History VideoGame / Fallout1

* ImpossibleMission: Ask to join the Brotherhood of Steel, and the guards at the door will send your request to Elder Maxon, who gives you a task to go digging around in a place called The Ancient Order. The soldiers actually warn you ahead of time that it's a lethally radioactive hole, and you aren't expected you to come back from there alive. This is demonstrated by the corpses of Brotherhood paladins you find there.

* AntiGrinding: The main quest is timed, which discourages running back and forth farming random encounters on the overworld. After a major patch, taking too long with the quest to stop the mutants will no longer result in a hard game over(there's still a time limit for finding the water chip, though), but you will receive the worst possible ending for many of the communities.

* ActionPet: [[LegacyCharacter Dogmeat]] make his first appearance here, as one of your [[OptionalPartyMember possible allies]]. Unlike the others, he is a dog, and thus cannot be given orders, or dismissed from your party. Instead, he will ''always'' go into battle alongside you, no matter what. He has no armor, and no weapons but his teeth, but he's [[BadassNormal very fast and tough enough to tear most enemies apart]].

** The [[HumungousHeadedHammer Super Sledgehammer]] can hit hard enough to send ''[[GiantMook Super Mutants]]'' [[PunchedAcrossTheRoom flying]] distances measurable in double digit meters.

** The [[DropTheHammer Super Sledgehammer]] can hit hard enough to send ''[[GiantMook Super Mutants]]'' [[PunchedAcrossTheRoom flying]] distances measurable in double digit meters.

''Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game'' (1997), the first game in the [[Franchise/{{Fallout}} eponymous]] series. Compared to the rest of the series, it is unarguably the most straightforward, and most true to the original vision for the franchise.

The year is 2161: 84 years after [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt all human society was destroyed in nuclear war]]. The world is a largely inhospitable wasteland populated by lethal mutants and tiny communities of survivors who live a hardscrabble existence trying to grow crops out of terrible soil and toxic rain. Lawless [[DesertBandits raider tribes]] make their lives even harder by stealing what little they have at every opportunity. Luckily for you, though, your ancestors had managed to secure their place in Vault 13 -- [[UndergroundCity a gigantic underground city]] built specifically to survive the apocalypse. You've been there all your life, and it's an okay place to live. There's plenty of food, clean water, and friends, and the Overseer keeps everything nice and orderly. But life in the Vault is about to change.

One day, the water purifier's control chip -- the only thing ensuring the continued production of fresh water in the Vault -- breaks. There's no way to fix it. The only way to get another one is to seek out another Vault and take theirs. To do that means [[SuicideMission someone has to leave the vault]]. The Overseer has decided that the only fair way to decide who leaves is to gather the most capable inhabitants of the Vault and have them draw straws. Guess who drew the shortest? You did.

You leave the Vault for the first time. All you can see is a dark cave filled with giant, hungry-looking rats and poor Ed's skeleton lying just outside the entrance: you weren't the first person to be sent on this mission. All you have with you is a jumpsuit, a few standard-issue survival supplies, and a single weapon from the armory. All you know is that there's another Vault to the east, which ''might'' have another control chip. To top it all off, the Vault door you just came out of won't respond to your entry password.

''Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game'' (1997), the first game in the [[VideoGame/{{Fallout}} eponymous]] series. Compared to the rest of the series, it is unarguably the most straightforward, and most true to the original vision for the franchise.

[[caption-width-right:300: ''[[Music/TheInkSpots Maybe... you'll think of me...]]'']]

* InterfaceSpoiler: It's arguably a game mechanic. When moving the mouse cursor over [=NPCs=] and objects, the information window will display a brief descriptor: "raider", "computer", "table", etc. However, important characters and environment objects you can interact with on a deeper level are almost always a more unique description. For example, if you find a room full of computers and all of them are described as "computer" except for one which shows up as "an old computer console", that's the one you want to have a closer look at.

