Skip to main content
PC Gamer PC Gamer THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
flag of UK
UK
flag of US
US
flag of Canada
Canada
flag of Australia
Australia
  • Games
  • Hardware
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Guides
  • Video
  • Forum
  • More
    • PC Gaming Show
    • Software
    • Movies & TV
    • Coupons
    • Magazine
    • Newsletter
    • Community guidelines
    • Affiliate links
    • Meet the team
    • About PC Gamer
PC Gamer Magazine Subscription
PC Gamer Magazine Subscription
Why subscribe?
  • Subscribe to the world's #1 PC gaming mag
  • Try a single issue or save on a subscription
  • Issues delivered straight to your door or device
From$32.49
View
Popular
  • Amazon Prime Day Deals
  • Essential Hardware
  • Microsoft
  • AI
  • PC Gaming Show
Recommended reading
An unhappy camper climbing up a cliff
Games The best PC games in 2025: 10 picks that PC Gamer's staff is playing now
Famous half-vampire Blade unsheathing his sword
Games Summer Game Fest no-shows: 9 big games that were absent from 2025's showcases
A screenshot from Korter 1996 showing a backpack with a dog's face
Platforms Five new Steam games you probably missed (June 23, 2025)
An image from Midnight Special showing a horror parody of Steamboat Willie
Platforms Five new Steam games you probably missed (May 12, 2025)
An image from Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo showing the protagonist in conversation with a well-dressed bird
Platforms Five new Steam games you probably missed (May 19, 2025)
A screenshot from Guilty as Sock showing a judge, who is a sock, sitting at a desk
Platforms Five new Steam games you probably missed (June 2, 2025)
Geralt and Shani chat in The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone.
RPG The best RPGs on PC
  1. Games
  2. RPG
  3. Fallout
  4. Fallout 4

10 games to play while you wait for Fallout 4

Features
By PCGamer published 17 July 2015

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

10 games to play while you wait for Fallout 4

10 games to play while you wait for Fallout 4

Fallout 4 is out on November 10. That means four long months waiting for the follow-up to Bethesda's post-apocalyptic RPG. What to do in the meantime? If the Fallout series has taught us anything, it's that sealing yourself away in a underground bunker is not necessarily the best idea. Far better to stay above ground and play some games.

But which games? Naturally, you can look to us for suggestions. We've rounded up 10 games you can play with you wait for Fallout 4 to appear. Specifically, we've focused on games with a comparable theme or a focus on a mechanic that will feature predominantly in the Bethesda sequel. What we haven't done is picked past Fallout games, Elder Scrolls games, or even Wasteland 2. All are fine games well worth your time, but they're also a bit too obvious.

Maybe you have your own suggestions. Post them in the comments and, together, we'll make it to November.

Page 1 of 11
Page 1 of 11
STALKER: Call of Pripyat

STALKER: Call of Pripyat

STALKER is a post-apocalyptic shooter set in a world full of scavengers and mutated beasts. That's where the Fallout similarities end. Where Bethesda's RPG is light-hearted and retro, STALKER is brutal and relentless. If it's not monsters or bandits trying to kill you, it's the environment itself. The landscape is beset by anomalies that defy the laws of physics, but that offer great rewards to those able to overcome their deadly and chaotic nature. Maybe you'll wind up alone and bleeding; defeated by a bleak, industrial wasteland absent of hope or redemption. Or maybe you'll thrive around the decay, overcoming all the odds to survive and profit from the surrounding misery.

Page 2 of 11
Page 2 of 11
NEO Scavanger

NEO Scavanger

Fallout’s brutality is softened by a slapstick approach to graphic violence. The survival RPG roguelike NEO Scavenger is too low-fi to show opponents shattering into sticky lumps, but using combat descriptions alone it creates a desperate and terrifying wasteland. Humanity subsists in small pockets throughout the world, and have frequently gone mad with boredom or loneliness. NEO Scavenger’s best moments happen when you first spy a stranger. What weapons do they have? Will they try to eat you if you let them get too close? It’s unwise to be too trusting in the post-apocalypse.

