Fallout 2: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game vs Fallout 76
Fallout 2: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game is an open-world RPG game from Black Isle Studios (2009) while Fallout 76 is an action-RPG FPS game from Bethesda Game Studios (2018).
What each one is
Steam files Fallout 2: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game under Open-World and RPG. In contrast, it files Fallout 76 under Action-RPG and FPS.
Fallout® 2 is the sequel to the critically acclaimed game that took RPG'ing out of the dungeons and into a dynamic, apocalyptic retro-future. It's been 80 long years since your ancestors trod across the wastelands.
Bethesda Game Studios welcome you to Fallout 76. Twenty-five years after the bombs fall, you and your fellow Vault Dwellers emerge into post-nuclear America. Explore a vast wasteland in this open-world multiplayer addition to the Fallout story.
At a glance
| Fallout 2: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game | Fallout 76 | |
|---|---|---|
| GamingPickz Score | 8.1/10 | 6.6/10 |
| Steam rating | Very Positive (94%, 17,454) | Mostly Positive (72%, 140,429) |
| Critic aggregate | 86/100 | No aggregate |
| Price | $9.99 | $39.99 |
| Install size | — | 96 GB |
| Steam Deck | playable | playable |
| Released | 2009 | 2018 |
| Developer | Black Isle Studios | Bethesda Game Studios |
Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.
Fallout 2: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game vs Fallout 76, point by point
Each facet side by side. A round is marked won only where a figure settles it; feel and "which is better" carry no mark, because no number we hold decides them.
Genre and premise
Fallout 2: A Post Nuclear Role Playing GameOpen-world RPG gameFallout 76Action-RPG FPS gameWhat each is filed as. Each game describes itself in full above; we do not judge a premise.
How it plays
Fallout 2: A Post Nuclear Role Playing GameRPG, Post-apocalyptic, ClassicFallout 76Open World, Post-apocalyptic, Dark ComedyThe tags players apply most, in order of votes. A read on feel, not a verdict.
Reception
Fallout 2: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game ✓Score 8.1 · 94% on Steam · 86 criticFallout 76Score 6.6 · 72% on SteamThe GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
Content and scale
Fallout 2: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game17,454 reviewsFallout 76140,429 reviews · 3 add-ons · 96 GBReach and footprint, not quality: more reviews or a bigger install is not a better game.
Price
Fallout 2: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game ✓$9.99Fallout 76$39.99Read live from Steam and subject to change.
On a Steam Deck
Fallout 2: A Post Nuclear Role Playing GamePlayableFallout 76PlayableValve's own Deck compatibility rating.
Fallout 2: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game takes 2 of the marked rounds to 0. That is only what a number can decide, not which you will enjoy more.
The two on the grid
Compare the whole catalogueFallout 2: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game and Fallout 76 on the axes the GamingPickz Score is built from, on the full 0 to 100 scale so each dot is its real position. Change either axis to compare them on any measure.
2 games have both
Players. The share of Steam reviews marked positive, pulled toward the catalogue average in proportion to how few reviews stand behind it. A game with 200 reviews moves a long way toward the average; one with 200,000 barely moves at all. Without this a title sitting at 100 percent on nine reviews outranks Half-Life 2 at 98 percent on 278,000.
Popularity. A blend of two things that are not the same. Audience is how many people wrote a Steam review, which is a floor on how many played it. Reach is how many language editions of Wikipedia document the game, which is cultural footprint rather than sales. A game can score high on one and low on the other: a huge free-to-play title has audience without reach, and a landmark console exclusive has reach without a Steam audience at all. Where both exist they are averaged; where only one does, that one carries it.
- Multi-platform
- PC
Every point links to that game's entry. The value map and the reception map are fixed views of the same data.
How positions are decided
No paid placement, no favouritism, live third-party data
- Placed by the published method, not by us. Every coordinate is computed from the axis definitions and weights printed on this site. Nobody moves a point. See the axes.
- Nothing here is paid for. No sponsored placements, no promoted slots, no arrangement of any kind affects a position. If that ever changes it will be labelled and sit outside the ranking.
- No favouritism, including our own. The 16 games we have written full reviews of are scored by exactly the same formula as the other 1,510, from the same third-party inputs, and they land where it puts them. Our own opinion of a game does not enter its coordinates.
- A position is not an endorsement. It says how a game was received and what it costs, not that we recommend it. Where we do recommend something, it carries a written review with a name on it.
- Fetched from live third-party data. Player sentiment from Steam, critic aggregates as published on store pages, prices checked hourly, attention from Wikipedia. Each figure carries its source and the date it was read, and we do not adjust any of them.
Which to pick, by what you want
- The higher-rated of the two: Fallout 2: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game (GamingPickz Score 8.1)
- The cheaper right now: Fallout 2: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game ($9.99)
- The safer bet by weight of reviews: Fallout 76 (140,429 reviews)
What they have in common
Both are tagged by Steam players with:
RPGPost-apocalypticOpen WorldSingleplayerAtmosphericExplorationGreat Soundtrack
Where they differ
ClassicIsometricTurn-Based CombatTurn-BasedStory RichSci-fi
MultiplayerDark ComedyCapitalismSurvivalBase-BuildingCo-op
Tags players apply to one game and not the other.
Difficulty and who each is for
By the tags players apply, Fallout 2: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game is middle-of-the-road on difficulty. Fallout 76 is middle-of-the-road on difficulty.
System requirements, side by side
| Fallout 2: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game | Fallout 76 | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum GPU | SVGA | NVIDIA GTX 780 3GB /AMD Radeon R9 285 2GB |
| Minimum CPU | Pentium 90Mhz | Intel Core i5-6600k 3.5 GHz /AMD Ryzen 3 1300X 3.5 GHz |
| Minimum RAM | — | 8 GB |
| Install size | — | 96 GB |
Can your PC run them? Check each against your own kit: Fallout 2: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game · Fallout 76.
Accessibility features
Steam store pages declare 0 accessibility features for Fallout 2: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game and 4 for Fallout 76. A declaration is a floor, not a review.
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Common questions
How different are Fallout 2: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game and Fallout 76 in scope?
Fallout 2: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game has drawn 17,454 Steam reviews. Fallout 76 has drawn 140,429 Steam reviews, ships 3 add-ons and installs in 96 GB.
Is Fallout 2: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game or Fallout 76 better?
By the GamingPickz Score, Fallout 2: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game rates higher (8.1 to 6.6). That is a composite of player sentiment, the critic aggregate and popularity, not our taste. "Better" also depends on price, length and platform, which the table above lays out.
Which is cheaper, Fallout 2: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game or Fallout 76?
Fallout 2: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game is cheaper right now at $9.99, against $39.99. Prices move, so this is read live from Steam and can change.
Do you rank one above the other for a fee?
No. Neither game, nor anyone else, pays for placement or a verdict here. The order and every figure come out of the same public data the rest of the site uses.
Related comparisons
How we compare, and what we will not do
The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment (adjusted for sample size), the critic aggregate and popularity, computed by the same code every ranked list on this site uses. The Steam rating label is Valve's own, reconstructed from the positive percentage and review count. Prices are read live. We do not write an opinion of which game is "better": we report the numbers and say which wins each measurable question above.