The Fallout TV series just released on Amazon Prime, and it’s one of the best video game adaptations out there. It perfectly captures the tense, humorous feel of the postapocalyptic video game series while telling a new story with original characters. If you’ve just watched the show, you’re probably itching to play a Fallout title again or check out one of the games the series is based on for the first time. Thankfully, if you’re subscribed to one of the major video game subscription services, that’s very easy to do.
Fallout, Fallout 2, Fallout Tactics, Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, Fallout 4, and Fallout 76 are all on at least one gaming subscription service. While PC and Xbox players will be looking to Xbox Game Pass, PlayStation owners can get in on the fun with PS Plus Extra’s game catalog. We’ve combed through what’s available on PC Game Pass, Xbox Game Pass, and PS Plus Extra, and there’s no shortage of options. Here are the best starting points on each service.
PC Game Pass
Microsoft owns Bethesda Game Studios and the rights to the Fallout franchise, so PC Game Pass subscribers are in luck. Every mainline Fallout game ever released — with the exception of 2004’s Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel — is available on that platform. You’re spoiled for choice and will have the easiest time modding these games too. Although every Fallout game is worthwhile in its own way, I’d recommend that PC Game Pass subscribers try one of the Fallout games that are not playable anywhere else.
That list includes Fallout, Fallout 2, and Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel, which Interplay made before Bethesda obtained the rights to the franchise. Of those three, your best option is Fallout 2 as it refines everything that made the first game special and is one of the best old-school CRPGs you can play today. Playing through Fallout 2 will reconnect you with the roots of these series and give you a greater appreciation for Bethesda and Amazon’s reinterpretations of this world.
Xbox Game Pass
Although Interplay’s Fallout games haven’t made their way to consoles, all of Bethesda’s entries are included in the console version of Xbox Game Pass. I recommend checking out Fallout: New Vegas first. Developed by Obsidian Entertainment (which Microsoft coincidentally owns ) and released in 2010, Fallout: New Vegas follows a courier looking for revenge in the Mojave Desert after being ambushed and left for dead. Considered the peak of Bethesda’s Fallout tenure, Fallout: New Vegas features excellent writing as players navigate power struggles between three major factions.
Fallout: New Vegas is fondly remembered because the experience emphasizes player choice in a way that makes each playthrough feel unique. Although it’s a bit glitchy and rough around the edges, it looks and runs great on Xbox Series X thanks to features like FPS Boost, and is still enjoyable to play in 2024. After watching the TV show and playing this game, you’ll understand what all the hype behind Fallout as a franchise is really about, and a few of the show’s Easter eggs will be more meaningful to you.
PS Plus Extra
Although Microsoft owns Bethesda, Fallout 4 and Fallout 76 are still included in PS Plus Extra’s game catalog. The former is the last single-player RPG entry in the series, while the latter is a multiplayer game that emphasizes survival and base-building. Although Fallout 76 has improved a lot since its rocky launch in 2018, I’d still recommend checking out Fallout 4 first.
Fallout 4 feels slightly different from the older Fallout entries because of its more streamlined dialogue system, emphasis on crafting and building structures, and Boston setting. Still, the game’s premise about a parent searching for their lost child is inherently compelling, and the show borrowed quite a bit of iconography from this game. Play Fallout 4 and you’ll understand where the TV show got the idea for its harrowing opening and its German Shepherd dog companion.
It’s getting a PS5 next-gen update soon too, so you might as well get that new save file started now.
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