Fallout 4 trailer detail analysis shot by shot

There count down lead to the big reveal of Fallout 4 trailer.  Here is the breakdown of what was revealed.

The trailer opened with a track by the Inkspots name "its all over but the crying" while the camera pans away from the countdown to reveal a living room that cuts back and forth between from a 1930s suburbian utopia to a nuclear blasted loot cave with the only thing being left is a box of sugar bomb cereal.

The camera follows a dog searching through the remains of the home of a young family.  The family is a mother and father hovering over the cradle with a happy baby reaching for some rep con rockets that were featured in Fallout New Vegas.  On the drawer counter is a nuka cola truck from Fallout 3.   

We can assume that the kid in the cradle is you, and this scene is you revisiting your home as an adult reliving the memories on that day the nuclear bombing changed the world.  It's a throw back to Fallout 3 how you start out as a baby and grow up to change the world.

We have another cut in and out scene as the dog hears something outside and you remember the sound of the panic alarms as the nuclear bombs were inbound and about to change the world as you know it.

As you escape, outside you see images of a familiar destroyed fallout neighborhood but developers provide another cut scene of Boston residents packing up and preparing to leave for the vaults.

You get another cut scene that's confusing if your a true fallout fan.  As you cross a bridge you see trees and bushes in the fallout world, but think for a minute.  Who remembers the big mission in Fallout 3 where your goal was to find new life and trees?  I don't know if the art director is being more liberal or the vegetation functionality of the game will feature more but this contradicts a lot to me.

Putting Fallout lore aside, the next scene is the best foreshadowing I've seen.  In the past, there are residents standing in line to enter a gate guarded by two brotherhood of the steel soldiers with a giant vault tech billboard on the hill saying "prepare for the future"  featuring the exact nuclear evacuation scene we are seeing. 

Then you are shown powerful imagery in less than a minute of a door closing to all outside with vault 111 written on it that ends the introduction and act 1.  

The next cut scene shows the sunlight peeking in as vault door opens from the inside.  Act 2 begins as you step out into the wasteland and observe your surroundings.  

You get cut scenes of destroyed landmarks like the Bunker Hill monument and USS Constitution letting you know your location is Boston, Massachusetts.

In the remains of the bar area of scholarly square a mysterious stranger from the fallout 3 VATS perk approached you.  

Next cut scene is a Brahmin caravan with bad weather in the horizon.  I wonder if weather will play a factor in this game?

We get a few more glimpses of the Boston wasteland filled with raging and fast ghouls, the enclave in helicopters, armed superhuman mobs prowling and protectatrons roaming the wasteland.  What I quickly noticed was that Boston wasn't hit as hard by the war as we remember the west coast from Fall Out New Vegas.  Some critics are saying that the timeline is different.  That events happening now are prior to the actual war between the USA and China.

The best scene is that of Fenway Park, the Boston Red Sox stadium.  Looks like a shantytown is inside the stadium with squatters and businesses inhabiting the area.  

The next scene is a airship hovering over the Paul Revere statue and Old North Church.

The next scene is a view of the city from a perspective of the airship.  You stand beside a brotherhood of steel soldier and view some interesting signage: a nuka cola billboard, a GNN sign reference to a project Fallout 3 DJ 3 dog talked about a year ago, R&R oil.  R&R oil is interesting because the lore and reason the Fallout war happen was due to control over the scarce natural resources.  A nice nodd to what caused he downfall of humanity.  

The next shot is the Boston State House and a few rooftop shots of buildings.  If you notice the condition of each building you wouldn't say a nuclear war happened bc most buildings are in good condition.  Comparing these buildings to the ruins of Washington, D.C. in Fallout 3, we don't know why Boston building conditions are better.  Most buildings looked like they were abandoned and not kept up instead of reflecting being hit by a nuclear blast. One particular giant bulging building that has been in many shots stands a mile high in the background.  It made me wonder what importance it will play and why it is there bc there are not any buildings like this in Boston?

The end of act 2 of the trailer concluded with flashbacks of people standing outside the vault 111 as the bombs hit.  We see the suburban family with the baby from act one get caught in the nuclear explosion, so maybe that's not you.  Thinking back throughout the trailer you have seen the family through a first person perspective, so are you a different child? Interesting twist I'd say. 

Act 3 opens with a pure glimpse of the current events.  Dog meat the K9 sniffs out a power armor suit being assembled in a R&R petroleum garage.  This is the most powerful shot in the trailer.  There are power armor components on the shelf, magazines on the rack and weapons in the background.  Is this a crafting area? Is this your operations base? 

Dog meat runs out to greet a man wearing a new pepboy on his wrist.  Normally you need a glove, now the pipboy is worn like a large wrist watch.  Controls are on the right side of the pipboy.  Then the main character rubs dog meat on the head and says "lets go boy".  Epic because none of the previous Fallout games had a voice for the characters.

Overall, the trailer purpose was showing us what is coming and what to expect from Fallout 4. I can't wait for an official release date.  Keep coming to hivegaming to stay informed on your latest gaming news and reviews!