Fallout is one of the largest RPGs in the world, instantly recognizable with its 1960s America theming and obsession with nukes. The series has seen plenty of titles at this point that varies wildly from the last.
While the first two Fallout games were heavily focused on roleplay, Bethesda’s versions have focused more on exploration and less on dialogue. That divide does help Fallout appeal to almost anyone, however. Whether you are a hardcore RPG fan or like to explore an apocalyptic setting, the Fallout universe has something for you. Here are all of the Fallout titles ranked from worst to best.
9 Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel
Not to be confused with Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel, Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel takes everything that makes Fallout great and throws it out the window, opting to make a dungeon crawling RPG instead.
This game allowed players to control initiates in the Brotherhood of Steel faction, tasked with exploring the wasteland in search of artifacts. There are no moral decisions, SPECIAL is static on characters instead of customizable, and the game’s narrative is an insult to what Black Isle created in the previous games. Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel arguably killed the entire Fallout IP before Bethesda bought it from Interplay and made Fallout 3. It’s that bad.
8 Fallout 76
While Brotherhood of Steel failed to be a Fallout game, Fallout 76 is—at the very least—a proper Fallout title with quests and decisions to make.
This experiment from Bethesda set players into an open world for them to cooperate in or fight against each other. A multiplayer Fallout title sounds fantastic on paper, but the unrelenting number of bugs and lack of human NPCs kills what could have been a fun co-op Fallout game. With the recent announcement of a subscription model for this game, Bethesda has shown a lack of interest in making this game the definitive co-op Fallout experience fans want.
7 Fallout Shelter
Fallout Shelter has no right to be as good as it is. This mobile game ported to consoles and PC lets players create their own vault as an Overseer, controlling the infrastructure and inhabitants of the vault.
Vault dwellers can explore the wasteland to find new items to use. Facilities can stop working, molerats can infest your vault, and the typical Fallout insanity you’d come to expect is all here. It might lack the in-depth questing or memorable characters of the main titles, but the overall experience is enjoyable enough to warrant a try.
6 Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel
Fallout Tactics has more in common with strategy games like XCOM than the main Fallout IP. Unlike Brotherhood of Steel, Fallout Tactics respects the IP and has kept core elements intact.
The game has a respectable plot that does its own thing and tries not to interfere with the main games. Players control a squad of six soldiers, who can range from humans to Deathclaws. Tactics can be played in real-time or turn-based, allowing for more tactical gameplay and decision making than the main games. It also has a multiplayer mode that lets players fight each other with squads they control. It’s a rather fun game that focuses on Fallout’s combat more than the story and RPG mechanics.
5 Fallout 4
Fallout 4 is a strange game. It took away skills, simplified the SPECIAL system, overhauled dialogue to mimic Mass Effect, and the main protagonist is now voiced.
Those changes harmed the role-playing aspects that Fallout was known for. What it added instead was overhauled combat that felt good this time, full base building, unprecedented weapon and armor customization from a Bethesda title, and a new loot system. Fallout 4 has more in common with survival games and looter shooters than it does a proper RPG, yet that gameplay shift is just as engaging. Finding scrap to make the perfect gun is a fun process in-of-itself that keeps most looter shooters interesting, but Fallout 4 is going through an identity crisis the entire time that you can’t shake the feeling of. Not even the unprecedented passion from the modding community can fix the lacking RPG systems fans came to expect.
4 Fallout 3
Regardless of your opinion on Bethesda, Fallout would not be as large as it is today if not for the incredibly successful Fallout 3.
Bethesda took elements of Fallout and Fallout 2 and incorporated it into their open-world formula best seen in The Elder Scrolls, including SPECIAL stats, skills, and even turn-based combat which was named V.A.T.S. The story in this game questionably depicts the Brotherhood of Steel as good heroes, but the rest of the game is true to the source material. The wasteland feels hostile and desolate, and combat can become an absurd gorefest like the originals. With its fantastic DLCs, Fallout 3 is a great RPG title that anyone can easily get into.
3 Fallout
No Fallout game has depicted the grim, post-apocalyptic setting better than the original. The game’s opening level throws the player out of their home, only to meet a corpse and a loaded pistol next to them.
Vault dwellers are frowned upon by most societies in this game. People want to rat you out and take everything in your home, but you must survive the harsh wasteland to find a replacement for your vault’s water chip. The main narrative is the best the series has ever seen, though the game heavily lacks side content and companions. If you can deal with the dated graphics and clunky combat, there is an immersive wasteland waiting to be explored and understood.
2 Fallout 2
The first thing you will notice in Fallout 2 is how little the game takes itself seriously. Easter eggs are littered everywhere that prevent the game from being as immersive as the first.
Luckily, this game improves on the first title in almost every other way possible. Tons of side missions and companions can be found while maintaining an engaging main narrative. Combat has seen some quality of life improvements, and exploration has become more important ever with the massive scope of Fallout 2. While Fallout has an unmatched atmosphere, Fallout 2 has unmatched replay value out of any Fallout game out there. It’s just a shame how the relentless pop-culture references and dated mechanics prevent this game from being the best.
1 Fallout New Vegas
Created in under a year, Fallout New Vegas is considered by many to be Obsidian’s best work. It takes the fun exploration of Fallout 3 and combines it with the array of content Fallout 2 offered.
Players begin their journey as a courier who was shot in the head and left for dead. You spend part of the game finding the man who killed you, but the game quickly spirals into a three-way war over Hoover Dam. There is an unprecedented level of choice in this game in how you shape the narrative. Thankfully, it left the constant pop-culture references to an opt-in trait players could take instead of being in the game by default. While the early game is rather slow, it quickly builds up to an epic confrontation with every faction in the western United States. Few games can match the quality of writing and player choice that New Vegas presents, and it makes it the best Fallout game in the whole series.
NEXT: Fallout New Vegas: 10 Best Mods You Need To Try