Page 3 of 11
Page 3 of 11
Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura

Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura

Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura is an isometric RPG set in fantasy world in the midst of an industrial revolution. In other words, it's steampunk. The Fallout comparison extends beyond the option to pick turn-based over real-time combat. It also makes brilliant use of its skill system. Intelligence doesn't just define your magical prowess. Too few points in the stat, and your character will be an idiot—condemned to speak only the most broken of sentences.

Page 4 of 11
Page 4 of 11
DEFCON

DEFCON

It's one thing to survive the fallout of a nuclear holocaust, but what about starting one? That's the promise of Introversion's multiplayer armageddon-'em-up. You're given a neon-blue map of the world and an armament of destructive weapons. Your job isn't to win, but to lose the least. It's an eerily atmospheric game; setting the distant klaxons, footsteps and heavy breathing of a war room against the impending and unavoidable destruction of civilisation.

Page 5 of 11
Page 5 of 11
The Sims 4

The Sims 4

In The Sims 4, you're given dominion over a house full of people. You control their every whim; deciding on their jobs, their activities, and even their hopes and dreams. It's a lot like being a Vault Overseer, as our Andy Kelly proved with his twisted experiments. And much like in Fallout's pre-apocalypse era, you're trapped in a nightmarishly aspirational and hyper-cheery world—a fake, sanitised and saccharine utopia that threatens to engulf you with its reassuring cheeriness. It's downright creepy.

If that's not enough of a connection, how about this: you can build buildings, just like in Fallout 4. Well, almost. The Sims has less decrepit junk and bandit attacks. A pity, we're sure you'll agree.

Page 6 of 11
Page 6 of 11
XCOM: Enemy Unknown

XCOM: Enemy Unknown

There's a feeling specific to Fallout 3's combat that you just don't get in other shooters. It's when you've used the VATS aiming system to line up a 95% chance shot to a Deathclaw's face and YOU STILL BLOODY MISS GOD DAMN IT ALL. The best place to relive that mixture of tension, excitement and furious disbelief is through XCOM's alien invasion. The turn-based tactical combat frequently forces you into kill-or-be-killed moments—putting the fate of your best troops into the hands of RNGesus.

Page 7 of 11
Page 7 of 11
Spec Ops: The Line

Spec Ops: The Line

Bethesda's moral choices are anything but subtle. Your first major decision is whether or not to nuke an entire town. For a more murky exploration of morality in wartime, Spec Ops: The Line has you covered. Yager's third-person shooter is far from perfect, but it tells a more complex and shocking story than you might first expect. In keeping with the post-apocalyptic theme, it takes place in the desolate and harsh wasteland of a once grand and decadent civilisation. No, not Boston. Dubai.

Page 8 of 11
Page 8 of 11
Dead Rising 2: Off the Record

Dead Rising 2: Off the Record

One of Fallout 4's big new additions is weapon crafting, which will let you significantly tweak your guns to your liking. Another series with weapon crafting at its centre is Dead Rising—the often tongue-in-cheek zombie brawler with a variety of bizarre and destructive tools of evisceration. Dead Rising 2's remixed Off The Record variant is probably the highlight of the series, and was recently updated to remove Games for Windows Live. It's the series' go-to entry if you want an enjoyable time slicing, smashing and thwacking your way through an endless zombie horde.

Page 9 of 11
Page 9 of 11
Defense Grid 2

Defense Grid 2

After building your Fallout 4 settlements, you won't get to bask in the idyllic glow of your nuclear craptown. Civilisation attracts bandits, and that means you'll need to construct and power automated defences. There is, of course, an entire genre dedicated to this activity. There are plenty of tower defence options, and Defense Grid is one of the best. Waves of beasties want to whittle away your power cores. Luckily, you have an armament of placeable and upgradable turrets with which to stop them.

If you're coming to the series fresh, head straight for Defense Grid 2. It wasn't a major improvement over the original, but it's a good enough game in its own right to be well worth checking out.

