Category: Fallout

Fall-ing Out of the norm, and making statements.

I read an article that puts together the creepiest locations within Fallout 4, and some it happens to relate to my previous discussion of infanticide. I formerly mentioned that I believed infanticide to not be a possibility within the game, but now I see that it is mentioned but not demonstrated. One of the creepiest … Continue reading “Fall-ing Out of the norm, and making statements.”

I read an article that puts together the creepiest locations within Fallout 4, and some it happens to relate to my previous discussion of infanticide. I formerly mentioned that I believed infanticide to not be a possibility within the game, but now I see that it is mentioned but not demonstrated. One of the creepiest locations that takes place in the post-apocalyptic world is the Suffolk County Charter School. When one visits this area, there is an abundance of lifeless pink bodies that used to be children. Upon further investigation of the history of the school, one finds out that the dead pink corpses are a result of a government nutrition program (Martin). We are told that the government wanted to try different cafeteria food, so they replaced all of their options with pink sludge. However, this experiment failed, as the alternative sludge turned the children violent and their skin pink (Martin). It is not known whether the children fought amongst one another or were killed, but they were certainly harmed.

I think this phenome makes multiple arguments about our society in general. Firstly, it felt weird showing up to a school with a gun and having to shoot ghouls. I cannot help but feel that this is making a comment on the school shootings that have occurred in our society, more recently Sandy Hook. I was made uncomfortable by the fact that in some ways I was taking on the role of school shooter without meaning to. While it is clear that I was shooting ghouls and hot children, the perspectives of showing up to a place of learning while armed is unnerving. It is possible that the game developers wanted one to have this disturbing experience to make a statement about the danger of guns, especially in the learning environment. The other statement that I believe this location makes concerns the government’s involvement in public education and it’s (sometimes) lack of concern. The school approved the pink sludge without the consent of the faculty and members of the school. This decision that was made in spite of the students ended up hurting them and the community. This occurs in real life, where school programs and faculty are cut or changed in a manner that is detrimental to children. Many public schools often have to deal with the negative consequences of government decisions, much like Suffolk County Charter School.

 

Source: http://www.looper.com/12232/scariest-fallout-4-locations-ever-discovered/

Infanticide is Never okay? Not even in a war-torn game.

I had previously heard a lot about the “Fallout” franchise yet had never come into contact with it, so I entered Fallout 4 cold turkey. Purely basing my opinion off of the cover of the game, even though you are not supposed to, I imagined this as an all-out futuristic war game akin to that … Continue reading “Infanticide is Never okay? Not even in a war-torn game.”

I had previously heard a lot about the “Fallout” franchise yet had never come into contact with it, so I entered Fallout 4 cold turkey. Purely basing my opinion off of the cover of the game, even though you are not supposed to, I imagined this as an all-out futuristic war game akin to that of Call of Duty and related games instead ,during my first thirty minutes, I did not get that experience, but this can be attributed to the “tutorial” phase of the game where one is getting used to the controls and game functions. Through my progression of the game I began to see Fallout as a basic shooter game that takes place in a wasteland (I am legend?), but the game’s intro sequences challenged my thinking.

When the game is loading up we are treated to multiple scenes that describes what is about to happen in the game, even before the game starts up. One of the sequences that caught my eye exclusively was humanity’s ability to use radioactive energy as a source for something other than destruction. In our society the word “nuclear” is often associated with negative terms and war, yet this society managed to turned this potentially harmful energy source into something productive that makes them advanced for the 21st century. I have not played any other game that chose to take this route specifically, so seeing this narrative take place was new and refreshing.

A peculiar trend that I noticed in this game that relates to societal taboos in media is the role of infanticide. There is a scene where the main character’s wife is killed but her baby is kept alive and taken away. I understand that this could follow the stereotypical “let us keep the baby so we may use it to found a new society” thinking that many entertainment villains take, but it speaks volumes about what we can and cannot accept. I think that some players would have been bothered had the game decided to cold bloodedly kill the game and take the mother away instead of what actually happened. I cannot remember the last time a baby was shot on screen. This leads me to think “does society value certain lives more than others?” This question has many implications to the black lives matter movement that is found within our society right now. Not only should we wonder if society does value certain lives over others, we should seek to question why. Why do baby lives matter more than adult lives? It is highly possible that the kidnapping of the child was purely done to play into the narrative developed in the game, but this possibility should not discourage our questions.