Your Super Mutant Crushed my Moral Compass

I recently stepped outside my own virtual house and realized there are a lot of people writing about video games out there. I've really enjoyed Leigh Alexander's blog and her recent posts of Fallout 3.

Rabies vaccine anyone?


I haven't played Fallout 3 (or Fo3 as I've learned to refer to it as) for a few nights now. The after- shocks of my experience are still fresh in my head, and I think I know why. F03 leaves such a distinct resonance in one's consciousness is because it is as much about moral anarchy as it is about the post apocalypse. Despite our youthful mild anti-establishment tendencies I think most of us cling to the notion of a predictable world.


Even amoral video games (where violence is the only rule) are still predictable. An alien in Gears of War is never going to thank you for not shooting first (at least not yet). There are very few games that don't offer a solid moral framework, either a positive or negative one. Even the most crude FPS, take Duke Nukem for example, offers a sense of moral direction "I'm gonna get those bastards for shooting up my ride". Fo3 isn't predictable like this, even in the case of super-mutants (generally amoral killers) there are exceptions to the rule (named Fawkes).

Like Leigh, it took me a few hours to get out of the vault. I was paralyzed by the fear of making the wrong decision and ending up ruining my game. I obsessed over every action, every decision. I very quickly developed a rigid notion of who my character was, and what she would or wouldn't do. Once I was out in the Capitol Wasteland, even though I had decided to be 'good', I found myself trespassing, stealing, and starting fights resulting in murder. For a while I would reload my game each time I 'screwed up'. I slowly realized the moral unpredictability of the game made playing consistently (either as a good or evil character) very hard. More than any game I've played Fo3 creates a sense of cognitive dissonance, where as the player you find yourself at odds with yourself as a character. It's a very strong feeling to have, as though in a rage you slugged your best friend. I think this is where Fo3 succeeds so well: the feelings of cognitive dissonance it engenders resonate perfectly with the virtual world it presents. In truth there isn't any possible way to 'screw up' the game, simply because there is a complete lack of an established moral framework, just like a real post-apocalyptic wasteland.

My advice? Stop thinking it over, and play like you've got nothing to lose. I think that's what the vault dweller would do.