Page 10 of 11
Page 10 of 11
Half-Life 2

Half-Life 2

Look, we'll be honest here, we wanted to include a game with a dog. Fallout 4 has a dog, and what better way to get prepared for its release than to spend some time with another digitised canine companion? Unfortunately, it was agreed that the best videogame dog belonged to Fable 2—a game that isn't available on PC.

What other dog to praise? The one in Dragon Age: Origins is certainly a good dog, but using it means giving up space perhaps better used by one of the voiced companions. Then we realised, it's Dog from Half-Life 2. As both a dog and a robot, he covers Fallout 4's inclusion of both a dog and robots. Who's a good boy?

Page 11 of 11
Page 11 of 11
PCGamer
PCGamer

PC Gamer is the global authority on PC games—starting in 1993 with the magazine, and then in 2010 with this website you're currently reading. We have writers across the US, Canada, UK and Australia, who you can read about here.

Latest in Fallout
Fallout developer Tim Cain seated at computer wearing brown paper bag on head in the '90s
'They told me to destroy' my backups, Fallout creator Tim Cain says: 'People high up at companies take authority but no responsibility' for game preservation
Vault Boy demonstrates how to duck and cover
New Vegas lead Josh Sawyer thinks turn-based combat fell off in the 2000s due to a lack of 'tactical variation': Even Fallout 1 would 'get to the point where you're always doing nut shots and eye shots'
The Pip Boy from the Fallout series being the benevolent hacker he is
Indie Fallout wiki joins forces with the Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages, ensuring a bright future for looking up RPG lore uninterrupted by half-page video ads
A screenshot from the Fallout season 2 trailer showing two characters on the outskirts of New Vegas
Fallout season 2 teaser trailer confirms a December release, and drives the point home that we're going to New Vegas
A group of players with flower crowns
Fallout 76's spring limited-time event, The Big Bloom, has begun, which means pollen, allergies, and flower crowns
Vault Boy waves through a Vault door
Fallout creator laments the loss of the game's earliest development materials: 'I had that in digital form and was ordered to destroy it'
Latest in Features
Marvel Rivals Season 3 customisation issues: An upper-body shot of Phoenix with her arms out to the side.
If Marvel Rivals doesn't want to reward me with fancy skins for my hard work, then I hope it'll at least give me some of Season 3's new customisation features
A cyberpunk city with the PC Gamer logo
This brilliant dark and moody cyberpunk city builder is my kind of cosy game—and for less than $7 you might as well see if it's yours too
Phoenix screenshot
Marvel Rivals' next hero is the complete package, as Phoenix packs enough firepower to cut through any Strategist backline
Marvel Rivals Season 3 quality of life changes: An upper-body shot of Phoenix glowing as she flies forward.
Marvel Rivals' most exciting change in Season 3 is removing the need to grind the game every single day
Three people holding guns
15 hidden gems in the Steam Summer Sale you've still got time to grab
Vault Boy jumping back in surprise as he looks at a malfunctioning monitor.
OLED burn-in anxiety will ruin my sanity long before it ruins my monitor
  1. Nvidia RTX 5090 and XFX RX 9070 graphics cards
    1
    Best graphics cards in 2025: I've tested pretty much every AMD and Nvidia GPU of the past 20 years and these are today's top cards
  2. 2
    Best gaming laptop in 2025: I've put the best of this new generation head-to-head and we have a winner
  3. 3
    Best gaming chair in 2025: I've tested a ton of gaming chairs and these are the seats I'd suggest for any PC gamer
  4. 4
    Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads
  5. 5
    Best graphics card for laptops in 2025: the mobile GPUs I'd want in my next gaming laptop
  1. Wonder and Motoha Arai in Persona 5: The Phantom X
    1
    Persona 5: The Phantom X review
  2. 2
    NZXT N7 Z890 review
  3. 3
    NZXT N9 X870E review
  4. 4
    NZXT N9 Z890 review
  5. 5
    Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4 review

PC Gamer is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...