** The game is overall much shorter than the other games in the series, which are widely known to be very long and involved experiences. The main story plus all of the big sidequests can be finished in 10 to 20 hours, and OneHundredPercentCompletion won't take much longer. ''Fallout 2'' and ''Tactics'' usually take more than 40 hours, while the Bethesda-era games can take anywhere from 50 to 100 hours, sometimes longer.

** For a given value of "nightmare", the [[TheRepublic New California Republic]] would have its start from the humble and peaceful village of Shady Sands and would go on to become one of the largest and most powerful faction.

** [[TheDragon The Lieutentent]] is completely loyal to his boss, but is a {{Sadist}} who delights in torturing his victims. He knows that most humans do not survive the process of becoming super mutants, and not only does he not care, and he relishes in their suffering. [[spoiler: Unlike The Master, he is fully aware that super mutants are sterile and assumes it will be fixed. If The Master is presented with this proof, he suffers a DespairEventHorizon.]]

The year is 2161: 84 years after [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt all human society was destroyed in nuclear war]]. The world is a largely inhospitable wasteland populated by lethal mutants and tiny communities of survivors who live a hardscrabble existence trying to grow crops out of terrible soil and toxic rain. Lawless [[DesertBandits raider tribes]] make their lives even harder by stealing what little they have at every opportunity. Luckily for you, though, your ancestors had managed to secure their place in Vault 13 -- [[UndergroundCity a gigantic underground city]] built specifically to survive the apocalypse. You've been there all your life, and [[RunningGag it's an okay place to live.]] There's plenty of food, clean water, and friends, and the Overseer keeps everything nice and orderly. But [[ArcWords life in the Vault is about to change]].

One day, the water purifier's control chip -- the only thing ensuring the continued production of fresh water in the Vault -- breaks. There's no way to fix it. The only way to get another one is to seek out another Vault and take theirs. To do that means [[SuicideMission someone has to leave the vault]]. The Overseer has decided that the only fair way to decide who leaves is to gather the most capable inhabitants of the Vault and have them draw straws. Guess who drew the shortest? [[OhCrap You did]].

You leave the Vault for the first time. All you can see is a dark cave filled with giant, hungry-looking rats and poor Ed's skeleton lying just outside the entrance: you weren't the first person to be sent on this mission. All you have with you is a jumpsuit, a few standard-issue survival supplies, and a single weapon from the armory. All you know is that there's another Vault to the east, which ''might'' have another control chip. To top it all off, the Vault door you just came out of [[{{ThisIsGonnaSuck}} won't respond to your entry password]].

* GoneHorriblyRight: [[invoked]] [[spoiler: The Forced Evolutionary Virus (or [=FEV=]) was [[ExtremelyLengthyCreation a long time in coming]], but when completed, it was a flying success [[ScienceIsBad in every wrong way possible.]] It can turn humans into behemoth mutants that are superior to humans in nearly every way: they boast greater strength, tougher bodies, faster reflexes, enhanced perception, and [[GeniusBruiser much higher intelligence]]. However, they also have significant problems. First off, [=FEV=] needs it's host to have undamaged DNA to work. So, if the to-be-mutated human has been exposed to enough radiation, they transform into a [[BodyHorror misshapen mass of rotting but still living flesh]]. Also, most people in the wasteland have previously been exposed to low doses of mutated [=FEV=], [[AcquiredPoisonImmunity inoculating them]] from the full effects of the virus: they tend to turn into [[DumbMuscle morons]] as a result of brain damage [[https://youtu.be/8U9T8Z_Ayhw?t=244 caused by their immune system rejecting the infection.]] Finally, ''ALL'' Super Mutants have a [[EvilIsSterile total inability to procreate.]]]]

** The [[ImportedAlienPhlebotinum Alien Blaster]] is [[PurposefullyOverpowered the most powerful energy sidearm]] in the game: it can kill practically anything in one shot or two. It's only drawback is it's [[NecessaryDrawback limited range]].

