Fallout

Story

Fallout is set in a timeline that diverges from our own some time after World War II, and in which technology, politics and culture have taken a different course. In the 21st century, a worldwide conflict is triggered by a global oil shortage. Several nations war over the last non-renewable resources, namely oil and uranium; the so-called resource wars begin in April 2052 and end in 2077. China invades Alaska in the winter of 2066, prompting the United States to go to war with China and use Canadian resources for its war effort despite Canadian complaints. Eventually, the United States forcibly annexes Canada in February 2076 and reclaims Alaska nearly a year later. After years of conflict, global nuclear war ensues on October 23, 2077. It is not known who strikes first, but in less than a few hours most major cities are destroyed. The effects of the war do not subside for the next hundred years, and as a result, human society has collapsed, leaving only a few survivors able to fend for themselves in the barren wasteland, while a few survive in underground bunkers called Vaults. One of them, Vault 13, is the protagonist's home, where the game begins. In Vault 13, in the year 2161 in Southern California, 84 years after the nuclear war. The Water Chip, a computer chip responsible for water recycling and pumping, breaks down. The Vault Overseer tasks the protagonist, the Vault Dweller, with finding a replacement. He or she is given a portable device called the "Pip-Boy 2000" to track maps, targets and accounting. Armed with the Pip-Boy 2000 and a meager amount of equipment, including a small sum of crown caps used as currency in the post-apocalyptic world, the main character is sent on a quest.