By now you've probably heard the hype surrounding Amazon's live-action Fallout offering. As it turns out, it's a faithful and fun version of the weird and funny post-apocalyptic RPG series. The live demo offers a glimpse into the wild world of Fallout and all the strange surprises waiting to be discovered, and you'll probably want to try out some games with a similar conceit.
But if you've already gotten into the Fallout series or already have it on your list of games to try, we have a few other games to recommend that are just as itchy as the games from Bethesda Game Studios. Along with similar games centered around choice and agency, our list also includes some games that approach the post-apocalypse a little differently. So, here are the recommended games to play if you can't get enough of Fallout.
Barren lands 3
Before developer Interplay achieved massive success with the original Fallout, the foundations of the post-apocalyptic RPG were first laid with 1988's Wasteland. As the first PC RPG set in an American post-apocalypse, Wasteland featured a Really exotic and many raiders to fight in tactical clashes. While the original Wasteland and its 2014 sequel are still excellent tactical RPGs, the recent Wasteland 3 is the pinnacle of the series and a great place for newcomers to start.
Wasteland 3 is all about strategic decision-making with your team of Desert Rangers, offering a complex and emergent approach to exploring and surviving numerous challenging encounters in the ruins of the American Rockies. As you build a trusty crew of guards, Wasteland 3 throws in a whole host of wacky encounters with thieves and other strange factions that play up the post-apocalyptic silliness. One featured mission centers around a cult that worships Ronald Reagan's artificial intelligence who is housed inside a mechanical statue that fires deadly lasers. Wasteland 3 delivers a powerful tactical RPG experience that showcases an absurd side to the dark post-apocalypse.
Metro exodus
The Metro series from developer 4A Games highlights what a post-nuclear apocalypse looks like outside of America and in much harsher scenarios. Based on the science fiction novels by Dmitry Glukhovsky, the Metro video game series focuses on surviving one harrowing encounter after another in what remains of post-nuclear Russia and how warring factions continue to fight for control. Metro Exodus is the culmination of a trilogy of strong narrative-driven shooters, bringing the series into a more open-world-inspired setting for exploration and survival.
The Metro Trilogy stars a young survivor named Artyom, and shows his development from scavenger to leader of a faction of rangers seeking safety in the ruins of the ancient world. While exploring and fighting in various regions across Russia, the protagonist must rely heavily on crafting and carefully managing resources in order to survive encounters with bandits and mutants in the wilderness. Although the original two entries are solid shooters, Metro Exodus is an excellent starting point into the series for newcomers as it focuses on survival in large-scale environments while giving the cast of characters a satisfying conclusion to their survival story.
Outer worlds
Obsidian Entertainment features a lot of the talent that worked on the original Fallout series, and following their work on Fallout: New Vegas, the developers have gone on to build a brand new game that will keep up with much of the absurdist humor and bloody action of future Fallout. Ori is gone. The Outer Worlds is a different kind of RPG that brings its dystopian and deeply alien setting to a galactic scale. Set in an alternate timeline where corporate America was never regulated in the early 1900s and space exploration has led to a new age of capitalism, you lead a crew of misfits who travel across the galaxy and land headfirst into conflicts with the giant corporations that run almost everything.
The Outer Worlds is basically the sci-fi TV series Firefly mixed with Fallout, leaning heavily into the comedy and absurdity of its hyper-capitalist world. Just like Fallout, you can build your protagonist to be a smooth-talking explorer who can talk his way out of trouble or a crafty rogue who solves his problems with a well-placed blaster shot. With a lovable cast of companions, including the ever-reliable Parvati, The Outer Worlds puts its characters and wild setting center stage, and is an excellent choice for those looking for a more sci-fi RPG.
Horizon: Forbidden West
What makes Guerrilla Games' Horizon series so interesting in its post-apocalyptic setting is that it focuses its story on the larger mystery of what happened before the apocalypse – and it adds roaming, towering machines to the mix. Horizon sees the remnants of humanity exploring a devastated Earth in the wake of a robotic apocalypse, which has left communities scattered with no knowledge of what came before. Forbidden West follows up on the excellent Zero Dawn by showcasing a greater level of detail to its world while giving protagonist Aloy more ways to approach his various quests and characters. Not to mention there are more machines to fight and subdue.
Forbidden West brings the story to the ruins of the American West Coast, showing how the remains of San Francisco and Las Vegas have evolved into a post-robot apocalypse. What makes exploring the Horizon games so fun is learning how the world has changed after the apocalypse, and engaging in some of the most daring battles against advanced machines that require some careful planning and skill coordination to take down. The Horizon series really leans into post-apocalyptic wonder and weirdness, and Forbidden West's latest major release showcases the series at its best.
Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl
GSC Game World's STALKER series makes you feel like you're very much part of a large and incredibly hostile world – and this delivers some truly terrifying and thrilling moments in equal measure. With a sequel coming this year, the original STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl remains a fascinating narrative survival experience about dealing with strange phenomena, hostile factions within the mythical zone, and the irradiated remains of Chernobyl that somehow become more dangerous over time. .
The broad outlines of the STALKER series and what makes it unique is that it offers an unforgiving and very atmospheric world that you have to face. In addition to managing your precious resources, you'll also need to make sure your protagonist stays in tip-top shape and away from deadly radiation. This all happens while evading rival factions seeking to wipe out anyone in the area, including mutant monsters lurking in the area. You'll often encounter unexpected death while in the zone, but here's what makes STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl a classic that you can live with: surviving in the zone and making do with what you have is just a captivating experience. With recent remasters of the game and its expansions, now is the time to take a look at the relentless action RPG.
Cyberpunk 2077
Since its original 2020 release, CD Projekt Red has slowly rebuilt and expanded upon the foundations of Cyberpunk 2077, and is now one of the best modern RPGs out there. Set within the practically lawless sprawl of Night City, this urban sci-fi setting is a nice change of pace from other shooters and role-playing games, and still scratches that post-apocalyptic itch for how grim, weird, and unforgiving it is. It has turned into a huge city in the future.
Along with a stunning cast of characters – played by A-list stars like Keanu Reeves and Idris Elba – Cyberpunk 2077 shines with its approach to role-playing and fast-paced combat, all of which depend on how you want to build your future mercenary. What Cyberpunk 2077 really achieves is that it puts you in the middle of a hostile but still captivating city and is filled with different encounters and quests to face, all of which show a level of agency that reaches up to RPG classics like Fallout and Deus Ex. The atmosphere of Night City is intense, and immersing yourself in the sprawl and wastelands beyond is thrilling. If you haven't tried Cyberpunk 2077 yet and want something that offers a satisfying and rich RPG experience, you can't go wrong with CD Projekt RED's modern classic.
Alessandro Villari is a freelance writer for IGN.