Fallout — Five Single-Player RPGs

Fallout

=== Setting ===
On October 23, 2077, a worldwide nuclear war between the United States and China following a global conflict caused by resource shortages devastated the world and destroyed modern civilization. The events of Fallout take place nearly a century later in 2161, and follow the Vault Dweller, a human born and raised within Vault 13, one of a number of high-tech underground fallout shelters built to protect survivors. Those on the surface live off the salvage of the old world.
Vault 13 is located beneath the mountains of Southern California. The Vault Dweller can explore major settlements including Junktown, which is mired in conflict between local sheriff Killian Darkwater (Richard Dean Anderson) and criminal Gizmo (Jim Cummings); the Hub, a bustling merchant city with job opportunities; and Necropolis, a city founded in the remains of Bakersfield by Ghouls — humans heavily mutated by radiation — who are revealed to be the former inhabitants of Vault 12. The Vault Dweller's journey also brings them into contact with various factions, including the Brotherhood of Steel, a quasi-religious military order devoted to finding and restoring pre-war technology; the Children of the Cathedral, an optimistic religious cult; and an army of virtually immortal humanoids immune to radiation called Super Mutants, led by an amalgamated creature known as "the Master".

Characters

The player controls the Vault Dweller, who is sent into the Wasteland to save their vault. The Vault Dweller can be customized or based on one of three pre-generated characters: Albert Cole, a negotiator and charismatic leader with a legal background; Natalia Dubrovhsky, a talented acrobat and the intelligent and resourceful granddaughter of a Russian diplomat in the pre-War Soviet consulate in Los Angeles; and Max Stone, the largest person in the Vault who is known for his strength, stamina, and lack of intelligence. The three characters present a diplomatic, deceptive, or combative approach to the game, respectively. Although the character can be male or female, the Vault Dweller is canonically male.
The four companions the player can recruit are: Ian, a mercenary guard from Shady Sands; Tycho, a desert ranger; Dogmeat, a tireless loyal dog; and Katja, a member of an organization called the Followers of the Apocalypse. Other major characters include Vault Boy, the mascot of Vault-Tec, the creators of the Vaults; Killian Darkwater, the mayor, sheriff, and shopkeeper of Junktown; and the Master (Jim Cummings and Kath Soucie), leader of the Super Mutants and the main antagonist.

Plot

In Vault 13, the Water Chip, a computer component responsible for the Vault's water recycling and pumping machinery, stops working. With only 150 days before water reserves will run dry, the Vault Overseer (Ken Mars) tasks the Vault Dweller with finding a replacement. Armed with the PIPBoy 2000 and meager equipment, the Vault Dweller leaves Vault 13 for the nearest source of possible help, Vault 15, but finds it abandoned and in ruins. The Vault Dweller then explores the wasteland and locates a replacement chip in the destroyed Vault 12, underneath Necropolis.
The Vault Dweller returns to Vault 13 with the chip and the water system is repaired. However, the Overseer becomes concerned about the mutants reported by the Vault Dweller. Believing the mutations are too widespread and extreme to be a natural occurrence, the Overseer assigns the Vault Dweller a new task: finding and stopping the source of the mutations. Information discovered throughout the wasteland reveals that humans are being captured and turned into Super Mutants by exposure to the Forced Evolutionary Virus (F.E.V.) at the Mariposa Military Base. A majority of the Super Mutants are led by the Lieutenant, an intelligent cybernetically enhanced Super Mutant stationed at the Mariposa Military Base who takes orders from the Master. The Master intends to transform every human into a Super Mutant and establish "unity" on Earth. The Children of the Cathedral are a front created by the Master, who is using them to trick humans into peaceful submission.
To stop the mutations, the Vault Dweller must destroy the vats containing the F.E.V. and kill the Master; the order of the tasks is chosen by the player. The Vault Dweller travels to the Mariposa Military Base to confront the Lieutenant and destroy the vats within the base, preventing the creation of more Super Mutants. To kill the Master, the Vault Dweller travels to the Children's cathedral and locates a prototype Vault beneath it, from which the Master commands his army. The Vault Dweller infiltrates the Vault and can choose to convince the Master that his plan will fail because the Super Mutants are infertile, kill him immediately, or set off an explosion that destroys the cathedral. The Vault Dweller returns to Vault 13 but is denied entry by the Overseer, who fears that they have been changed by their experiences and the tales of their exploits and accomplishments will encourage the inhabitants to abandon the Vault. As such, the Overseer reluctantly exiles the Vault Dweller into the wasteland. Fallout concludes with the legacy of the Vault Dweller's decisions on the societies and people they had encountered.
Additionally, there is an alternate ending if the player chooses to join the Master. This ending has the player character dunked into the F.E.V. at Mariposa and made into a super mutant, who then returns to Vault 13 with the Master's army and massacres its inhabitants as witnessed on security footage.

