Fallout: New Vegas: the Wild West Through and Through

If there is one thing every Fallout does exceptionally well, it is the introduction. Rarely has a tone been set so well from the beginning than with each mainline Fallout entry. The first game gives us a glimpse of what pre-war America was like, with an old TV showing advertisements of Vaults, footage of “peacekeeping” in Alaska via execution of a POW with the soldiers laughing at his body twitching from the shot to the head, War Bonds, and car advertisements before cutting to a desolate landscape of a destroyed city, with The Ink Spots’ “Maybe” playing before being abruptly cut off. Even before Ron Perlman speaks the series tagline “War Never Changes,” the horrific, near-hopeless tone of the game is set into motion, and that tagline is only reinforced by the footage of the execution, showing how even in “civilized times”, people were capable of the violence seen in the wasteland, only now there is no law to keep that violence at bay. Each of the introductions would have a focus on this destruction, as well as the war humanity continuously inflicts upon itself, both before and after the bombs fell. “Fallout: New Vegas” is different, however. While its intro starts with an old-time song panning out into the setting of the game, rather than showing a desolate hellscape, the game shows none other than the crowning jewel of the Mojave Wasteland, New Vegas. Soldiers walk around the strip tipsy, while Frank Sinatra’s Blue Moon plays in the background, and though there is violence shown as an NCR Ranger takes out a raider, the war here feels much more civilized in comparison to what is known in Fallout, with Legion troops focusing on preparing attack formations. Perlman’s monologue is much different as well. While his previous monologues focus on the destruction humanity entails, here his focus is on the growth, conflict, and unstable nature of the Mojave Wasteland, as well as the focus on Hoover Dam, the goal of both the New California Republic (returning from “Fallout 2”) and Caesar’s Legion. This extends to the initial role of the player character, being an active participant in the world rather than seeing it for the first time like the characters of other Fallout games. A courier, the player character is intercepted by Great Khans, a tribe in the region, with the group of Khans paid by Benny, a man dressed in a checkered suit named Benny, before being shot and left for dead, robbed of the package being delivered. It doesn’t feel like the introduction to a game about the struggles of the post-apocalypse, and that is because New Vegas is not really about the post-apocalypse, but what comes after. Speaking in an interview with the Guardian, game director Josh Sawyer notes:

“Fallout: New Vegas is, in some ways, a post-post-apocalyptic story. Fallout’s American southwest has been built up tremendously over time. They’ve moved beyond simply living in the ruins of the old world and have started to strike out and build new empires. Three large forces are locked in a conflict that is military, political, and ideological in nature. As such, the issues in many cases move beyond the individual — or stomp on the individual in the process. “

Having the focus on the post-2077 structure of the Mojave is the most intriguing because, despite its post-apocalyptic nature, it mirrors a time humanity has already experienced, the Wild West. Although New Vegas deals with post-apocalyptic themes, it can be argued that it is less of a post-apocalyptic game, and more of a Western, as many of its themes are typical within the genre, subvert genre definitions, and mirror many of the issues that the period faced in terms of social and political issues.

The most glaring connection between New Vegas and the period of the Wild West is the environment. As the Courier exits Doc Mitchell’s house, a tumbleweed blows past, a stark difference to the player of “Fallout 3” seeing the total devastation of the great war. If the post-apocalyptic dress setting was not explicit by this point, the game through visuals and art direction alone looks like a Western. Everything, from the acoustic soundtrack, the orange desert haze, the Southern dialect of Goodsprings’ residence, and the aesthetic of the town matching your traditional town within the West of old makes a clear effort to say that this is not a game that will be focused entirely on the horrors of nuclear radiation like previous entries. Workers are called prospectors, the group of raiders terrorizing Goodsprings and Primm are called Powder Gangers, fit with cowboy hats, dynamite, revolvers, and single-shot shotguns, the main drink of the Mojave is not the traditional Nuka Cola, but instead Sunset Sarsaparilla, and the strongest force within the Mojave are the Desert Rangers. Numerous legendary weapons are revolvers and lever actions, perks are inspired by the aesthetic, and most notable of all in terms of the tone, and the soundtrack, both in terms of original composition and licensed music. Country hits like Heartache by the Number and Big Iron, on top of much of the original composition being focused on acoustic guitars as the central focus of the melody is a stark contrast to the industrial sound of previous games (though those still appear).

