Fallouthas always been a post-apocalyptic sci-fi series, but the genre of each game is also deeply affected by its setting.Fallout: New Vegas, for example, took the game to the Mojave Wasteland, giving the game a distinct western influence as players became noble rangers exploring the west or cruel outlaws exploiting its people at every turn.
Fallout 5’s location should have a big impact on its genre as well. WhileFallout: New Vegasleaned in to its backdrop of a revived Wild West,Fallout 3andFallout 4didn’t take as much advantage of the opportunity to explore how their settings could influence the game’s genre as well. That’s somethingFallout 5could experiment with by investing in the location and genre which could come with them.
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Chicago: Mob Movies
Chicago has yet to appear in aFalloutgame outside of the intro toFallout: Tactics.Fallout 4already experimented with the gangster genre with fan-favorite companion Nick Valentine, who migrated from Chicago to Boston to help take down notorious mob boss Eddie Winter. Chicago, however, could provide a setting forFallout 5to explore the gangster genre to the same extent thatNew Vegasrooted itself as a western.
Some of the most famous early gangster movies were set in Chicago, like 1931’sThe Public Enemy. Mob movies – like the mob itself – began to flourish thanks to the Prohibition Era, leading to the rise of famous gangsters like Al Capone. Though alcohol can be found all over theFalloutgames, the series has plenty of other fictional substances, known aschems inFallout, which could easily provide the basis for bootlegging plotlines.
There’s a rich history of mob fiction from the ‘30s through to Scorsese movies and TV shows likeThe Sopranoswhich the developers could engage with and be influenced by. Not all mob movies take place in Chicago, but it’s certainly the USA’s most notorious mobster city, at least in fiction. It’s a genre ripe forFallout’s trademark satirical edge, and gangster-run Chicago could provide a breath of fresh air while still sticking to the 1930s through early ‘60s aesthetics that theFalloutgames are known for.
New Orleans: Film Noir
New Orleans would be a great setting for aFalloutgame,as it has an incredibly distinct identity as an American city. This city has been a setting for melodramatic noir movies like 1956’sNightmareor 1950’sPanic in the Streets.
Not only that, but New Orleans famous jazz scene would provide the game with a unique sound while the city’s iconic French Colonial architecture would make New Orleans stand out against the otherFalloutgames even in ruins, especially lit up at night. New Orleans is far from the only noir setting seen in movies, but could also add a healthy dose of southern gothic influence as well, while also taking players to a rarely seen part ofFallout’s post-Great Warworld.
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California: Counterculture Movies
TheFalloutgames have already explored California, withFallout 1taking place in the southern part of the state. However,Fallout 5could not only render theNew California Republicas a fully explorable 3D world, but could also show something the culture ofFallout’s world has seemingly resisted for centuries: cultural change.
A game set in California could explore influences from famous countercultural biker movies likeThe Wild AngelsandEasy Riderto revolutionary dramas likeRebel Without a Cause.Fallouttakes place in a world where intense technological progress massively outpaced cultural change, and even by the late 2200s much of the culture still resembles the culture of the post-War American economic boom. California would be a great setting for a newFalloutgame that begins to explore some of the change that began to take place in the 1960s asFallout’s inhabitants begin to solidify their existence in the post-War world.Fallouthasn’t entirely avoiding the ‘60s before – Dion’s “The Wanderer” featured inFallout 4and its trailer showing offthe Sole Survivor.
However, aFallout 5set in Californiacould explore the aesthetics of the youth counterculture that began to develop as a reaction to the culture of the ‘50s. While it would go against theFalloutfeel to start introducing songs by The Beatles, some of the first countercultural movies–often set in California–could provide a great basis for a transition that is only just beginning to take root.
The Pacific Northwest: Monster Movies
Fallout 2already took place in Oregon, but aFalloutgame set in a post-nuclear Pacific Northwest could be a cryptozoologist’s dream come true. Washington State is known for its cryptids from its most famous, Bigfoot, to a plethora of lesser known monsters from Caddy the sea-serpent of Cadboro Bay to the Monster of Patridge Creek.
While Japanese Monster Movies likeGodzillaandMothrawould later transform the genre, earlier horror films likeCreature from the Black Lagoonmight serve as a better basis forFallout 5’s genre shift. If nothing else,Fallout’s lore and cartoonish way of dealing with mutation makes all of the area’s legendary creatures make perfect sense in the game’s story, while still adding a completely new feel to the series that could see everyone from scientists to big game hunters flocking to the region.
There are plenty of other placesFallout 5could takes fans of the franchise, and plenty of other genres to give the game local flavor. The point, however, is thatFallout 5can’t simply present players with another irradiated city scape. The Fallout games already present a heightened image of a post-War America that borders on silly at times, fromFallout:New Vegas’ Wild Wild Westto the existence of old-timey Boston mobsters well into the 23rd century.
Fallout 5could explore the aesthetics of pulp comic characters likeThe Shadow, already heavily referenced inFallout 4’s Silver Shroud questline. The games could take a trip down to sunny Florida, though modders have already made significant progress onFallout: Miami. Wherever the next game goes, Bethesda needs to make sure it doesn’t just incorporate local landmarks, but also invests heavily in the genres of fiction generated in those places.
Fallout 5has not been announced.
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