GamesRPGFalloutThe indisputable first, third, and sixth-best Fallout games are free to keep on the Epic store this weekWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesRPGFalloutThe indisputable first, third, and sixth-best Fallout games are free to keep on the Epic store this weekWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Bethesda)
Gather ye round, children, for it’s once again that most magical time of year: The Epic store freebies of the week are good enough to make it worth remembering your password—did you use a special character this time like I asked?—and waiting for the launcher to update. That’s right, it’s theFallout Classic Collection, which includes Fallouts 1, 2, and Tactics. Not included in the Fallout Classic Collection—but no less free—isWild Card Football.
PC Gamer has a strong editorial history on ranking the Fallout games that hews mostly to the tastes of news writer Joshua Wolens’s freebie/deal posts, much like the one you’re reading right now. Josh is also absolutely correct, so here’s PC Gamer’s objective, immutable ranking of the Fallout series as compiled from GOG, Twitch, and Prime Gaming news posts:
Well Ihaveplayed a bit of Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel (not to be confused withFallout: Brotherhood of Steel) over a decade ago and it’s perfectly fine. Adequate. It’s more classic Fallout, and finally with full party control, but critically lacking the series' open-endedness, reactivity, and sense of whimsy. It’s fun enough, but with so much of the Fallout-ness stripped away, you’re left with a squad tactics game that lacks the ambition of the OG XCOM and Jagged Alliance games, while also being crusty and clunky compared to modern examples like the new XCOM and Jagged Alliance games.
It’s hard to say where Wild Card Football should sit on our official ranking of the Fallout games—I haven’t played it, and I accidentally set my age too low on the Epic Store’s restricted content popup on my browser. The Epic Store uses vile digital surveillance tools (cookies) to remember that I’m underage (almost thirty), another black mark on Epic’s record.
Thanks to the magic of Incognito Mode—I don’t want to try remembering my Epic password for the launcher right now—I can see that Wild Card Football is an arcadey take on America’s favorite sport, but even more cartoonishly violent than the real thing. It reminds me ofBlitz: The League, which I fondly recall watching my big brother play on the Xbox 360. One thing I don’t get though: Why is Wild Card Football age-restricted and not the Bloody Mess-making original Fallouts?
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Nevertheless, it sounds like Wild Card Football has a good shot at unseating Tactics as the sixth-best Fallout game, though I don’t know if Wild Card Football has any cerebral, anarchist total conversion mods that would really seal the deal. Fallout Classic Collection and Wild Card Football will remain Epic freebies until September 5.
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More about falloutOG Fallout lead Tim Cain dusts off a trove of old development photos dating back to 1994 to show ‘what development looked like in the ’90s’Fallout’s original designer is fine with the direction of the modern games: ‘They’re both what they are, and a ton of people like it’LatestToday’s Wordle answer for Sunday, January 12See more latest►
More about falloutOG Fallout lead Tim Cain dusts off a trove of old development photos dating back to 1994 to show ‘what development looked like in the ’90s’Fallout’s original designer is fine with the direction of the modern games: ‘They’re both what they are, and a ton of people like it’
More about fallout
OG Fallout lead Tim Cain dusts off a trove of old development photos dating back to 1994 to show ‘what development looked like in the ’90s’Fallout’s original designer is fine with the direction of the modern games: ‘They’re both what they are, and a ton of people like it’
OG Fallout lead Tim Cain dusts off a trove of old development photos dating back to 1994 to show ‘what development looked like in the ’90s’
OG Fallout lead Tim Cain dusts off a trove of old development photos dating back to 1994 to show ‘what development looked like in the ’90s’
Fallout’s original designer is fine with the direction of the modern games: ‘They’re both what they are, and a ton of people like it’
Fallout’s original designer is fine with the direction of the modern games: ‘They’re both what they are, and a ton of people like it’
LatestToday’s Wordle answer for Sunday, January 12See more latest►
Latest
Today’s Wordle answer for Sunday, January 12
Today’s Wordle answer for Sunday, January 12
Today’s Wordle answer for Sunday, January 12
See more latest►
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Most Popular
Today’s Wordle answer for Saturday, January 11
The Last of Us season 2 trailer is a brief look at a story you should probably just play yourself in April
Lords of the Fallen publisher embraces fear of the DEI boogeyman, says it will not include ‘any social or political agendas’ in its games
Epic CEO Tim Sweeney says tech leaders are ‘pretending to be Republicans’ to gain favor with Trump, skirt antitrust laws, and ultimately ‘rip off consumers and crush competitors’
If you’re trying to convince me your ‘companionship’ robot is ‘lifelike’, maybe don’t rip her face off in the demo video
Square Enix launches new anti-harassment policy to protect its employees and partners from abusive fans
The Sims begins its 25th anniversary celebration next week with a Behind The Sims episode of news and announcements
Path of Exile 2 numberlord spends 16 straight days killing rare monsters to prove that a stat that makes loot better makes better loot
Palestinian developer raises more than $200,000 to make Dreams on a Pillow, a game about the horrors of the 1948 Nakba
Piranha Games will lay off employees after Mechwarrior 5: Clans ‘performed below projections’
Marvel Rivals’ latest update quietly killed the game’s burgeoning mod scene
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