The player character, known as the Courier, is also a huge part of this vision. Many of the quests the player will find themselves in revolve around the player wandering into the conflict, with only the player’s actions being able to solve the problem before they move on to the next settlement. This choice of player agency matches the storytelling of some of the best Westerns of all time, namely Clint Eastwood’s Blondie from “The Man with No Name” trilogy. Radio New Vegas, the main source of news and music in the Mojave, further pushes this aspect by having most of the quest conclusions not mentioning the Courier other than being an anonymous party, a stark difference from the Three Dog would announce the Lone Wanderer’s actions in “Fallout 3.” Even the endings of the game can reference this drifter aspect, as should the player ally with the NCR, their response to Oliver about would they will do after the actions of the game can be to simply walk the Wastes as they have done, and no matter what ending the Courier will choose, the last image of the game is the Courier walking onward. New Vegas’s DLC also adds to this characterization, building the eventual battle between the Courier and Ulysses as a showdown of the ages. From every aspect, the Courier is representative of the Western drifter, including motivation in revenge.

Revenge being the inciting action of the plot is already enough to signal this tonal change to Western, as many of them focus on cowboys taking revenge against those who have done them wrong. Alec Marsh of The Spectator notes how “the genre offers the sort of visceral retribution that contrasts sharply with our own glacial criminal justice systems. In Westerns, the application of justice is deliciously direct and timely.” While other Fallout games have had personal motivation, oftentimes there is no greater motivation than pure vengeance, and that vengeance can be swift like it is in a traditional Western. How that vengeance is achieved is up to the player, as well as if they even decide to take revenge. Benny and the player character are not the only focal characters within the narrative to focus on revenge, with companions such as Boone, Raul, and Cass having revenge tied into their narrative, as well as DLC characters such as Ulysses, Joshua Graham, and Christine being connected to that narrative as well. Having the player taking vengeance after being shot and left for dead is also reminiscent of the classic Clint Eastwood Western “High Plains Drifter,” in which a U.S. Marshall comes back from the grave to take vengeance upon those who killed him.

How this vengeance is handled for many of these scenarios is up to the player, but the game makes an explicit motion to make such vengeance not as black and white as portrayed in the genre while playing upon the tropes. Rose of Sharon Cassidy, Cass for short, wishes to take vengeance upon the energy weapons trader Van Graff and the head of Crimson Caravan Alice McLafferty for the destruction of her caravan. While New Vegas does not give an obvious moral answer, the player is told by an NCR Ranger that should the Van Graffs and McLafferty be wiped out, it could cause devastating damage to the NCR accountability, and instead gain information to incriminate them for trial. This questline also hints at the “civilized” way of law coming into form, replacing the more brutal form of cowboy justice the Wild West is famous for in pop culture. The NCR, unlike what is typically thought of as wasteland civilizations, has somewhat of a justice system, with prosecution, courts, and even a prison in the game that has been taken over by Powder Gangers. While the sense of wasteland justice still exists, it is very clear the NCR plans to “civilize” the Mojave in both explicit and subtle ways.

