AmazonsFalloutseries has largely lived up to what once felt like animpossible level of hype.
Its a fantastic adaptation of the franchise that has exposed legions of newcomers to the wonderful horrors of theFalloutuniverse.
Not everyone loves it, but divisiveness has long been part of theFalloutfranchises legacy.
For some,Falloutachieved perfection in 1997 (its a scientific fact).
For others,Falloutdidnt come into its own until well into theBethesda era of the game.
Rankings of the franchise tend to vary wildly.
Before we dive into our rankings, kindly note Im not including theFalloutboard games orFallout Pinballin this list.
Many of the board games are quite good but are hard to judge alongside the video games.
As forFallout Pinball…itsFallout-themed pinball.
Ad content continues below
Brotherhood of Steelis an ARPG developed in the style of theDark Allianceseries.
On paper, thats a pretty fantastic idea.
What a missed opportunity.
Fallout 76
However,Fallout 76seems destined to remain an alienating experience.
Fallout Shelter
Despite what its placement on this list may suggest, I likeFallout Shelter.
Instead, it proved to be a shockingly good time.
Fallout Sheltertasks you with managing a vault as its overseer.
All these years after its release, though,Fallout Shelterstill feels like a surprisingly incomplete experience.
Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel
Like the otherBrotherhood of Steelgame,Fallout Tacticsisnt aFalloutgame in the traditional sense.
It is a squad-based strategy title that is much closer to something likeCommandosor the earlyXCOMgames.
I also love the old-schoolFalloutlook of this game and its portrayal of the Brotherhood of Steel.
First off, this is by far the most accessible game in theFalloutfranchise.
EvenStarfieldarguably struggledto recreate some of this games best qualities.
All of that is lovely, but it all comes at the cost ofFalloutsiconic role-playing mechanics and ideas.
However, there are far better Fallout games out there.
Quite frankly, some will find this game to be daunting and simply unenjoyable.
Fallouts visuals are certainly outdated (what do you expect from a 90s CRPG?
), but the bigger hurdle here is the nature of its gameplay.
That is especially true of the games combat.
Combat inFalloutoften feels like the dice roll it essentially is rather than the direct results of your intended actions.
In general, this is a pure distillation of the things that makeFalloutspecial.
Fallout 3
This will undoubtedly be a controversial choice.
Even the games exceptional DLC and Hardcore mode give you more hours than this already robust adventure ever needed.
Ultimately,New Vegasshines brightest as the one thingFalloutwas always meant to be: a post-nuclear role-playing game.
It is a miracle of a game that may very well prove to be impossible to top.
