(AfroGamers.com) Initially released in 2015 for Android and iOS, Bethesda’s Fallout Shelter is basically a simulation game where you serve as Overseer and run one of the vaults from the franchise. A vault is basically as the game’s title says: a fallout shelter to protect inhabitants from the ravages of a burning summer and nuclear winter.
The funny thing about these vaults was mentioned in detail in Fallout 3. It was revealed that most of the vaults that Vault-Tec sold to people prior to the 2077 nuclear holocaust by China during the Great War, were defective. They were meant to be used for experimental purposes by Vault-Tec and testing on American citizens using the guise of survival from a nuclear attack gave them the perfect test subjects.
As it would happen, the vault you run in Fallout Shelter is one of those that work as intended. What are the odds, right? I mean sure you have to do a lot of work to get those rooms up and running but it’s better than a vault that become uninhabitable after 60 days or kills everyone with poisonous gas, right?
Of course it is.
Fallout Shelter Gameplay
I initially gave the Android version a spin when it was released and had a blast with it. I love simulation games with no energy bank. You can pretty much play it for hours because of this but since the game pretty much plays itself when it comes to carrying out tasks to keep the vault functional—it’s not necessary.
Most of your involvement will be in setting up rooms for resources, living, and strengthening your dwellers to carry out explorations and missions. You’ll also have manage allowing settlers from the outside into the vault, keeping your dwellers happy, and making sure your dwellers have children to keep the vault populated.
There are some events that happen when you are actively playing such as fires breaking out or infestations. These tend to pop up when you rush your dweller’s work and fail. The only reoccurring event that is random is an invasion—usually by raiders.
Bugs: Bethesda Style
With that said, it wouldn’t be a Bethesda game without bugs of some kind. One of the main ones is the chronically depressed dweller. If you’ve played Fallout Shelter, you most likely ran into this one once. A dweller becomes so unhappy with being in the vault that their mood is stuck at 10-percent.
No matter where you put them, who you put them with, or if you send them into the wasteland that dweller is in downer mode. The thing is, all it takes in one hyper sad dweller to bring the whole mood of the vault to like 70-percent or so if you’re under 20 inhabitants. It’s a manageable amount but it could be better, right?
The key here is to just close out the game and come back. Once you do, move that dweller to the dining area and they will start cheering up. It also helps to give them the proper armor for their job and the proper job for their highest S.P.E.C.I.A.L (strength, perception, endurance, charisma, intelligence, agility, luck) rating. Each room has a specific attribute that makes a dweller a prime worker there.
Verdict
It sounds like a lot but in execution it’s fairly easy. Actually, it requires a micromanagement 101-level of attention. As I said, the game really plays itself, so you won’t have to invest tons of time into it. For a comparison, take Fallout 4, strip it to 2D, pullout all the open world exploration, and condense it for play on a mobile device in landscape mode. That’s Fallout Shelter.
After a few weeks, I became tired of the game and deleted it. I only came back to it after playing a couple of survival sims. It’s a fun time waster and nothing you’re going invest hours of your day in during a sitting. Bethesda did pretty well with this and the concept would be great for other themes and other developers to bite.
You can check it out on iOS, Android, and Steam.
RATING: 6 out of 10 (It’s A’ight)
Staff Writer; M. Swift
This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.