Fallout 3
- a cultural
analysis
by jimmy sahlin

Introduction
Fallout 3 is littered with
cultural references of
our own society. I've
decided to take a
deeper look on some of
those occurances and
see exactly what they
represent from our
culture and what they
do to the game. A Nuka-Cola vending machine. A society isn't
complete without it's own commercial beverage.

The culture within
The main cultural
inspiration comes
from the American
culture. Here you
can see a ”Brahmin”
feasting on soiled
grass with the
Wahington
Monument and
Capitol Hill in the
background.
A Brahmin feeds on the spoiled grass with the Washington
Monument and Capitol Hill in the background.

Cultural rethorics
As our culture is
embedded in the
game, so are our
values and norms.
The conflict between
US capitalism and
Communism is part of
the main story, as you
play in the aftermath
of the third world war
between USA and
China. One can
wonder if the rethorics In the DLC, Operation: Anchorage you get to team up
are political satire or with the US forces to drive out the Chinese Communist
invaders from the US annexed Canada.
patriotic.

Rhetorics of gender
Fallout 3 has an overall
gender neutral approach
in terms of gameplay,
and the bodies have
natural proportions.
However, as our own
culture is depicted in the
game, so is our
heteronormative society.
There's little to no room
for sexual expressions
other than that of a
heterosexual nature.
Meet Nova, Capital Wastelands
only living bisexual.

Meaningful play and Open culture
As we recognise our world
within Fallout 3, it motivates
us to explore it deeper
aswell, just to satisfy our
curiosity on how a post-
apocalyptic world would
look like. And if we feel that
something is missing we
can add it using the
construction kit, G.E.C.K.
This leads the game into an
Open Culture where
players can modify the
contents of the game.

Conclusion
Bethesda Softworks has done an excellent job
depicting the American culture in Fallout 3. Both
the good and the bad sides of the culture is
implemented. One can ask the question if all these
cultural occurences are intentional or if some just
comes along uncounsciously. A question only the
developers know the answer to.