Image Courtesy: Bethesda
Fallout is a game where you play in the world severely affected by nuclear war.
That is also, decades or even centuries after the nuclear bombs fell.
In the game, humanity struggles to rebuild the destroyed city, and you have to hunt for survivals and build alliances in the mutated wasteland.
Fallout gives post-apocalyptic environment for role-play adventure.
The game with its rich history gives unique adventures and stories to their players. Whether you like a classic RPG or a modern action-adventure game, there’s Fallout for you.
But, with all you might wonder, just how many Fallout games are there and which in-game year these stories took place.
In this article I’ll take you exploring through the post-apocalyptic saga of Fallout.
The Fallout franchise has released eight core games with one mobile game total of nine games. Also keep note that, I have excluded various spin-offs that exist outside the main storyline.
Fallout Games | Release Date | In-Game Year | Canon Status |
Fallout | 1997 | 2161 | Canon |
Fallout 2 | 1998 | 2241 | Canon |
Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel | 2001 | 2197 | Semi-Canon |
Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel | 2004 | 2208 | Non-Canon |
Fallout 3 | 2008 | 2277 | Canon |
Fallout: New Vegas | 2010 | 2281 | Canon |
Fallout 4 | 2015 | 2287 | Canon |
Fallout 76 | 2018 | 2102 | Canon (with some lore inconsistencies) |
Fallout Shelter (Mobile Game) | 2015 | Varies | Soft Canon |
In the Fallout, the game’s story is bit tricky when it comes to canon. Here's the breakdown for these:
Canon: These are the main Fallout games and it consists part of the official storyline that directly influence the overall lore.
Semi-Canon: This includes Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel. Meaning the introduction of Brotherhood of Steel airships might be canon, but the overall story may not align with the main game.
Non-Canon: These games are totally separate from the main storyline and don't influence the overall lore.
Also Read: Is Fallout 76 crossplay?
From first Fallout game you start as Vault Dweller, it is set in the year 2161 of a post-apocalyptic Southern California known as Wasteland.
Vault Dweller, was born in the underground shelter called Vault 13.
You have to find a water purification chip to save the Vault.
Where you face mutated creatures, enemy factions and a post-nuclear world.
This first entry of Fallout sets the game’s theme of survival, exploration, and moral choices that defines the all Fallout games later.
After the success of the original Fallout, Fallout 2 came in 1998. The story jumps to nearly 80 years later in 2241.
You play as the role of Chosen One, who is a descendant of Vault Dweller. Born and raised in Arroyo village.
The village is affected by drought, which makes you to go on a mission to find Garden of Eden Creation Kit also called G.E.C.K. A key for restoring the wasteland of Arroyo.
In Fallout 2 you will be introduced with new locations and even more crazier ghouls and super mutants.
This RPG game gives you task to rebuild and lead a Brotherhood base, where you are a command of paladins giving orders to squad and strategically deploying brotherhood members with using many weapons and technologies.
While this is a semi-canon, meaning only some lore elements of the game will align with the main story. Fallout Tactics is still fun and adventure to play in its messed-up world.
Unlike the other games, Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel was considered as non-canon by its developers, meaning that the story of this game will not influence the main storyline.
In this, you take a role of initiate in the Brotherhood of Steel, a powerful faction of the game. This game takes place in West Coast and it puts you on the mission to recover the lost Brotherhood technology along side fighting with super mutants and other wasteland threats.
Even after not being part of official storyline, this game is best to introduce new players into the post-apocalyptic world of Fallout.
Fallout 3 set in the in-game year 2277, nearly 100 years after the nuclear bomb blast. This is the first Fallout series which Bethesda took on, and this game was a hit critically and commercially both.
You are here Lone Wanderer and you have spent your whole life within the underground Vault 101, which is a Utopian community near Washington D.C.
However, the story begins from your father being missing, who is one of the brilliant scientists.
And you faced with no other option but to go on a journey of wasteland to find him, this is where the whole story takes shape.
Mojave Desert of the Fallout: New Vegas takes you into the more vibrant region. You play as a role of a courier, an ordinary delivery person who is thrown out in the desert for dead.
The story revolves around you taking revenge from them who wronged you. And while doing that you find yourself stuck in the power of New California Republic, a militaristic nation, Caesar's Legion, a brutal slaver empire, and Mr. House. The rulers of the New Vegas casino strip.
You get the freedom of choosing side of any faction.
And you shape the game’s story based on your decision, which gives you a more open-ended story.
The story of Fallout 4 revolves around the desperate search of your kidnapped son, whose name is Shaun.
This time, the game doesn’t start from the vault, but the pre-war period, moments before the nuclear bomb fells.
After coming out from the deep sleep, you find yourself as the only survivor of nuclear disaster. Forced into the wasteland known as commonwealth. Fallout 4 also allows you to customize your own character, which was not there in other fallout games.
Here, you are able to customize your character appearance, skills and their backstory. Throughout the game you decide to choose the side of variety of factions, which significantly shapes the narrative.
Fallout 76 is the first game in the series which offers online multiplayer mode. It takes you back again as a Vault Dweller coming from Vault 76 for the first time.
The Vault 76 was actually an experiment which was meant to open after only 25 years. Along with the main story of finding the secrets of Vault 76 the focus of game also lies on the exploration and competition with other players.
The character creation of Fallout 76 is also similar to the Fallout 4.
And the NPCs are replaced by the stories and interactions with other players whom you face in multiplayer.
Fallout Shelter doesn't have a grand narrative like the main games. This is a mobile game, different from exploring wastelands in other Fallout, in this you are tasked to manage Vault. To check the survival and prosperity of vault members.
The characters in Fallout Shelter are determined by their unique S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats which decide their roles.
While, managing your vault, you’ll witness them forming relationships, raising families and even having existential crisis.
Q1. Will Fallout 5 be a thing?
Ans: There is no official news of releasing Fallout 5. And for a longer period of time there will be no Fallout 5.
Q2. What is the chronological order of the Fallout games?
Q3. Is Fallout 3 and 4 connected?
Ans: There are only minor references of locations and events in Fallout 4 from Fallout 3, but the main story is separate.
Q4. Which Fallout Game should I play first?
Ans: If you like classic RPG then start with first Fallout. And start with Fallout: New Vegas if you like modern Fallout games.