If you're a big Fallout fan, or a big PC game collector, Bethesda's new Fallout S.P.E.C.I.A.L. Anthology might be worth a moment of your time. It's a collection of every mainline Fallout game ever released, stuffed inside an alarmingly lifelike Fat Man mini-nuke.
The new package is essentially a repeat of the Fallout Anthology Bethesda released in 2015, with a couple of differences. For one, it includes Fallout 4 and Fallout 76, neither of which existed when the first anthology was released (although it contained an extra space for Fallout 4, since it dropped just ahead of that game's release).
The bigger difference is that while the original anthology included games on disc, this one does not. Instead, the mini-nuke is packed with seven Fallout 76-style "perk cards," each one printed with a Steam key for one of the games in the collection.
It's a whole lotta Fallout:
- Fallout
- Fallout 2
- Fallout Tactics
- Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition
- Fallout: New Vegas – Ultimate Edition
- Fallout 4: Game of the Year Edition
- Fallout 76
It's a big package by any measure but as a collector myself, the absence of physical media it is disappointing. The mini-nuke is very cool (it even makes an explosion noise, wheeee) but without a game on a disc it feels more like a tchotchke—a big, heavy, awesome tchotchke, yes, but still just a bit of swag rather than a proper game. Such is the way of the digital era I suppose, but is it really a collector's edition of a game if it doesn't include the game?
Of course that leads into a philosophical debate about whether an account-specific, single-use key qualifies as "including the game" and I would argue that it does not, but I also recognize that's a conversation best had on obscure forums that have been operating since 1998 and so we won't get into it here. Bottom line, your mileage may vary on that front but if collecting Fallout is your thing, rather than collecting games in general, then this might just be the bomb (so to speak), especially if you missed out on the first Fallout Anthology.
The Fallout S.P.E.C.I.A.L. Anthology was listed as sold out when I checked it yesterday, but apparently that was either an error or Bethesda has increased the size of the run, because it's once again available for preorder for $60 (or your local equivalent) with a release date set for April 11—one day before the Fallout TV series on Amazon is set to air. Be aware that there are separate store links for North American and international customers: The NA page says the new anthology can only be shipped to addresses in the US and Canada, but the international link will get it to the EU, UK, and Australia/New Zealand.
