Imagining aFalloutgame set outside the US is difficult. The series is so deeply invested in post-War Americana aesthetics from Vault-Tec’s cheery mascot to Nuka-Cola that there are almost no other countries where aFalloutgame would make sense. Even the appearance of seemingly non-American characters like the Irish-accented Cait fromFallout 4and Colin Moriarty fromFallout 3raises questions about travel after the Great War of 2077. IfFallout: New Vegas 2is in the works, however, it could make sense as the firstFalloutgame set at least partially outside of the USA.
There’s a good case forFallout: New Vegas 2to take place in or include areas from Mexico. Here’s why a Mexico-setNew Vegas 2just might work, and some of the lore it could take advantage of.
RELATED:Fallout: New Vegas Mod Makes Canceled Van Buren Game Accessible to Play
Fallout: New Vegas' Genre
Falloutis drenched in sickly-sweet ’50s and early-’60s Americana, but the exact flavor ranges from game to game.Fallout: New Vegasplays on the western as much as the apocalyptic sci-fi genre. There’s a reason westerngames likeRed Dead Redemptionoften have significant portions of their story set in Mexico like the western movies that preceded them. The country’s history is vital to an understanding of the genre. The annexation of huge parts of Mexico created the backdrop for the USA’s western frontier. The entirety ofNew Vegastakes place in a part of the world that was under Mexican jurisdiction until 1848, and the tropes of the American western are inseparable from its relationship with its neighbor to the south.
No character better demonstrates the importance of Mexico to the originalNew Vegas' conception of the western genre better thanRaul Tejada, aNew Vegasghoul companion who hails from Mexico City and ends up a gun-slinging vaquero. As well as Raul’s personal story, there’s already quite a bit of lore about Mexico in theFalloutuniverse.
RELATED:Fallout: New Vegas – 15 Mods That Make It Feel Like A Brand New Game
Mexico And The NCR
The 23rd century saw theNew California Republicexpand its own borders into what was once the Mexican state of Baja. InFallout: New Vegastalking to Chief Hanlon of the NCR Rangers at Camp Golf reveals a little bit about the new nation’s operations to the south. Over two decades before the events ofNew Vegas, he explains, the NCR built a town in what was once Baja named Rattletail. Although the residents were eventually driven out by raiders, his story establishes that there are still people living in Mexico after the war, and that it’s likely part of the NCR expansionist ambitions explored in President Kimball’s Mojave Campaign.
Even ifObsidiandoesn’t want to commit to a game fully set in Mexico, there are other options. A game set in the NCR could explore parts of Southern California, including areas across what was once the US-Mexican border.Fallout: New Vegas 2could also include a DLC set in Mexico, similar to DLCs from previousFalloutgame’s likeFallout 3’sThe Pittwhich explored regions nearby the game’s main setting.
Fallout’s investment in its Americana aesthetic gives the series next-to-no opportunities to explore other countries, but a game set in the American South-West has the opportunity to take players outside of the former United States for the first time without breaking its brand. Whether or not anotherNew Vegasor equivalentthird-party-developedFalloutgame will be released remains up in the air. However,New Vegas' uniquely western aesthetic helped distinguish it from the other first-personFalloutgames, and a journey to the south could play into the western theme even more while finally giving fans a look into the lore of other countries.
Fallout: New Vegas 2is not confirmed to be in development.
MORE:Xbox Exec Lets Slip That a New Fallout Game May Be in Development
