Warning: Major spoilers for Fallout 4 lie ahead
There are a lot of Fallout things coming in the very near future now that April’s upon us, but the first one that’s dropped looks to have done so pretty much out of the blue. It’s a new fan film called Fallout Deadweight and adds an interesting extra scene to the end of Fallout 4’s main quest.
If you haven’t replayed it in a while, the central adventure of Fallout 4 generally either ends with The Institute either going boom or entering a new era with the Sole Survivor in charge. No matter which way you choose to go about it, things end rather tragically for the son you’ve spent most of the game tearing apart the wasteland to find, with him meeting his end as the story concludes.
What happens after that, well, the ending cinematic. However, if you were left wanting a bit of extra closure of the family aspect of the plot, Fallout Deadweight, a new fan film that I’m pretty sure isn’t an April fool despite having dropped on April 1, is well worth a look.
This short but very well-produced mini-movie, which has apparently come together over the course of three years, sees the male version of the Sole Survivor- Nate – return to Vault 111 following the story’s conclusion. With Dogmeat at his side and rocking a pretty cool version of Elder Maxson’s battlecoat, he gets into a pretty neat little fight with some raiders who’ve moved into the vault – there’s even a Wilhelm scream, which immediately earns the film some cool points.
Once those troublemakers have been dispatched using some typical Fallout weaponry and with some trusty VATS, a now levelled-up Sole Survivor proceeds to the cryo chamber, where you leave your deceased spouse – Nora in this case – at the start of the game. Cracking open the pod with her inside, the Survivor – played by actor JP Valenti – gives a short speech alluding to their pre-war lives.
He then reveals that he’s brought Shaun’s body back to the vault in order to place it next to Nora in the pod, essentially burying his two family members together, rather than just leaving one in a bed in The Institute. He then heads back out into the wasteland to continue his adventures.
While the film might not mesh that well with how you chose to play the game, especially if you didn’t side with The Institute in the main story, the symbolism of the ending it offers is quite touching, with Shaun being returned to the mother he was stolen from. Add in the fact the movie, which has been directed by Nigel J. Kim and worked on by a pretty expansive crew, looks and sounds the part – even though it isn’t officially linked to Bethesda or Amazon – and it’s definitely a nice little what if you can adopt into your headcanon if you wish.
Meanwhile, if you’re looking for more stuff to watch – or re-watch – ahead of the premiere of the proper Fallout TV Show via Prime Video on April 11, make sure to check out the clip Amazon shared from it late last month.