Fallout 2

Fallout 2
Developer(s)	Black Isle Studios
Publisher(s)	Interplay Entertainment
Designer(s)	Feargus Urquhart Matt Norton
Series	Fallout series
Engine	Fallout engine
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, Macintosh
Release	September 30, 1998
Genre(s)	Post-apocalyptic RPG
Mode(s)	Single player

Fallout 2 is a critically-acclaimed computer role-playing game published by Interplay in 1998. The second game takes place in 2241, 80 years after the first Fallout. It tells the story of the original hero's descendant and his or her quest to save their primitive tribe from starvation by finding an ancient environmental restoration machine known as the "Garden of Eden Creation Kit", or GECK. Although featuring an almost completely new game world, stories, and adventures that are several times larger than its predecessor, the game mechanics from Fallout remain mostly unchanged, with the majority of changes to fix annoying interface issues.

Plot

Intro Movie Narration

"War, war never changes. The end of the world occurred pretty much as we had predicted: Too many humans, not enough space or resources to go around. The details are trivial and pointless, the reasons, as always, purely human ones. The earth was nearly wiped clean of life, a great cleansing. An atomic spark struck by human hands, quickly raged out of control. Spears of nuclear fire rained from the skies. Continents were swallowed in flames, and fell beneath the boiling oceans. Humanity was almost extinguished, their spirits becoming part of the background radiation that blanketed the earth. A quiet darkness fell across the planet, lasting many years. Few survived the devastation, some were lucky enough to reach safety. Taking shelter in great underground vaults, when the great darkness pasted these vaults opened and the inhabitance emerged to begin their lives again. One of the northern tribes say they were decedents from one such vaults, they say that their founder and ancestor, one know as the vault dweller, once saved the world from a great evil. This evil arose in the far south, it corrupted all it touch, twisting men in side turning them in to beasts. Only though the bravery was the evil destroyed, but when he returned to the home he fort so hard to protect he was cast out. Exiled. He strode far to the north till he came to the great canyons. There he founded a small village, Arroyo. Its is now home, your home. But the scars from the war have not yet healed, and the earth has not forgotten."

Setting

See also: Locations in the Fallout universe

At the end of the original Fallout, the hero Vault Dweller was exiled by the Vault Overseer for his prolonged exposure to the outside world. Unable to return home, the Vault Dweller with a group of willing companions traveled far north. Eventually they found a tribal village called Arroyo (and lived there for the rest of their lives) in what is modern day Northern California. 80 years have passed since the original Fallout.

In the time since the Vault Dweller's exile, a new government known as the New California Republic (abbreviated NCR) has begun to unify the southern towns and is spreading to the north. A mysterious new organization known as the Enclave has emerged with the most sophisticated technology in the wastes, even surpassing the Brotherhood of Steel. And a new drug, Jet, has become a cancer on many towns with a nearly 100% addiction rate, forcing many to rely on the town of New Reno to keep them supplied.

Story

During 2241, Arroyo suffered the worst drought on record. Faced with the difficulty, the village elders asked the direct descendant of the Vault Dweller, referred to as the Chosen One, to perform the quest of retrieving a Garden of Eden Creation Kit (GECK) for Arroyo. The GECK is a device that can create thriving communities out of the post-apocalyptic wasteland.

The player, assuming the role of the Chosen One, is given nothing more than the Vault Dweller's jumpsuit, a RobCo PIPBoy 2000 handheld device, a Vault 13 water flask, and some cash to start on his mission.

The player eventually finds Vault 13 (the first place possible to obtain a GECK) devoid of the majority of its former human inhabitants. The Chosen One returns to find his village captured by the remnants of the United States government known as "The Enclave". The player, through variety of means, activates an ancient oil tanker and its autopilot, thus allowing him to reach the Enclave's main base on an offshore oilrig.

It is revealed that the dwellers of Vault 13 were captured as well, to be used as test subjects for FEV (Forced Evolutionary Virus). Vault 13 was supposed to be closed for 200 years as part of a government experiment; this makes them perfect test subjects. The Enclave modified the Forced Evolutionary Virus into an airborne disease, designed to attack any living creatures with mutated DNA. With all genetic impurities removed, the Enclave (who remain protected from radiation) could take over. The player frees both his village (Arroyo) and the Vault 13 dwellers from Enclave control, and destroys the Enclave's oilrig, killing Enclave President Richardson and genetically-modified enforcer Frank Horrigan on his way. In the ending, the inhabitants of Vault 13 and Arroyo villagers create a new prosperous community with the help of the GECK.

