Fallout 4 Takes Environmental Storytelling to the Next Level

These incredible tales from the wasteland demonstrate Bethesda's knack for visual storytelling.

"I was on a quest to shoot a bunch of raiders. Someone asked me to shoot the raiders and my options were 'Raiders?' 'Yes' 'No' and 'Maybe'. I'm roleplaying a character that does shoot raiders, so I chose Yes.

Anyway, after I shot the raiders I looked around the remains of the house we had been fighting in. Just sweeping the area for ammo and stimpaks.

That was when it happened. I came upon a skeleton. It was sitting in a recliner. There, on the chair's armrest, was a bottle. This scene introduced so many questions. What was going on with that bottle? How did he die in that chair? Incredible."

"I had just finished a quest that involved shooting a lot of enemies. Taking a few moments to explore my surroundings, I came upon a skeleton. Laying next to him was a mannequin.

Was this guy sleeping with the mannequin? Or did he keep it nearby as a sad substitute for human interaction, like the Will Smith movie I Am Legend?

It really made me think some deep thoughts. Then I stomped across the skeleton and his mannequin to pick up a box of bottlecaps."

"I was on my way to shoot a bunch of enemies for a quest. I had just shot a bunch of enemies while wandering around, then met an NPC and escorted it while we shot a bunch of enemies. The NPC entered a door by standing perfectly still in front of it, then fading out of existence.

Earlier I had used my high Charisma to completely change the quest by asking for a bigger reward for shooting enemies, so I was really getting into my character.

Then I stumbled into environmental storytelling. I knew it was environmental storytelling because there was a skeleton next to a thing.

In this case, the thing was a fishing pole. The skeleton was on a pier. It made me wonder how much this guy liked fishing. Probably a lot!

I was interrupted by some enemies that I had to shoot, but that skeleton with a fishing pole made me feel connected to the game world in a very real and very deep way."

"Saw a skeleton next to another skeleton, and a kickball on the ground between them. Wow. Doubly powerful because there were two skeletons. They must have really liked kickball.

Later, I was shooting an enemy. After pumping four bullets into its head to take its health down by one quarter, I had to reload. That's when I saw another skeleton. This skeleton was laying on a blanket with its hands casually behind its head, wearing sunglasses.

You see, this skeleton was once a person. It was sunbathing when it died. The scene was simultaneously somber and comedic.

I shot the enemy in the head twelve more times to finish it off. Then I turned in the quest to someone who did not acknowledge any of my character's SPECIAL stats or perks. It's amazing what big-budget games can do nowadays."

– Dennis "Corin Tucker's Stalker" Farrell (@DennisFarrell)