So I dug out Fallout 2 again.

What a great, great game. Waaay before GTA convinced everyone that amorality was the way to go, Fallout was showing folks how gritty an RPG could get. Think "Mad Max" with turn based combat and hilarious dialogue. Set in the distant future, Fallout 2 adopts the standard motifs of an apocalyptic wasteland and makes them a reality.

Those boys at Black Isle really knew how to build a game.

I've started from scratch (it's been years since I played it last) and I'm taking my time with it.

The amount of freedom Fallout 2 provided was terrific. Save your village from famine. Or don't. Just haul around the nuked-out husk of the Western American countryside in your trashed Chrysalis Highwayman. Make friends. Sell them into slavery if you need the cash. Become a graverobber. Become a drug addict. Become the Boxing Heavyweight Champion of the World. Get married.

Most of the quests had numerous solutions. Be sneaky. Talk your way out of trouble. Or go in with guns ablazing, wiping out anything that moves. Every NPC is targetable. Stray rounds will hit innocents, drawing them into gunfights.

While the freeform nature of the game was powerful, the writing was even better. The plot was well thought-out. Quests had a give-and-take nature, while helping out one faction, you may be guaranteeing the extermination of another. Helping out wealthy businessman may result in the enslavement of entire villages. Trying to consistently walk the Lawful-Good line that you're so used to from the normal range of RPGs can be very difficult in this game.

The combat mechanics were also a strong point. While a turn-based, hex-based RPG may drive some of you Final Fantasy nuts crazy, Fallout 2 really shines. Fighting a bad guy with a sniper rifle? Shoot him in the eye, and see how that improves his sharpshooting. Fighting an irradiated hellmonster that's charging at you? Shoot him in the kneecaps and see if that slows him down. Spearwielding tribals can't stab you very well if you blow their arms off.

Good times, my friends. Good times.

If you're getting the itch for an old-school RPG, go get Fallout 2.

Side note for the kiddies: Fallout 2 includes harsh language, ultraviolence (killing folks with automatic weapons look great. Also, get the Bloody Mess Attribute, it makes life more enjoyable), and adult themes.

But any game that uses Louis Armstrong's "A Kiss To Build a Dream On" in the opening credits can only be good, right?