Fallout 5may still be a ways off, with Bethesda working onStarfieldandThe Elder Scrolls 6for the foreseeable future. However, when the next game in the satirical post-apocalyptic series arrives, it will need to hit the ground running to restore the series’ reputation after the disappointing reception ofFallout 76and some of the major flaws inFallout 4.
Fallout 5should take a leaf out ofBioShock’s book. There’s one key element of theBioShockseries that used to be present in theFalloutgames, but has fallen to the wayside in Bethesda’s additions to the franchise. Taking inspiration fromBioShockdoesn’t come without risks, however, withBioShockgoing through its own changes that could make it more similar toFallout.
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The Philosophy Of Fallout
The philosophy of theFalloutgames developed by Bethesda Game Studios pack a considerably weaker punch thanFallout 1and2. The first two games had prominent anticapitalistic themes and stronger, more complicated philosophical differences between its main factions. The lack of this in Bethesda’sFalloutgames becomes particularly evident when comparing them toFallout: New Vegas, developed by Obsidian.
InNew Vegas, the two major factions arethe New California Republicand Caesar’s Legion. The NCR is attempting to rebuild pre-war American capitalist democracy despite it being that structure that led America to Nuclear Armageddon, a point quite convincingly made by Mr. House himself. The Legion, on the other hand, is a murderous cult of personality gaining traction in the face of the NCR’s utterly ineffective opposition.
InFallout 4, it’s far less clear what the ideological position of factions likethe Minutemenand the Brotherhood of Steel are, despite the Brotherhood having a clearer philosophy in pastFalloutgames. Even the question of Synth consciousness which divides the Institute from the Railroad is left up to the interpretation of the player, with definitive moral judgements made on the matter. The fact thatFallout 4’s factions are open to greater interpretation doesn’t make them more interesting. Ultimately, it just means they have less to say.
Some critics have even pointed out that Obsidian’sThe Outer Worlds, which poised itself asFallout’s spiritual successor in the satirical sci-fi genre, has a greater understanding of the originalFalloutgames’ anticapitalistic themes than Bethesda either understands or is willing to risk commenting on. It’s theBioShockseries, however, which could be a great guiding light forFallout 5.
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BioShock And Ideology
BioShockhas never pulled any punches with the depictions of the philosophies it takes on, or showing where the developers supposedly stand. The first game takes place in the Objectivist dystopia ofRapture, a city built under the sea by extreme free-market capitalist Andrew Ryan. It’s clear from Ryan’s extremely unsympathetic depiction and Rapture’s ultimate collapse where the storytellers stand on Ayn Rand and Objectivism.
InBioShock: Infinite, the franchise tackled American nationalism and racism in Columbia, a city in the sky.Infinitedidn’t hold back from depicting the extreme ugliness of its focal philosophy. There’s even a scene where the player is given a baseball at a fair, before it’s revealed that they’re being encouraged to throw it at an interracial couple being tortured for the crowd’s amusement. The game goes as far as to reference real historical events like the Boxer Rebellion in China and the massacre of the Lakota people by the United States Army at Wounded Knee, which the protagonistBooker DeWitthimself participated in.
The clarity oftheBioShockgames’ positions isn’t a downside. It isn’t the case that the player is being forced to take a particular stance, but the stories clearly demonstrate their intent to make a point about the philosophies depicted. In contrast,Fallout 4includes many different philosophies, while shying away from making any statements on them which could be too decisive or divisive. As a result,Fallout 4undermines its own ability to tell an exciting story in a world which sometimes feels like it’s asking players not to engage with it too much.
BioShock Becoming Fallout
There is a risk toFalloutbecoming more likeBioShock- it already seems likeBioShockmight be becoming more likeFallout. Job listings fromBioShock 4’s development studioCloud Chamberhave hinted that the next game may have more RPG elements than previousBioShockgames.
The listing for the position of Systems Designer, for example, asked for direct experience designing an “emergent sandbox world,” implying thatBioShock 4could have an open-world more similar toFallout’s than the first three games. Similarly, the listing for Senior Voice Designer asks for experience creating branching dialogue systems.BioShockhas never had branching dialogue or even multiple dialogue options before, implying thatBioShock 4could have an RPG style system.
BioShock 4is also being developed at a new studio withoutKen Levine, who is working on his own project. The future of the franchise is less clear than ever, and it’s very hard to say whetherBioShock 4will be able to live up to the original orInfinite, despite several original developers joining Cloud Chamber to work on the series’ next chapter.
While it could be bad forBioShockandFalloutto become more similar and meet in the middle, theFalloutfranchise can definitely learn a lot from the philosophical tenacity ofBioShock. If anything, the risk may be more on BioShock’s side, and it’s hard to see the downsides ofFalloutadopting a stronger approach to its depictions of different ideologies, even if the two franchises do end up being more similar over the coming years.
It’s clear fromFallout 4’s voiced protagonist and character-driven premise that Bethesda wants to tell more story-driven games in theFalloutfranchise than the studio’s other open-world games. IfBethesdais going to succeed, however, it has to tell stories which don’t pull their punches when it comes to controversial topics that deserve full focus.
