Imagining an alternate-universe, retro futuristic armageddon bursting with altered beasts, soldiers in hulking power armor and ominous human experiments camouflaged as air-raid shelter, the Fallout franchise has actually invested over twenty years developing among the wealthiest settings in computer game. Fans will next dive into that world later on this year when Prime Video launches the first-ever live-action Fallout television programwhich will provide an initial, canon story embeded in the series’ desolate wasteland.
With the program’s April release date gradually approaching, there’s never ever been a much better time to strap a Pip-Boy to your wrist and reacquaint yourself with the world of Fallout, however where’s the very best location to begin? Listed below, we’ll go through the franchise’s whole sequential history, in addition to some recommendations on where to begin for those starting their first-ever Fallout experience.
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The Number Of Fallout Games and Expansions Are There?
In overall, there are 9 primary Fallout video games – 8 on home console and one on mobile phones. There are likewise thirteen significant growths spread out throughout Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas and Fallout 4. The Fallout franchise is a core Bethesda video game that will likely continue to get assistance.
Which Fallout Game Should You Play?
For beginners, the very best beginning point is perhaps Fallout 4although Fallout 3 and New Vegas are still terrific methods to go into the franchise. Fallout 4 is the most current single-player addition to the series, and as an outcome, is the most modern-feeling take on deep space. It’s the only mainline single-player Fallout video game still quickly available on all contemporary consoles bar Nintendo Switch.
When it comes to those fretted they may be behind on the story, each Fallout video game informs a fresh story with a brand-new protagonist and setting, and Fallout 4 is no various. You might miss out on a couple of referrals to the occasions of previous video games, it’s quite simple to leap in without any previous understanding of the tradition.
How to Play the Fallout Games in Order
These blurbs consist of moderate spoilers for each video game, consisting of characters, settings, and story beats.
Something to keep in mind before we begin: We will not be counting 2 video games on our sequential timeline. The very first is the mobile vault management simulator, Fallout ShelterThe video game does follow the tradition of Fallout’s vaults, it likewise includes characters and products hundreds of years before they appear in the Fallout story, making it non-canon.
We likewise didn’t count Fallout: Brotherhood of Steelwhich Bethesda has actually validated happens in its own chronology. That being stated, we have actually consisted of Fallout Tactics, in spite of its canonicity being questioned. Bethesda has actually given that retconned components of Tactics’ story, specific occasions from its story have actually been referenced in future video games, making it at least semi-canon to the timeline.
We will not be consisting of any growths that do not consist of story material. Fallout 4’s Wasteland and Gizmos Workshop growths aren’t included on the list. The exact same chooses New Vegas’ Courier Stash DLC.
1. Fallout 76
Bethesda’s newest addition to the Fallout canon is the very first on the sequential timeline. Fallout 76 is an online experience that follows the very first vault residents to get in the wasteland 25 years after nuclear war devitalized the world.
Handling the function of among these leaders, the gamer’s journey starts as they leave the titular Vault 76 and start a journey through Appalachia looking for their missing out on overseer. Along the method, they find the world they when understood has actually been changed into a nuclear hellscape, total with altered monstrosities, long-dormant killer robotics, and zombie-like irradiated people called Ghouls. To endure, they can partner with other survivors, construct bases, total missions, and restore a neighborhood amongst the ruins of a fallen world.
Fallout 76 was Bethesda’s effort at producing a completely online Fallout video game for the very first time, enabling gamers to check out the wasteland with good friends. It was gotten improperly at release, it has actually been upgraded often in the years given that, with the Wastelanders and Steel Reign updates including NPCs and brand-new questlines.
2. Fallout
Quick forward 59 years and we reach the occasions of the very first video game in the series. Established by Interplay Productions, Fallout follows a vault resident living in an air-raid shelter referred to as Vault 13. Concealing away from the apocalyptic wasteland outside their doors, the gamer’s serene way of life is tossed into mayhem after the vault’s water supply quit working, threatening the lives of everybody living in Vault 13.
They’re entrusted with an apparently easy objective: endeavor into the wasteland, recuperate a brand-new water chip, and return home to conserve their fellow survivors. The stakes of the vault occupant’s objective ended up being far grander after they come across an army of altered abominations understood as Super Mutants and their leader, the MasterNot just do these beasts threaten the future of Vault 13, however they position a significant danger to the whole wasteland.
Using a noticeably various gameplay design to the Bethesda-developed Fallout video games launched years later on, the very first Fallout was an extensive CRPG, including turn-based battle and a top-down video camera. That being stated, much of Fallout’s future existed in its very first entry, consisting of a heavy concentrate on gamer option and immersive role-playing.