Fallout 2

In 2241, the tribal community of Arroyo suffers the worst drought on record. Faced with the calamity, the village elder and daughter of the Vault Dweller tasks her child, the player, to retrieve a Garden of Eden Creation Kit (G.E.C.K.) — a device capable of creating thriving communities out of the post-apocalyptic wasteland. Assuming the title of the Chosen One, they are given the Vault Dweller's jumpsuit, a RobCo PIPBoy 2000, a Vault 13 water flask, a spear, and some cash to start them on their mission.
The Chosen One finds Vault 13, the location of a G.E.C.K., devoid of its former human residents and instead inhabited by intelligent Deathclaws. Returning to their village, they find it empty and learn its population was captured by the remnants of the United States government known as "The Enclave". The Enclave terrorizes the inhabitants of the continental United States with their supreme arsenal of advanced technology. The Chosen One, through various means, activates an ancient oil tanker and engages its autopilot, thus allowing them to reach the Enclave's main base on an offshore oil rig. It is revealed that the dwellers of Vault 13 were captured as well, to be used as test subjects for the Forced Evolutionary Virus (FEV). Vault 13 was supposed to be closed for 200 years as part of a government experiment, making them perfect test subjects. The Enclave modified the FEV into an airborne disease, designed to attack any living creatures with mutated DNA. With all genetic impurities removed, the Enclave (who remain protected from radiation) could take over. The Chosen One frees both their fellow villagers from Arroyo and the Vault 13 dwellers from Enclave captivity and subsequently destroys the Enclave's oil rig, killing Dick Richardson (Jeffrey Jones), the President of the United States, and Frank Horrigan (Michael Dorn), a cybernetic Super Mutant working for the Enclave's Secret Service.
In the end, the inhabitants of Vault 13 and the villagers usher in a new era of prosperity to Arroyo with the help of the G.E.C.K., turning the community into a flourishing city.

Fallout 3

Fallout 3 takes place in the year 2277, 200 years after a nuclear war that destroyed most of the United States. Some survivors of the war took refuge in high-tech fallout shelters known as Vaults. The player character, nicknamed the Lone Wanderer, grew up in Vault 101, located near Washington, D.C.. After the Lone Wanderer's 19th birthday, their father, a scientist named James (Liam Neeson), leaves the Vault without explanation. The young vault dweller decides to track him down and journeys the region in and around D.C., now known as the Capital Wasteland. Along the way, the Lone Wanderer learns about their father's background from other characters, including Megaton resident Colin Moriarty (Mike Rosson), Galaxy News Radio DJ Three Dog (Erik Dellums), and Rivet City scientist Madison Li (Jennifer Massey). Before the Lone Wanderer's birth, James and his wife Catherine had been working on Project Purity, in which a water purifier built in the Jefferson Memorial would have purified the irradiated water in the Tidal Basin and Potomac River. However, after Catherine died during childbirth, James abandoned the project to raise his child in Vault 101.
The Lone Wanderer finds and rescues James from a virtual reality program run by overseer Stanislaus Braun (Dee Bradley Baker) in Vault 112. James reveals that he wanted to revive Project Purity and left Vault 101 to seek the Garden of Eden Creation Kit (G.E.C.K.), a powerful piece of technology intended to assist in rebuilding civilization after a nuclear war. Work on Project Purity resumes, but the remnants of the United States government, known as the Enclave, storm the memorial and intervene under the command of Colonel Augustus Autumn (Peter Gil). Its leader, President John Henry Eden (Malcolm McDowell), wants to inject the purifier with a deadly virus that will kill any mutated organisms who drink the water, including humans. James sacrifices himself to protect the purifier. In response, the Lone Wanderer enlists the help of the Brotherhood of Steel, a paramilitary organization that protects the residents of the Capital Wasteland. The Lone Wanderer is sent to Vault 87 to find the G.E.C.K., which they successfully retrieve, however, they are captured by Colonel Autumn and taken to Raven Rock. After being questioned, the Lone Wanderer meets President Eden, who is revealed to be an advanced artificial intelligence program. Eden gives them a vial containing the virus and asks them to insert it into Project Purity. Afterwards, the Lone Wanderer escapes, optionally causing Eden to self destruct.
Using a massive pre-war military robot called Liberty Prime, the Lone Wanderer and the Brotherhood of Steel march toward the Jefferson Memorial, battling defending Enclave forces in the process. Once inside, the Lone Wanderer confronts Autumn and either kills him or convinces him to flee. They learn the water purifier needs to be manually activated, or else it will shortly blow up. Before James died, he flooded the control room with lethal amounts of radiation. The player can either sacrifice themselves to activate the purifier, optionally inserting the virus during the process; instruct Sarah Lyons, a Brotherhood commander, to activate it instead; or do nothing and let the purifier explode.

