For the first time in years, Fallout: New Vegas 2 feels like a real possibility. Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda brings it into the same house as Obsidian Entertainment, meaning the two have more reason than ever to put out a new game in the next few years. It does seem somewhat unlikely that players return to the Mojave Wasteland, but there’s one area some fans have begging for ever since it was seemingly teased (it wasn’t): New Orleans.
For a variety of reasons, ranging from name conventions to the setting, Fallout: New Orleans sounds like a plausible follow-up to Fallout: New Vegas, making it a proper “New” sub-franchise. However, assuming this ever proved to be the case, Bethesda and Obsidian couldn’t just slap Fallout: New Orleans on a game case and call it a spiritual sequel. There are certain elements that would need to be included to capture the very essence of New Vegas.
In Fallout 3 and Fallout 4, there are some strong connective tissue between the main protagonists. Known as the Lone Wanderer and Sole Survivor, both are made out to be strong, solo-types who are both searching for someone, either their father or their son. These events start off both of the games, while in stark contrast, the Fallout: New Vegas courier gets shot in the head.
For New Orleans to be a spiritual successor, there would likely need to be some connective tissue in which the player is once again a Courier whose life has somehow been endangered from the onset. Hopefully, this type of opening is still open and wide enough that the idea behind its actually implementation is less repetitive than that of the Fallout 3 and Fallout 4 protagonists.
Not to say that Fallout 3 and Fallout 4 doesn’t have interesting characters, but arguably, neither of them hit the same caliber of Fallout: New Vegas. Two examples added by DLC, and this is just indeed two examples are Joshua Graham, otherwise known as the Burned Man, and Ulysses, another Courier. The image of Joshua’s wrapped face was enough to sell the DLC, with the fact that he was teased through the main world being an interesting fact too. As a living myth in the Mojave Wasteland, players meet a legend in him, one of betrayal and redemption. It adds more to the main story, while also offering players a New Vegas character who was both religious and insane.
In Ulysses, the player characters see themselves reflected back. It’s Ulysses’ manipulations in New Vegas that see the campaign begin as it does, it’s Ulysses who serves as a behind-the-scenes antagonist even throughout the DLC, and it’s Ulysses that really takes the game to the next level. Fallout: New Orleans‘ rich setting would enable there to be a ton of interesting, compelling, and overtly unique characters as well: from the heavy catholicism, from the cajun influences, from the occultish ideas, there’s plenty of potential that New Orleans has to live up to in order to rival New Vegas.
Speaking of settings, Fallout: New Vegas’ was unique in the franchise. Whereas Fallout 3 and Fallout 4 saw a still pretty much dilapidated world with citizens settling into homes instead of making them homes, New Vegas saw characters trying to make the most out of everything they’ve got. The New Vegas strip is proof of that, as it’s clear that New Vegas wants to make something of itself again, instead of relegating itself to some type of wasteland memorabilia.
With that in mind, New Orleans will need to clearly be destroyed but also rebuilding. Its history and architecture lean it easily into this, and by making “New” New Orleans a recovering city, it would tie the two games closer together.
One thing to keep in mind too is how Fallout: New Vegas captures the idea of “War never changes” slightly more than Fallout 3 and Fallout 4. While still present, the NCR, Caesar’s Legion, Mr. House, or even the independent option all revolve around war and control of New Vegas. For New Orleans to hit that same high mark, it would need to show how factions are warring over control and trying to define the wasteland moving forward. That sounds incredibly similar in terms of plot, but the flavor could make it more distinct. An occult-controlled New Orleans vs. a Brotherhood of Steel-controlled New Orleans, as random examples, would be like night and day.
At least in comparison to Fallout 3 at the time, Fallout: New Vegas feels like an ambitious game in terms of scope, size, characters, mechanics, and more. Fallout: New Orleans will need to push the envelope all the same, and seeing as it would likely launch on next-gen consoles, that’s an exciting prospect. Fallout: New Vegas designed for next-gen consoles with a NOLA background paints a beautiful picture. Nonetheless, the future of Fallout remains uncertain. Fans will just need to see what comes of the Microsoft-Bethesda acquisition and how that influences beloved franchises like Fallout.
A new Fallout game is not confirmed to be in development.
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