Fallout devs wanted uber-violent deaths to feel "like an R-rated version of Warner Bros cartoons" back in the '90s: "It was supposed to be funny"

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"It wasn't supposed to be taken seriously"

Fallout New Vegas
(Image credit: Bethesda)

Before Bethesda Game Studios took Fallout for itself in 2007, Interplay Entertainment made the series we now know and love in 1997 with the first-ever entry – one that we can thank for many of the features that are now iconic alongside the Fallout name.

If you've played any Fallout game before, then you're likely more than familiar with its whole dramatic death scene thing – you know, the slow-motion cuts, blood spewing from wounds, and gory moments that almost feel comical considering the post-apocalyptic setting and what have you.

Well, it turns out that the conception of Fallout's violence is actually rooted in the desire to make it all a little bit humorous… and disgusting, of course.

Leonard Boyarsky, who worked as art director on the first Fallout and then as a lead on its 1998 sequel, reveals as much during a recent interview with Game Informer focusing on the history of the now-beloved RPG series.

"I remember for some reason, we had nowhere to meet at one point, and we ended up meeting in Brian Fargo's [executive producer] office," recalls Boyarsky – and this meeting is exactly where the magic happened.

Boyarsky concludes that "it was supposed to really be this dark humor and come across as funny" – and honestly, I'd argue it is, even today.

Sure, the newer Fallout games aren't the same as the OG two, focusing more on open-world exploration than before… but they do still have that same sort of silly, cartoonish violence, if you ask me. The whole Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System (known as V.A.T.S.) is evidence enough.

You can't exactly slow down time and selectively blow a creature's limbs or brain off in every game, after all, and that's the sort of stuff that makes Fallout so special – and no, I don't mean strength, perception, endurance, charisma, intelligence, agility, and luck.

Anna Koselke
Anna Koselke
Staff Writer

After spending years with her head in various fantastical realms' clouds, Anna studied English Literature and then Medieval History at the University of Edinburgh, going on to specialize in narrative design and video game journalism as a writer. She has written for various publications since her postgraduate studies, including Dexerto, Fanbyte, GameSpot, IGN, PCGamesN, and more. When she's not frantically trying to form words into coherent sentences, she's probably daydreaming about becoming a fairy druid and befriending every animal or she's spending a thousand (more) hours traversing the Underdark in Baldur's Gate 3. If you spot her away from her PC, you'll always find Anna with a fantasy book, a handheld video game console of some sort, and a Tamagotchi or two on hand.

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