Summary
In 2008, the third installment in theFalloutseries,Fallout 3,hit shelves worldwide and blew gamers away everywhere. Two years later, the first Bethesda era spin-off game,New Vegas,was released. While it had a rough start, the Obsidian-made game went on to be considered one of theFalloutfranchise’s best installments. Both games used the same engine, gameplay mechanics, monster and enemy designs, and had a few quests that were similar in nature.
While the in-game universe ofFalloutis already pretty bleak there is often an element of tongue-in-cheek satire to the projects that take away some of the darker edges the games otherwise have. In addition, theFalloutplayer character is usually pretty well-equipped to deal with any threat. However, some quests prove that a horror game set in the universe would do well, with said quests being far darker in their presentation than others.
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Fallout 3’s Darkest and Most Disturbing Quest
Despite the main narrative being somewhat straightforward, there were a lot of moments inFallout 3that felt like something out of a suspenseful zombie movie. In order to get to important locations, players will have to go through extremely dark tunnels filled with feral ghouls who will attack the player like the infected from28 Days Later. One ofFallout 3’s more memorable side quests, in particular, goes into straight-up horror territory in a more subtle way.
The quest in question is known asAgatha’s Songand sees the player meeting a woman named Agatha. She asks the player to retrieve a violin that is located in a lost vault. Upon arriving atVault 92 inFallout 3, though, players find the location completely deserted. Various messages and logs found throughout the Vault tell its grim story. As the player proceeds throughout the vault, they will find notes and logs that reveal what happened. It turned out that the people within the vault were subjected to subliminal messaging experiments which gradually made them all go insane and kill one another. It’s a great bit of environmental storytelling that makes the otherwise derelict vault feel far more unsettling than it otherwise would have been. This was something that would spill over intoFallout: New Vegas.
The Plant-Based Horror of Vault 22 in Fallout New Vegas
Like its predecessor,Fallout: New Vegasis a game full of side queststhat are easy to miss on top of an otherwise very dense and complicated main story. Many of these side quests can factor into the game’s ending and create whole new experiences, but one of the game’s darkest quests has very little to do with the main story.
The quests involvingVault 22 inFallout: New Vegascan be triggered in a number of ways but the mid-story result is still the same. Players go to this vault usually seeking some kind of lost vegetable technology only to find it overrun by plant monsters. The creatures, known as Spore Carriers, hide in bushes that have grown within the vault and ambush the player turning it into a never-wracking experience. In addition, the music in the vault and its claustrophobic environment helps create a suspenseful atmosphere that will keep players on the edge of their seats. Quests like it have undoubtedly made players wonder why the publisher hasn’t straight up created a straight-up horror game in theFalloutuniverse.
As of writing, it’s not entirely clear when the next game in the franchise will come out. Unfortunately, it’s likely that the nextFalloutgame won’t be seen until the 2030s, as Bethesda will be putting its energy and resources into other projects this decade. However, as other spin-off titles have proven, there is room for the company to pass the property off to smaller, third-party developers. AsNew Vegasproved, this kind of decision can and will lead to a more interesting product. Hopefully, regardless of who develops it,Falloutwill embrace the concept of a horror title in the future.
