Post-Apocalyptic Games
Basically, a post-apocalyptic game takes place after a nuclear
war. Life after the bomb enjoyed a moderate popularity in 50s and
60s science fiction. There have not been many post-apocalyptic
computer games, but quite a number of them have become classics.
They have usually been RPGs.
- Roadwar 2000 (1986/87)
- A strategy game by Westwood Studios later to become famous for
Dune II. Not post-nuke, here it is a virus
spread by terrorists that caused the end of civilisation.
- Wasteland (1986/88)
- While not exactly the first post-apocalyptic computer game, it was
one of the first and is probably the oldest one that is still widely
remembered today.
- Badlands (1989)
- An arcade racing game about which I know next to nothing. It does
look somewhat post-apocalyptic.
- Fountain of Dreams (1990)
- A would-be sequel to Wasteland that did not quite live up to its
predecessor.
- Bad Blood (1990)
- One of the Origin games that used the view (and possibly the
engine) introduced with Times of Lore and best
known from Ultima VI. A simple RPG with
action combat.
- Deuteros (1991)
- A space game for Amiga and Atari ST.
- Burntime (1993)
- A strategy game by Austrian developer
Max Design.
- Transarctica (1993)
- I originally did not include it in this
list since it lacks the nuclear aspect. But being set in a new
Ice Age, its atmosphere and gameplay are rather similar.
- Perihelion: The Prophecy (1993)
- A mix of post-apocalyptic and cyberpunk elements, very
atmospheric.
- Alphaman (1995)
- The only post-apocalyptic roguelike game
I know, and one of the finest examples of colored ASCII graphics.
- Black Viper (1996)
- A motorcycle shooter for the
Amiga that
isn't really all that post-apocalyptic.
- Fallout (1997)
- The unofficial sequel to Wasteland, hailed as a major rejuvenation
of the CRPG genre in its time and the main reason there is still
interest in post-apocalyptic games.
- Fallout 2 (1998)
- The somewhat hasty sequel to Fallout. It compromised the Fallout
world and its design was partly rather shoddy, but its greatly enhanced
gameplay still endeared it to Fallout fans.
- Mobile Rage (1998)
- A racing game that never got past beta stage.
- Abomination (1999)
- A squad-based tactical game, set in a world where a virus has
wiped out most of civilisation.
- Anarchy Online (2001)
- Not very post-apocalyptic, but still the only MMORPG that (somewhat)
falls into this category.
- Fallout Van Buren (2003)
- Interplay's dropped project for a sequel to the two original Fallout
games, probably the best documented unreleased game ever.
- Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel (2004)
- The game Van Buren was dropped for. May be mentioned on Fallout
forums only in the company of expletives, but nethertheless a
post-apocalyptic game.
- Metalheart: Replicants Rampage (2005)
- This was one of the games the Fallout community had hoped might
be a replacement or at least a consolation for the long-delayed
Fallout 3, but turned out to be rather disappointing.
- Fallout 3 (2008)
- The long-delayed next in line of the Fallout series, now finally
released by Bethesda (of Daggerfall fame).
Lots of excitement on the Forums.
It should be noted that the planned, but never released, sequel
for Wasteland, Meantime, would not have
been a post-apocalyptic game, despite rumors stating the opposite.
It would not even have been truly a sequel, just another game that
used the Wasteland engine, like Escape from
Hell.
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Last modified 2009-02-21