Boone is another case of revenge flipped on its head. A retired NCR 1st Recon Sniper, Boone is one of the first companions the Courier can recruit (provided that they did not have the stats or equipment to revive ED-E in Primm) in the town of Novac. Upon meeting him late at night, Boone employs the player to help search for who had a hand in helping the Legion kill his wife so that he can kill them. The situation around Carla feels especially cruel, as it turns out she was even pregnant during her death. Yet despite getting his revenge, it does not end Boone’s suffering. Rather, it reinforces the idea that this was punishment and that “bad things are coming to him” due to his role in the Bitter Springs Massacre. Many narratives within not just Westerns but also other media portray characters who deal with the guilt of taking part in indigenous massacres, such as the character of Nathan Algren in “The Last Samurai” and Booker Dewitt in “Bioshock Infinite.” Similar to them, Boone in some aspects is meant to be represented in a sympathetic light despite his actions, as he was merely a soldier following orders. It can be argued that making said figures sympathetic towards the viewer/player takes away from the actual suffering and death the indigenous had inflicted upon them, but it can also be argued that Boone’s narrative is indicative of war stories, since the NCR troopers do have similarities to combat equipment and memorabilia similar to Vietnam. Regardless, like the others, Boone’s story is a tale of retribution, either towards the Legion, the commanding officer that ordered the call to kill the Khans, or himself depending upon player influence.

Of course, one cannot talk about cowboys and vengeance without mentioning the former Vaquero-turned-mechanic Raul. Outside of the nuclear holocaust, Raul’s story feels like it is directly lifted from a Western novel or movie. His tale of survival with his sister, his vaquero legend resulting in her death, and his vengeance against the men who killed her as well as taking out vengeance on the raiders who killed the young woman he looked over in Two Sun (Tucson) result in Raul being conflicted about his future. His options, like Cass’ quest, mirror the fate of the Wild West, as he will either let go of the Vaquero legend, allowing the past to stay the past, or be reinvigorated, taking up arms once again as a master of sharpshooting. Similar to deconstructions like “Unforgiven”, Raul’s quest shows that being a gunslinging cowboy is not as glorious as it seems, as regardless of intentions, it is a violent life to live with devastating consequences. It is not too dissimilar to the themes of works like the Red Dead Redemption series, in which its characters grapple with the end of the Wild West amid civilization, having to choose between embracing said civilization or being cowboys until the day they die.

This conflict of civilization against the Wild West is what drives the conflict of the narrative. While it is obvious that the NCR is the representation of the United States government, it can be argued that each of the three main factions the player sides in resembles a core factor of this conflict, even the brutal Caesar’s Legion. On the surface, the Legion is seen as a violent faction hellbent on conquering the Mojave and subjugating the people to their rule, as they have done to other tribes in the South. However, those who interact with Caesar himself can see a much more complex narrative at play, as Caesar has based his rule on the original Roman Empire. Perhaps the most brutal methods of his regime are his subjugation of the tribes he conquered, which can easily be traced to the conquering of North and South America by Europeans, and most importantly to this topic, the violence inflicted on indigenous people by the United States in the Wild West, as well as the subjugation of these people via Christianity, removing their culture and forcing them to either be subjugated or die. Even more than this, the Legion specifically used guerilla tactics against the NCR, the same way the United States would use guerilla tactics against the British in the Revolutionary War. In many ways, the Legion is closer to the United States during the West than one might realize.

House is also connected to this issue in both obvious and subtle ways. Gambling as it is known took off in the West, and by the time Hoover Dam was built in 1931, casinos began to flourish in New Vegas, which fits right in with the setting and circumstance of New Vegas, believably by the design of the developers. One of the first things that a new player can learn is gambling from Ringo in Goodsprings via the game Caravan, and a viable playstyle is to raise Luck to 9 and head straight to Vegas and gamble thousands of chips easily. This system even reappears in the survival horror-focused DLC “Dead Money,” though the Sierra Madre Chips are for survival instead of riches. Most of the casinos though are understandably situated in the titular New Vegas Strip, run by the enigmatic Mr. House. Talking to House, as well as the Three Families on the Strip reveals that they all were once tribes of the Mojave who brokered a deal with house to be “civilized” as the families of the Strip, meaning that the Strip is built on the ground of said tribes. Those who refused, such as the Khans and Kings, were pushed out of New Vegas. Naturally, a connection can be made to the real-world casinos built within indigenous lands by indigenous people as a way to maintain living within their reservations, contrasting the violent perception other indigenous tribes had. Yet, these families are still at the mercy of their overlord House, which matches the fact that despite it being their revenue, the U.S. still can and will pass laws the way they see fit.

