Fallout 4

Fallout 4 is an open world action role-playing video game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. The fifth major installment in the Fallout series, the game was released worldwide on November 10, 2015 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

Sanctuary Hills, Massachusetts, circa 2077 is a pleasant place to live in. You've done your service to your country and are just happy to settle down with your spouse and newborn son. And despite the worries of the age, it seems at long last that peace has finally come. That is, until the Great War finally arrives, forcing you and your family to flee to nearby Vault 111, making it just in time...only to be frozen as part of the Vault's experiment. By the time you wake up, your family's gone, centuries have passed, and you're desperate for answers in what's left of the old Commonwealth.

Fallout 4 is set in a post-apocalyptic Boston in the year 2287, 210 years after a devastating nuclear war, with a prologue set on the day the bombs fell in 2077. Gameplay is similar to Fallout 3, though significantly builds on the improvements introduced in Fallout New Vegas. The player completes various quests and acquires experience points to level up their character. With first- and third-person perspectives available, players can explore the Fallout 4 open world setting at will, allowing nonlinear gameplay. Companions can accompany the player on their voyages to assist them in battles and help with scavenging. Players have the ability to construct and deconstruct buildings and items, and use them to build a settlement, which can attract and be inhabited by non-playable characters.

Fallout 4 was rumored several times prior to the game's announcement. The game was announced on June 3, 2015, and the first gameplay footage of the game was shown at Bethesda's own conference at the 2015 Electronic Entertainment Expo. The game features full voice acting for the protagonist, a first in the series.


 * Alternate History: Further expounded upon, in addition to the existing lore. Scollay Square, where Goodneighbor is located, was a major Boston attraction before it was demolished and remodelled in real life. Likewise, in the Fallout continuity, the Boston Red Sox still hadn't won a World Series since 1918 by 2077, when in reality, the team finally did so in 2004.
 * Continuity Nod:
 * The East Coast Brotherhood of Steel incorporate elements of the Midwestern chapter in addition to some of the reforms Owyn Lyons implemented in Fallout 3. They're also mentioned as being in contact with (and ultimately answering to) the original Lost Hills Elders in the West Coast.
 * The Institute can be described as what the Think Tank and Big MT would be like if fully sober and sane.
 * The Minutemen are akin to a prototypical NCR crossed with the Desert Rangers seen in the first Fallout games. The founding of the NCR itself is captured in a flashback sequence via someone else's memories.
 * The Railroad were previously introduced in Fallout 3 but play a much larger role here in opposing the Institute and its "slaving" of Synths.
 * In one particular section from Kellogg's memories that's accessible later on, news of the formal founding of the New California Republic and Aradesh's election as its first president can be heard on the radio.
 * Dunwich Borers, the same company that owned the infamous Dunwich Building in DC (as seen in Fallout 3), had operations around Boston that are just as Lovecraftian.
 * Dead Man Writing: Not only memories.
 * Empire with a Dark Secret: It's a relatively open secret among the Commonwealth's denizens that there are some shady goings-on within the Institute, enough to prompt the East Coast Brotherhood of Steel to intervene. But the full extent of its plans are so insidious that even those within the Institute try to downplay it, instead focusing more on their pretensions of progressing humanity.
 * Fish Out of Temporal Water:
 * The Sole Survivor himself/herself, being an American citizen from before the Great War.
 * Nick Valentine, a Synth gumshoe detective who, despite his appearance acts like he's straight out an old Film Noir piece ala Humphrey Bogart. It's justified however in that his personality is that of a Pre-War police officer, whose memories and final case form part of his personal quest.
 * Vault 81, one of the handful of (if not the only) functional Vaults left, is a living microcosm of Pre-War America frozen in time. Of course, there's much more beneath the surface than meets the eye.
 * Averted with Shawn, the Sole Survivor's son.
 * Foil:
 * The Minutemen are this, after a fashion, to the Enclave. While both evoke patriotic memories of Pre-War America and were thought to be dead, the Minutemen legitimately seek to help the Commonwealth and make a difference, all the while harkening back to what America wished it was. They also serve as this to the East Coast Brotherhood of Steel by being everything Lyons wished he could turn the Brotherhood into but ultimately failed in achieving, and with far less technology, resources, and influence.
 * The Brotherhood is this to themselves, or rather their incarnation in Fallout 3. Although concern for the people and their well-being remain part of the East Coast Brotherhood's creed, the main priority is once more the acquisition and preservation of advanced technology, much like the Midwest and West Coast.
 * Vault 81 is this to Vault 101. Whereas the latter was slowly dwindling into oblivion with each generation while following its stated purpose, Vault 81 remains a thriving and sane, if secluded community despite not following its intended directive.
 * Great Offscreen War: Averted, as for the first time, you get to witness the Great War as it happened.
 * Happy Ending Override:
 * Played with for Fallout 3. The East Coast Brotherhood of Steel seized the day in the Capital Wasteland, with no small thanks to the Lone Wanderer. On the other hand, both Owyn and Sarah Lyons died not long after, many (but not all) of their reforms undone as the current Elder, Arthur Maxson once more reunited with the Outcasts and the previously estranged West Coast Brotherhood in the Lost Hills. It's also implied that the Brotherhood rules over DC like feudal overlords.
 * Averted for Fallout New Vegas: It's strongly suggested if not outright stated that the New California Republic crushed Caesar's Legion at the Second Battle of Hoover Dam. To the point that people in the Commonwealth are at least aware of Caesar's failure and the NCR's existence.
 * Just Before the End: The prologue sequence set in 2077, on the very day of the Great War.
 * Patriotic Fervor: Downplayed somewhat, but both the Minutemen and Railroad evoke rousing shades of America at its best.
 * Scenery Gorn: In addition to the blasted ruins left behind by the War, there's the Glowing Sea, an irradiated hellscape where the nuclear bomb meant for Boston actually landed.
 * Scenery Porn: Both the Pre-War and 2287-era Commonwealth are a sight to behold, to say the least.
 * Town with a Dark Secret: Vault 81 is a rather benevolent example. On the one hand, it's a rather upbeat time capsule of Pre-War America that's a control vault in all but name.
 * World Half Full: Compared to the Crapsack World that's the Capitol Wasteland and even the (relatively) thriving Mojave, the Commonwealth has quite a bit going for it. Only one nuclear warhead was ever launched at Boston and missed it. While despite the chaos and turmoil (as well as the deliberate machinations of the Institute), there is a stronger sense of continuity with the Pre-War world as well as a more stable semblance of civilization getting back on its feet.