Great Post-Apocalyptic Games

Craig from TV and Lust explores the sense of wonder and dread post-apocalyptic games throughout gaming, from Crystalis on the NES to Fallout 3 on modern consoles.

[Kee]

I don't really like the post apocalyptic setting. While others may see wonder and dread, I just see boring landscapes with nothing in them. Well that's all i saw in fallout 3. It was a good game, I played it to the end but I spent a lot of time wandering around just looking for somewhere to go.

[Eiffel]

Seems like you're not too much into open world games, or at least open world rpgs.

[Kee]

Actually, I really liked oblivion, even though it suffered from the same boredom at least the scenery was nice to look at and you could walk on water.
@Oshcino I did play the game to the end. Did you not read that?
I enjoyed the story it's just the dull setting was rather.. well, dull.
I was into fallout I'm just talking about this one thing I didn't like about it. And no, I don't think they should've changed it. Otherwise it would be a different game. Even some of my favourite games have things wrong with it.

We can go back to infamous if you like.
I really like infamous but the thing that bugged me was that whether you were good or evil you still followed the exact same story and fought the same enemies. Now, obviously the game would have been better if it were not like that but the experience was different enough to make me want to play it a second time.

Much like fallout. You mis-understood me, I'm not criticising the game, I'm just saying I don't like the setting. It's a matter of taste. You sir, are too quick to judge.
Now, let me get into the reason I never played new vegas.
I had enough fallout. I just had. After 30+ hours of a good game I thought, I get the gist of it and realise it isn't totally my thing.

So don't assume. It makes an ass out of u and me. Love that one...

Actually, Oschino you've taught me a valuable lesson about n4g. If I don't tell you every little detail of my point then I may as well get ready to get flamed because what people don't know, they assume. So I now have to cover my tracks in every comment I write so they have to be 3 paragraphs long and span the entire page so people who look into things too much don't get the wrong idea...
So thanks for that.

Oh, yes and @MidnytRain thanks for pointing that out that that was not what I was trying to say. I am not a troll. Anything I have to say is backed up by opinions formed through actually playing the game. :)

[Oschino1907]

@Kee, did you not read my comment? DERP! Only the first paragraph was to you and it come off somewhat the wrong way but i think we both understand where we are both comming from now. Regardless we arent all mind readers or your bestest friend so maybe explaining a tad further rather then being vague and open ended would help your cause.
Mainly i was just saying why are you even comming to this article and commenting when you have no interest in the genre to begin with, it would be like me showing up on an InFamous 2 page and pointing out everything i didnt like about the 1st even though it was something i was never into and had no plans of getting the 2nd one. Why would anyone in the comment section of that article give 2 poops what i have to say about it?

Oh and Kee i was someone who agreed with your comment but only the sencond to last paragraph...

[Kee]

Okay, man. I'm glad we agree that what I don't say can be worse than what I do say.
No hard feelings, then?
It's been quite a productive day for me... Resolving arguments without allowing it to degrade into sub-par name calling and silliness.
Shows n4g isn't full of of idiots.

Thanks again, Oschino.

[Caleb_141]

I'm of the same opinion actually. The post-apocalyptic setting just didn't really draw me in as Oblivion did when I first played it.

Oblivion kept me immersed for hours upon hours, Fallout... while it was a truly amazing game and I can easily grasp why people found it so good, I just didn't get the same feeling from it as with Oblivion.

I think personally i'm more into fantasy RPG's as there's always more scope for variety in fantasy as its not rooted to the norms of society today (I know that F3 was set in the 1950's and had the alien expansion and such, but it still had an authenticity to it which was constantly there which it couldn't really break free from).

Each to his own is how I would conclude it :) On many forums people have compared Fallout 3 and Oblivion together to see which game everyone preferred and often they both come out 50:50. This just gives testament to what I said above, they're both different games with different themes with different locations which stay rooted to a key formula.

[Oschino1907]

Not a surprise to see Kee not liking a game for what it is and just wishing it was another game. How can you critique a game that you never were into to begin with, many of the things you dont like are what draws other people to it. I for one wasnt a big fan of Oblivion or InFamous and for many good and valid reasons but i am not gonna bash it and say i wish it was something else i liked, for what it was it was a great game, i am just not into those kind of games as much. Not tryin to come at you but wonder why you even bother to comment when its something you have never been into form the start. Personally i never even could play old school RPG cause i am def not a fan at all of fanasty or anythign about the Oblivion universe, if it wasnt for Fallout 3 and later on New Vegas i would still not be playing rpgs cause its the one that caught my eye and made me re think what a modern rpg is.