3. Fallout Tactics
3 years later on, we reach the occasions of Fallout Tactics: a method spin-off established by Micro Forté. Some of the tradition of Fallout Tactics has actually given that been retconned and is thought about non-canon by Bethesda, particular occasions from its story have actually been referenced in future video games, making it at least partly part of the timeline.
The video game itself sees gamers lace up the boots of an initiate of the renowned power-armour-clad faction, the Brotherhood of SteelSigning up with the army’s ranks and leading a group of fellow soldiers, they finish different objectives throughout the Wasteland.
Fallout Tactics took the gameplay of Fallout in a brand-new instructions, as gamers command their team through a series of tactical fights versus renowned opponents such as Super Mutants, Ghouls and Deathclaws
4. Fallout 2
Fourty-four years after Fallout Tactics concludes, the occasions of Fallout 2 occur. With Black Isle Studios taking the reins as designer, Fallout 2 was the series’ very first significant follow up, this time following a descendent of the Vault Dweller from the initial video game referred to as the Chosen One.
After their settlement is struck by a long dry spell, the Chosen One is chosen to leave the boundaries of their home in search of a terraforming gadget called a G.E.C.K. Their experience takes them throughout the huge reaches of the Wasteland, landing them in the sights of an extremely innovative faction referred to as the Enclave. As the Chosen One dives much deeper into the faction’s objectives, they find the group’s difficult at work on an ominous experiment.
5. Fallout 3
After Bethesda acquired the rights to the Fallout license in 2007Bethesda Game Studios took its very first fracture at the franchise with Fallout 3Set 3 years after Fallout 2, Fallout 3 gets the story in the brand-new setting of the Capital Wasteland, casting gamers as a vault resident called the Lone Wanderer.
Living an ordinary life within the sealed walls of Vault 101, the Lone Wanderer’s life is tossed into mayhem after their dad inexplicably vanishes, triggering the lead character to be banished from their home. Starting a journey throughout the Capitol Wasteland searching for their dad, they find his disappearance might be more substantial than it initially appeared and ultimately end up being involved in an ominous plot prepared by the Enclave.
Fallout 3 served as a significant reinvention of the Fallout seriestrading in the previous entries’ CRPG gameplay for a totally 3D world with real-time shootouts, a first-person electronic camera, and the series’ now-signature V.A.T.S. targeting system.
6. Fallout 3 – Operation Anchorage
The very first growth for Fallout 3, Operation Anchorage deals gamers a series of brand-new quets set throughout the occasions of the primary project. The story follows the Lone Wanderer assisting the Brotherhood of Steel go into a sealed pre-war armory. The only method is to endure a simulation of the notorious Battle of Anchorage, which happened in Alaska prior to the nuclear war that damaged Fallout’s world.
Throughout the project, the gamer actions inside the simulation and handles the function of an American soldier battling versus Chinese soldiers, experiencing Anchorage firsthand. The DLC enables gamers a prolonged peek of a formerly hidden part of Fallout’s tradition, in addition to using a lot of brand-new fight encounters.
7. Fallout 3 – The Pitt
Fallout 3’s 2nd significant growth, The Pitt Takes location throughout the occasions of the primary project. It includes a brand-new area for gamers to check out in the titular Pitt, a callous, plague-infested city discovered among the ruins of Pittsburgh.
After satisfying a servant that got away the city, the growth starts with the Lone Wanderer venturing to The Pitt to discover a remedy for a widespread illness that’s been changing the population into blood-thirsty beasts. Along the method, they end up being associated with the dispute in between the enslaved residents and their raider masters, making hard choices that will permanently modify The Pitt and its residents.
8. Fallout 3 – Point Lookout
Fallout 3’s 4th add-on, Point Lookout is set throughout the occasions of the primary project and takes gamers to a brand new setting, with the Lone Wanderer setting sail for the haunting swamps of the titular seaside town. The growth starts with the Lone Wanderer providing to assist a mom discover her missing child, Nadine, who just recently started a journey to Point Lookout.
Upon getting here in the town, they rapidly find the reality behind Nadine’s disappearance runs much deeper than anticipated. Lodging themselves in the center of an enduring competition in between the owner of a regional estate and a people of cultists, the Lone Wanderer is required to compete with the overload’s spooky altered residents, challenge buried tricks, and even withstand unscripted brain surgical treatment in a quote to make it through.
9. Fallout 3 – Mothership Zeta
The last growth contributed to Fallout 3, Mothership Zeta is set throughout the occasions of the primary project and provides a special, B-movie sci-fi spin on the franchise.
