Three classic Fallout games are set to be given away for free on the Epic Games Store next week (as spotted by Eurogamer!)
So if you want to snatch up two of the best computer role-playing games of all time (Fallout and Fallout 2) and the turn-based spin-off Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel, now is your chance.
The original Fallout, in case you're unaware, was released back in 1997 and was developed and published by Interplay Productions. It saw players step into the shoes of a post-apocalyptic survivor known as the Vault Dweller as they had to leave the safety of the underground Vault 13 to explore an irradiated wasteland and try to locate an all-important computer chip to fix their shelter's water supply.
After the first game was a critical and commercial success, Black Isle Studios — a division of Interplay containing members of Fallout's core team — decided to release a sequel, Fallout 2, not long after, in 1998. The events of this game took place 80 years following the first and focused on a descendant of the Vault Dweller, called The Chosen One, on a quest to find the Garden of Eden Creation Kit (GECK) — a device capable of saving their primitive hometown Arroyo from ruin. Much like its predecessor, Fallout 2 was nominated for several awards and received great reviews from critics, but a sequel was not exactly forthcoming until 2008, with the most notable attempt in the meantime, Van Buren, being cancelled in 2003 after the closure of Black Isle Studios.
Instead, in the intervening years, Fallout fans had to make do with a couple of spin-offs, with the first of these being Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel from 14 Degrees East (Interplay's strategy label) and an external developer named Micro Forté. This is definitely the weaker of the three titles being offered here, with the game taking out a lot of the RPG mechanics that players were familiar with and not directly relating to the events of either Fallout or Fallout 2.
These three games were previously offered for free on the Epic Games Store back in December 2022, so it's possible you may already have them.
But as of next week (Thursday 22nd, February), players can grab them again for the not-so-princely fee of absolutely nothing. You should be able to claim them up until February 29th.