The year is 2242, May 11, two hours before the sunset. It's just another typical day in New California. I am frantically trying to find my personal suit of Mark II Powered Armor that I have just lost, second time this month, damn it... Sergeant is gonna kill me. Or worse.

By the way, I just saw a group of replacement units passing by, and something was off about their leader. The thing is... He was huge. Like yeah, our power suits are not compact I guess, but seriously. He was the size of a Supermutant! What the hell is going on at our Navarro base?! I've heard rumors about experiments with a recently found pack of Deathclaws and previous tests including other creatures of the Wasteland, but these were just rumors!

Anyway, I received an updated info digest about Vault 13 that we've been searching for quite some time, which is going to be "inspected" soon. I wonder if my multi-barrel machine gun is running low on ammo, I shall check it as soon as possible after I find my cursed X01. The command will surely assign MY group to complete the mission.

However, the nightfall is going to make the rest of my day really nasty in case I wouldn't pick up the pace. Damn radscorpions, how did they manage to approach our base so close?... Well, time to continue my search. Transmission to personal computer over.

Since the Great War, almost 200 years have passed. The details of this disaster are trivial and pointless, the reasons, as always, purely human ones. New generations of survivors have flourished since the Vault Dweller scorched the Supermutant menace. Societies are being enlarged and strengthened - there are now cities that could remind you of pre-war times, such as New Reno or San Francisco. Nowadays, caravan companies are the new veins of post-apocalyptic economy. Their trained guards use advanced gear to keep random junkies and monsters away from goods, which ensures a stable supply and income for these thriving communities. The economic exchange between settlements creates a stable flow of coins (caps are no longer relevant as a currency), which supports various leaders in accumulating their wealth to rebuild the old world. Thus, the advanced economy provides common folks with a bunch of job opportunities and helps them keep distance from local wildlife and junky raiders by staying inside these well-protected settlements. At last, there is a chance for humanity to rebuild civilization.

In terms of gameplay, Fallout 2 is superior in almost every aspect compared to the previous game. The sequel was developed in a mere 9 months - which is exceptionally surprising since it is still praised as one of the best RPG games ever made. The gameplay stays the same, but the quantity stands out as the main improvement of this game. The map is about twice the size of Fallout 1, which contains a great deal of quests with fairly complex dialogues. More characters, more factions, more enemies, more weapons, more choices, more random encounters, more of everything, actually. Nevertheless, the exceptionally remarkable achievement of Fallout 2 lies not within the quantity, but within another part of the Chosen One's journey...

Freedom. The world is filled with opportunities, which is incredibly captivating. Do everything you want just for fun - and see what happens! No obligations, no hard feelings... And the great mission of saving your people can wait a little bit. Such liberty would be impossible without one vital change, though. There is no strict time limit anymore. Hence, the depressing feeling of duty no longer influences your way of dealing with different tasks, which makes the game feel like a huge sandbox. Besides, that is the main reason behind an increasing number of jokes, bizarre encounters on the map, opportunities to use roleplay features and numerous weird dialogue choices that could finally answer the eternal question:

"What if?..."

What if I let this child "accidentally" steal a time bomb from my pocket, which is "by chance" set up to explode in 20 seconds? Oh, the child has been... reduced in size. How peculiar, indeed. Moreover, I recall the time when I met an intelligent Deathclaw who felt lonely enough to propose travelling as a team. Funny guy, that Deathclaw. We had a really nice time together. And yeah, I find it extremely wholesome when my not-so-smart character (INT:1) receives a hug from the leader of Vault City, never mind the fact that she's actually the dumbest b*tch ever lived and hated by every player I know. Even the worst could surprise you with their kindness if you look stupid enough to be trusted.

Just like that, Fallout 2 provides you an ability to experiment across the Wasteland to your heart's content. Sail an oil tanker, infiltrate a military base, work for a strange group of hubologists, cover a whole town in excrement, become a famous hollywood star with a nickname of "Diск Seamen", kill the president of US. The World is Yours.

You should play this game, really. Each Fallout game is special in its own way, and each one of them is worth experiencing.