Fallout 4's Trophy and Achievement list analysis and speculation
Ian uses his perception skills. Possible spoilers!
Achievement and Trophy tracking website Exophase has today posted the full award list for Fallout 4. There are 51 trophies in total, and while many are self-explanatory, there are a select few that invite speculation and point towards potential story arcs.
Warning: Potential spoilers and wild speculation follow:
Let's start off with an easy one - "War Never Changes" looks to be the first achievement you will earn, simply for making it through the pre-war prologue and entering the wasteland. Expect this to pop as soon as the hatch for Vault 111 opens and you first lay your eyes on the ruins of Boston.
The image for "When Freedom Calls' leads us to believe that this trophy will be awarded for rescuing potential companion to be, Preston Garvey. As seen in the E3 gameplay reveals, the player first meets Preston and his Commonwealth Minutemen in Concord's Museum of Freedom where they are hiding from a raider attack.
Fancy a breather from all the lootin' and the shootin'? The "Homerun" and "Touchdown" trophies suggest we'll be able to take part in sporting events, which might make a nice change of pace from all the V.A.T.S based violence. You can bet at least one of these (probably Homerun) will take place in Diamond City, which is built on the ruins of Boston's Fenway Park.
"Reunions" may contain the biggest spoiler in the whole achievement list. If I'm correct, it could tie in with my own personal theory that the sole survivor will leave vault 111 to track down his child (who we briefly glimpse as a baby in the reveal trailer). The trophy image shows Vault Boy chasing after a baby in a pram, but this could just be symbolic. For all we know, baby-survivor could be fully grown when finally we meet him/her, and of course, it may not be a happy reunion. What if this one drops after you stumble across the skeletal remains of your family? What if when you meet your child they are older than you? And evil? Such possibilities!
Fallout 4 needs to have a 'Megaton moment'. Watching the destruction of Megaton from atop Tenpenny Tower in Fallout 3 was one of the last generation's most memorable gaming moments, so could "The Nuclear Option" present the player with a similar moral dilemma? Oh, and that building being blown up in the trophy image - that looks to me like it could be the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Great Dome. The MIT is home to the second largest university based nuclear reactor, so it doesn't take a great leap to imagine that this quest involves blowing that reactor and vaporising the university.
Now, thanks to a quest in Fallout 3 called 'The Replicated Man' we know that in the Fallout universe, the Institute is a shadowy organisation that possesses the ability to produce sentient androids that look exactly like humans. The "Institutionalized", "Mankind-Redefined" and "Powering Up" trophies both add weight to this idea. The image for "Institutionalized" gives off an ominous vibe, "Mankind-Redefined" suggests they are trying to create androids who are better than humans, and the image for "Powering Up" shows android like figures standing behind Vault Boy.
"Ad Victoriam" translates as 'to victory'. It's hard to tell from the image but it looks like Vault Boy is stood in front of a gigantic robotic foot. Could we see a Liberty Prime MK 2 making an appearance?
Adding weight to the theory that a lot of Fallout 4's story will revolve around The Institute and androids, the trophy "Tradecraft" asks you to join the Railroad. In Fallout 3, the Railroad was an underground organisation that helped Androids and humans escape from a life of slavery. Will joining the Railroad lead us on the path towards the "The Nuclear Option" trophy?
As well as for joining the Railroad, there are also trophies for joining the Brotherhood of Steel and the Minutemen. Could these be the games three main factions? It's also interesting to note that there is no trophy for joining the Institute - more proof that they are the bad guys?
Finally, the description for "Prepared for the Future" states "Decide the Fate of the Commonwealth" and shows a tooled up Vault Boy standing in front of what looks like a burning city. This is almost certainly confirmation of multiple endings for the main storyline, but will you play the good guy or let the world burn? I'm not sure what I'll choose yet, but it's going to be a lot of fun finding out!
So, those are our theories based on Fallout 4's achievement list. If you've spotted anything we've missed, or think we're totally wrong about something, do let me know in the comments below!
Oh and if you haven't already, you should totally check out Fallout Friday, my weekly round up of Fallout 4 news and theories that we host over on our YouTube channel.