@Caleb did you even play Fallout 3 or just watch a friend go through some parts, find it hard to believe you played or even beat it when you obviously either didnt play or gave the game no chance and never bothered to follow the story. It is set in an alternate universe following ww2, america went on to be more like we thought the future would be after the 1950s hence all the 50s styling and looks, everything went to shit and the world "ended" in the mid 21st century i believe and the game takes place about 200years after that. so yeah please chigity check yourself before you wreck yourself next time, hate when people act like they played a game and can have perspective when they dont know basic storyline details. Not to mention with all the expansion you go to new and totally different areas/landscapes.

Now having said that I am a big fan of Fallout and not so much of Oblivion but both have won game of the year so to try to bash either or and downgrade them just shows your disdain for the other and inability to seperate your personal choice from acknowleding that the game is GREAT and has nothing more wrong with it then the latter. although i will argue Oblivion gets tiresome at times with it quest/side quest vartions and the story can be totally out of wack at times depending what you do with and how you do things with your character, i feel Fallout 3 enhanced those features and New vegas further and Skyrim will now set the standard again although i will be passing as its not my kind of game but will be Awesome none the less for fans of the series.

[MidnytRain]

I agree with your idea of people critiquing things they have no interest in (although I don't believe that's what Kee was doing). I recently watched Spirited Away and afterwards looked it up on Metacritic. While all the professional reviews were positive, some of the user reviews were negative. When I read one, the user starts out by saying he doesn't even like anime in general. If you don't like a genre/art form, then you really can't say you appreciate it. If you can't appreciate it, then you have no right to criticize it.

[Caleb_141]

1.) You ask me whether I played the game all the way through, then you form it into fact by saying how I don't know the basic storyline details? You jump the gun too much.

2.) I have played Fallout 3 twice through and all of the expansions; don't go telling me I didn't play the game enough and that I didn't follow the story.

3.) Please try and type your sentences better, I found it really hard to follow what you were saying while ignoring your nonsensical ramblings.

[MidnytRain]

You must not be playing the game right, then. I recently got the trophy for discovering one hundred locations, so there must be more than that considering I'm still finding things. The history and the world of the Fallout universe is very fleshed out; everyone has their own story. Finding out how the wastelander and raider I just passed died is a small treat in itself. Just check out the Fallout wiki for yourself. You and I could never put together something as comprehensive as that. It's one of the richest game worlds you can explore, which is a bit ironic considering it has a post-apocalyptic setting.

[Oschino1907]

I agree. I myself am the exploring type, i can spend hours (in real life) just wandering through trails and off the paths in the woods, love exploring abandoned buildings and areas that people once used extensively, just love trying to think of how it was in a past time. Games like Fallout had me for so many reasons and i never even considered RPGs before, i played hours and hours exploring every inch of the map and looking for all the easter eggs. I thought the lanscape and enviroments although bland colored very exciting and enticing just drawing me further and futher in to explore and see what was around the next building, street, hallway and tunnel. Finding the "set up scenes" and trying to figure out what happened was AWESOME!

Oh and i called out Kee cause he did something very similar yesterday between LBP 1&2 and InFamous.

[Hufandpuf]

Fallout 3 is the best Post-Apocalyptic game ever made IMO

[ATiElite]

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
-Shadow of Chernobyl
-Clear Sky
-Call of Pripyat

are the best post-Apocalyptic games ever made and they only will be beaten by the up coming S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2.

Scavengers
Trespassers
Adventures
Loners
Killers
Explorers
Robbers

Fallout 3 is cool but it just lacks the depth, atmosphere, player immersion, and quality FPS mechanics of the STALKER series.

[Hufandpuf]

I just saw the S.T.A.L.K.E.R Chernobyl trailer, and it's not better than Fallout. In Fallout every descision you make shapes your character. You can become evil, or a savior. Different people can either like you or hate you. There's even a trading mechanic and real time NPCs who go through daily life just to survive. there's A full Day to Night Cycle. And various enemies and limitless options to choose from. Also the game has almost infinite re playability because you can customize your character and progress him/her in different ways. FALLOUT is the BEST post apocalyptic game out now.

[Venoxn4g]

Nice to see Enslaved and Fragile :)

[Desert Turtle]

Major spoilers for the few people who haven't completed Final Fantasy VI yet (like me).

Also, does Chrono Trigger count as post-apocalyptic? Shit hit the fan in one of the time periods, so that has to count.

[MasterD919]

Still think theres plenty of room for new post-apocalyptic IP's even with Rage coming out.