Lastly, the most obvious representation of the theme, both from the viewpoint of indigenous relations, as well as the institution of law, is of course the New California Republic. Similar to the Wild West, the Mojave (and by extension most of the American Wasteland) before the annexation of the area by the NCR had no real government nor law, leading many towns to have their systems in play. Many gangs, bandits, and raiders terrorized the Mojave similar to the West, as well as the danger from the environment alone. Like the U.S. of the past, the NCR sets sights on the Mojave, attempting to annex the land, and just like the U.S., they run into massive problems, both from the tribes living in the region and the civilians who purposely distanced themselves from government rule. Talking to NPC’s even from early in the game shows that while most prefer the NCR over the Legion, the NCR is not popular in the slightest. Cass, although vulgar, puts it best:

“They try to put their stake in everything they see. Nobody’s dick’s that long, not even Long Dick Johnson, and he had a fucking long dick. Thus, the name.”

The NCR, like the U.S. during Manifest Destiny and the American Frontier, are imperialists. Their goal is to expand into the American West, regardless of the tribes or people there, establishing their rule with dominance. This type of expansion, as expected, led to numerous conflicts for the U.S. with indigenous tribes, the nation of Mexico over the independence of Texas, and numerous frontier feuds over land, which is what happened to the NCR, with the first notable conflict being against the Brotherhood of Steel. Similar to conflicts like the El Paso Salt War of 1877, this conflict was over resources, most notably the Brotherhood’s extremist stance on pre-war technology, resulting in a brutal war that ended in the Brotherhood in retreat and the NCR’s gold mines destroyed, bringing many people back to bottle caps, but ultimately successful. Their current conflicts in the Mojave are not only against the Legion but also against the hostile tribes and criminals. Much of the strife of the soldiers stationed in the lands matches those of the soldiers in the Wild West, such as petty disputes, corruption, drunkenness, and the general wish to be somewhere else. Publicly they were not celebrated for their efforts, either being treated indifferently or with little respect. It is a tough life for these soldiers, as only their comradery keeps them together, and that itself is wearing thin, shown in quests like making the Misfits a competent unit in Camp Golf, a soldier being murdered to keep a town supplied with water, and Primm preferring not to have the NCR protect their town over other alternatives. As the player character, players are even given bounties to take care of from the NCR, similar to the perception of bounty hunters within Western fiction, and many quests have the character take justice into their own hands due to the failure of the government. Perhaps the biggest connection between the old Wild West and the NCR is the treatment of those indigenous.

Perhaps the most tragic event within the Mojave Wasteland, the massacre of the Great Khans at Bitter Springs, is a stain on the NCR’s occupation of the territory. While blamed on miscommunication officially, Khans argue it was a purposeful attack. Regardless of the reason, the result was monstrous. Numerous Khans were killed including the elderly, women, and children. Real-world connections are blatant, as the Khans are the most notable case of indigenous tribes within the Mojave, though their main inspiration is that of Genghis Khan. While the Khans were not a peaceful force per se, most can agree the massacre at Bitter Springs was a turning point in the opinion of the NCR occupation. It is clear the relationship between the NCR and Khans is meant to be a prime example of how the NCR emulates the expansionist mindset of the U.S. in its most violent form, and the ideal solution for the NCR is to assassinate and replace the leader of the Khans to ally them with the NCR, merely being seen as meat shields for the NCR troopers. Colonel Moore, one of the major leaders within the NCR in the Mojave, puts it bluntly:

An alliance? That’s an interesting proposition — any plan where I can throw packs of raiders at the enemy instead of my own soldiers is a good one.

The reward of the Khans allying themselves with the NCR? After the Second Battle of Hoover Dam, the tribe is forced to leave the Mojave due to the continued expansion of the NCR, being placed in a barren reservation. These events mirror numerous cases of indigenous tribes being forced off their land due to the needs of the U.S. government, most notably the infamous Indian Removal Act, resulting in the Trail of Tears. It is perhaps one of the most blatant examples of the imperialism the NCR employs, as even with Hoover Dam in their possession, they still want more.

