Editorials
Post-Apocalyptic Memory Lane: Remembering ‘Fallout 3’ On Its 10th Anniversary
“War, war never changes.”wasteland
Released 10 years ago for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC, Fallout 3 came out to major praise. Developed by Bethesda Game Studios (also responsible for the acclaimed Elder Scrolls series), Fallout takes place in various states across a post-apocalyptic America. The series also embraces retro-futurism, using the aesthetics of the 50s, to present a whimsical, dark world.
As the series’ first jump into 3D graphics, Fallout 3 became a staple in open world gaming. From its interesting character-building elements to its world exploration and lore, traveling throughout the D.C. wasteland is nothing short of a blast (pun totally intended). And while we’ve had Fallout 4 and currently await the release of Fallout 76 next month, I wish to take you down radioactive memory lane, as to reminisce on why Fallout 3 is such an achievement in gaming.
All To See And Do In A Wasteland
For all its years being a top-down RPG, the jump to 3D is one of Fallout 3’s greatest strengths. Taking place in the year 2277, your journey begins in Vault 101. The beginning acts as a fun tutorial with you as an infant, and later a child, growing up in the vault, getting you used to the character building elements and perks you’ll gain throughout the game. The drama kicks off when you wake up one morning to find out your father has left the vault. In an attempt to find out why he left, you too leave Vault 101, coming face-to-face with the land ahead of you to adventure.
As an open world experience, there’s a balance to Fallout 3’s environment; pockets of inhabited buildings and towns are spread across the D.C. area; in-between these places are stretches of barren land, at times peaceful, and other times brimming with danger. All these elements make Fallout 3 feel like a natural world; you can feel the gloom as you travel down paths or as you make your way into a local marketplace. Minus some slight altering of names and appearances, Fallout 3’s D.C. renders real-world sites; for example, some unique locales include The Capitol Building, Lincoln Memorial, and The Washington Monument. Using a fictional version of a real-world place brings an eerie element to the game; this creepy feeling of knowing where you are and being part of such a horrifying “what-if” scenario.
Exploration throughout the wasteland becomes even more interesting when you consider all the radioactivity and violence along the way. Between raiders, super mutants, and other radioactive creatures, you never know what may be lurking around you (or straight up charging towards you). Combat in Fallout 3 is even more fascinating when using the V.A.T.S system.; this in-game mechanic allows you to stop time, pinpointing exactly where you want your attacks to land on an enemy. Not only does this bring an extra level of strategy to combat, but also rewards the player with lots of gory deaths.
But besides blowing the heads off enemies, interaction with the game’s NPCs is another highlight of Fallout 3. One of Fallout’s greatest strengths is its grim humor; from shit-talking ghouls, two-headed cows, snarky robots, to a killer A.I., the individuals you come across in Fallout 3 will always bring some wacky weirdness and fun to the adventure.
From whimsical to serious moments, the atmosphere of Fallout 3 offers so much to take in. It’s never overwhelming, but rather, much more of a meditative journey; this is a world blown away by violence, born from the ashes of bombs. The art of the land is beautiful to take in with its morbid beauty. And when there is action you genuinely feel like a lone survivor fighting against sporadic madness and violence.
That said, while the combat is loads of fun, one component that really makes Fallout 3 shine is how you decide to act morally; it’s how you decide to treat people that will impact your interactions, and show what you’re capable of.
What Kind Of Wanderer Are You?
There’s an entire conversation to be had regarding RPGs when it comes to east vs. west gameplay styles; focusing on the latter, Bethesda is one of the key companies offering unique role-playing adventures. When it comes to Fallout, and specifically that of the third entry, there’s a wide variety of moral choices one can make.
Fallout 3 provides numerous takes on how you can be a kind-hearted wander or a complete jackass. Early in the game, you come across the town of Megaton. It’s a small town with stores and folks trying to scrape by with what’s left for resources. In the middle of the town you see a gigantic bomb that’s supposedly inactive; it’s after a short time that you come across a man who tells you otherwise.
This man not only tells you the bomb is active, but he wants you to help set it off. His employer wants Megatown off the map, and if you help him, he’ll reward you with a fancy place to live. That said, if you choose to deny his request, you can always turn him into the town sheriff. This is just one of the many examples of moral choices the player will find themselves up against in Fallout 3. Based on your actions you’ll gain positive or negative karma; said karma will impact your skills, as well as some interactions with NPCs.
How a Normal Fallout Mission Turned Into a Nightmare
On a smaller scale, you have a wide variety of choices regarding how you want to talk to folks. These decisions can impact specific dialogue and actions throughout the game, making for a fun way to role play. Do you want to come off sympathetic to one’s needs? There’s a choice for that. Do you want to be a total dick and threaten someone? There’s a choice for that as well.