Characteristics

The fact that in both Fallout and Fallout 2 player characters are raised in an isolated community works with the plot structure, allowing the character to be as ignorant about the game world as the player would be, and explains why the map the character starts with is almost completely unexplored.

Recruitable characters

Like the original Fallout, there are numerous NPCs (non-player characters) in Fallout 2 that the player can recruit to assist in his or her quest. Unlike the original Fallout, these characters are more customizable in combat AI and equipment. These characters can level up as the player gains more experience. Additionally, these NPCs have skills, such as repair and doctoring, which would come into play if the player is lacking in such skills. The appearance of the recruitable NPCs (except for their weapons) are at their default in-game visuals despite being issued different suits of armor and instructed to wear them.

The number of party members the player can recruit is based on the player character's charisma statistics. Most recruits also have personal preferences or qualifications for the player. The majority of the recruits require the player to have good karma standing and to have not committed atrocious acts such as becoming a slaver or killing children.

Name	Race	Location	Skills	Notes
Vic	Human	The Den	Repair, pistols and rifles	A trader whom the village elder instructed the player to find at the beginning of the game and is a vital link in the discovery of the GECK. He can join the player's group as soon as his radio is fixed and his debts repaid, or if the player eliminates Metzger, his captor.
Sulik	Human	Klamath	Melee weapons, SMGs	A tribal human whose village was decimated, and seeks his sister who he hopes survived. He will be willing to join the player's party if the player repays his debt. He is likely the first NPC the player will recruit. If the player joins the slavers without first selling Sulik he will attack.
Cassidy	Human	Vault City	Pistols and rifles, unarmed, and melee weapons	A bartender, who lives in Vault City only because they have the best healthcare in the area. This can be further attested to the fact that in certain random dialogues, he hopes that his 'heart will not act up' while travelling, and using any stimulating drugs will cause his heart to collapse. He also tells you he got named after a pre-wars comicfigure by his father. The comicfigure might be Proinsias Cassidy from Preacher.
Myron	Human	New Reno (the Stables)	Science	A brilliant young scientist who is employed by the Mordino family for chemical research but feels they are not treating him properly. He is the boy who created the drug "Jet", highly arrogant and a coward in battle. His abilities allow you to make stimpacks for healing.
Lenny	Ghoul	Gecko	Doctor	A Necropolis survivor, Lenny is the medical doctor for the Gecko shantytown and would gladly follow a descendant of the Vault Dweller. He is possibly the oldest, or at least one of the oldest, characters in the game, so old he lived before the Great War (World War III).
Marcus	Supermutant	Broken Hills	Big guns, (large) energy weapons	The sheriff of Broken Hills who was a member of The Master's army before he befriended a member of the Brotherhood of Steel. The player has to solve some quests in Broken Hills before Marcus consents to join the party.
Goris	Deathclaw	Vault 13	Unarmed	A deathclaw and a scholar from Vault 13 who wants to experience and learn more about the world by traveling with the player.
SkyNet	Robot	Sierra Army Depot	Depends on brain	Asked for assistance by an AI in Sierra Army Depot, the player would have to find a robot chassis and a compatible brain for the entity to occupy. The quality of the brain depended directly on the player's Science skill, with the most desirable one (and most difficult to obtain) being the cybernetic brain. SkyNet as a robobrain bot is highly skilled with rifles, but cannot wear armor of any kind. SkyNet is a reference to the Terminator series.
K-9	Robot dog	Navarro	Unarmed	A robot dog belonging to a malevolent Enclave scientist Dr. Schroeber, who removed his motivator. He possesses exceptionally strong ethical programming. K-9 may also be a reference to the show Doctor Who
Cyberdog	Robot dog	New California Republic	Unarmed	A gift from a scientist in NCR after completing his quest.
Dogmeat	Dog	Cafe of Broken Dreams	Unarmed	A mixed-breed canine and former companion of the Vault Dweller. Despite his age and the manual's claim that he was killed in the Mariposa Military Base, Dogmeat appears in a special encounter and will join the Chosen One if he or she is wearing the Vault 13 jumpsuit or (due to a bug) the Bridgekeeper's Robes. He will also join if fed an Iguana-On-a-Stick.
Pariah Dog	Dog	Pariahs	Unarmed	A half-dead dog found in the desert, surrounded by corpses. The Pariah Dog will automatically join the Chosen One, regardless of their Charisma value. As long as the dog is alive, the Chosen One will have the "Jinxed" perk, and their Luck will be lowered to 1.
Miria	Human	Modoc	Unarmed	Grisham's daughter; if the Chosen One (regardless of gender) has sex with her, she will join the party via a shotgun wedding. Unlike normal characters, a spouse does not improve with experience, and will not leave the party short of death, divorce, forcibly being sold into slavery.
Davin	Human	Modoc	Unarmed	Grisham's son; if the Chosen One (regardless of gender) has sex with him, he will join the party via a shotgun wedding. Unlike normal characters, a spouse does not improve with experience, and will not leave the party short of death, divorce, forcibly being sold into slavery.

