Fallout is one of the largest RPGs in the world, instantly recognizable with its off-kilter 1950s aesthetic, playing with the era's obsession and fear of nuclear annihilation. The series has seen plenty of titles at this point that vary wildly from the last.

While the first two entries in the series were heavily focused on roleplay, Bethesda's versions have focused more on exploration and less on dialogue. That divide does help Fallout appeal to almost anyone, however. Whether you are a hardcore RPG fan or like to explore an apocalyptic setting, this universe has something for you. Here are all of the Fallout titles ranked from worst to best.

Updated March 9, 2024 by Zackary Wiggs: Amazon's Fallout TV series is right around the corner and there is nothing like a new addition to a series to make you want to make a trip down memory lane. Whether you're a longtime Fallout fan, or you're just now hearing about it, there's plenty to enjoy about the series as a whole. While some games do stand out above the others, there has never been a series that has allowed for a more interesting mix of wacky, sad, and nuclear moments than Fallout. But, what else would you expect from a series that has survived the jump from video game, board game, card game, and now to TV?

9 Fallout: Brotherhood Of Steel

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Not to be confused with Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel, Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel takes everything that makes Fallout great and throws it out the window, opting to make a dungeon-crawling RPG instead.

This game allowed you to control initiates in the Brotherhood of Steel faction, tasked with exploring the wasteland in search of artifacts. There are no moral decisions, S.P.E.C.I.A.L. is static on characters instead of customizable, and the game's narrative is not as nuanced as the mainline titles. Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel would have been a disappointing last cry for the series had Bethesda not bought it from Interplay and made Fallout 3.

8 Fallout 76

Take Me Home, Country Road

While Brotherhood of Steel failed to be a Fallout game, Fallout 76 is—at the very least—a proper Fallout title with quests and decisions to make.

This experiment from Bethesda sets you into an open world for them to cooperate in or fight against each other. A multiplayer Fallout title sounds fantastic on paper, but the unrelenting number of bugs and lack of human NPCs at launch compromised what could have been a fun co-op Fallout game. Fortunately, updates have remedied many of the issues that plagued the game's early days.

7 Fallout Shelter

Become An Overseer Today!

Fallout Shelter has no right to be as good as it is. This mobile game ported to consoles and PC lets you create your own vault as an Overseer, controlling the infrastructure and inhabitants of the vault.

Vault dwellers can explore the wasteland to find new items to use. Facilities can stop working, molerats can infest your vault, and the typical Fallout insanity you'd come to expect is all here. It might lack the in-depth questing or memorable characters of the main titles, but the overall experience is enjoyable enough to warrant a try.

6 Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood Of Steel

Get Your VATS Ready

Fallout Tactics has more in common with strategy games like XCOM than the main Fallout IP. Unlike Brotherhood of Steel, Fallout Tactics respects the IP and has kept core elements intact.

The game has a respectable plot that does its own thing and tries not to interfere with the main games. You control a squad of six soldiers, who can range from humans to deathclaws. Tactics can be played in real-time or turn-based, allowing for more tactical gameplay and decision-making than the main games. It also has a multiplayer mode that lets players fight each other with squads they control.

It's a rather fun game that focuses on Fallout's combat more than the story and RPG mechanics.

5 Fallout 4

Back To The East Coast

Fallout 4 is a strange game. It took away skills, simplified the SPECIAL system, overhauled dialogue to mimic Mass Effect, and the main protagonist is now voiced. Those changes harmed the role-playing aspects that Fallout was known for but it did overhaul the combat, include a base-building mechanic, and feature unprecedented weapon and armor customization.

Fallout 4 has more in common with survival games and looter shooters than it does a proper RPG, yet that gameplay shift is just as engaging. Finding scrap to make the perfect gun is a fun process that keeps you engaged with the world around you, but Fallout 4 is going through an identity crisis the entire time that you can't shake the feeling of. Not even the unprecedented passion from the modding community can fix the lack of RPG systems fans came to expect.

4 Fallout 3

A Capital Idea

Regardless of your opinion on Bethesda, Fallout would not be as large as it is today if not for the incredibly successful Fallout 3. Bethesda took elements of Fallout and Fallout 2 and incorporated them into their open-world formula made popular by The Elder Scrolls series. Series staples like S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats, skills, and V.A.T.S. were all integrated into the new first-person perspective.

The story questionably depicts the Brotherhood of Steel as beacons of virtue, but the rest of the game is true to the source material. The wasteland feels hostile and desolate, and combat can become an absurd gorefest like the originals. With its fantastic DLCs, Fallout 3 is a great RPG title that anyone can easily get into.

3 Fallout

It All Started Here

No Fallout game has depicted the grim, post-apocalyptic setting better than Interplay's 1997 original. The game's opening level throws you out of our home, only to meet a corpse and a loaded pistol next to them.

Vault dwellers are frowned upon by most societies in this game. People want to rat you out and take everything in your home, but you must survive the harsh wasteland to find a replacement for your vault's water chip. The main narrative is the best the series has ever seen, though the game heavily lacks side content and companions. If you can deal with the dated graphics and clunky combat, there is an immersive wasteland waiting to be explored and understood.

2 Fallout 2

A Scenic Drive

The first thing you will notice in Fallout 2 is how little the game takes itself seriously. Easter eggs are littered everywhere which prevents the game from being as immersive as the first.

Luckily, this game improves on the first title in almost every other way possible. Tons of side missions and companions can be found while maintaining an engaging main narrative. Combat has seen some quality-of-life improvements, and exploration has become more important than ever with the massive scope of Fallout 2.

While Fallout has an unmatched atmosphere, Fallout 2 has unmatched replay value out of any Fallout game out there. It's just a shame how the relentless pop-culture references and dated mechanics prevent this game from being the best.

1 Fallout New Vegas

Feelin' Lucky?

Created in under a year, Fallout New Vegas is considered by many to be Obsidian's best work. It takes the fun exploration of Fallout 3 and combines it with the array of content Fallout 2 offers. You begin your journey as a courier who was shot in the head and left for dead. You spend part of the game finding the man who killed you, but the game quickly spirals into a three-way war over Hoover Dam.

An unprecedented level of choice lets you shape the narrative. Thankfully, it left the constant pop-culture references to an opt-in trait you could take instead of being in the game by default. While the early game is rather slow, it quickly builds up to an epic confrontation with every faction in the western United States.

Few games can match the quality of writing and player choice that New Vegas presents, and it makes it the best Fallout game in the whole series.