Fallout: New Vegas

=== Setting ===

Fallout: New Vegas takes place in 2281, 204 years after a devastating nuclear war between the United States and China, known as the Great War. Three major factions vie for control of the Mojave Desert, known in-game as the Mojave Wasteland: the New California Republic (NCR), a democratic republic attempting to restore representative government and maintain law and order; Caesar's Legion, a violent totalitarian army of tribal slavers inspired by the Roman legion; and Mr. House, a reclusive New Vegas businessman who commands an army of Securitron robots and rules as the city's technocratic dictator. As part of an eastward expansion from California, the NCR took control of the Hoover Dam, which provides electricity to the surrounding area. Both Caesar's Legion and Mr. House seek to control the Hoover Dam for themselves and advance their own plans for the region. Minor factions include the Boomers, a heavily armed xenophobic tribe at Nellis Air Force Base; the Powder Gangers, escaped convicts from an NCR correctional facility; the Great Khans, a tribe of drug dealers; the Brotherhood of Steel, a militant organization that aims to secure and hold old-world technology; and the Followers of the Apocalypse, a humanitarian organization providing education and medical services to the impoverished people of the New Vegas outskirt areas.

Story

While delivering a data storage device known as the Platinum Chip to New Vegas, the courier is ambushed by mobster and casino owner Benny, who steals the Platinum Chip and shoots the courier in the head. A Securitron personality named Victor digs out the courier from a shallow grave, and physician Doc Mitchell nurses them back to health. The courier departs to search for Benny and the Platinum Chip. They confront Benny in his casino on the New Vegas strip; the courier can either kill Benny and recover the Platinum Chip or let him escape, after which he is captured by Caesar's Legion.
The courier's actions attract the attention of the NCR, Caesar's Legion, and Mr. House, and the three groups each attempt to recruit them to aid in their efforts. It is revealed Mr. House survived the nuclear apocalypse in a life-support chamber. He created the Platinum Chip, which contains a program capable of upgrading his Securitron army; the device was initially meant to protect Las Vegas during the Great War, but the war began before the Chip could be delivered. After the Platinum Chip was located, the courier was tasked with delivering it to Mr. House. Benny stole the Platinum Chip as part of his plan to usurp Mr. House with the assistance of a reprogrammed Securitron called Yes Man.
Hoover Dam becomes the center of the conflict between the NCR and Caesar's Legion. The player can choose which faction to support, resulting in one of four endings. If the player supports the NCR, they successfully repel the Legion's attack at Hoover Dam and annex the Mojave Wasteland into the Republic. If the player supports Caesar's Legion, they force the NCR to retreat as the Legion conquers New Vegas and the surrounding area. If the player supports Mr. House, the overwhelming Securitron army forces both the NCR and the Legion out of the area, securing control of the region for House alone. Alternatively, the player can usurp Mr. House and take control of the Securitron network themselves with the help of Yes Man, establishing an independent New Vegas.

Fallout 4

=== Setting ===

Fallout 4 takes place in the year 2287, 10 years after the events of Fallout 3 and 210 years after the Sino-American War, a war between the United States and China over natural resources, which ended via a nuclear holocaust called the Great War. 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 American aesthetics, such as diners and drive-in theaters, while design and technologies advance in the directions imagined during the era. The resulting universe is thus a retro-futuristic one, where society 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 futuristic products such as robotic rocking horses for children and high-tech fallout shelters known as Vaults. Post-war societal currency is based on bottle caps, often simply called "caps".
There are four main factions that the player can choose to support throughout the story: the Institute, a secretive technocratic hegemony society stemming from the former Commonwealth Institute of Technology that specializes in the creation of artificial humanoids called "synths"; the Brotherhood of Steel, a quasi-religious paramilitary aiming to regulate the usage of advanced technology; the Minutemen, a militia dedicated to protecting settlements that require help; and the Railroad, an underground organization desiring to rescue synths from the Institute.

