All Fallout games, ranked

Thanks to Amazon’s Fallout TV show, Fallout is back on the radar and is gaining new fans every day. If you’re among them and want to know about the video games the show was based on, you’re in the right place.

Here is a list of all Fallout games, ranked from worst to best, based on our opinion.

All Fallout Games, from worst to best

We decided which Fallout games are best based on the test of time. It’s been a while since these games came out, so we’ve compiled them in order of how fun they are to play in 2024.

9) Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel

Fallout is an RPG, through and through. So, what do you get if you remove the RPG elements from Fallout? You get Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel, an action game with very little to offer. This was Interplay’s last game before Bethesda bought the Fallout license. For the most part, Fallout fans rarely acknowledge this one, and for good reason. It simply wasn’t very good.

8) Fallout Shelter

Fallout Shelter was a way for Bethesda to say, “Please be patient until we release Fallout 4.” Well, even after Fallout 4 came out, many people still play Fallout Shelter. If the idea of managing a Fallout Vault as an Overseer sounds more interesting than roaming the Wasteland, this might be the game for you. While it’s available on consoles and PC, this is fundamentally a mobile game, and therefore has plenty of microtransactions. While it’s not a Fallout game in the traditional sense, it’s a fun timewaster nonetheless.

7) Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel

Fallout Tactics is a fun spin-off of the classic Fallout games. While it cut down the role-playing elements, it gave Fallout fans the tactical system they were used to with a few fun twists and turns. Even though we missed the fun story and role-playing of classic Fallout games, at least the combat was good, especially for a classic Fallout game.

6) Fallout: A Post-Nuclear Role Playing Game

Fallout was the game that started it all. This top-down isometric RPG was the first time PC players explored the vast and unfriendly world of Fallout. The game stood out because of its post-nuclear setting (many similar games at the time were fantasy-based) and the fun V.A.T.S. system. With all that said, the original Fallout game has definitely aged. Today, it offers an unforgiving and very punishing experience for players who take it lightly.

5) Fallout 2

If you ask a 30-and-up PC player about their favorite RPGs, chances are Fallout 2 is going to be one of their favorites. Not only that, but many such players will claim it’s the best game ever made and that new Fallout games can’t even compare. In reality, Fallout 2 is just a slightly better game than Fallout 1. It’s still a lot of fun if you can handle the outdated gameplay mechanics, but it’s very unfriendly and unforgiving in today’s gaming climate. We suggest you give this one a try over the first one, if only to see what the series used to look like when it first came out. Don’t forget to save often.

4) Fallout 76

Fallout 76 clawed its way back from being the worst Fallout game ever made to being a slightly watered-down version of Fallout 4. It’s also the most recent Fallout game. Despite the incredibly rocky launch, Fallout 76 is a fun way to enjoy the series with a friend or two. While the story won’t have you =at the edge of your seat, fighting against other players and building a base might scratch that Fallout itch. Also, if you want to play all the Fallout games in chronological order, Fallout 76 is technically the first one.

3) Fallout 4

While it originally had glowing reviews, as time passed, fans realized that the fourth official Fallout game wasn’t really that great. Gone was the morality system from past Fallout games; gone were meaningful choices and consequences, and the new dialogue system wasn’t that great, either. Still, we got a fun crafting system, a fun base-building system, and the same great combat from Fallout 3.

2) Fallout 3

For many, Fallout 3 was the game that made them fall in love with the series. It’s also the reason we have the Fallout TV show. Using their somewhat infamous Creation Engine, Bethesda made an open-world RPG where killing raiders and super mutants was just as much fun as talking your way out of a sticky situation. While hardcore fans often say the game is too beginner-friendly for a Fallout game, there’s no denying the series wouldn’t be what it is today without Fallout 3.

1) Fallout: New Vegas

What Fallout 3 did well, Fallout: New Vegas perfected. Considered by many as the best Fallout game ever made, Fallout: New Vegas used the engine that reinvigorated the series but made the story darker and more intense to bring it in line with the classic Fallout titles. It’s no wonder, seeing how the original Fallout developers worked on the story. At the time of writing, Fallout: New Vegas is considered by many, including us, to be the best game in the series.