A recap of...
Fallout 4
Fallout 4 takes place in the year 2287, 10 years after the events of Fallout 3 and 210 years after the Great War, a war between the United States and China over natural resources that ended in a nuclear holocaust in 2077. The setting is post-apocalyptic, covering a region that includes Boston and other parts of New England known as "The Commonwealth". Unlike the previous titles, Fallout 4's story begins on the day the bombs dropped: October 23, 2077.
The game takes place in an alternate version of history that features 1940s and 1950s aesthetics, such as diners and a drive-in theater, while design and technologies advance in the directions imagined during the era. The resulting universe is thus a retro-futuristic one, where the technology has evolved enough to produce laser weapons, manipulate genes and create nearly-autonomous artificial intelligence, all within the confines of 1950s' technology such as the widespread use of atomic power and vacuum tubes, as well as having the integrated circuitry of the digital age. The architecture, advertisements, and general living styles are depicted to be largely unchanged since the 1950s, while including contemporary products, such as a robotic rocking horse for children in one advertisement, or posters for the underground Vaults that play a central role in the storyline of the game.[citation needed]
There are four main factions that the player can choose to support throughout the story; the Institute, a secretive organization that specializes in the creation of artificial humanoids called "synths", the Brotherhood of Steel, an anti-synth faction hoping to preserve and control technology in the Commonwealth; the Minutemen, a faction that aims to drive out raiders and other threats out of the Commonwealth; and the Railroad, a secretive organization dedicated to rescuing synths from the Institute.
In the Commonwealth during the year 2077, the protagonist and their family—consisting of their husband Nate (Brian T. Delaney) or wife Nora (Courtenay Taylor), depending on the player's chosen sex, and their baby son Shaun—escape into Vault 111, gaining entry due to a Vault-Tec representative signing them up for it immediately prior to a nuclear attack. Inside, the family members are tricked into entering cryogenic tubes and frozen alive. 150 years later, the protagonist's spouse is killed and Shaun is taken away by a mysterious group. The life support system malfunctions at a later date and unfreezes the protagonist, who leaves their tube to find the remaining residents of Vault 111 deceased, gaining the nickname of the "Sole Survivor". They return home and reunite with their former robot butler Codsworth (Stephen Russell), who reveals that a total of 210 years have passed since the nuclear attack. At Codsworth's suggestion, the Sole Survivor reaches the nearby town of Concord, befriending a dog named Dogmeat (River) and a member of a revived version of the Minutemen named Preston Garvey (Jon Gentry).
In Diamond City, the Sole Survivor learns that an organization called the Institute has been terrifying the Commonwealth by kidnapping humans and replacing them with Synths, humanoid robots who are indistinguishable from real humans. After rescuing android private detective Nick Valentine (Russell), the Sole Survivor uncovers the identity of their spouse's killer as Conrad Kellogg (Keythe Farley). The Sole Survivor hunts down Kellogg and kills him, though Kellogg spends his last moments revealing that Shaun is being held in the Institute. The Sole Survivor steals a cybernetic device from Kellogg's brain to access his memories with the help of Dr. Amari (Meher Tatna). Meanwhile, the Brotherhood of Steel arrives in the Commonwealth, and a former Institute employee instructs the Sole Survivor to craft a teleportation device required to infiltrate the Institute. With the help of the Railroad, an underground movement aiming to free Synths from the Institute, the Sole Survivor retrieves a chip and has it decoded. After successfully crafting the teleportation device, the Sole Survivor enters the Institute.
The Sole Survivor meets a much older Shaun (Tony Amendola), who is revealed to have become the Institute's director and explains that his abduction 60 years ago was part of a Synth experiment due to his pre-war DNA. Should the Sole Survivor choose to align themselves with Shaun, they learn that Shaun is dying of cancer and agree to his request that they succeed him as the Institute's director, helping him track down and re-enslave escaped Synths. Should the Sole Survivor refuse to join Shaun, they engage in combat against Shaun and the entire Institute with the help of various other anti-Institute factions; the Sole Survivor then detonates a nuclear reactor, destroying the Institute. If the Sole Survivor officially joined the Minutemen earlier in the game, the Minutemen would help them wipe out the other factions.
