Since it began in 1997, the Fallout franchise as a whole has influenced countless developers, and it’s base concept and gameplay stands the test of time. The premise of a world destroyed by nuclear war is grim, but was handled with the perfect darkly comedic tone by original developers Black Isle Studios, which was carried on by Bethesda in Fallout 3. That sense of atmosphere is one of the reasons we enjoy exploring the wasteland so much. With the newest entry in the Fallout series on the way, we thought we would take a look back and talk about why we love it so much. Here’s the Top 10 reasons we love Fallout.

Number 10 - The Music

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Number 9 - The Characters

Number 8 - The World

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Number 7 - The Casting

Number 6 - The Story

Number 5 - Companions

Number 4 - Weapon Design

Number 3 - V.A.T.S.

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Number 2 - Easter Eggs

Number 1 - Taking itself seriously

Music plays an important role in any game, but the soundtrack that plays through your PIP Boy’s radio as you’re wandering the wasted lands of Fallout 3 and New Vegas has a lot of character. Fallout 3 utilizes the charisma of post-apocalyptic DJ Three Dog to keep you immersed in the world while exposing your ears to innuendo-laden tunes from the past that fantastically set the tone of your adventure. The themes of the haunting tracks focus on family, love, and loss, while New Vegas uses classic tunes that scream Las Vegas to tie the world together. Before that, Fallout 2’s intro used “A kiss to build a dream on” continuing the tradition of using a classic tune to set the mood. The original Fallout also used unsettling ambient tracks that kept you on the edge as you fought for xp or explored new sights. We love that music plays such a huge part in your overall experience of Fallout.Since the original Fallout, character design has been incredibly important. Fully animated character faces and voiced dialogue weren’t common in 1997, especially not when the characters react differently based on what you’ve done or what statement you choose as a response. Not only that, but their designs are also superb, and yet again help immerse you in this bizarre twisted world. That’s carried forward into Bethesda’s games. Be it the ghouls, mutants, humans, or vault dwellers, each face you encounter has a different persona written all over it. Diversity does not seem to be a problem in this crazy crazy place.The world you explore is a character in itself. There’s not a single set piece in Fallout that isn’t fully realized and designed to fit into the larger narrative. Each of the vaults you encounter have stories of their own to tell, and often, there are clues about how things went horribly wrong. The open world may look desolate at times, but finding a mysterious burnt-out village or a run-down grocery store is incredibly exciting because there’s always something interesting happening around every corner. Not to mention the iconic locales like Megaton from Fallout 3 or The Hub from Fallout 1. No matter where you go, you’re bound to find surprises.Fallout has always had a talented set of voice actors at their disposal. Be it Ron Perlman delivering the introductory monologue of every game, or singer Wayne Newton playing Mr. New Vegas, there’s never a shortage of talent delivering those iconic lines to your character. Liam Neeson even played your father in Fallout 3, and was the driving force behind the main quest line. No matter which Fallout you're in, the acting is superb and littered with unique characters throughout the lands. Some will make you laugh, others will make you cry, and that ability to so often evoke an emotional response is why we love meeting them.Because you have a degree of control over the outcome of each Fallout game, the stories stand out as special. At the end of New Vegas, you had the option to align with one of the factions, or end the story on your terms. Even the original Fallout showcased the power of choice allowing you to fight, blow up, or convince the Supermutants’ Master to commit suicide at the end. Besides the main story, there are also branching storylines for sidequests you’ll encounter that are sometimes even more powerful. For example, in Fallout 3, the choice to destroy Megaton in exchange for a fancy room is a controversial decision that stuck in many players’ minds. Those memorable choices are the reason we love to play out these stories again and again.Chances are high that you’ll make a friend or two during your time in the post-apocalyptic world, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. Dog Meat, your trusty canine friend, is a staple of the franchise, but there are other favorites like Fawkes, Lily Bown, Rex, Sergeant RL-3 and all the others are all just as memorable. No matter who you ended up with, their banter and reactions were usually welcome, or at the very least their ability to carry large quantities of junk that you can sell later. We love you guys, even if you get in the way from time to time.Fallout’s weapons are amazing! We love the way these weapons look and feel, be it the experimental Mirv that fires eight projectiles at once for massive overkill, the Alien Blaster that you can randomly find while wandering, or Euclid’s C-Finder, which rains down power from the heavens. Even the smaller armaments make you feel all powerful by evaporating your opponent into ash… that said, there’s one thing that really sells their power which we’ll take a look at in our Number 3 entry...The Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System, or V.A.T.S., is my personal favorite gameplay element in the series. It allows you to pause the action and plan your attack with deadly precision. Not only that, but you get to sit back and watch the action unfold after you hit the execute button that begins a short movie which usually ends with a gory mess. It even comes in handy for strategy, as shooting a deathclaw in the leg with a slow dart can give you plenty of time to pick away at his health while you stay out of reach of the sharp parts from which he gets his name. We’re excited to see what new spin Bethesda puts on VATS for Fallout 4.There are pop-culture references to movies, TV, and even their own games littered throughout the Fallout world, and it’s one of the best experiences when you catch one of these amazing easter eggs. For example, Sugar Bombs are a reference to Calvin and Hobbes’ favorite cereal. A robot in Fallout 2 will repeatedly say “I’m sorry Dave” a clear reference to 2001: A Space Odyssey. There’s even a little bit of Star Wars in New Vegas that you can discover as you stumble across two skeletons named Owen and Beru, a.k.a. Luke Skywalker’s aunt and uncle. There are countless more where those came from, but one of the biggest reasons we love Fallout is because it all works in this wacky wasteland.The fact that you can still laugh in a world filled with death, cannibals, ghouls, and mutants is a testament to Fallout’s designers’ ability to write compelling, interesting, and evocative questlines. For example, in the original Fallout you could set your intelligence so low that you couldn’t communicate with anyone except for simple grunts, but you could still beat the game! Harold the ghoul and Bob the tree are fan favorites because even though they’ve got a pretty miserable existence, they have a mostly positive outlook on life… even if they are kind of crazy. Even Fallout 3’s good ol’ Moira Brown will send you on a messed-up quest to finish an interesting book, or will maintain her cheery attitude after you destroy her hometown of Megaton and leave her ghoulified. The entire world is so well written that certain quests can bring a tear to an eye, but for the most part it’s just a ton of fun to explore.Well, that’s 10 reasons we love Fallout. Do you have a Fallout memory you’d like to share? Let us know about it in the comments below and for more on pip boys and ghouls you’re already in the right place. IGN.

Destin Legarie is an Editorial Producer at IGN. Follow him on Twitter here