While a lot of video games offer a sense of choice, a lot of those games still force you down a direct path. While Fallout 3 has some of these issues, they in no way make up the majority of the gameplay. Many of the choices you make do have some impact on characters and setting; consequences range from small and humorous, to significant and dramatic. Your interactions may land you welcoming into a particular location, or they may end up in a gunfight.
Fallout 3 is a great example of how to combine genres; from survival to RPG and action, the game takes so many elements and mashes them together to be one cohesive thrill. From the moment you leave the vault you can go in any direction you want. The best open world adventures allow players to embrace freedom, while also being able to observe and deal with consequences; Fallout 3 provides all of this wherever the player wanders off. Even though there’s the main story, it’s possible to become lost in side quests and exploration.
Not counting the DLC that came out after the initial game’s release, Fallout 3 is a massive experience. The places available to you are vast and brimming with character. In those places, you will find people with a variety of beliefs, morals, and emotions. While Fallout 3 is a game with heavy science-fiction elements, it also offers the chance to feel a real sense of sympathy. There will be difficult choices to make; there will be cases where you may not want to make an immediate decision, but consider the outcome.
A Sci-Fi Experience To Remember
When I first got to play Fallout 3 ten years ago it changed my life; I consider it one of my favorite games of all time and continue to compare current open world games to it. In every step I took I was in awe; from the massive crumbling monuments to the numerous personalities and quests I came across, playing Fallout 3 was (and still is) one of the most immersive games I’ve ever played.
I’m not too sure what to expect from the Virginian Appalachia of Fallout 76; what I do know is that I’ve been in love with this series ever since Fallout 3. Having explored D.C. and the areas surrounding it, as well as New England in Fallout 4, this series has continuously given me and many gamers the fantastic opportunity of in-depth adventuring.
But there’s s something about Fallout 3 that is always calling me back. Perhaps it’s the humor or the number of thrilling tasks to complete; it could be the characters I’ve spoken to or the fact that I love creating my own character in its unique world. Whatever it is, Fallout 3 is a game that shares a special place in my heart (and within the hearts of many). It’s a game that we’ll always remember; we’ll remember it for its fun, its innovation, and for reminding us that war never changes.
College kids, strippers and vampires—those were Donald P. Borchers’ only requirements when he approached Richard Wenk about writing and directing a movie for New World Pictures. As requested, Wenk cooked up Vamp (1986), a tailor-made blend of the decade’s teen movie craze as well as its horror boom.
Grim and earnest stories were still very much a part of the ’80s horror landscape, yet Vamp is something of a comedy. One difference between it and, say, Saturday the 14th, though, is the former avoids using schtick. Wenk’s movie proves that horror comedies also don’t have to subtract thrills from their recipes. Of course, it takes a minute before reaching that point; college antics and culture shocks preface this one macabre misadventure.
Vamp‘s initial setup is apt for a typical college-set, sex-driven comedy; to bribe their way into a fraternity house, two pledges (Chris Makepeace, Robert Rusler) go looking for some adult entertainment. Without wasting time on any further exposition, the characters embark on an all-in-one-night trip that quickly detours into terror.
To procure their elusive MacGuffin—a stripper willing to gyrate for some frat boys—Keith (Makepeace) and AJ (Rusler), plus a third wheel named Duncan (Gedee Watanabe), trade the safety of their remote college campus for the seediness of some unnamed city. The setting is recognizably L.A. by day, but as soon as night falls, downtown, along with the characters, slips into a kind of surreal universe. Director of photography Elliot Davis gave this early entry on his prolific résumé an unusual yet distinctive look; that Mario Bava-esque, magenta-green lighting is omnipresent, so much so that it’s almost its own character.
Chris Makepeace and Robert Rusler in Vamp
The faint comparisons to Martin Scorsese’s After Hours are merited, although not just because of Vamp’s distinguishing nighttime aesthetic. Save for the primary characters, the supporting roles in Wenk’s movie are also quite colorful and transactional in their behavior. The difference here, though, is the additional urge to ruin Keith and his friends at every turn. Some of that harm is humorous and tolerable enough, whereas the moment Vamp dishes out its first fatality, it’s abundantly clear how this movie qualifies as horror.
Vamp falls into that category of horror movie that reveals its genre with a scream rather than a series of whispers. The opening scene can function as a hint of what lies ahead—things are not at all what they appear to be—but otherwise, Wenk is more than happy to hold off on the horror. When that time does come, though, it catches the viewer off guard. In addition to the pure shock value is that sudden decision to upend the movie’s foremost feature. Or so it would seem.
If afraid of major spoilage, those new to Vamp would be wise to stop reading here. There’s just no skirting around the fact that the central fellowship in this buddy movie hits a serious snag when AJ is killed. That development causes the story to become more of a “long, bad night” journey for Keith and his romantic interest. So while Wenk scores points for subverting expectations, there is also a touch of sadness in his decision. Because if Vamp does anything well, it’s making the characters likable.
