Fallout 2 is a worthy sequel to one of the best PC games ever made. It takes everything that made the original great and duplicates the formula. The graphics are the same, the sound is the same, the gameplay is the same, and the story is similar to the first. Those played the first game know this isn’t a bad thing.

The graphics in Fallout 2 are okay. The environments and backgrounds are well detailed, but the characters lack detail and variety. I didn’t care that much but it would have been nice to see
some different styles of clothing or weight classes. The only characters that looked different were the characters that tied into the story somehow. The cinemas in Fallout 2 look like the ones in Fallout 1. I couldn’t see a difference.

All of the sound effects are taken from the first game because they got them all right the first time. It sounds fantastic. The voice acting is superb as well. A hundred year old ghoul has a very raspy voice and coughs a lot, the president of Vault City is snoody and arrogant, and a drug addict scientist swears a lot and has a nasal problem. As for the music, it’s there but you won’t notice it often. You will be too busy killing people or reading text.

The gameplay and controls are exactly like the first game too.
The controls are very Diablo-esque. The left mouse button does everything. Click on people to speak to them, click anywhere on the screen to move there, click on door to open it, click on a shelf to search it, and so on. In combat you’re given Action Points that you can use to attack, move or go into your inventory. If you’re lucky, you will get a critical hit and witness a gruesome death scene. You can also customize your character to fit your style of play. You can make a stealthy character that can out wit your opponents to get what you need. Or you can make an all out war machine that makes anything in its way look like a piece of Swiss cheese.

The story is good, not as good as the original because it’s the same thing with new faces. In Fallout, your Vault’s water chip broke and you had to go find a new one so your vault can continue to produce water. Along the way you uncover a group who wants to turn humanity into a race of super-mutants. In Fallout 2 your village is on the brink of starvation and you have to leave and find a GECK (Garden of Eden Creation Kit). And along the way you uncover a group who is planning to cleanse the world of the “unpure”. Hmm… political satire from 60 years ago that can be still used today to describe the thoughts and beliefs of current world leaders.

Aside from the story, this game is great. There are a lot of different characters to pick from to form a party. There are dozens of side quests to complete. There is a lot of humor that can be missed only playing through once. And there are many different ways to beat this game.

I had to import T.N.T off of Amazon because it is released in Australia only, but now I have a complete AC/DC collection. I hold every album and song AC/DC has ever released.

Now while it only has eight songs on it, they are some of the bands older classics. “It’s a Long Way to the Top”, “T.N.T”, “The Jack”, “Rock ‘N’ Roll Singer”, “Live Wire”, “Rocker”, “Can I Sit Next to You Girl”, High Voltage”, School Days” are the songs featured on the album.

They are all the original recordings sung by Bon Scott, the band’s original lead singer. All of these songs can be found on the albums released in the 70s, so I only recommend this album to die hard AC/DC fans or people who like old AC/DC.

Fans of the original Metal Gear Solid for the Playstation will not be disappointed by this sequel, which once again is a tale of action, espionage, and politics. Sons of Liberty plays almost identically to its predecessor, with the same mix of using stealth and wits to avoid being caught while infiltrating enemy facilities and using weapons to fight enemies that cannot be avoided. The main emphasis is on the covert gameplay, with rewards being given to those that can avoid conflict at all costs. In this game, with the new addition of the tranquilizer gun that can be used against enemy soldiers and bosses, you can defeat the game without ever killing a single person, but where’s the fun it that?

The story begins with Solid Snake a few years after the Shadow Moses incident attempting to destroy a new development of Metal Gear that the military has produced (for those unfamiliar with what a Metal Gear is, imagine a transformer that is not transformed, huge, metallic, and roughly shaped like a person). Of course, some developments ensue with old enemies reappearing and hijacking the boat that the Metal Gear is being transported on.

Flash forward 2 years and you are now controlling Raiden, a FOX operative who is attempting to diffuse a terrorist situation in an offshore oil spill cleanup facility. All of the typical Metal Gear plot twists ensue, with such familiarities as stealth ninjas, superhuman bosses, and Solid Snake himself appearing throughout the game. Without giving away the conclusion, I can say that this game has a plot that is quite similar to the original Metal Gear Solid, and while the reasoning is given for this mirroring, it just feels like not enough has been added to make the game distinct as a stand alone entity. In order to understand the plot, you need to be familiar with the prior game, which can hurt the game to those not familiar with the series.

Positives for this game include the fact that it is quite well produced and quite an attractive game. All of the graphics are top notch, the voice overs are well done, and even the cutscenes are interesting (though a bit too abundant). The attention to detail is also amazing, from actually seeing ice melting to posters on the wall, the subtle nuances make this game seem much more in depth than your average game. The controls are spot on, and fighting is quite enjoyable, either hand to hand or with a gun, and the camera angles typically fit in with the game play to enhance the entire game.

One of the biggest downfalls for this game is the fact that the action is actually quite sparse if you play it as it is meant to be played. You can go the entire game without ever fighting a regular enemy, only ever fighting the bosses. While this is much more realistic, it also can tend to be quite boring, and I found myself whipping out my assault rifles and mowing down enemies for pleasure, which ended up with me getting attacked by waves of soldiers. Also, the plot doesn’t differentiate itself enough from the original, resulting a feel of it almost being more of a remake than a sequel.

Overall, this game is actually pretty enjoyable, especially if you liked the original Metal Gear Solid. While some of the repetitive elements are distracting, this game is fun enough to warrant giving a try, especially since it can be found for less than ten dollars right now.