* WeWillUseLasersInTheFuture: Every single EnergyWeapon in the game has ''vastly'' superior power, range and/or accuracy compared to a typical handgun in it's class, in ''addition'' to a deeper magazine. To put this into perspective, here are the stats of the combat shotgun (a solid late-game gun) compared to the laser pistol (the weakest energy weapon of all):

* NecessaryEvil: [[spoiler: This is how The Master view his actions, he knows they're horrifying, but genuinely believe it's for the greater good and is essential to avoid a repeat of the errors of the past and create permanent stable peace. The worst part is that he was almost ''right'', the only flaw in his plan is that his mutants can't reproduce]].

** There is a 13 in-game year time limit built into the game engine.

* AllegedLookalikes: When a male character approaches the Khans, there is a chance (influenced by the player's Luck stat) that they will mistake him for the legendary "Garl Death-Hand," returned from the grave. Some even flee, thinking you're a ghost. While this does allow you to steal things from them without consequence, it also makes it impossible to negotiate with their leader, [[SelfMadeOrphan Garl's patricidal son]].

* AwesomeMcCoolname: Junktown's mayor, Killian Darkwater.
* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler: The alternative ending has this outcome, should the Vault Dweller either side with the Master or fail to deal with him and his forces in time.]]

** The [[DropTheHammer Super Sledgehammer]] can hit hard enough to send ''[[GiantMook Super Mutants]]'' [[PunchedAcrossTheRoom flying]] distances measurable in [[UpToEleven double digit meters.]]

* MoeGreeneSpecial: The "Aimed Shot" system (predecessor to [[Videogame/Fallout3 V.A.T.S.]]) allows the player to aim for any enemy body part, including the eyes, [[EyeScream with any weapon in the game]]. The eyes are the hardest body part to hit successfully, but if an attack ''does'' hit the eyes, it has a very high chance of bypassing all the target's defense ''and'' doing '''''[[UpToEleven ludicrously]]''''' high damage, sometimes hitting for far beyond the amount of HitPoints that any character could physically have.

* RayGun: The most powerful weapons in the game are these. Called '[[EnergyWeapon Energy Weapons]]' in game, they are very rare to obtain, or even ''find'' early on, so there is a definite temptation to [[DumpStat ignore their skill stats]]... but by the endgame [[LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards they easily outpace standard firearms in all areas]].

* RocksFallEveryoneDies: Pissing off the Overseer will result in him pulling out a pair of [[RayGun laser]] [[GatlingGood gatling guns]] from his chair and [[OneHitKill one-shotting you]].

* SidequestSidestory: A [[UpToEleven very large number]] of quests in this game are tied to events that occur directly in the game world and directly affect the story. As an example, if you take out Gizmo in Junktown, [[DiabolicalMastermind Decker]] -- who has a spy network and lives in Hub City -- will know about it, and will want to hire you to kill Jain of the Children of the Cathedral. Further, if you choose to accept Decker's quest, the Children will figure out what happened and [[MuggingTheMonster kill Decker in retaliation later on]].

** You can actually talk down the BigBad from his evil plan, but not by trying to convince him that what he's doing is bad: [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans he's already convinced that he's doing the right thing by turning people into mutants because he believes it is the only way to unify the wasteland]], so he will just brush you off as an enemy of progress. You actually have to [[spoiler:discover before you talk to him that all his mutants are sterile so his attempt to "unify the wastes" will not last past a generation. He will try to brush you off as a liar, so you must either present him the evidence or counter by [[ArmourPiercingQuestion asking if any of his mutants have had kids]]. Only then will the penny drop.]]

* UnintentionallyUnwinnable: It's possible to enter [[BonusDungeon The Glow]] without ''any'' Radaway, Rad-X, or at the very least a decent enough Endurance stat to protect against the radiation. You might make it out with the Brotherhood disk, but you won't even make it anywhere close to a city before you meet your demise to severe radiation poisoning. A sensible person would simply reload a save from before they entered The Glow, [[UpToEleven but if you were to use all 10 saves files after you entered The Glow...]]

* UpToEleven: If the Gifted trait is taken while a stat is already set to 10, this will bump the stat to a red 11. Unfortunately, the game won't let you go along with that, since 10 is supposed to be the max.

->''[[UpToEleven The gap only widens from there.]]''