CD-ROM Fossil

By Katelyn Vause

I’m incredibly excited to begin a new article series that’s a combination review/bi-weekly serial of the two original Fallout games. I am a huge fan of Fallout 3, and am slowly working my way through New Vegas, though I will likely start over and do a fully dedicated playthrough later. I had never played the originals, and I was excited to see how they differed.

For starters, follow along with me as I journey through the wasteland in an attempt to save the people of Vault 13 in the original Fallout. If you missed earlier parts of the journey, because sure to click here to catch up!

Sorry about missing a week everyone! Lots of big changes are happening in my life this month, so I got a little sidetracked. My poor character probably appreciated the break, but now that we’re all rested, let’s dive back in to the adventure!

After a disappointing end to the Vault 15 excursion, my character pulls herself together and heads back south. The Hub still has a lot to offer, as do the surrounding areas. I’m especially curious about the Boneyard, as I only caught a brief glimpse of it during my caravan trek.

The Boneyard has five main areas: Adytum, Downtown, the Fortress, the Library and the Warehouse. I head toward Adytum, an area patrolled by a group known as the Regulators. I meet the mayor, a man named Jon Zimmerman, who asks me to avenge his son, Jason, who was killed by a local gang known as the Blades. Specifically, he wants me to kill their leader, Razor.

As with many things in Fallout, this request isn’t quite as it appears.

I head to the downtown area in order to find the Blades and their leader. One frustrating thing that I’ve mentioned before is the lack of detail in character models, which makes it hard to pick out individuals, especially in a crowd. Though I was entertained by some of the overworld dialogue of the denizens of Downtown, it was truly difficult to find the leader.

After clicking on pretty much everyone in the building and finally finding Razor, I explain that Zimmerman asked me to kill her to avenge his son. A bit casual, but it seems like I might as well be honest about why I’m there, right? Razor loses her temper, explaining that the Regulators are using Zimmerman as a puppet and killed Jason because he found out the truth.

Something interesting about Razor is that while everyone else refers to Zimmerman’s son as Jason, she calls him Josh. This is probably a glitch, but I like to imagine it as a nickname; perhaps even a lover’s nickname.

Unlike Zimmerman, Razor can prove her story with a holodisk, which she hands over to me. I can take it to Zimmerman and attempt to prove the story and push out the Regulators myself, or I can get the Blades the weapons they need to fight back by contacting the Gun Runners, a local gang that deals in weapons.

Though my group and I are a force to be reckoned with, I know we’re going to need all the help we can get if we’re going to start a revolution in the Boneyard. I agree to help as much as I can, and continue exploring the Boneyard, wondering if I can find more help.

I find the Library area and decide to duck in to see if there are any Blades sympathizers in the building. I find Nicole, the leader of the Followers of the Apocalypse, yet another group in the Boneyard who occupy the Library.

Nicole is fascinating, and I think they chose a great direction for her and paired her with a perfect voice actor. Her voice is slightly deep, but very calm, and her tone evokes wisdom beyond her years. The Followers are a peaceful organization, dedicated to knowledge and helping people. However, even they have their problems. In this case, it happens to be the Children of the Cathedral, an organization located to the south who Nicole claims are doing sketchy things in their hospital.

She doesn’t have a holodisk proving her point, but she seems genuine and I agree to report back if I see anything strange.

At this point, I have to imagine my character feels like she’s getting in a bit over her head. How many factions are warring here, and how many of them want her help specifically for some reason?

After talking to a few people in the library, I meet Katja.

Katja is grumpy and bored with her life in the Boneyard. I tell her that I’m not out here on vacation, but if she wants to come along, she’s more than welcome. Katja accepts, and my party grows by one. However, I can’t say I’m quite as excited about her joining up as I was with everyone else. She seems like the type of person who would sneer at Dogmeat and (if cats still existed in this universe) say she was a cat person.

At any rate, I’m glad to have someone else around to help with the fighting. Which, as it turns out, is very important.

The Gun Runners are located to the east, so we set out, passing through a warehouse area that seems abandoned.

That is, until Ian shouts “Watch out for Deathclaws!”

Needless to say, we run for our lives. Or rather, I do, trying very hard to get to the edge of the map in as few turns as possible. I get to see Katja in action for the first time, who it turns out is a proficient knife thrower. How unique.

We manage to escape the deathclaws and find the Gun Runners, who are set up in a building surrounded by a bright green moat of stuff that I can only assume will kill you if you so much as touch it. No wonder they call their area the Fortress.

They want one tiny favor from us: Get rid of the deathclaws that block their ease of access to the rest of the Boneyard.

And cue my motto: Nothing is ever easy in the Wasteland.

The deathclaw quest is incredibly difficult and frustrating, if only because you have to know what you’re looking for in order to beat it. You can kill three deathclaws and head on your merry way, convinced you’ve solved the problem, only to return later and find the area infested with them again. It turns out there’s a nest hidden in the basement of the warehouse, with an extremely protective mother guarding it.

Even more terrifying is the lack of light in the basement, which greatly inhibits accuracy unless you throw out a few flares. Luckily, I had some on me from the Vault 15 excursion, though it still took several tries to kill the deathclaw. I really wouldn’t want to see that creeping toward me from the flickering shadows.

I felt a bizarre twinge of guilt when smashing the eggs. After all, they were just harmless little eggs…that would turn into giant monsters that can rip you limb from limb…

I felt less guilty after that.

At last, the Gun Runners are satisfied and I’m able to choose my reward. I ask that they supply the Blades with weapons and head back to Downtown to talk to Razor.

Next time, I will arrive with the Blades in Adytum to try and free the people from the Regulators.

Thanks for joining me again after a brief break! Writing should be back on schedule now, and be sure to share your Fallout stories with us in the comments or at cdromfossil@gmail.com.