment in this successful series (Actually the second story in the Fallout universe, supposedly taking place between volumes I & II), I had to have it. A refreshing departure from the typical Fallout scheme, Tactics is a comletely squad based game. Being a fan of both Fallout and such games as Rogue Spear, this was the perfect hybrid for me. I found this game to also be a little more difficult than the previus Fallout games, as you are responsible for the actions and safety of up to six other characters simultaneously. Fan sof both Fallout and tactical games should find this game highly entertaining to say the least. This game also far surpasses the previus Fallout games in its rich graphics and its stunning gameplay features. Five big stars. Highly recommended.

Fallout Meets Jagged Alliance

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: September 26, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Have you played Jagged Alliance 1 or 2? If not do so NOW! Fallout Tactics is not some standard RPG. Rather it is a squad based tactical RPG whereby you create, equip, and level up your squad of grunts as you play. This game uses the SPECIAL system and simply rocks, it is a true hybrid.

Tactical side of the Fallout series

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 16
Date: May 20, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Of the three Fallout games, this has to be the best. You have direct control over all characters in your group(squad) and even thier atts, skills, and perks. Thier is no story as in the others which are enjoyable in thier own right, but the micromanagement and control are what you want in a game. You start out with two other members(who may or may not compliment your main character's skills and abilities) but you can control them and give complicated manuevers in real time or turn based time which ever preferred. The piloting skill is rarely used in combat and thier are others who can give you thier services as a driver, but I like driving in an RP sense, so my PC has it tagged. Speech has no place in a game about war and fighting and Charisma takes on a more important role, team performance. This game is much harder than the previous two(in real time mode) and you must use quick thinking and position/planned attack manuvers executed imediately. Some of the bugs in previous versions(1.0) such as the language filter filtering even when not turned on have been removed and now the bull-$%#@ flies as does the blood.

Better than Fallout

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: November 10, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I know many folks will disagree with that statement, but I had MUCH more fun playing this game than Fallout 1 and 2. The original Fallouts were too bogged down in dialog and role playing. I would quit playing Fallout at night and forget where I was when I started the next day. The journals were horrible and it took me days of playing to continue with the plot. Tactics, however, caters more to my tastes for action and tactical maneuvering. If you like the in-depth role playing and storyline, you'll probably like Fallout 1 and 2 better.

The option to switch back and forth between real time and turn based combat is awesome. I've played it both ways. This mixes a military-type game with a Balder's Gate-type RPG very well. Great job and I hope to see more of the like in the future!

Join the Brotherhood of Steel

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 14
Date: March 17, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Join the Brotherhood of Steel, a technological revival group dedicated to restoring the world to its former prosperity through science and whatever means necessary. Take part in a quest to reawaken long-dormant technology in order to defeat a powerful enemy in the one of a kind Fallout Universe. Each mission involves various hostile obstacles that must be overcome using tactical skirmish warfare. The player controls up to six detailed characters in the single player mission-based campaign or they may use their chosen squad online in multiplayer battles. Squad-members improve with experience, increasing their skills and earning perks. Many varieties of weapons, from handguns to rocket launchers, allow the player to lay waste to his enemies. In addition, the fighting isn't limited to pedestrians, as squad-members may take the action to the streets with armed vehicles.

{SAG}Snoop_dog

And I thought Fallout 2 was a masterpiece!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: March 29, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This game is amazing. The continous turn-based (CTB) system is pure genius. For those familiar with the fallout engine, movement is free, but shooting and stance changes cost action points. Action points regenerate in real time based upon agility. Battles are much more engaging without the long pauses while the enemy takes its turn. CTB makes vehicles absolutely awesome. Some of the vehicles have guns mounted on them so you can drive through groups of enemies and just mow them down. The vehicles can be targeted in battle to cripple them.

You can have zombies, super mutants, deathclaws and dogs join your squad. This game is 95% combat which is a different from the first two Fallout titles.

Interplay just posted an 80 megabyte patch that fixed all the problems referenced in another review. I pity those with 56k connnections.

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