art by Piecee01

Last week, Bethesda gifted us with the trailer for Fallout 4. And with it comes a wealth of hints and outright confirmations regarding the content of the game. This is it, the moment of squee!

There's so much awesome here, including the amazing reveal about the protagonist: for the first time ever, in a Fallout game or possibly any game within the post-apocalyptic or FPS genres, we get to play as a dog!

Just kidding.

Actually, there is quite a lot of speculation about the protagonist thanks to a combination of information from the trailer and the previous leak to Kotaku whose content has been effectively confirmed. Theories range from the idea that the protagonist is a pre-war soldier (featured in the trailer), or the child of that soldier, to an android implanted with the memories of that individual. Certainly, there are enough clues to make an argument for any of those, but not enough for more than speculation.

Since the release of the trailer, fans everywhere have been breaking it down and analyzing it, to the point that doing my own analysis would be largely redundant. Instead of re-hashing what you have probably already read or heard dozens of times, I'm going to offer up a couple of videos from the most interesting and entertaining fan reviewers that I've found, and then add my own additional commentary afterwords.

Let's start with the breakdown by one of the kings of Fallout Let's Plays, YOGSCAST Will:

So yes, those of us who have believed for years that the game will be set in Boston have had their faith rewarded. I'm not as sure about William's assertion regarding a metro system. His suggested "Massachusetts Bay Transit Center" ignores that the final letter in the obscured third word looks (at least to me) like an "L". There hasn't been any evidence that we will be treated to more sprawling, maze-like metro tunnels again... although I would be a little surprised if Bethesda didn't take advantage of the potential in underground map additions.

The idea of a voiced protagonist is shocking to many fans of Fallout, but it isn't that strange nor does it have to be as character-limiting or immersion-breaking as some people have been suggesting. The protagonist has never been a mute or exceptionally laconic character; we have always had conversations with dialogue boxes where we can choose our response. Personally, I am hoping Bethesda chose to take a page from BioWare's playbook and give us customizable avatars with a choice of voices just like we got from the amazing game Dragon Age: Inquisition.

art by Keponii

The scene with the Paul Revere statue is notably not the only point in the trailer where we see weather effects. This is something that has me really excited, as I always love when the next iteration of Fallout incorporates elements that I added to the previous game(s) through mods. And dynamic weather is one of those environmental elements that greatly enhances immersion.

While it is nearly impossible to spot it in a still frame, the brief scene above features more than just what I'm going to call the world's weirdest fire hydrant -- it features rain. The rain is most easy to spot on the left side of the screen. Also featured on that side is the curiosity-stimulating sign for the "Memory Den". Remember that theory about playing an android with memories from pre-war? (I won't comment on the central figure beyond noting the rampant fan speculation that this is the Mysterious Stranger and/or an android.)

While most analyses of the Fallout 4 trailer didn't pick up on the "Memory Den", it was noticed by good ol' Jolly Jack:

One thing that Jolly Jack also points out is all the color!

Since the release of the trailer, Bethesda has been taking hits from fans decrying the game as "ugly". The reason for this is that the game appears to use the same Gamebryo engine as used in their previous games, and is definitely not up to the same level of superb quality that we are coming to expect from the top-rated games in regards to textures, meshes and animations. I don't mind that at all. The quality of graphics and animations did not hinder me from enjoying Fallout 3 or Fallout: New Vegas, or prevent them from being my favorite computer games, with over 2000 hours invested between the two. (Nor did I have issues with Skyrim in the same areas.) The aspects of the Fallout games that appeal so deeply to me transcend how many layers of textures are used to simulate fur on Dogmeat.

That said, I do very much appreciate a non-restricted palette in games. I won't play Fallout 3 without the Fellout mod that removes the green haze over everything and allows me to enjoy the richer colors the game is hiding. So unlike others, I'm going to herald the game as beautiful! I think that the richness of palette that we see in the Fallout 4 trailer is a major upgrade in the environmental design. And it is clear that they took care to enhance the visual appeal, even adding in colorful elements in parts of the game world that have been traditionally (an exceptionally dull) grey.

(Side note: the use of Gamebryo would mean that we will sadly not be getting vehicles in Fallout 4. No raiders running around in dune buggies constructed from scrap, or people crossing rivers on salvaged and armored boats with bodged-together engines. It feels ironic that on the very same day that The Secret World -- the only MMO I play -- gave me a motorcycle, Bethesda dashed my hopes for vehicles in Fallout 4.)

