Quick, have you seen the new Fallout 4 trailer Bethesda released yesterday? No? Here, do yourself a favor and fill your eyeholes with glorious images of the latest installment of the post-apocalyptic video game franchise. And if you have watched it, WATCH IT AGAIN! There is no way you can ever get enough of Ron Perlman’s sultry voice warning you about impending nuclear destruction. G’head… We’ll wait.
Okay, everyone up to speed? Great. There is probably not a single person that I know who is as excited for Fallout 4 as I am. And as the only video game buff and Fallout fanboy over here at Racket I am going to give you a rundown of the trailer, as well has gush speculation all over you.
The trailer starts off with the aforementioned Ron Perlman, known amongst fans for growling out the Fallout franchise’s token tagline “War… War never changes,” at the onset of each game. Yet this time he is a hapless radio announcer who has the unfortunate job of letting the public know that the bombs have started falling and the Great War of 2077 has begun. All the while, the Ink Spots perform “It’s All Over but the Crying”. This is very reminiscent of the Fallout 3 announcement trailer from way back in 2007 where we had the Ink Spots singing “I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire.” We get an unprecedented look at pre-apocalypse America through a series of flashbacks that include a Mr. Handy personal robot serving breakfast, a family cooing over their baby, and scared citizens attempting to flee into a nearby Vault-Tec vault only to be stopped by the military. We are then treated to a series of images that begins with Vault 111’s giant pneumatic door opening, what appears to be the player character stepping out into the wasteland, then jump-cuts to all over war-torn Boston. Fenway Park, the golden dome of the Massachusetts state house, a rocket-powered USS Constitution, and the statue of Paul Revere at North End make notable appearances.
Finally, after we have another flashback of a group of not so lucky refugees witnessing an atomic blast while standing on the door to Vault 111, we focus back on the German shepherd that had been sniffing around the house in the beginning of the trailer. The dog makes its way past a garage where various recognizable weapons like a laser rifle and a mini gun hang on a peg board and sit under a dust cloth respectively. But the focus of this scene is not the minute details (of which there are tons) but he rig hoisting up the seemingly in-repair T-45b power armor suit. (Can you say “Power Armor Modification”?) The trailer ends with the dog exiting the garage to meet up with who we can assume is the player character, who, for the first time in franchise history, speaks with the voice of… Wait a minute. Is that Troy Baker?! You know, Troy “Booker DeWitt/ Pagan Min/ Every Voice in a Video Game in Recent Memory” Baker? Somebody open a window for I am comin’ down with a straight case of the vapors…
Okay, okay, okay. So we’re all on the same page with what’s going on in the trailer. But what does it all mean? Well the long rumored Boston setting has obviously been confirmed. Is that a clear indicator we get to explore the Fallout universe’s version of MIT, dubbed “The Institute”? Maybe even get a peek at how they make those eerily human-like androids we first met in Fallout 3’s side mission, “The Replicated Man”? I can only hope we get the chance to go all Blade Runner on some replicants or even help the secretive Railroad aide said androids in escaping to freedom. And what about those new vehicles? We get several clear shots of the series stable vertibirds flying around. There’s even a never before seen version of the famous craft with a rear-facing cargo door. Don’t even get me started on the armored airship patrolling the skies over North End. The only factions in Fallout lore capable of such a technological feat would be the Enclave (whose remnants were scattered at the end of Fallout 3) or the Brotherhood of Steel (who aren’t exactly known for their giant battle dirigibles). Maybe the Commonwealth, Fallout’s version of the Massachusetts, isn’t as big a violent cesspool as we were lead to believe in Fallout 3.
Returning fans of the series will notice a huge difference between this entry and the previous two. Look at all that COLOR! This trailer was made with assets from the actual game, and while it doesn’t have Witcher 3 like graphics, the sheer amount of color in Fallout 4 compared to Both Fallout 3 and New Vegas is astounding. Look at that shot of Diamond City, the shanty town that has sprung up outside Fenway Park. Even though it is clearly a post-apocalyptic slum, it is a vibrant, colorful post-apocalyptic slum! See that noodle restaurant? Look how red it is! Not even the supposed jewel of the desert, New Vegas, was as colorful as that.
All in all I am ludicrously excited to see what Fallout 4 has in store for us. Not including the research for this article I have watched the trailer at least two dozen times. And I will probably watch it at least a couple dozen more before Bethesda’s pre-E3 press conference on Sunday, June 14th. The world premiere of the game is set to take place at 7pm PST and will be streamed live on Twitch and YouTube. So until then, be safe, keep your copy of the Wasteland Survival Guide handy, and remember: War never changes.