Gameplay

Character attributes

Main article: SPECIAL System

Attributes

Fallout uses a character creation system called SPECIAL. SPECIAL is an acronym and initialism of Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility, and Luck. These are the seven basic attributes of every character in the game. They are used to determine the skills and perks of the given character.

Skills

Main article: Skills

There are 18 different skills in the game. They are ranked from 0% to 300%. The starting values for those skills at Level 1 are determined by the player's 7 basic attributes, but most of those skills would fall between 0% and 50%. Every time the player gains a level, he will be awarded skill points to be used to improve his skills, equal to 5 points + twice his Intelligence. The player may choose to "Tag" 3 of the 18 skills. A tagged skill will improve at twice the normal rate.

• 6 combat skills: Small Guns, Big Guns, Energy Weapons, Unarmed, Melee Weapons, Throwing.
• 8 active skills: First Aid, Doctor, Sneak, Lockpick, Steal, Traps, Science, Repair.
• 4 passive skills: Speech, Barter, Gambling, Outdoorsman.

Books found throughout the gameworld can also improve some of those skills permanently, although books are scarce early in the game. However, after a skill reaches a certain level, books no longer have any impact. Some NPCs can also improve Skills via training. How high a Skill can be developed is affected by the character's Attributes - a character with a low Intelligence will not be able to boost their Science rating as high as a character with high Intelligence, for example.

Some skills can also be improved while having certain items equipped. (E.g. equipping a lock pick would improve lock picking skills.) Stimulants can also temporarily boost player's skills; however, they often have adverse effects such as addiction and withdrawal. As Skills grow higher in rating, they begin to cost more Skill Points to increase.

Traits and Perks

At character creation, the player may choose 2 optional traits for his character. Traits are special character background. Most traits have profound effects on gameplay. A trait normally contains one beneficial effect and one detrimental effect. They are listed under perks in the character sheet. Once a Trait is chosen, it is impossible to change, except by using the "Mutate" Perk that lets them change 1 Trait, 1 time.

Perks in the game are special elements of the level up system. Every 3 levels (or every 4 if the player chose the "Skilled" Trait), the player is granted a perk of his choosing. Perks grant special effects, most of which are not obtainable via normal level up in the game, such as letting the player have more actions per round. Unlike traits, most perks are purely beneficial - they are usually offset only by the infrequency of acquiring them.

Changes from Fallout 1

Fallout 2 featured a much wider array of items, weapons and armor from Fallout 1. Most of the items from Fallout 1 returned, but had alternate and upgraded forms: the minigun, for example, is now joined by the Avenger and Vindicator mini-guns. Item prices were also increased at stores, making scavenging for items more important. In addition to old, upgraded weapons, several new weapons were introduced for all branches of combat, thus making no one combat skill the best, and allowing the player to be powerful with any firearm. The range of enemies was also increased to a wider diversity. The end result is a much more complex combat environment.

Skills start off at a lower rate than the first game, and the various skills are also more important. Previously, skills like Unarmed, Doctor and Traps were used sparingly, but now, all skills are useful to a degree. The maximum level of a Skill was increased from 200 to 300. The Unarmed skill in particular was made much more sophisticated by adding different types of Punches and Kicks depending on the player's Attributes and skill level. Several new Perks were added while most others were retained, allowing a greater degree of customization.