The game takes place in an alternate version of history that features 1940s and 1950s aesthetics, such as diners and a drive-in theater, while design and technologies advance in the directions imagined during the era. The resulting universe is thus a retro-futuristic one, where the technology has evolved enough to produce laser weapons, manipulate genes and create nearly-autonomous artificial intelligence, all within the confines of 1950s' technology such as the widespread use of atomic power and vacuum tubes, as well as having the integrated circuitry of the digital age. The architecture, advertisements, and general living styles are depicted to be largely unchanged since the 1950s, while including contemporary products, such as a robotic rocking horse for children in one advertisement, or posters for the underground Vaults that play a central role in the storyline of the game.[citation needed]
There are four main factions that the player can choose to support throughout the story; the Institute, a secretive organization that specializes in the creation of artificial humanoids called "synths", the Brotherhood of Steel, an anti-synth faction hoping to preserve and control technology in the Commonwealth; the Minutemen, a faction that aims to drive out raiders and other threats out of the Commonwealth; and the Railroad, a secretive organization dedicated to rescuing synths from the Institute.
In the Commonwealth during the year 2077, the protagonist and their family—consisting of their husband Nate (Brian T. Delaney) or wife Nora (Courtenay Taylor), depending on the player's chosen sex, and their baby son Shaun—escape into Vault 111, gaining entry due to a Vault-Tec representative signing them up for it immediately prior to a nuclear attack. Inside, the family members are tricked into entering cryogenic tubes and frozen alive. 150 years later, the protagonist's spouse is killed and Shaun is taken away by a mysterious group. The life support system malfunctions at a later date and unfreezes the protagonist, who leaves their tube to find the remaining residents of Vault 111 deceased, gaining the nickname of the "Sole Survivor". They return home and reunite with their former robot butler Codsworth (Stephen Russell), who reveals that a total of 210 years have passed since the nuclear attack. At Codsworth's suggestion, the Sole Survivor reaches the nearby town of Concord, befriending a dog named Dogmeat (River) and a member of a revived version of the Minutemen named Preston Garvey (Jon Gentry).
In Diamond City, the Sole Survivor learns that an organization called the Institute has been terrifying the Commonwealth by kidnapping humans and replacing them with Synths, humanoid robots who are indistinguishable from real humans. After rescuing android private detective Nick Valentine (Russell), the Sole Survivor uncovers the identity of their spouse's killer as Conrad Kellogg (Keythe Farley). The Sole Survivor hunts down Kellogg and kills him, though Kellogg spends his last moments revealing that Shaun is being held in the Institute. The Sole Survivor steals a cybernetic device from Kellogg's brain to access his memories with the help of Dr. Amari (Meher Tatna). Meanwhile, the Brotherhood of Steel arrives in the Commonwealth, and a former Institute employee instructs the Sole Survivor to craft a teleportation device required to infiltrate the Institute. With the help of the Railroad, an underground movement aiming to free Synths from the Institute, the Sole Survivor retrieves a chip and has it decoded. After successfully crafting the teleportation device, the Sole Survivor enters the Institute.
The Sole Survivor meets a much older Shaun (Tony Amendola), who is revealed to have become the Institute's director and explains that his abduction 60 years ago was part of a Synth experiment due to his pre-war DNA. Should the Sole Survivor choose to align themselves with Shaun, they learn that Shaun is dying of cancer and agree to his request that they succeed him as the Institute's director, helping him track down and re-enslave escaped Synths. Should the Sole Survivor refuse to join Shaun, they engage in combat against Shaun and the entire Institute with the help of various other anti-Institute factions; the Sole Survivor then detonates a nuclear reactor, destroying the Institute. If the Sole Survivor officially joined the Minutemen earlier in the game, the Minutemen would help them wipe out the other factions.