The pre-war scenes we see simply lavish us with color, but even the wasteland is beautiful, with a variety of landscapes and scenery that at least rivals Fallout 3 but with lighting and color the earlier game didn't dream of. Check out the screen shots below:

The settlement design choices are particularly appealing in this game. We have a return of an Arefu-like "settlement on high ruins" (pictured below), but this time on what appears to be a grounded ship that is missing huge portions of its hull. I'm going to be pleased if that settlement is multi-level, taking advantage of the interior space. And I like the idea of Diamond City (above), a community built inside a baseball stadium. I'm also intrigued by some of the business establishments we see pictured in that shot, particularly the barely-visible place in the lower left where the only readable words on the sign are "Trust" and "Caps". (It makes me wonder if the game is going to have a quest that touches on the nature of Fallout's unique currency, much like Fallout: New Vegas did. But that's just wild speculation.)

I'm also intrigued by the new monster designs. One shot clearly shows a deathclaw with a rather fearsome enhanced look. Likewise, the above screenshot reveals what could be a new monster, but what is most likely a new take on our old friend, the mirelurk. It appears even the ghouls have had a makeover. I'm excited to see what brand new creatures the game adds to the Fallout bestiary.

One of the aspects of the trailer that I have been paying special attention to is the various signs and posters we see everywhere. The one below and to the left doesn't confirm anything, but is of particular interest to those of us hoping the rumor is true that Three Dog will be returning in Fallout 4.

I do have to disagree with Jolly Jack regarding a lack of interesting things to be gleaned from the ending shots.

I've spoken of mods that I felt compelled to use in previous games, and one of the most desperately needed for Fallout: New Vegas was a early-game player house mod. Especially with the open game world that allowed you to end up, as I did, in The Strip over ten levels before seeing Novak, many of us were hurting for a place to store the crap we accumulated with Calamity-like fervor. Fallout 3 gave us a player home very early into the game, and I am really hoping that Fallout 4 does so as well. From the looks of it, we will be getting a player home, and it will be here:

Bethesda has released an amazing 4K screenshot of this garage that offers a much larger and more detailed look at it. The bed on the right suggests that this is, in fact, a player home. The workbench on the right makes this a place to build schematics and/or modify weapons. There is storage, including ammo boxes. We even have the requisite radio.

There is plethoria of interesting elements visible inside this garage which seems a likely base. The main focus is of the shot is, of course, the power armor. And this armor is unique in that it seems to be in the midst of being repaired or modified. One of the cool additions to the Fallout world featured in Fallout: New Vegas was weapon mods. This image leads me to question if Fallout 4 is also adding armor mods? Alternately, you may have the ability to build your own power armor. This might be something as simple as acquiring various tiers of power armor schematics. But the prominence here suggests rather that this is part of a major story quest.

I'm personally more interested in the things we see around the rest of the garage. For example, there is a Vault-Tec case on the right which may be a container for collectables. (In fact, the compartments in the case look suspiciously like they are holding little statues or pictures of the perk icons.) The hanging board on the left holds one recognizable energy weapon, and a variety of tools and unrecognizable parts. Are those parts weapon mods? And is the content of that hanging board fixed, or will it function like a trophy wall where we can display unique weapons and other items we acquire throughout the game? On the workbench is a PipBoy. Are they going to be customizable too? Or is that just wishful thinking? In the very least, this suggests that PipBoys can be removed in this game, making them lootable.

Looking at the comic/magazine stand, my first thought was that I liked the variety in magazine textures -- the entire game seems to have a much better variation in objects and textures than we are used to. But I couldn't help but notice that Grognak is one of the few titles we can read, and that lends support to William's idea that this rack may be a display case for the various skill books that we pick up. This would mean that not only are the skill books back, but that they don't mysteriously disappear after we read them. (And, of course, I have to mention the return of the Vault-Tec bobblehead. However, the one we see here seems much larger than the ones in Fallout 3, and the fact that there is only one leads me to believe that the bobblehead isn't a stat-boosting collectable.)

The outfit above is reminiscent of Moira's armored upgrade to the Vault suit in Fallout 3. The weapon looks either heavily modified or custom built. I am hoping the latter, as this weapon suggests to me that we will see the return of schematics and custom-build equipment.

Of course, we will hopefully be getting a ton of new, juicy information from E3. There are several panels scheduled during E3 focused on Fallout 4, and I am sure that the contents of these panels will be disseminated throughout the internet soon after. So there will be much more to talk about in the near future.