Karma is accompanied by Reputation, and while Karma affects the player on a whole, Reputation affect how the player is received in a single town. While Karma is achieved by doing good things and killing monsters, Reputation grows based on how the player helps the city, usually by completing sub-quests. By nature, Reputation and Karma tend to grow parallel to each other. As in Fallout 1, good/evil characters react differently to players with different Karma. Also, the player can acquire certain titles (Gigolo, Made Man, Slaver) based on their actions that also affect the game and how others react to them.

Recruitable NPCs were very simplistic in the first game, and the only extent of control the player had over them was controlling what weapons they used and telling them to stay at a certain distance. In Fallout 2, team NPC control is much more sophisticated, with them being able to level up, equip armor and be issued orders before combat ranging from when to run away to when to heal themselves. The NPCs also possess distinct personalities and characteristics, similar to previous games. The recruiting process is also more complex, with NPCs refusing to join the player if he has negative Karma or before a certain quest has been completed. Finally, there is a limit to the number of NPCs a player can recruit.

In the original Fallout, sub-quests in the towns and cities were usually solved within that city, with only a few sub-quests requiring the player to travel. The cities, fairly isolated except for caravans, were concerned with their own problems. In Fallout 2, however, the cities have a great deal of contact with each other, and with the sole exception of Klamath, actions in one city will affect the state of another, and sub-quests will often require the player to go back and forth from location to location to kill enemies and deliver messages and items. To assist this, the makers of Fallout 2 added a vehicle, The Chrysalis Motors Highwayman (sometimes erroneously called the Roadmaster, which is a real car). The Highwayman, based on the 57 Chevy with sci-fi upgrades, reduces map travel time significantly. It can be upgraded several times in various missions, and it runs on the same nuclear cells as certain weapons in the game; this element is faithful to 1950s concepts of future vehicles, such as the Ford Nucleon.

The game's overall theme matter is more R-rated, with drugs and prostitution becoming major elements of the setting and the drug "Jet" as one of the major subplots. Profanities are also encountered more often. During the course of the game, players can join the Mafia, become a porn star, get married and subsequently divorced, and nearly every town in the game features some sort of prostitute that can be slept with. Slavery also becomes an important subplot, and players can either side with the Slavers or join their opponents that try to stamp slavery out. NPCs can be bought and sold as slaves during the course of the game.

Also, speedruns take longer than in Fallout 1. In Fallout 1, players could simply go straight to the Military Base, destroy it, then travel to the Cathedral and do the same. In Fallout 2, the final base cannot be accessed until a certain NPC reveals the coordinates. Thus, it is possible to create a non-combat character focused on speech and stealing in order to procure the necessary items to be able to talk one's way through to the final boss. From there, the non-combat based character's a high science skill rating allows the hacking of the final base's sentry guns to fire upon the boss. This combined with talking his men into mutiny requires no direct interaction with the boss in order to secure an easy victory. The game was completed in 17:51 on a video posted on the Speed Demos Archive website.

Reception

Fallout fans are generally divided in their opinions of Fallout 2. The most common complaints involve the voluminous amount of pop-culture references throughout the game, many of which are extraneous and forced; the exaggerated "adult" content such as the Golden Globes porn studio in New Reno, or even New Reno as a whole; the lack of a true 'Fallout' atmosphere when compared to the original game; and especially the overall lack of advancement over the original in terms of graphics and gameplay. There have also been some complaints about the game's relatively arbitrary end boss, as well as speculation that the game shipped with some potentially crippling bugs. The most notable bugs were the 'Highwayman bugs', which had the car's parts disappearing and the car not following you even though you travelled with it, and having the player's accompanying NPC team completely disappear after sleeping with one of the characters in New Reno.

However, the vast majority of fans argue that Fallout 2 goes above and beyond the ideas and promises of the original. With a level of content many times that of the first Fallout, and no "ticking clock" main quest hanging over the head of the player, some feel that Fallout 2 fleshes out the concept of a truly open-ended roleplaying experience to an extent that the original was unable to achieve.

Cultural references

Places

Fallout 2 takes place in what is modern day Northern California and Nevada. Several locations in Fallout 2 are based upon modern day cities and towns. They include Klamath, Modoc, Redding, Reno, and San Francisco.