It is perhaps then understandable that all of this expansion and conquest left the NCR completely outstretched, mirroring the government of the old West in this factor as well. Writing for the Journal of the Old Republic, Rachel St. John notes in her analysis of the government during this time, noting that:

With its piecemeal acquisition of vast territories over the nineteenth century, the U.S. government often found its authority overstretched. Federal officials made agreements and adopted policies that exceeded the capacity of the government’s finances, personnel, and administrative systems. Even as the federal government claimed dominion over great expanses and diverse and dispersed populations in western North America, it faced fundamental challenges to sovereignty, including the inability to fulfill treaty obligations; the failure to enforce laws or to maintain a monopoly on violence; and the lack of territorial control over large parts of the country. These problems were compounded by corrupt and incompetent officials and by the government’s dependence on local agents who had questionable loyalties.

This description of the government during this time near-mirrors the situation of the NCR in their occupation of the Mojave. Constant conflict with numerous tribes, the Legion, and the Brotherhood on top of their actions at Bitter Springs have left them stretched much too thin to be a government. A prime example is the situation at Helios One, where losing two soldiers causes the platoon stationed there to shut off all access to the plant. Their failure to maintain order has led to gangs like the Vipers and Fiends to run rampant across the Mojave, leading to caravans being destroyed, as well as the Powder Gangers being a force in the Mojave due to being given dynamite while incarcerated. Violence rules the Mojave, and at times it can even be those of the NCR that instigate this violence, such as mercenaries hired by the NCR who plan to attack the peaceful Super Mutants of Jacobstown as a prime example. Failure to keep peace also matches its conflicts with the Brotherhood over the technology present in the wastes, the treaty between the Rangers, as Chief Hanlon has lost all hope in NCR rule, and most notably, the treaty between the NCR and House over Hoover Dam and the Strip. Despite agreeing, it becomes clear once the player sides with the NCR that the ultimate goal of the government is to eliminate House as a force within the Mojave, a clear violation of their treaty to eventually annex the Strip. Combined with the war over Hoover Dam with the Legion, the NCR also struggled to keep much of their territory, including settlements like Nelson and Camp Searchlight, both lost to the Legion. All of this adds up to perhaps the most blatant flaw within the NCR; its corruption and incompetence on a fundamental level.

Perhaps the most damning connection to be made between the NCR and its Old War counterpart is laid out by St. John in the last sentence of her quote. Moments like the NCR hiring mercenaries to wipe out Jacobstown, the Bitter Springs massacre, and Colonel Moore’s attitude against certain groups are examples already discussed, but there are far more points in which the NCR shows its corruption and lack of care for the common man. Looking back at Helios One, the Courier discovers that it is an orbital laser system that can be rerouted to power the entire region of the Mojave, yet as Fantastic notes, the NCR is only concerned with their outposts getting the power, ordering the Courier to only power those locations instead of the whole region. Multiple characters note the power that Brahmin barons have immense control over politics, with characters like Heck Gunderson being described as so wealthy that he has numerous senators in his pocket. This corruption runs as deep as the military, as when asked about Colonel Hsu, arguably the most respected man in the NCR, Boone responds by saying:

What I heard, he’d be a general right now if Oliver didn’t know the president.

President Kimball himself is noted by figures like Chief Hanlon to be imperialist, only looking out for the expansion of the NCR at all costs, while Oliver is described as a war hawk who isn’t too popular with many troops. Both of these match St. John’s description of officials at the time of the old West, with her noting that most officials “secured their appointments in the West through political patronage and in pursuit of personal advancement,” which is clear as day both in the comments about Kimball eyeing re-election, and the comedic scene at the end of his speech.