After reacting to a radio signal out in the wasteland, the Lone Wanderer is abducted by a UFO, explored on by aliens, and locked up on their craft. Leaving their cell, the gamer groups with the aliens’ other human detainees to topple their extraterrestrial captors and go back to Earth.
10. Fallout 3 – Broken Steel
The 3rd growth for Fallout 3 however the only add-on to happen after the occasions of the primary story, Broken Steel function as an epilogue with a brand-new ending. Gamers were initially not able to continue their Fallout 3 conserve after the credits rolled, Broken Steel included the capability to resume their experience, together with providing a brief series of brand-new objectives.
Enduring their encounter with Colonel Autumn in the Purity Project control space, the growth sees the Lone Wanderer group when again with the Brotherhood of Steel, helping the group in eliminating the Enclave from the Capitol Wasteland for excellent.
11. Fallout: New Vegas
In the years following Fallout 3, Obsidian Entertainment took its fracture at the Fallout license with a spin-off entitled Fallout: New VegasSet 4 years after the occasions of the previous video game, New Vegas informs the story of a carrier who’s assailed, shot, and left for dead in the Mojave Wasteland while transferring an invaluable plan to the glitzy, recovered streets of Las Vegas.
Found and restored by a group of regional inhabitants, the carrier increases from their tomb and continues to find the male who tried to eliminate them, unsuspectingly ending up being the center of a power battle in between the numerous factions contending for control of the New Vegas strip. As they dig much deeper into the plan they brought and the guy who took it from them, the Courier understands their choices have the possible to alter the Mojave Wasteland permanently.
12. Fallout: New Vegas – Dead Money
The very first growth launched for Fallout: New Vegas, Dead Money is set throughout the occasions of the primary project and provides a brand-new place to check out. Taking gamers to the Sierra Madre, the story sees the Courier abducted, fitted with an explosive collar, and required to rob an apparently impenetrable pre-war gambling establishment with the assistance of 3 not likely allies.
The job, by all accounts, is a suicide objective. The gambling establishment is surrounded by a cloud of fatal poisonous gas, while a faction of callous survivors referred to as the Ghost People patrol the streets getting rid of any and all treasure hunters. It is up to the Courier to arrange a bold break-in with the aid of their allies to bypass the gambling establishment’s defenses and gain access to the famous loot behind its walls.
13. Fallout: New Vegas – Honest Hearts
The 2nd growth to strike Fallout: New Vegas, Truthful Hearts falls within the occasions of the primary project and sees the Courier endeavor to Zion National Park. There, they come across Joshua Graham, the famous “Burned Man” who has actually ended up being something of a bogeyman to Caesar’s Legion after making it through a relatively deadly confrontation with the faction’s callous leader.
Discovering themselves in the center of a war in between the Burned Man’s army and a competing people called the White Legs, the gamer needs to team with Graham to conserve Zion and its individuals.
14. Fallout: New Vegas – Old World Blues
The 3rd New Vegas growth, Vintage Blues occurs throughout the primary project and starts with the Courier locating a crashed satellite predicting a strange message. After connecting with the satellite, the Courier is knocked out and required to a clinical center consisted of within Big Mountain, where they find they’ve gone through a strange surgery.
Checking out the center, they fulfill a panel of ridiculous AI researchers, who notify them that their brain has actually been taken by a dubious robotic called Doctor Morbius. Teaming with their brand-new AI allies, they experience throughout the research study center to beat Morbius, recover their brain, and find out more about Big Mountain’s tricks.
15. Fallout: New Vegas – Lonesome Road
The 4th and last New Vegas growth, Lonely Road happens prior to the conclusion of the primary project however finishes up a great deal of impressive story beats developed throughout the primary video game and previous DLCs.
The experience sees the Courier endeavor into a brand-new location called The Divide searching for Ulysses, the carrier initially designated the task of transferring the platinum chip before it was turned over to the lead protagonist. Appealing responses about his genuine identity, Ulysses summons the Courier for one last conflict, putting the set on a refresher course that will reveal their dark pasts.
16. Fallout 4
Going back to the IP for the very first time given that 2008’s Fallout 3, Bethesda launched Fallout 4 in 2015. Starting on the day the bombs fell, gamers handle the function of a civilian referred to as the Sole Survivor who takes haven in Vault 111 with their partner and child. Cryogenically frozen inside the vault, the Sole Survivor awakens 2 a century later on, discovering their partner dead, their kid missing out on, and the world damaged.