Other town names are often derived from real-world references.

• Arroyo, player-character’s home village, could be named for any number of different locations ranging from parts of Arizona, to different areas of Mexico.
• Broken Hills, a uranium mining town in the game is likely a reference to the mining city of Broken Hill, New South Wales, where Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior was filmed, or the ghost town of Broken Hills, Nevada
• New California Republic is the new name of the original Fallout town, Shady Sands. It is named after the California Republic.

Easter Eggs

In Fallout 2, there are an enormous number of easter eggs. Some references include; a random encounter of a crashed shuttlecraft reminiscent of an episode of Star Trek, a crashed boat referencing the Titanic, a splattered whale with a pot of petunias next to it referencing The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a giant rat with plans of world domination called "The Brain", King Arthur and his Power Armor clad knights searching for the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch, the Bridge of Death, referencing Monty Python and the Holy Grail, a literal easter egg and a special encounter, called "Guardian of Forever" (again, reminiscent of Star Trek). In the last, the player encounters a stone portal which leads into Vault 13 shortly before the Vault Dweller's mission. After entering, the player can't come out until breaking the water purification chip (which in essence causes the need to restore it, as is needed in the first Fallout). This map also has the game's rarest weapon, the "Solar Scorcher" (which feeds on sunlight, thus eliminates the need of ammo, but can only be reloaded during the day). Also near the gameworld's San Francisco lies an obscure "cafe of broken dreams" at which characters from the original Fallout (including Dogmeat, who can join you in your quest) gather to speak about old times.

People and Culture

There are other cultural references, typically in the form of dialogue which occur throughout the game. Some examples are more overt than others.

