After a very long hiatus, the Fallout play-through is back on track! Now that I’m a officially Dr. Thames I should have time this summer to work on this site more often. Welcome to Fallout Friday!
Last year I left off at a fairly significant point, narratively, in terms of opposition to the Institute. Starting day 72, I reflect on that and move forward, picking up a new follower as well, for a new start all around.
Day 72
Level 34 (2 perk points floating)
S-3 Armorer 2,
P-(+)11 Awareness 2, Locksmith 3, Rifleman 4
E-2
C-6 Lady Killer 1, Local Leader 2
I-9 Gun Nut 1, Hacker 3, Science 2
A-(+)7 Action Boy 2, Gunslinger 4
L-3
(Astoundingly Awesome 3, 7, and 8, Barbarian 6, Covert Operations 2, Gift of Gab, Guns and Bullets, Junktown Vendor 2, Live & Love 1, Massachusetts Surgery, Tesla Science 2, Tumblers Today 2, United We Stand, Wasteland Survival 7 and 9)
It’s a momentous occasion, a turn of the plot and the return to familiar stomping grounds. However, there are lots of loose ends to tie up in the city—things I’ve agreed to help out with. After a night in Goodneighbor, that unfinished business is on my mind.
On the way out of the Hotel Rexford, Preston is stopped by yet another fan thanking him for all he does. We hurry out of Goodneighbor while it is still early morning, as I am eager to start what will undoubtedly turn into a long journey.
Passing Boston Common, I spot a fully loaded Nuka Cola machine, complete with quantum, that I somehow missed before. As I move on, I notice an archway to one side with “Danger” scrawled in white from the other direction. I snipe some raiders on top of a parking deck I had investigated previously then move on down another back alley.
There, I stumbled upon what seemed like a toxic waste dump and got a bit hasty turning around, alerting some supermutants nearby. My gun was powerful enough to take them all out with minimal risk to me though. I loot their outdoor barricades and prepare to enter Pearwood Residences apartments.
From the strange splatter on the wall, to the dangling meat sacs, to the skeleton in the corner with his arm stuck in an eat-o-tronic, Pearwood Residences does not seem like a nice place. The only way forward is to jump down into a room that is largely empty apart from rubble and some glowing fungus. And an elevator. It turns out to be another empty building, however, with an exit to the Theater District.
More precisely, it leads to the restroom with one of the prettiest views in all of Boston. A safe hop down to the next floor, however, leads to some rooftop walks. The next fire escape takes me back down to the ground near Boston Common where I began my detour.
The next turn at the other end of the Common brings me face to face with the Combat Zone on Lagrange Street. After killing some raiders there, I see some rules that seem to deal with cage fighting and someone named Tommy. Intriguing as this is, my past experience with the game has me prepared for yet another instance of unexplored humanity of the raiders. Those outside have already shot at me, so it seems unlikely I will be able to speak to any even if I wanted to participate in this culture of the wasteland.
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As I approach this Combat Zone, Preston remarks “The sooner we take care of business and get out of here, the better.” Looking at my PIP Boy, I see I do indeed have a note to check this place out. Perhaps it will be different.
More rules are posted inside, with two bound and gagged rule breakers on display. Not robbing the raiders isn’t explicitly listed in the rules, so before entering I hack the nearby terminal and pick the lock on a wall safe for a bit of loot, locking the door again behind me (as if the game were sophisticated enough for that to make a difference in my discovery).
Behind the doors is a large auditorium and, from the sound of it, a sizable crowd, though I can’t immediately spot anyone. A couple of steps in, I see a couple of raiders down on the floor, and a woman named Cait in the cage. Cait is soon announced as the undisputed winner of the round. The announcer then says “And who is this? Come down closer where we can see you! Wait… who are… buddy I’d find some cover quick.” Another raider shouts, “Looks like someone got lost,” and they all turn hostile.
