Fallout: Shelter Overview

Fallout: Shelter Overview

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More fun and games in the wasteland, this time it’s a little different.


For those that missed it the first time around, Fallout: Shelter is the strategy game based on Bethesda’s Fallout series.

Shelter leads the series in a new direction. This strategy title puts you in charge of a Vault-Tec vault and the inhabitants therein. As the manager of a vault, you have a number of responsibilities. Chief among them is the production of resources: electricity, water and food. These are earned through power generators, water treatment and diners. All of these have upgradable potential, and as more dwellers are attracted (or produced) in the vault, additional rooms with more functions are unlocked.

Electricity is undoubtedly the most important resource to master. Insufficient energy reserves will mean power restriction to the rooms of your vault. Having the power go off also resets the timer on resource production for that room. In order to get the best from your vault, dwellers should be assigned roles based on their strengths and the requirements of the rooms. Diners for example have an agility requirement, and so individuals with high agility stats work best there. Dweller’s strengths are gauged by their S.P.E.C.I.A.L. (Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility, Luck.) You can boost a characters S.P.E.C.I.A.L by assigning various outfits, even the notorious Power Armour is available.

Happy dwellers will earn you a boost at the end of every 24hr cycle. You can boost happiness in a number of ways, the most effective however is sex. This is a strategy game with its feet firmly on the ground after all! A bonus to this method of happiness boosting is the creation of new dwellers to help run the vault.

This being a Fallout game, bottle caps are your currency and they can be earned a number of different ways. My personal favourite is the option to send a vault dweller out into the wasteland to explore. Not only because the wasteland rewards the more adventurous explorer, but because you can follow the dwellers exploits live via their Pip-Boy. Bethesda has made excellent use of the exploration mechanic and it is one area where Shelter shows its charm.

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While you are busy building an idyllic vault for your dwellers, raiders occasionally shatter the peace. These bands of outlaws break into the vault and cause carnage, halting production of resources and killing residents. Fighting these miscreants off is unfortunately an area where Shelter lets itself down. For no reason, my dwellers would disengage from combat and return to whatever task they were performing before, meaning repeated assignments to the room in danger. This is understandably frustrating, especially because these events vary the gameplay and inject a little action.

Managing the rooms of your vault is surprisingly addictive. Being sceptical about how Fallout would lend itself to a strategy crossover, this came as a pleasant surprise. The thought process behind things like who should be sent into the wasteland increased with the amount of game time was clocked and was irritating to get wrong. Having the strongest member of the vault out on patrol when raiders kick down the door had me cursing myself.

There are a few bugs in Shelter, but that is hardly surprising given that it is a Bethesda game. These bugs have not caused something overly severe, but do mean occasionally waiting through another loading screen, which can be very lengthy.

All in all, Fallout: Shelter is well worth a download. It has made the jump from action role-playing to strategy/management with style. It captures the essence of the Fallout series well and brings something new to the table. Bethesda have countered the less appealing aspects of the strategy/management genre well, most notably waiting for resources. Updates from the Pip-Boy keep you amused while waiting, which there is quite a lot of. This is not a game with a great amount of replay value, do not expect to keep coming back for more after your vault has been fully upgraded, but you will most certainly enjoy the road to completion.

Review overview
Fallout: Shelter
Giles Warner
Aspiring game designer and entertainment fanatic. Massive GTA fan and member of house Baratheon

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