izigame.me

Here's a question, what does a slab of mystery meat and Fallout Tactics have in common? While both have a mottled gray consistency interspersed with some brown, both are also surprisingly palatable. Years ago I was told to avoid Fallout Tactics because it was 'gross', 'unplayable' and 'garbage'. I realize now those claims were made either by fools with no taste, or jerks that want to keep all the fun things to themselves. There may also have been some paid shilling, I would personally take bribes to give bad games good reviews because I need to eat too. Anyway, being a morally and ethically bankrupt shitheel aside, this game is amazing. It has voice acting by the man, the myth, the legend, R. Lee himself. If you don't know who that is, you have my permission to feel shame.
Why do I say that? Because the game is hard and it doesn't care about your feelings, much like life despite the efforts of many to apply safety bumpers to existence. This game will grind your face off in the first mission and offend your fragile sensibilities with its constant themes of racism, slavery and human misery that plays out in the gritty wasteland of the American midwest. So whether you're a fan of RTS/cRPG games, bloody sci-fi films like Mad Max or just someone that likes to use media that could potentially offend them and are genuinely shocked when such happens, Fallout Tactics has a lot to offer.
Your first mission is to free a tribe of natives that resides in the town of Brahmin Wood. Thus begins the new adventure and the first in a string of missions and story bits and bobs about everyone's favorite gift from the Dutch, slavery! Why is it even important, you might ask? Well, because throughout the game there is a recurring theme that the humans and Ghouls you meet in your adventure don't really matter to the Brotherhood of Steel. As a Socialist organization it views all members and outsiders as resources to be used in furtherance of the cause of order. The player may choose to save innocents and is sometimes rewarded for their efforts but by and large attempting to do so places the player in a precarious position. Why bust in to save the hostages when you can simply ambush, slaughter the opposition and allow the hostages to absorb a few rounds? At the end of the day your resources are limited and while it may feel good to be a hero, sometimes it is more beneficial to simply hose down the room with gunfire and walk away. The game allows you to make that choice as a player and does not punish seemingly amoral acts. After all, the setting of Fallout often uses a moral gray area to tell some very compelling stories, and that same storytelling is present if one bothers to look for it here.
If you play classics or just want to explore older Fallout titles because you're not ancient and therefore missed the games' initial releases, do yourself a favor and pick this one up. It's got some silly quirks technically speaking, but past all that brown and gray there's an engaging storyline coupled with some very memorable characters and solid gameplay that will challenge you.