Black Isle's team made sure that you would roam the wasteland in the right conditions: the game is even more open than its predecessor and you will discover new locations as you go through the desert and talk to its denizens. The elusive nature of your quest will ensure that you will go through most of the West Coast and its broken, twisted communities before getting a lead on where the GECK is located. The order of the locations you visit is not set, and each town provides another viewpoint of the conflicts playing out.

Decades have passed since you walked the wasteland in the first game: communities have somewhat evolved and human societies had enough time to rebuild themselves. Though the rule of law now seemingly governs many of those settlements, you will quickly discover that these “laws” doesn't necessarily mean “greater good” and that man is still a wolf to man. You will encounter countless situations where slavery is perfectly accepted, and where people are experimented upon with drugs in so-called “stables.”

When it comes to player freedom, open-worldness is not the only thing Fallout 2 has going for it, for the game is tailored to reward you for going your own way. The early-game ammo scarcity, the frequency at which you'll end up outnumbered and outgunned, basically encourages you to find ways to get your first decent gear, often in undignified ways. Again, the world of Fallout is ruthless and you might just have to take sides in petty gang wars, pillage graves, sell slaves and rob honest people's homes in order to survive.

Always promoting the player's agenda, the way most of the skills are used is left to the player's discretion of when and how to use them. You're rarely prompted to use them at all, and no message will pop up on the screen to tell you which quest can be solved by sneaking into the criminal kingpin's office.