Fallout 4 logo
Bethesda releases live-action trailer for Fallout 4, leading many to interpret it as a hint for a possible movie adaption of the beloved post-apocalyptic open-world role-playing game. This would be a major announcement from the American video game developer and publisher, which has already taken the gaming community by surprise with the unveiling of their upcoming Fallout 4 at this year’s E3.
The trailer showcases a real actor portraying the Vault Dweller as he walks in post-apocalyptic Boston, alongside his dog (most likely Dogmeat from Fallout 3). The two encounter several perils along the way, have to fight CGI enemies from the iconic franchise, including Super Mutants, and even stumble upon a Brotherhood of Steel power armor, which has been feature in so many promotional material for the previous two titles in the series, Fallout 3 and New Vegas, respectively.
The visuals have been praised as stunning and extremely engaging. The aesthetic choices were accompanied by famous retro soundtrack, the type of selection for diegetic music for previous games in the series. Fallout is known for its so-called retro futurism, featuring a sci-fi setting in a future from a timeline which had previously diverged from real-life events somewhere in the late 1940s.
For this reason, all music featured in the game is from that area, as the Fallout universe offers a quite bizarre, if not surreal environment, where high-tech gadgets (laser guns, plasma rifles, automated bots) co-exist alongside 1950s iconography and culture. Furthermore, vacuum tubes seem to be the main technological feature of most electronics, as the transistor was never invented, since the Fallout timeline split from real-world events. The game series offers a futuristic setting which is still stuck in a mentality and paranoia reminiscent of the Cold War.
Fans have welcomed the new live-action trailer with much enthusiasm. Many have asked for a film adaptation of the beloved game series, or even a TV show, as some feel the branching and complex storylines of the games could probably not be limited to a feature film.
However, there are others who insist that the franchise remains at the level of interactive entertainment. This is because most, if not all, film adaptations of video games have been critically panned. Tomb Raider, Silent Hill, the two Hitman movies and the infamous Mario Bros., let alone pretty much anything directed by Uwe Boll, have proven time and again that film adaptations of even critically praised video games are a bad idea.
Many hope that the upcoming Assassin’s Creed movie, starring Michael Fassbender, will put an end to this trend and set a positive precedent. But this is only hope and speculation at this point.
Photo Credits: Wikimedia