• While in the Gecko Atomic Power plant you can talk to a glowing mutant who says "Phone Home....."
• While travelling, random encounters may force the player to fight (or run from) enemies such as parties of Yakuza, bounty hunters, mutant scorpions, etc.; . More rare is the occurrence of Special Encounters, many of which include references to other fiction, including a crashed Star Trek shuttlecraft and its late crew, clad in red and blue shirts and equipped with Hypos; King Arthur, his knights, and the pop-quizzing, robe wearing Bridge Keeper from Monty Python and the Holy Grail; a 'Tin Woodsman' (a man in Power Armor), rusted motionless, pleading for an "Oil can!" and a technician Dorothy in NCR where a robot dog can be obtained (both of course, The Wizard of Oz). Found on one deserted spot of ground are what remains, after their precipitous descent, of the sperm whale and a Bowl of Petunias that materialized high in the atmosphere in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
• The primary objective of Fallout 1 was to find a replacement for a malfunctioning, and vital, computer component called a 'water chip' for Vault 13. In Fallout 2, the player finds, in Vault 8, a thousandfold redundancy of water chips, and computer evidence of the shipping mistake that prevented them from reaching Vault 13.
• Special Encounter: A portal similar to that found in the Guardian of Forever episode of Star Trek. If the player enters it, he is transported to a small section of Vault 13, uninhabited and devoid of any interactibles but for a single computer. Accessing it, a warning message is given that a 'water chip' has malfunctioned; a predestination paradox.* The player can also acquire a solar powered energy pistol from a chest in this location.
• In the town of Klamath, the player can be taught boxing by a man named John Sullivan, referring to the famous bare knuckle boxing champion, John Lawrence Sullivan.
• Metzger (no first name) is a slaver in The Den, south of Klamath. Tom Metzger is the leader of the White Aryan Resistance. Metzger is also a reference to the German word, meaning "butcher". When player enters his house, one of Metzger's employees says "Ahh, fresh meat!", which is a quote from the Butcher boss monster in the computer game Diablo.
• In the basement of New Reno Arms is an Idiot-Savant by the name of Algernon who can upgrade various weapons. Algernon is a reference to Flowers for Algernon. There is a rumor that it is possible to give the Flowerpot from the Crashed Whale Encounter to Algernon as a gift that will cure him of his condition, allowing him to join your party. This is false.
• The NPC and potential party member Vic, a trader, is probably named after Victor Jules Bergeron, Jr. who founded the Polynesian-themed restaurant chain named after his nickname, Trader Vic.
• The robot dog NPC and potential party member K-9 is a reference to the robot dog K-9 from the TV series Doctor Who.
• In a random dialogue initiated by the NPC and potential party member Cassidy, he mentions that his father named him after a character from a comic book. His name possibly alludes to either Proinsias Cassidy, the Irish vampire from the comic book Preacher, or Sean Cassidy, nicknamed 'Banshee', from the X-Men series. Also, during battle, Cassidy can say "I wish I had a Limit Break." This is a reference to a game mechanic in the popular RPG series Final Fantasy.
• There are two extremely mutated mice in Fallout 2. One of them is a pinkish flesh colored, giant, hairless rat named King Rat, a possible reference to the James Herbert novel The Rats, another is an arguably more normal mutated giant rat named "Brain". Brain hides in the city of Gecko and is planning world domination. This is a reference to the Pinky and the Brain cartoon series.
• An NPC found in the town of Gecko named "Gordon of Gecko", reference to Gordon Gekko. The player can undertake a quest from him, and the dialogue leading up to this paraphrases Gordon Gekko’s "Greed is Good" speech from the film Wall Street.
• In the mining town of Redding, the protagonist (player character) may bring to justice, for his crime of assaulting a prostitute, Obidiah Hakeswill. This character is a reference to Sergeant Hakeswill in the Sharpe series of historical fiction books. His comments about nobody insulting his mother and being unable to die are references to the character in the book.
• A Redding mine operator: "Dangerous Dan McGrew" - the victim in Robert Service's well-known poem "The Shooting of Dan McGrew". The name also was Arnold Rimmer's alias in the Western AI game featured in the Red Dwarf episode "Gunmen of the Apocalypse".
• The other, competing mine in Redding is run by a character named "Marge LeBarge"; a reference to another Robert Service poem, The Cremation of Sam McGee, which is set primarily on the marge of Lake Lebarge.
• When entering the town of Redding, one of the musical selections that play whenever a town is entered is drawn from the TV miniseries The Stand--specifically, a track titled "Project Blue."
• There are recurring posters of Maynard James Keenan of the band Tool. They were taken from the liner notes of their album, Undertow, and appear in almost every town/city in the game.
• In New Reno one poster on the wall of the Shark Club (the first right from the entrance) is from the Japanese BDSM themed movie Tokyo Decadence.
• On the first level of the Military Base, the player finds a super mutant named Grundel, a reference to Grendel from the epic Beowulf.
• The Alien monsters north of San Francisco, and their kindred, named Wanamingos, for the mine in Redding they inhabit, are possible references to Alien film series, the Zerg of Starcraft or the Tyranid of Warhammer 40k
• The Hubologists of San Francisco in Fallout 2 are visited by guest speakers named Juan Cruz and Vikki Goldman, perhaps meant as references to real life Scientologists Tom Cruise and his ex-wife Nicole Kidman. A datadisk outlines the Hubologists view of the afterlife. Parallels might be drawn to Scientology. The name 'Hubologists', and their founder 'Dick Hub', is likely a reference to L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology. Furthering the comparison, the protagonist can pay for auditing, raising his Hubbologist rank.
• The NPC and potential party member Skynet computer in the abandoned Sierra Army Depot is a reference to Skynet from the Terminator movies.
• In Klamath, the player encounters a robot near a fallen helicopter. During combat the robot says "I'm sorry, Dave"; a reference to HAL from A Space Odyssey. This robot also contains many other quotes from science-fiction culture, including "Klatu verata nictu", a reference to The Day the Earth Stood Still's phrase "klaatu barada nikto". "Klatu verata nictu" is also a reference to 'Army of Darkness', being the words needed to recover the Necronomicon safely.
• In a holodisk the player can read the following text: "Memo: Word List. From: Vice-President Daniel Bird. To: Me. Subject: My Word List Difficult Words: Potato. Tomato...Change To: Potatoe. Tomatoe...". That's a reference to former Vice President of the United States Dan Quayle.
• In the town San Francisco, the player encounters Lo Pan and The Dragon. Lo Pan was the villain in John Carpenter's Big Trouble in Little China. The Dragon is a reference to Bruce Lee.
• The name of the gun merchant in San Francisco, "Mai Da Chiang", means literally "sells big guns" in Mandarin.
• A potential conversation in Redding references the word "Grok" and the practice of eating the dead present in the book Stranger in a Strange Land.
• In New Reno there's a man called Sheb in front of the Cat's Paw Brothel advertising to "booty lovers". Except for the word "booty" the dialogue is the same as in the From Dusk till Dawn movie.
• The final boss in the game is a United States Secret Service agent named Frank Horrigan. Clint Eastwood played a Secret Service agent named Frank Horrigan in the 1993 film In the Line of Fire.
• In New Reno there is a rabid boxing fan who describes a boxer named Xander "The Sure Thing" Holyland, a reference to real-life boxer Evander Holyfield whose nickname was "The Real Deal".
• There is a boxer named Pete McKneely, a reference to real-life boxer Peter McNeeley.
• One of the town guards states the line "I've come here to chew bubble gum and kick ass... good thing I have one more stick!" is a reference to Roddy Piper's character in They Live (1988)
• While on a quest to look for Johnny in the town of Modoc, you find yourself in a well. Your character then makes a quote in reference to the movie "The Goonies" when the children are in the well looking at all the money people have tossed into it.

