Fallout 3Fallout 3- - a cultural a cultural

analysisanalysisby jimmy sahlinby jimmy sahlin

Fallout 3 is littered with cultural references of our own society. I've decided to take a deeper look on some of those occurances and see exactly what they represent from our culture and what they do to the game. A Nuka-Cola vending machine. A society isn't

complete without it's own commercial beverage.

Introduction

The culture within

The main cultural inspiration comes from the American culture. Here you can see a ”Brahmin” feasting on soiled grass with the Wahington Monument and Capitol Hill in the background.

A Brahmin feeds on the spoiled grass with the Washington Monument and Capitol Hill in the background.

Cultural rethoricsAs our culture is embedded in the game, so are our values and norms. The conflict between US capitalism and Communism is part of the main story, as you play in the aftermath of the third world war between USA and China. One can wonder if the rethorics are political satire or patriotic.

In the DLC, Operation: Anchorage you get to team up with the US forces to drive out the Chinese Communist invaders from the US annexed Canada.

Rhetorics of genderFallout 3 has an overall gender neutral approach in terms of gameplay, and the bodies have natural proportions. However, as our own culture is depicted in the game, so is our heteronormative society. There's little to no room for sexual expressions other than that of a heterosexual nature.

Meet Nova, Capital Wastelands only living bisexual.

Meaningful play and Open cultureAs we recognise our world within Fallout 3, it motivates us to explore it deeper aswell, just to satisfy our curiosity on how a post-apocalyptic world would look like. And if we feel that something is missing we can add it using the construction kit, G.E.C.K. This leads the game into an Open Culture where players can modify the contents of the game.

Conclusion

Bethesda Softworks has done an excellent job depicting the American culture in Fallout 3. Both the good and the bad sides of the culture is implemented. One can ask the question if all these cultural occurences are intentional or if some just comes along uncounsciously. A question only the developers know the answer to.