Of course, the NCR in many of its quests is extremely dependent upon the intervention of locals with questionable loyalties like the U.S., with said questionable agents being the players themselves. Although it can be seen as favoritism of the faction, in reality, the reason the NCR has an abundance of questlines is primarily due to how overstretched and incompetent they are at nearly every NCR location. Forlorn Hope is on the brink of destruction, Camp Golf’s Misfit Squadron cannot get along, Bitter Springs needs supply assistance, Helios One’s troops cannot activate the plant, McCarran needs help with the fiends, contraband, and a spy, etc. Players who wish to achieve the best outcomes with the NCR have to scour the map and do hundreds of quests that would be busywork in any other scenario. From their issues of violence toward natives to their corruption and incompetence, to their inability to conduct a stable government, as well as the struggle with treaties, the NCR is shown to be a near-mirror match the the Old West government, driven by the need to expand and most notably to the game’s themes, greed.

Greed and the pursuit of money are one of the major reasons there are conflicts within Westerns, which naturally took inspiration from the rampant gambling and gold rushes happening during the period. “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly,” perhaps the perfect example of the Spaghetti Western, is focused on greed, as the final confrontation between the trio is about gold, with Blondie splitting half the gold with Tuco and not completely succumbing to greed like Angel Eyes. Writing for SOUTHOFTHEBORDER.DOC, Rita Jones notes that “in those days there were no loans…, so people resorted to other means to get money.” Naturally, many of the conflicts within the game revolve around greed, with the first example most players come in contact with being the Sunset Sarsaparilla Star Bottle Caps. Most players will likely not collect all fifty caps for The Legend of the Star side quest, but those that do will find it to be a cautionary tale of what greed does to people, as shown in the random encounter of two Wastelanders getting into a gunfight over the star caps, and the fate of Allen Marks, the man who hunted down those with the caps. Having the reward simply being Festus telling the player the story of the drink is an excellent initial subversion of the quest, as the character also could have succumbed to greed by killing those with the caps for what they would think is a substantial reward, similar to Marks. Finding his body in the sealed prize room, as well as his final words noting how he should have listened to his mother bookends the main theme driving this quest; that the pursuit of greed at the cost of morality can and will always end poorly, just like it does for a character like Angel Eyes.

Casinos within the Mojave are another big focus of greed. Continuing New Vegas’ differences from its predecessors, gambling is a huge focus within the game, both for the characters and the players themselves, as a character with a high LUCK skill can easily win thousands of caps in gambling, even being barred from gambling should they win too much. One of the first things the player can learn to do even before they enter The Strip is to learn Caravan, the equivalent of card games. Connecting to the Old West, gambling was a huge part of saloon culture, with games like Poker becoming a huge cultural phenomenon within the West. It should be of no surprise that with gambling and greed as a major focus, Nevada was the main choice of location for New Vegas (ironically, Nevada was one of the first states to outlaw gambling). As such, it is also represented in many Westerns, such as “A Big Hand for the Little Lady,” “Tombstone,” and “Trinity is Still My Name.” Like its socio-political motifs, New Vegas uses gambling to highlight how much has changed for the lives of the Wasteland, but how much has either stayed the same or reverted to the flaws of the Old World.

With this in mind, Robert House is the perfect character to commandeer this style of life. Using the Strip as a boon of fortune and success, House’s character can be linked to wealthy figures during the period of the West, most notably John D. Rockefeller. His entire position in the game revolves around success and pushing humanity to its next era, free of its obligations to the old world. Despite his lofty claims, however, House’s rule is that of a businessman, doing what is necessary to gain the maximum amount of profit and growth. Connections have already been made earlier to House’s use of the tribes and its similarity to casinos in indigenous reservations, and just like the NCR or Legion, should there be a tribe that does not coincide with House’s vision of the world, such as the Kings or Brotherhood of Steel, they are eliminated. It should also be of note that while the Strip itself is in pristine condition, the outside areas such as Freeside are rife with gang violence, disputes, drug addiction, extortion, and extreme poverty. The fact that he could have used his Securitron Army and massive amounts of resources to bring order to the Mojave but instead focused on the Strip is evidence that unless it brings him profit and success, it doesn’t matter to House.