This is perhaps Fallout 4’s biggest flaw of all, and one that sets it as clearly inferior to the other Fallout games. You cannot interact with evil cultures or groups, not really. This is, presumably, a club where various denizens of the wasteland enter and, as the sign says, leave their beefs at the door to partake in blood sport. Presumably strangers come in all the time: otherwise, why bother with the signs? Even if they somehow recognized me as someone doing particular things in the area, they would be breaking their own rules by taking that beef in here. That there would be no communication here, as I walk in without even a weapon drawn, is pure laziness on the part of the writers. Most importantly, it fails to give me even an opportunity to see these raiders as individual human beings instead of monsters to kill on sight. By taking away my ability to speak with them (even if such speech must end in violence), or to become complicit in their activities, the game distances them as almost non-humans. This removes any moral reflection on my actions of killing them out in the wasteland.
I easily wipe the floor with all of these raiders, only getting hit a couple of times. AFTER the combat, Tommy finally speaks up. “We don’t want any trouble!” Then, perhaps acknowledging the absurdity of that statement, he add, “Not anymore, anyway.” Of course there was no reason for them to attack to begin with. The entire situation is absurd. “You done tearing the place up now? Why don’t you come over here, and show us you don’t mean no harm!” “Are we gonna talk this out like civilized folk, or are you just gonna bash up my theater some more?” My suspension of disbelief cannot handle the situation, so I just ignore him and treat the game like a game instead of the immersive story world it fails to be— I set about looting the place.
Later, “Hey, are you done killing each other? Listen, whoever’s out there, we were rooting for you the whole time!” At the moment I’m failing to discern who “we” is, as I’ve killed most of the people in the place. From the balcony I spot the owner of the voice, Tommy Lonegan, crouching like a coward. He’s only level 2, so I find it a bit difficult to believe he kept order amongst that many raiders on his own. After this, he simply repeats the same thing over and over again while I loot the place for my troubles. Then I casually use the cooking station to grill up some radstag meat while he drones on.
As I approach to finally talk to Tommy, I find there’s more to loot, including a copy of Picket Fences on a nearby table, which lets me craft potted plants now? Yay? Finally, I enter the cage to find that it really is just he and Cait. Once I approach, Tommy and Cait banter and then start completely ignoring me as Tommy accuses Cait of being high while Cait mentions she did win the fight, Tommy retorts that she is strung out and slipping. Finally, he acknowledges me again “Of course, we don’t have to worry about that now. This one just put us out of business. I’m not sure whether I should kiss you, or have my little bird here feed you your own entrails…”
In conversing with Tommy, he does offer some explanation (that he used to run a more legit place until raiders came along a couple of years ago and made it exclusive), though unsatisfactory considering the game’s designers had many more productive options at their disposal. As it is, it just feels like a poor excuse for lazy developer execution, and fails to explain why all the rules and, indeed, rule-breakers are all still in their place.
Tommy notes that without the raiders they aren’t pulling in caps, so he suggests I take over Cait’s contract and she can watch my back while he gets the place back in order. Tommy is apparently concerned about her doing too much drugs and thinks going with me will somehow be helpful in that regard. I may be a wholesome individual, but my own combat relies quite a bit on chems and I’ve been giving Mama Murphy whatever drugs she wants as well. But I suppose he doesn’t know all that. Which is the crux of my critique. I could be any kind of person. I could be a deranged psychopath. It makes the attempt to paint him as an altruistic manager who actually cares for Cait’s wellbeing the cherry on the lazy writing cake. As character introductions go, this is one of the worst Bethesda has offered (though as a studio they aren’t known for character-driven plots regardless).
I decide to have a heart to heart with Garvey and let him go take care of Minutemen business for awhile. He probably doesn’t have the stomach for the kind of underhanded work I’m going to have to do seeing what Bobbi wants in Diamond City anyway. That seems like it might be more to the liking of a mercenary like Cait. Preston brings back up the conversation from before as I approach him, reiterating again how much my actions helped him care again and have hope. We part ways, Preston heading back to Sanctuary Hills as I approach Cait.
Cait is ready to get out of here, but it’s past midnight already, and there are unused beds here, so it feels like a good time to get some rest.