Fallout 4 Trailer Analysis: What We Know About the Game

Fallout 4 has officially been announced, and it’s coming for Xbox One, PS4 and PC — although, no release date has been revealed yet. Since Bethesda will be hosting their first ever press conference at E3 this year, expect to see plenty more of the game at the event.

In case you haven’t seen the trailer yet, it’s included below. Give it a watch before heading past the break, where we’ll dive in and strip it apart frame by frame.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE2BkLqMef4

Where Does It Take Place?

It is never expressly disclosed where Fallout 4 is going to take place, but we do get a hint of the next location in a few scenes which we’ll take a look at now.

First things first, the player character needs to escape the vault where they’ve been hiding away for years. It looks like this time around we’ll be a proper resident of Vault 111 unless this is another vault opening in a later scene of the game. It doesn’t make sense that this would be a different vault because from what we can see this is a vault opening from the inside.

As for where Fallout 4 is going to take place, it’s definitely in Boston.

You may not recognize that golden dome on the left if you’re not from New England, but that’s the Massachusetts State House which was built in 1798. Throughout the course of the trailer, we see several scenes of the city skyline, which are unmistakably reminiscent of Boston Massachusetts.

What Else Do We Know?

Now that’s settled, let’s work our way to the beginning of the trailer and pick it apart frame by frame.

Oh, what a glorious blast from the past. Take note of the Blast Radius board game on the table there,  that’s a nice little nod to the nuclear fallout that caused the desolation.

Here, we see a shot of the Type-II Mister Handy, which in this screenshot is no doubt a civilian based model. We know this type of robot from Fallout 3 and New Vegas, or more importantly we know Mister Gutsy who was a militarized version of this robot.

Companions are back! I refuse to name my furry friend anything other than “Mr. Snuggles”.

Here’s our first shot of the wasteland we’ll be exploring. It’s good to see the barren countryside in contrast to the high-rise city buildings we see later on. It’s clear Fallout 4 will have some diverse environments — as is canon for the series.

Ron Perlman is back, and so is his beloved narration! War never changes.

Update: If you pay attention during this scene, you can see people being denied access to the vault.

That’s our player character climbing out of the vault for the first time and breathing in the grungy, open air. Leaving the vault in Fallout 3 was one of the most amazing experiences ever in the history of video games — the world was truly your oyster after that point — let’s hope Fallout 4 will give us the same sense of wonder and nostalgia.

In case you needed any more proof that Fallout 4 is set in Boston, that’s a shot of the Bunker Hill Monument. I wonder if anyone made a base there. Think it’s the Enclave?

That may well be the USS Constitution, repurposed into a scavenger outpost or town hub. It’s difficult to tell, considering we don’t see any inhabitants in this shot. What do you think?

Here we are, finally in the seedy underbelly of Boston. Notice the Memory Den sign illuminated on the left, it’s likely a wasteland pub of some kind. On the unlit green sign, you can make out “Scollay” which is indicative of the Scollay Square in Boston.

Update: A reader (thanks for the tip VividChim) pointed out another interesting theory making the rounds. The shady character we see in the middle of the street might actually be the Mysterious Stranger.

In previous games, this unnamed character will appear if you have chosen the “Mysterious Stranger” perk, which results in a stranger — who looks a lot like the man above — appearing during battles to offer aid.

His left hand looks to be altered in some way. Perhaps it is some kind of augmentation or enhancement? The Mysterious Stranger is known to carry a unique .44 magnum. Maybe the enhancement has something to do with that, like improving his aim, for instance?

That antenna is most likely for a local radio broadcast.

That’s a pair of super mutants, good to see they’ll make a return.

That view! Those graphics! My heart… it’s giving out due to excitement overload.

That’s a slightly updated Protectron robot created by the RobCo corporation.

What the hell is that thing? It’s some kind of new baddie, a mutated creature no doubt.

UPDATE: As several readers pointed out, this appears to be a redesign of the Deathclaw, which did appear in previous games. Thanks everyone!

That’s a Brotherhood of Steel transport, and just a couple scenes later we see a member in power armor looking out upon the Boston skyline.

Update: A reddit user pointed out that in the scene where the Brotherhood member is looking out of the transport, you can see the Galaxy News logo. I didn’t catch this the first time around. Previously, it was called Galaxy News Radio (GNR), but here the logo is GNN — that’s because GNR is a subsidiary of the Galaxy News Network.

This could also mean that Three Dog will make a comeback. He’s the radio host and DJ of GNR in Fallout 3.

Mutants — yes those are Ghouls — will be just as much a problem in Fallout 4 as they were in previous games.

That’s Fenway Park and it’s been converted into a base of some kind. Notice the statue of a baseball player off to the right?

This is our first glimpse of a major wasteland town hub outside of the city. It looks just like some of the sprawling towns we encountered in Fallout 3 and New Vegas.

Update: I didn’t notice this before, but this place is called Diamond City. It’s most likely been named so because it’s sitting right next to Fenway Park which you can see in the background if you look close enough. Those are the stadium lights hovering in the distance. That also means, this probably isn’t that far outside Boston.

That’s a Brotherhood of Steel airship flying over the city.

Oh, and that statue is Paul Revere immortalized for his infamous midnight ride. If you don’t know your history, he’s the guy that is said to have shouted the message “the British are coming.” Here’s an interesting note from a history buff, he didn’t actually shout that during his ride. In case you haven’t figured it out by now, I’m originally from New England.

Moving on.

Nuka-Cola machines are back!

There’s the Brotherhood of Steel power armor they are known for, and off to the left you’ll notice a Vault Boy bobblehead. This garage seems to be some sort of base, perhaps it’s a customizable player home? Wouldn’t that be something? Notice all the weapons attached to the pegboard, and you can see the barrel of a chaingun sticking out from underneath that cloth on the left.

Update: As a reader pointed out (thanks Steven), the set of armor we see isn’t actually the full set of power armor. It has elements of the standard T-47 set, but the left leg and arm are different. This could have something to do with augmentations or enhancements, the armor might have been repaired using available scraps or possibly we’ll be able to customize our own armor.

Update: A new Pip-Boy! You’ll notice that even though it’s upside down here the buttons are on the right side of the screen this time. It doesn’t include the same labels as the Pip-Boy 3000. Is this a militarized version of the device or has it just been updated?

Finally, we close out with the all familiar shot of the player character and his furry companion heading out into the wasteland. You can just make out the Boston skyline in the distance.

I’m officially hyped for this game. What about you?

 

Did you catch any juicy goodies that I didn’t? Feel free to point them out in the comments!