Perhaps the most notable case of greed being a major theme within the game is Dead Money. Taking place in the Sierra Madre, a villa built around a luxurious hotel and casino, the DLC follows the player’s attempts to break into the vault under the control of former Brotherhood elder Father Elijah, a man driven by the greed of the Sierra Madre’s technology. Dead Money shows through its characters both alive and dead how greed can corrupt all. Starting with Elijah himself, it is his greed that resulted in his current situation within the DLC, as his incessant need to obtain the technology at Helios One resulted in massive losses for the Brotherhood against the NCR. His obsession with the greed of technology and vengeance is what drives him to insanity, and his inability to let go of said greed leads to his demise, either through killing him directly or sealing him in the Sierra Madre Vault. Christine also feels this greed of vengeance, as she desperately chases Elijah to take revenge, even losing her voice and some of her mental capacity in the process. Dean Domino’s greed is both that of money and glory, as he wishes to be the shining star of the Sierra Madre as well as have the gold within the vault, leading him to blackmail Vera Keyes to get to Frederick Sinclair, creator of the Sierra Madre. All of these characters actively suffer due to their greed, whether it be the mental and physical scars Christine suffers or the moral downfall of Domino. Even the player’s greed is tested at the end of the DLC, as the gold they find in the vault is too heavy to take, forcing the player to let go of said greed (although the player can use the perk Long Haul and high sneak skill to sneak past Elijah and take all the gold. This is most likely unintentional). Unless Christine and Dean let go of their greed as well, their fates are to be doomed in the Sierra Madre as well. Their only hope is to begin again, a message that is a focal point of the game.

Religion, faith, spirituality, and redemption are often common themes that appear in the Western genre that connect with the time, both positive and negative. Of course, when talking about video games, Rockstar’s “Red Dead Redemption” cannot be ignored when it comes to this topic. Both the first game and its prequel focus on the theme of redemption, both spiritually and morally, as John Marston and Arthur Morgan struggle with the idea of redemption. Each game’s narrative ponders if these men who have robbed, kidnapped, stolen, and killed deserve any type of redemption, with the answer seemingly being that they only gain said redemption through death, only for said death to cause a cycle of vengeance to Jack Marston, John’s son. In terms of film, Clint Eastwood’s “Unforgiven” might be the hallmark of the subject, as William Munny struggles to redeem himself after the atrocities he has committed, only to succumb to said violence by the end of the narrative, serving as a deconstruction of the typically black and white morality seen within traditional westerns. New Vegas’ takes on redemption and change are shown through numerous characters such as Boone, but it can best be attributed to perhaps the game’s most known character, Joshua Graham. A co-founder of the Legion and former Legate, Graham’s loss at Hoover Dam and his subsequent punishment by being set on fire and thrown down the Grand Canyon fundamentally makes him into a person similar to William Munny. Reclaiming his Mormon religion, Graham feels the event was his second baptism, drawing numerous parallels to the Christian faith. His body being covered in water, then fire, matches the destruction of the Earth via the Great Flood and Sodom and Gomorrah being destroyed by fire. As the focus of Dead Money, Graham struggles with his spirituality and need for vengeance. In his eyes, he is the rightful tool of God that dispenses justice to those undeserving, in contrast to his partner Daniel, who believes in mercy and compassion above all else. To compare to Christianity, if Daniel is representative of the New Testament teachings, preaching mercy, compassion, love, and forgiveness even at the cost of oneself, Graham sees himself as the God of the Old Testament, punishing those that do wrong by death, destruction, and retribution. His characterization reaches a boiling point when he has the leader of the White Legs at gunpoint, planning to execute him. Should the player be able to pass a Speech check, they point out to Graham the truth of the situation that he has been trying to avoid. His use of religion has been to justify his vengeance, and that while the White Legs will be punished, it is God who will punish them, not him. This allows Graham to not succumb to his violent ways as William Munny does in Unforgiven, nor does he doubt the possibility of being redeemed like Arthur Morgan or John Marston. Instead, he chooses to end the cycle of violence, allowing the remaining White Legs to go in peace, and while he still defends Zion Canyon against tribes, he does show mercy, finally finding peace with himself.

