11 Games (That Aren't Fallout) To Play After Watching Fallout

If you love the Fallout franchise or show, then any of the Metro games would be worth checking out. However, of the trilogy, I’d suggest Metro Exodus above the first two entries as it moves the franchise into a semi-open world gameplay loop. Combined with its post-apocalyptic Russian setting, Metro Exodus is practically a Fallout game and a damn fine one, too. Oh, and you get to visit various locations—including a swamp and a large desert—via your own personal train. How luxurious!

The original Wasteland, a turn-based post-apocalyptic RPG released on PC back in 1988, was developed by many of the same people who would go on to create Fallout. However, when Interplay couldn’t get the rights to Wasteland back from EA, they went and made Fallout instead.

But in 2014, Wasteland creator Brian Fargo and inXile Entertainment revived the series and released Wasteland 2 via Kickstarter. Then in 2020, they released Wasteland 3. Both games are worth checking out if you are a fan of the classic Fallout games, as the Wasteland sequels retain the isometric camera and turn-based action of OG Fallout and Wasteland. And for fans of the show, Wasteland 2 and 3 will feel like weird alternate universe spin-offs of the Fallout franchise.

Sure, the Fallout franchise isn’t filled with zombies (unless you count Feral Ghouls) but Days Gone and Bethesda’s “end of the world” RPG series share similar vibes. Like in Fallout, in Days Gone you spend most of your time alone in desolate, once-alive spaces filled with hostile enemies and resources to be looted. But in Days Gone you also own a sweet motorcycle that you can drive around on and upgrade. Just be prepared to yell at the main character for talking too much.

The Mad Max game, developed by Just Cause studio Avalanche Games, never got the love it deserved at launch. And that’s a shame!

Sure, this open-world post-apocalyptic action game can get a bit repetitive and the story isn’t the most memorable, but practically everything else is fantastic. The wasteland has never looked so grimy and pretty. Plus, if you like the melee combat in the Batman Arkham games, you’ll love punching crowds of raiders in Mad Max. 

What would happen if you took the gameplay of Far Cry 4 and covered it in neon, filled it with mutants and stuffed in some Fallout-like post-apocalyptic lore? Well, you don’t have to wonder, you can just play Far Cry: New Dawn, a stand-alone spin-off that does exactly that. 

New Dawn is a smaller, wackier spin on Ubisoft’s popular open-world FPS franchise, featuring two evil twins as the main baddies and a lot of pink. Its ending isn’t great, but for Fallout fans looking to explore a colorful wasteland, I’d recommend New Dawn.

The Stalker games are far more serious and challenging than recent Fallout games. But if you can get past the harder gameplay and darker tone, this Ukraine-based open-world FPS survival horror series will provide some genuine scares and wonderful exploration of a hauntingly beautiful and dangerous world. The series was recently ported to consoles, too, making it easier than ever to check out these games ahead of the much-anticipated next installment in the franchise.

Unlike Fallout, The Division is set in a more contemporary, not-nuked-out wasteland—in the case of the first game a snowy NYC after a deadly virus has hit—but the post-apocalyptic vibes are still there. And unlike Fallout, the combat in the Division is good!

You’ll have to ignore the story, which is a very by-the-numbers Tom Clancy tale of soldiers and patriots, but get beyond that and you’ll discover one of the best-looking open-world maps ever created. The Division’s quiet, but not quite dead take on a snowy NYC struggling to survive is still remarkable to explore years later.

I remember describing the original Dying Light to a friend as “Fallout 3, but it looks better, you can climb everything and there are zombies.” Admittedly, there are some other key differences, but I stand by that description. Like Fallout, Dying Light presents a dying open world filled with side quests, things to collect, and places to explore.

The melee combat and parkour help Dying Light feel different than all the other zombie-infested games out there and playing online with a friend via co-op is a blast. The sequel is good too, but if you are craving something that feels more like Fallout, I’d check out the first game instead.

The original Rage might look more like Fallout than its colorful sequel does, but Rage 2 plays more like Bethesda’s open-world RPG franchise. If your favorite parts of the Fallout universe are the weirder moments or the over-the-top gore, Rage 2 is the perfect game to play.

Like Fallout 3, New Vegas, and Fallout 4, Rage 2 is a big open-world post-apocalyptic playground to explore. But in Rage 2 you have a badass car, awesome guns, and powerful abilities that make you a one-man killing machine. It’s like Doom Eternal and Fallout had a baby and covered it in neon and explosions. Good stuff.

Before Fallout, Bethesda developed some old-school FPS games based on the Terminator franchise. These were, in many ways, prototypes for the open-world action games Bethesda would later create. And Terminator Resistance is essentially a modern continuation of Bethesda’s semi-open-world Terminator games, complete with RPG-like elements. Terminator Resistance feels almost like a low-budget Fallout sequel, and that’s a compliment.

If you are still craving some post-apocalyptic content after all these games and watching the Fallout show, then you might just be obsessed with the end of the world. But also, I’d recommend watching these films: The Road, Tank Girl, Land of The Dead, War for the Planet of the Apes, Mad Max Fury Road, Escape From New York, and Children of Men. And if you still need more post-apocalyptic content after all that, well, I guess you can patiently wait for the massive fan game Fallout London to release one day.