Fallout 4's expansive Commonwealth featured a number of notable locations to discover along the Sole Survivor's travels, tying the real-world inspirations of Massachusetts' capital city into its post-nuclear wasteland. The game's feature of the Boston Public Library was no exception, accentuating a nuanced approach to environmental story-telling that the series has become so known for. From terminal notes and scattered items to littered corpses and impressive architecture, the landmark sets a high bar for Fallout 5.
First impressions of Fallout 4's Boston Public Library paint the building more as a fortress than an intellectual institution, one whose defenses have slowly crumbled at the hands of super mutants. Their corpses mingle with broken Protectrons and the bodies of Curator Givens' team, a task force led with one objective: the preservation of human knowledge. Further reading of the terminal logs left by the deceased demonstrates the plights of their goals and the despondency of a losing battle; trip-wires, chained doors, and piled furniture did little to stop their enemies.
Fallout 5 Could Take Notes from Fallout 4's Boston Public Library's Environmental Storytelling
Exploring the dilapidated structure leads to some interesting comments from Fallout 4's companions, with many, like Codsworth and Deacon, lamenting the loss of knowledge and the waste of its destruction. Others, like Preston Garvey, remain cautiously optimistic that one day the library could be put back together, though its current state leaves much to be desired. The library's setting brings up the pertinent question of how the semblances of pre-war life could be preserved for the sake of humanity's future, a cause that was strong enough for Givens and his team to give their lives for, but ultimately fruitless in the wake of the Commonwealth's violence.
Architecturally, the building blends its Fallout influence with the real-world inspirations of Copley Square's McKim building, the capital city of Boston's public library complete with vaulted, coffered ceilings and lion statues on either side of its entrance stairway. Even in its disarrayed state, the game manages to exude the sense of charm that comes with such a structure, tying it well into the themes of preservation and history. This translation between Massachusetts and the game world of Fallout 4 helps to hone in on the realistic nature of its inciting conflict, given how tangible the threat of nuclear war has been in the past, and may well continue to be in the future.
The setting also proves a mechanical purpose beyond its environmental story-telling, rewarding the player for thorough exploration. Among the scattered debris of the library are overdue books that Fallout 4's Sole Survivor may collect, tying into its 'book return reward machine' that has outlasted the barrage of super mutant attacks. The feature utilizes a clever prize that can be awarded from the player's due diligence, allowing them to exchange book return tokens for the Massachusetts Surgical Journal, granting them the ability to permanently inflict +2% limb damage to enemies. The reward cleverly connotes how valuable intelligence can be, further accentuated by the special bobblehead that keen-eyed players can discover on the library's computer terminal.
With a number of potential locations for Fallout 5 to set its sights on, there is a good chance that the next wasteland of the series could be a far departure from the Commonwealth's city influences. This would mark an opportunity to explore vastly different terrain, perhaps in the case of an Alaska or Hawai'i depiction, which could have interesting implications on the title's map landmarks. Wherever the game chooses to situate its setting, however, the use of real-world influence combined with environmental story-telling, similar to its portrayal in the Boston Library, could allow Fallout 5 to thrive, continuing in its predecessor's trend of compelling locations.
Fallout 4 is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One platforms.
