Amazon’s Fallout TV show is set to arrive on Prime Video in April, and the online retailer has been celebrating its impending premiere by giving away various Fallout games via Prime Gaming. And after offering subscribers the first two games in the series, it’s no surprise to see that next up it’s the third installment in the franchise.
However, don’t be confused, despite its name suggesting otherwise, 2008’s Fallout 3 is not the third Fallout game going by release date. Instead, that would be Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel which launched all the way back in 2001.
For a limited time, Prime subscribers can score a free copy of Fallout Tactics on PC until April 24 as part of the monthly Prime Gaming lineup. Plus, there’s still time to claim a free copy of Fallout 2, which is available to Prime members until April 10.
These freebies are part of Prime Gaming, which is one of the best Amazon Prime membership benefits. It offers a rotating selection of free games, alongside DLC items for popular titles EA Sports FC 24, Call of Duty: Warzone, Pokémon Go and Apex Legends.
If you’re an Amazon Prime subscriber, you already have access to Prime Gaming and can claim your free Fallout games now. Just head over to the “Games” tab in the Prime Gaming hub and download the games from there.
Remember, once you’ve claimed these freebies, they’re yours to keep forever. So, be sure to grab them even if you don’t have time to play right now, so can always return to them in the future.
Fallout Tactics is a classic worth playing
Released roughly three years after the seminal Fallout 2, Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel aimed to shake up the RPG series, and it did this by stripping away many of the role-playing elements that had defined the franchise up till this point and placed the focus squarely on its strategic combat.
Set in the post-apocalyptic ruins of Chicago, you play a new initiate to the Brotherhood of Steel, an organization set up in the aftermath of a nuclear war to restore civilization. You'll face all manner of mutated foes on a quest to grow your clan and also find the mysterious Vault Zero, a place that is said to house the most advanced technology of the old world.
Unlike its two direct predecessors, Fallout Tactics is less about making choices and interacting with NPCs and more about shooting everything in sight and then making off with the spoils. To facilitate this more combat-heavy approach, battles are reworked and made more tactical than the previous mainline Fallout games, but Tactics is still turn-based rather than a shooter akin to the more recent Bethesda-developed entries in the franchise.
Both in terms of visuals and gameplay, Fallout Tactics is significantly more primitive than the likes of Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas or Fallout 4, but it does still have its charms even in 2024. So long as you’re willing to embrace its old-school quirks, and don’t mind dated visuals, there are plenty of worthwhile reasons to circle back and give Fallout Tactics a shot.
Plus, now that Fallout Tactics is included in the Prime Gaming lineup, you can download it for free with your Amazon Prime membership, so there’s really no excuse not to give it at least a chance. You might be surprised just how well the classic Fallout games have held up.
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