Characters

The player's character takes shelter in Vault 111, emerging exactly 210 years later on October 23, 2287, and assuming the name of the "Sole Survivor". There are thirteen possible companions in the story. Dogmeat, a loyal German Shepherd, is the only mandatory companion, but six others must at least be encountered: Codsworth, the Sole Survivor's robotic butler; Deacon, a Railroad agent; John Hancock, mayor of the settlement Goodneighbor; Nick Valentine, a prototype synth detective; Piper Wright, an intrepid reporter; and Preston Garvey, a resilient member of the Minutemen.
The other six possible companions are Cait, an Irish-descended cage fighter; Curie, a robotic scientist; Danse, a Brotherhood of Steel Paladin; Robert MacCready, a mercenary; Strong, a Super Mutant sympathetic to humans; and X6-88, an Institute Courser.
Seven of the companions become romance options once they idolize the Sole Survivor, regardless of the player character's gender: Cait, Curie, Danse, Hancock, MacCready, Piper, and Preston. Though Curie cannot be romanced in her robot form, the Sole Survivor can do so once transferring her to a synth body.

Story

In the year 2077, a nuclear war erupts between the United States and China. In Massachusetts, the protagonist and their family—consisting of their husband Nate or wife Nora, 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 the bombs dropping. Inside, the family members are tricked into entering cryogenic pods 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 pod, realizing they are the Sole Survivor of Vault 111 as the remaining residents are deceased. They emerge from the vault into a wasteland now known as the Commonwealth.
Returning home, the player reunites with their former robot butler, Codsworth, 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 and a member of a revived version of the Minutemen named Preston Garvey.
In Diamond City, a settlement built within Fenway Park, 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 the prototype synth private detective Nick Valentine, the Sole Survivor uncovers the identity of their spouse's killer as the mercenary Conrad Kellogg, who they proceed to hunt down and kill, avenging their spouse's murder, though he spends his last moments revealing that Shaun is inside the Institute. Meanwhile, the Brotherhood of Steel arrives in the Commonwealth from the Capital Wasteland onboard a modified airship, led by Elder Arthur Maxson.
The Sole Survivor uses a cybernetic device from Kellogg's brain to access his memories with the help of Dr. Amari, a brain specialist, and learns the only way to get into the Institute is through teleportation. They track down former Institute scientist Brian Virgil for help in infiltrating it, and he provides schematics for a large teleportation device. Receiving assistance from the Railroad and its leader Desdemona, the Sole Survivor retrieves a teleportation chip and has it decoded. After successfully building the device, the Sole Survivor enters the Institute.
The Sole Survivor meets a much older Shaun, who is revealed to have become the Institute's director and explains that his abduction 60 years prior was part of a synth experiment due to his uncorrupted pre-war DNA. After talking to Shaun, the player decides who to align with for a brewing war between the Institute, the Railroad, the Minutemen, and the Brotherhood of Steel.

If the player chooses to side with the Minutemen, after Garvey promotes the player to General and retakes their old base, they repulse an Institute attack and devise a plan to eliminate them. The player infiltrates it again and blows up the reactor, killing Shaun and the rest of the Institute.
Should the player choose to align themselves with the Institute, they learn that Shaun is dying of cancer and wants them to succeed him as director. The Sole Survivor destroys the Brotherhood of Steel's airship and massacres the Railroad's headquarters, removing the presence of both groups from the Commonwealth, after which Shaun peacefully passes away.
If the player joins the Brotherhood of Steel, they will destroy the Railroad due to the group's desire to help synths, which clashes with the Brotherhood's ideology. They then infiltrate the Institute with the aid of a massive robot called Liberty Prime and blow up the reactor, killing Shaun and the rest of the Institute.
If the player joins the Railroad, they will work for the Institute while secretly organizing a synth rebellion. The Brotherhood of Steel attacks the Railroad, requiring the Sole Survivor to destroy their airship. The player then assaults the Institute, freeing the synths and blowing up the reactor, killing Shaun and the rest of the Institute.