The Fallout Universe - Part 1

This is the first part of the article dedicated to the Fallout Universe. But what is Fallout anyway? My definition sounds like this: "the best role playing game I have ever played" and I'll tell you why later. The first Fallout was released by Interplay in 1997 after the guys from Black Isle finished working on it. The game has a post-apocalyptic setting in the late 22nd century, though its story and artwork are heavily influenced by the post-World War II nuclear paranoia of the 1950s. Fallout is also known as the "post-apocalyptic role playing game".

Plot
"War. War never changes." Humanity has been wiped out of the face of the earth due to a massive nuclear war known as The Great War. You are an inhabitant of an underground nuclear bunker known as Vault13 (the USA government buit underground vaults in case of a nuclear war). The water chip responsible for the water recycling and pumping machinery, has broken so you're asked by the Vault Overseer to leave the safety of the vault and find another water chip.

Starting the game...
You get to choose your character or make one of your own (I made my own). The traits of your character will influence almost anything in the game because if you are very agile you can run alot and avoid conflicts and if you're not very intelligent most people won't even talk with you. You get some character points to start with and you can freely use them into your Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility and Luck. You also get to choose some skills traits and perks. After doing this an intro will popup and you get to play the game. You main goal is to find a water chip in 150 days, but the time limit can be extended... The main problem is that you are a complete stranger to the nuclear wasteland beause you were raised in a vault and finding a water chip will proove a bit difficult... (Spoiler: you don't finish the game after you get that chip)
The gameplay consists of exploring the world, talking and interacting with people and taking on quests. You can talk to almost anyone, barther, kill, steal, picklock doors, heal people, repair stuff, skin animals and almost anything...

The best parts of Fallout:
+ the game has a great plot; the sidestories and sidequests are wonderful
+ you can finish the game in very many ways depending on your actions and your starting characters abilities and perks
+ the game is very humorous (bottle caps are used as currency; you can find Godzilla's footprint with a crushed villager in it; you even get to meet Robin Hood)
+ even if you're good or bad you can finish the game in 29 minutes or 3 months (that depends on your agility and luck)
+ events are randomized in the game
+ you don't get to fight with the same old orcs, elves, undead creatures, knights, demons, dragons, fishpeople, golems or any of that...
+ the action doesn't take place in the middle ages; that's right, you don't have swords, bows or magic stuff