Emerging into the Commonwealth, Bethesda’s apocalyptic take on the Greater Boston area, they start a vigorous journey to locate their boy. Along the method, they lock horns with a strange, clinically advanced faction called the Institute, which abducts wastelanders and changes them with sentient robotics referred to as synths.
As their battle versus the Institute raves on, the Sole Survivor finds out the dark tricks behind the Institute’s strategies, ultimately teaming with the different factions of the wasteland to bring the group down.
17. Fallout 4 – Automatron
The very first story growth for Fallout 4, Automatron occurs throughout the occasions of the primary story and sees the Sole Survivor take on a villain referred to as the Mechanist.
It includes a brief chain of brand-new missions in which the Sole Survivor fights the Mechanist’s robotics and ultimately tracks their opponent to their burrow. The primary function of the add-on, nevertheless, is including the capability to construct and mod robotics you can take with you around the wasteland.
18. Fallout 4 – Far Harbour
The 2nd story growth for Fallout 4, Far Harbour is set throughout the occasions of Fallout 4’s primary project, and sees the Sole Survivor sail to the spooky titular island looking for a missing out on woman. There they discover a secret neighborhood of independent synths led by innovative AI referred to as DiMA.
As DiMA exposes brand-new info about his neighborhood and Far Harbour, it ends up being clear that the island is captured in a battle in between the residents and a radiation-worshipping cult referred to as the Children of Atom, who are trying to cover the island in radioactive fog. It does not take wish for the Sole Survivor to get captured up in this conflict, providing the power to make choices that will irreversibly alter the scary area and its residents.
19. Fallout 4 – Vault-Tec Workshop
A little growth launched after Far Harbour, Vault-Tec Workshop occurs throughout the project and sees the Sole Survivor handle the job of developing their extremely own vault. After liberating Vault 88 from raiders, the Sole Survivor fulfills an overseer caught within the ruins who plans to revamp the deserted air-raid shelter.
Helping her, the gamer has the ability to develop their dream vault, hire occupants to live inside it and increase the shelter to optimum effectiveness.
20. Fallout 4 – Nuka World
The last story growth for Fallout 4, Nuka World is set throughout the occasions of the primary project and hands the Sole Survivor the secrets to a brand new location consisting of an enormous, Nuka-Cola-themed theme park.
After getting here and instantly being pitted versus a series of callous raiders, trap spaces and robotic opponents, the gamer is approved the title of Nuka-World overboss. The position is barely the dream task it’s broken up to be. Their new-found management needs that they handle 3 raider factions residing in the park, requiring the Sole Survivor to choose whether to calm them and grow their area or remove them completely.
All Fallout Games and Expansions in Order of Release
1. Fallout (1997)
2. Fallout 2 (1998)
3. Fallout Tactics (2001)
4. Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel (2004)
5. Fallout 3 (2008)
6. Fallout 3 – Operation Anchorage (2009)
7. Fallout 3 – The Pitt (2009)
8. Fallout 3 – Broken Steel (2009)
9. Fallout 3 – Point Lookout (2009)
10. Fallout 3 – Mothership Zeta (2009)
11. Fallout: New Vegas (2010)
12. Fallout: New Vegas – Dead Money (2010)
13. Fallout: New Vegas – Honest Hearts (2011)
14. Fallout: New Vegas – Old World Blues (2011)
15. Fallout: New Vegas – Lonesome Road (2011)
16. Fallout Shelter (2015)
17. Fallout 4 (2015)
18. Fallout 4 – Automatron (2016)
19. Fallout 4 – Far Harbour (2016)
20. Fallout 4 – Vault-Tec Workshop (2016)
21. Fallout 4 – Nuka-World (2016)
22. Fallout 76 (2018)
What’s Next for Fallout?
As discussed previously, the next significant addition to the Fallout universe is the upcoming Fallout television programwhich is set to release on Prime Video on April 12. Informing a brand-new story, it will happen in the ruins of Los Angeles with a vault occupant played by Anna Purnell venturing out into the wasteland. The program has actually a stacked lineup of skill behind it, consisting of Westworld developer Jonathan Nolan
When it comes to computer game, Bethesda has actually made it clear Fallout 5 is on the method, believed it will not be anytime quickly. Speaking with IGN back in 2022Fallout director Todd Howard validated Fallout 5 will follow The Elder Scrolls 6Thinking About Bethesda Game Studios has actually only simply concluded deal with its newest release, Starfieldit appears we’re going to be waiting numerous years before going back out into the wasteland.
Callum Williams is an independent media author with years of experience as a video game critic, news press reporter, guides author and functions author.