games

I mean, I know Fallout's social commentary and heavy-handed attempts at poignancy is pretty on the nose in terms of the desolate mid-century american wasteland practically screaming at you "THIS IDEOLOGY AND LIFESTYLE LEADS TO DEATH AND ANNIHILATION", but I'd say that Fallout is as much as celebration of 50s/60s americana as it is a critique of it. Like, yes, it's literally post-apocalyptic, but its making constant adoring allusions to sci-fi drive-in B movies, midcentury pop culture, and pulp fiction. There's a real unironic love and appreciation for that era of America on display in Fallout, much to my chagrin, even as someone who can deeply share that cultural reverence. Sometimes I feel like it goes down the "wow wasn't the 60s cool and wacky?!" route a little bit too much at times, especially these days. Its like, yeah, but if you're not further deconstructing it in some way or using it to make an interesting point, it feels a little hollow. Fallout is at its best (in my view) when it's able to perform as a simultaneous celebration and deconstruction of Americana. I think it disarms people who might not be willing to accept a critique of America otherwise.