Items

Many of the in-game items and weapons and other entities that the player encounters are based on real-life objects.

• "Nuka Cola" is a blue cola in a coke bottle in the game, a reference to Coca Cola.
• "Mentats", a drug in the series that temporarily raises your intelligence, is named after both the human computers Mentats in the Dune universe and the mint Mentos from which it takes its in-game appearance.
• There are many fictional drugs in the Fallout series, including Stim-Paks, which are loosely based on modern battlefield medications. In Fallout, they are supposed to have been produced in vast quantities before the game's nuclear war, and are used as a game device, as the healing side of the damage/healing game mechanic.
• The Red Ryder BB Gun makes an appearance in both Fallout games. This reference is inherited from the classic computer game Wasteland, on which the Fallout series is loosely based. In turn, Wasteland was referencing the movie A Christmas Story. In the movie, the main character wants nothing more for Christmas than a Red Ryder BB gun.
• In the ghoul town of Gecko, the barkeeper at the pub teaches the player a collectible card game called Tragic: The Garnering, a parody of Magic: The Gathering. Several of the cards he mentions have parallels.
• After beating the game, if the player visits the priest in New Reno, the priest will give the player the Fallout 2 Hintbook. This item gives the player massive amounts of experience, sets all the player's skills at their maximum levels, and can be used as often as the player wants. The book is ironically labeled with the text, "Well, THIS would have been good to have at the beginning of the goddamn game." This item is a reference to the official Fallout 2 strategy guide.
• You can find several Cheesy Poofs boxes throughout the game, a reference to the fictional snack on the cartoon South Park, they can be used to appease one of the mutated rats.

Trivia

• The song that plays during the intro sequence is Louis Armstrong's "A Kiss to Build a Dream On". The Fallout intro song "Maybe" reappears in the sequel, being sung by a minor character as floating text.
• Holding Shift and clicking the Credits button in the beginning game menu brings up a series of humorous/lewd comments by members of the Interplay team that developed the Fallout games.
• The music playing when you enter the town of Redding changes, but one track you will hear comes from the soundtrack to the TV miniseries The Stand from the book by Stephen King, which was about a world devastated not by nuclear war, but by a supercharged version of the flu. The name of the track is titled, "Project Blue", and it played at the beginning of the miniseries. The artist's name is W.G. Snuffy Walden.
• It is possible to kill almost every single character in the game and still finish it, and there are fan-based walk-throughs in doing so. [2]
• It is also theoretically possible (although very difficult) to not kill any characters or creatures at all in the game and still finish it. Even the end boss (Frank Horrigan) can be "dealt with" in several ways not requiring the game's player to actually commit the act of killing.

External links

Official

• Fallout 2 Product Help - Interplay Self Help
  • Fallout 2 Hints and Cheats - Interplay Self Help
• Mirrors of the original Fallout 2 website: NMA Internet Archive

Others

• Fan Made Fallout A huge Fallout 2 mod. A remake of the whole fallout world map, towns, quests and NPC's etc.
• Fallout 2 Restoration Project A mod that recreates several areas, quests and characters that were ultimately cut from the game, and fixes several hundred bugs.
• The Vault - A Fallout wiki
• Fallout 2 unofficial patches - a forum post detailing various fan-made patches that correct bugs leftover from the official patches.
• Fallout 2 at MobyGames