Review - Fallout Shelter

Think you can manage a fallout shelter without it exploding into flames? Think again!

Screenshot from Google Play of the game.

Although, not on par with the main series games, Fallout Shelter is a good app to pull out every once in a while. For a phone game it has done several things right, by including pretty fair resource timers and cool 3D graphics, however there are still some aspects that could be improved. So what exactly is it? Fallout Shelter is an app that you can get for your Apple or android device where you can design your own vault in the Fallout, post nuclear RPG, universe. In it you can support your dwellers styled similarly to the vault boy on a quest to get as many dwellers as possible while trying to keep them happy. So what's the catch? Actually there is none. The game is quite simple, with no towering price walls. You can get to the end game in a few weeks, and some of the super players can get there in just a few days, without spending a quarter.

Starting
When you start the game for the first time, you'll be greeted with a game appropriate acknowledgments screen in the form of a slide projector. You'll then be prompted to create a vault by giving it a number from 0 to 999. Recently, you can also select a hard mode option to beef up the game's difficulty. When you open the screen, the vault boy will be there to greet you. As it turns out, you have been assigned to be the overseer for your very own vault. Your goal is to make the dwellers happy by managing resources appropriately, and by leveling up the dwellers special stats to fit there occlusion in the vault. At first you'll have an airlock, and living quarters, and will be instructed to create a power plant, a water treatment facility, and a diner. Having all three and assigning dwellers with the correct stats to the appropriate rooms will make them happy, while doing the inverse will make them unsatisfied. Failure to maintain these stats will lead to vault wide symptoms such as radiation poisoning, and power failures. As you get more dwellers, either through finding them in the wasteland, or breeding them yourself, you unlock more rooms, greatly diversifying your vault.
           
Gameplay
As you play the game further, a lack of story elements starts to build up slowly. It stays pretty much the same all the way though, and sadly doesn't evolve much beyond that. I wish that the game would include experiments that the vaults are known for in the Fallout main games, but sadly this isn't so (perhaps in a later update?), or at the very least some events to keep me and my little people entertained whilst we wait out the nuclear holocaust. Sadly, since the lack of gameplay is such a burden on this right now, I don't have really much more to say on the subject. However, I still would recommend getting it. It’s pretty fun to play in short bursts, and makes for a good timewaster. However, I don’t think I’ve noticed anything technically wrong with the game, except there have been a few glitches with routing and task performance from the dwellers. I’ve herd some others say that the game crashes a lot, but it hasn’t for me yet, so I wouldn’t worry.
 
The Score
So what do I rate it? For those that don’t know how this works around here, I give three different ratings on each item I review, reflecting three different levels of concern for the audience: The Casual Opinion for the average person, a Critical opinion for those with higher game play, and my Personal opinion on what I thought about the product in question.
  
For the average person, this game is an average game (figures). It has a pretty flat learning curve, is fun at first, and is pretty easy to follow. It’s no masterwork, but is good in terms of app standards. It’s worth the free download from the app store. A solid 76/100.
 
For the hardcore fan, or critical viewer, this game is just the bare minimum. If you’re looking for the hardcore gaming experience, this is far from it (why are you even on the app store?). It has some good fan service, but if you’re a devote to the Fallout name, you might be disappointed. A stable 58/100, if this sounds like you.

Personally, I like this game. For me, it’s a game above basic standards, but not very far past that. I enjoyed it at first, but after the first week, it’s no longer enough to just have the vault not explode into flames. I need something more. A not quite grand 67/100 for me.
           
Since that's all I can really talk about the game right now, that's all I have to say! Thanks for reading everyone! Tell me what you thought in the comments and in my social media, and let me know if any major updates come by so I can update this article.
 
Interested in getting it? {Link to Fallout Shelters Google Play Page}
 
As always, I’ll see you next time!