On paper, the following DLC seems to have no connections between the narrative and the Old West absent, as Old World Blues focuses primarily on scientific innovation, hubris, nostalgia, and the dangers of science as weaponry. However, the Old West was a revolutionary time for science, with one of the greatest minds of the 20th century, Nikola Tesla, finding the West a great place to conduct his experiments. Similar to Tesla, the scientists of the Big MT chose its location due to the wide space provided, as well as the lack of limitations on their experiments. Figures like John Wesley Powell found success in the West through scientific advancement, and as a result, the federal government also became dependent upon science. As noted in Making the Most of Science in the American West: An Experiment, writers Patricia Nelson Limerick and Claudia Puska note that “the role of scientific experts in shaping the destiny of the American West (and the hope that their expertise would raise them above politics and allow them to provide steady and solid guidance to voters and office-holders) would become permanent dimensions of national life.” Food production, archeology, energy, resources, and exploration formed the backbone of the experiments in the Big MT just like they did with the science of the Old West, with the Mojave and surrounding regions directly influenced by the scientific discoveries of the Think Tank, for better and for worse. Even their bickering attitudes were common for scientists in the West, with Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh’s rivalry being similar to that of the turbulent relationship between Doctor Mobius and his other scientists. Despite their intelligence however, both the Think Tank and Western scientists are ultimately under the jurisdiction and influence of their respective governments, the United States, shown through the rejection of indigenous knowledge in the West and the anti-Chinese viewpoint of the Think Tank to the point of having concentration camps for Chinese-Americans to experiment on.

Many of these themes, such as redemption, revenge, greed, and the repetition of history all come together in the final DLC of the game Lonesome Road. As the previous DLCs have shown, everything has been building up for a showdown of legends between the Courier and the character Ulysses, represented in the form of a standoff between the two. Ulysses himself is a product of many of the themes within the game. His tribe became a part of the Legion, their home of Dry Wells was brutally attacked, forcing survivors to be assimilated, his second home in the Divide was annexed by the NCR and destroyed unknowingly by the Courier, and he witnessed greed overtake both the NCR and the Legion once they saw Hoover Dam. He also recognizes the flaws within House’s rule of New Vegas, noting how his dream is still steeped in Old World values. In essence, Ulysses serves as the ultimate challenge to the player, both in terms of gameplay and narrative. It is no mistake that he is named after President Ulysses S. Grant, who was arguably a pariah in terms of the United States government. Spearheading numerous reforms within the United States after the Civil War such as the Civil Rights Act in 1875, uniting the country together without punishing those who served the Confederacy, and favoring African-Americans, with many arguing it was Grant who truly freed the slaves. Like his namesake, Ulysses seems to challenge the nature of the status quo around him, as he has a tuned understanding of everyone involved in the conflict. However, keeping in line with the theme of not fully understanding history, Ulysses plans to build a new future not through unification but through utter destruction via nuclear bombs. The confrontation between the Courier and Ulysses takes inspiration from the classic Western standoff, where two cowboys of equal strength have a final duel that in most cases forms the climax of their respective narratives, with both arguably influenced by the need for revenge and retribution. Similar to many standoffs such as the one at the end of “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly,” it is more than a physical confrontation, with the fight being a clash of ideals and beliefs. It is an appropriate sendoff for a game that imitates the Old West to end any way a dispute in the Old West would end.

“Fallout: New Vegas” is one of the greatest Westerns ever made. Despite its post-apocalyptic set-dressing, New Vegas is a masterclass in not only imitating the aesthetic, conflicts, and sociopolitical issues that were present in the Old West and Westerns but also dissecting and subverting many of these topics. From its characters representing many Western tropes to the factions of the game representing the Westward Expansion, treatment of indigenous people, and conflicts present in the Old West, New Vegas manages to not only be a deconstruction of the past, but a representation of issues that still affect our present day. As Ron Perlman puts it perfectly, war never changes.

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