Something that comes easily to Vamp—and other teen horror movies from this same era—is its ability to invent young characters worth caring about, or at the very least, are interesting and not so immediately off-putting. More impressive is how Wenk did all this without actually fleshing out those characters. Still and all, Keith and his kind are a grade above cookie-cutter, and in some cases, aren’t completely devoid of growth.
Grace Jones in Vamp
Vamp appeals with an assorted cast of characters. No two are the same, nor are they operating on the same wavelength. The cinematically extroverted AJ, whose actor conveyed charm and vulnerability in near equal amounts, comes alive when he’s at his most undead. Makepeace then makes the chronically cautious Keith a sympathetic fellow, even as he’s more and more affected by the night’s bizarre events. Meanwhile, Duncan is indeed the designated loser of the whole bunch, but Watanabe still manages to humanize him. As a bonus, the role didn’t require him to pull a Long Duk Dong.
As for Dedee Pfeiffer, she is plain adorable as the mysterious After Dark server nicknamed “Amaretto”. She spends all night fixing her dress strap while at the same time trying to get Keith to remember how he knows her. As their offbeat romance grows, it becomes another highlight of this movie. Whether or not Pfeiffer’s character is really a vampire also creates some welcome tension in the story.
Like a lot of its contemporaries, Vamp went on to become a bit of a cult classic. That current status is determined by several factors, but without a doubt, the casting of Grace Jones is the most considerable. The image of her writhing on that unique-looking chair, a Keith Haring original, springs to mind whenever this movie is brought up.
Chris Makepeace, Billy Drago and Paunita Nichols in Vamp
Prior to that first display of unequivocal horror, local vampire queen Katrina (Jones) took to the stage and delivered a strip show like no other. One would expect nothing less from that renowned model and performance artist. By now reports of Jones’ tardiness on set are no secret, yet it’s also hard to deny her commitment to the part of Katrina. It was, in fact, Jones who took charge of her character’s appearance—on top of Haring painting her body and that now-iconic chair, she had Andy Warhol handle her costuming. And not too many actors could seize a room’s attention without saying a single line of dialogue.
In 2022, Vamp received a retrospective novelization from Encyclopocalypse. This literary union of preexisting source material—Wenk’s original screenplay—and new ideas from author Christian Francis amounts to a more comprehensive visit to the After Dark Club. The basic story there is no different than what’s shown on screen; however, Francis gets creative with the characters’ origins and designs, and he enhances a number of key scenes.
The novelization expands on the urban and social decay of the main setting, and supplies a background for the After Dark Club. Sandy Baron’s character, Katrina’s emcee and familiar, is given ample motivation for sticking around; up until the fiery end, he is loyal to his friend and former business partner “Squeak”, who looks like he was “fed through a combine harvester, and left as nothing more than a heap of mangled remains”. Then there is Billy Drago’s character Snow, the leader of a street gang called The Dragons. His reason for menacing Keith and AJ is more altruistic than in the movie; he and his peers act tough to scare off any potential food for the vampires.
Lisa Lyon in Vamp
If not for all the backstories, Francis’ Vamp would be a hell of a lot shorter. Instead, this tie-in read dives into how AJ met Keith—the orphaned Anthony Joseph hailed from a broken home back in Brooklyn—and how their friendship flourished over the years. Keith’s archership is no longer just an assumed part of his entire being; it’s a confidence-building extracurricular for a boy who got picked on before coming into the protection of the new kid in town. These supplemental, in-depth looks at the protagonists, plus their close connection, are maybe unnecessary. The movie already did a fair and concise job of addressing their platonic intimacy without the need for flashbacks and insights, specifically in that scene where AJ lays it all out as he sacrifices himself.
Where the novelization gets off course is its approach to the minor characters. Intermittently backstorying the likes of Katrina’s indentured servants, Seko (Leila Hee Olsen) and Vlad (Brad Logan), ends up disturbing the flow of the writing. Was it absolutely essential that readers know Vlad was the Grand Duke of the House of Romanov, or how Snow’s accomplice Maven (Paunita Nichols) became so dentally challenged? No, not really. However, one’s mileage with these random biographies may vary.
The novelization is a more substantial experience, but for a movie like Vamp, less is more. And as plentiful as they are, it never simply coasts on its campy charms, either. The character work sits comfortably in that realm between cursory and meticulous, the script is sharper than first realized, and Greg Cannom’s vampire makeup is straightforward yet effective. Most of all, the movie didn’t squander its out-of-the-box concept. Richard Wenk made his vision of a “comic nightmare in which just about anything that can go wrong does” come true, and it is very enjoyable.
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