Bad Blood

Bad Blood is a post-apocalyptic action/role-playing game played from a top-down view. It was created for the Commodore 64 and MS-DOS by ORIGIN Systems and released in 1990. The game designer was Chris Roberts, famous for the Wing Commander saga.

The world is a barren wasteland following nuclear warfare in this Mad Max-like future. Normal humans have chosen to shun the mutants and decide to wipe them out. With war looming on the horizon, your task is finding a more desirable solution to prevent it from happening. You begin your journey by choosing between 3 characters: a human, a green mutant, and a human-looking mutant. You can openly wander the wasteland exploring, discovering, collecting, and talking to NPCs. Combat is in real time, with multiple weapons to choose from. Also, the game cycles through day and night, affecting enemies and NPCs alike. Enemies come in a wide range of options, including the standard irradiated giant bugs, snake people, and fire-breathing fliers, among other things.

Bad Blood has an interesting view perspective in that you seem to be watching it all through a TV screen, with a beer by your side. The interface is simple to pick up on, making it a good fit for even the most novice players. Decently well-received upon release, Bad Blood is a pre-Fallout post-apocalyptic classic.