Summary
Between the TV show and the irresistible urge you definitely felt to play the games again thanks to said TV show, you’ve probably felt a bit saturated withFalloutcontent lately. So you might have understandably decided to take a break and go play something else for a while.
Except, surprise, the next game you jumped to just slapped you right in the moneymaker with a Fallout Easter egg out of nowhere. It turns out there are plenty of games that reference the beloved post-apocalyptic series in some way. Whether you want to avoid or seek them out, you’ll find them in some surprising places.
11The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Toss Some Caps To Your Witcher
Even in the dark fantasy world ofThe Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, the call of the wasteland is inescapable. It’s a subtle reference with a prerequisite, however. First, you need to completeThe Witcher 3’s free DLC mission Fool’s Gold, which you were probably going to do anyway, you completionist champion.
Afterwards, take a nice stroll through the village of Lurtch (it’s the place with the pigs, you know the one) while listening carefully. Eventually, you’ll find a peasant reclining on the side of the road uttering “war… war never changes” in a pleasing baritone. Fallout fans will immediately recognize this line from the beginning of nearly every game in the series.
10Prey
Still Cleaner Water Than In The Wasteland
The unfortunately closed down Arkane Austin hit it out of the park with its 2017 masterpiecePrey, and apparently the team included a few Fallout fans (or orders from Bethesda). A note describing the procedure for clearing out the eel-filled water tank in the Life Support section contains a super sneaky Easter egg.
While the note serves as a hint for completing the Drunk Tank mission, if you look at the top of it, you’ll see a string of characters including “vault13” which calls back to the Vault from the original Fallout. Notably, water purification was a major story element of that game.
9Cyberpunk 2077
If Fallout 76 Got A Little Too Immersive
You might have missed this bit while joyriding Claire’s frankly perfect truck The Beast around the already Fallout-like badlands inCyberpunk 2077. Just southeast of the Biotechnica Flats, you’ll find a couple of corpses around a circular latch-looking thing with “101” stamped on it, a reference tothe Vault from Fallout 3.
Meanwhile, the archived conversation nearby mentions Albert Cole and Gary Epps, respective nods to a protagonist name option in the original Fallout and the “GURPS” gameplay system that was eventually replaced by SPECIAL. Fans of earlier games in the series will find even more references in that chat.
8Borderlands 2
Three Dog’s Show Would Absolutely Fit Right In On Pandora
As another game heavily featuring Vaults, it’s no wonderBorderlands 2contains its own homages to Fallout. On the more subdued side, both Maya and Zero can gain alternate skins in blue and yellow called “Vault Dweller” and “Vault Suit” for completing the “This is No Time for Lazy!” challenge.
Meanwhile, take out the optional boss Assassin Rouf during the Assassinate the Assassins side mission and he might drop the unique shotgun Thre Dog. The name references radio host Three Dog from Fallout 3, and even the description calls back to one of his catchphrases you definitely never got tired of.
7Wolfenstein: The New Order
It’s Probably Not Even Cold, Those Monsters
How about a nice refreshing beverage while you’re hanging around a Nazi prison facility? Hey, even famed fascism fighters need to put their legs up and cool off now and then.
Take a look at any of the drink vending machines littered around inWolfenstein: The New Order or its prequel The Old Blood and you’ll noticeFallout’s familiar Nuka-Colalogo. Frankly, it probably would have felt more on brand for the Nazis to be really into crispy squirrel bits or something similarly nasty.
6Ghostwire: Tokyo
Somehow Still Less Weird Than Mothership Zeta
We never got to see developer Tango Gameworks achieve its fullest potential due to its unceremonious shutdown by Microsoft, but it made one heck of an impact with its games. This includes supernatural FPS-likeGhostwire: Tokyo, which features a solid little Fallout reference of its own.
After you finish the side quest The Crimson Moon, your reward will be the aptly-named Fallout 4 Vault Suit. According to the description, it “can get you through some tough times.” Big deal, so can a pizza. Granted, it’s not as easy to wear.
5Starfield
In Space, No One Can Hear You Gary
It’s only natural thatStarfieldwould feature at least a few references to fellow Bethesda games, and Fallout 3 made the cut in this particular instance. You’ll find yourself in a cloning facility on Charybdis III while taking on the genuinely fascinating Operation Starseed mission, and certain fans may already suspect what’s coming.
In the facility, you’ll find a taped-up note identifying one cloning subject as “Gary”. This of course refers toFallout 3’s terrifying Vault 108which was famously full of clones apparently only capable of saying their own names (three guesses what that name is). Vault 108 and the year Fallout 3 takes place (2277) also get a reference, in case it wasn’t obvious enough.
4Doom 2016 And Doom Eternal
Rip, Tear, Collect, Read
Given the shared Bethesda Softworks publisher, Doom and Fallout were bound to spawn some crossover potential. The 2016Doomgame, for one, includes a Vault-Tec logo on one of the doors on Mars and even lets you find a Fallout-themed collectible little Doom Guy figure.
Its sequel,Doom Eternal, continues the trend with various magazines and books directly from the Fallout series like The Vault Dweller’s Survival Guide in theDoom Slayer’s cozy Fortress of Doom. Plus, keep your eyes peeled and you might even see some fuzzy buddies from Fallout 76.
3The Evil Within 2
You’ve Collected Weirder Things While Running For Your Life
Any self-respecting game that includes optional collectibles is pretty much obligated to make at least a few of them Easter eggs. If it’s a game published by Bethesda, they’re pretty much all going to be like that.
Such is the case withThe Evil Within 2, where the “Mysterious Objects” you find while you frankly probably have more pressing issues at hand all reference another Bethesda release, like Wolfenstein, Prey, and of course, Fallout. You’ll find the bobblehead between two crates after encountering The Watcher in Chapter 6.
2Honkai: Star Rail
The Cosmodyssey Crowd Has Seen Some Stuff
You might be surprised to find a Fallout reference in a game likeHonkai: Star Rail, but ifThe Simpsons can reference Final Fantasy 7, then nothing is out of bounds. This one is a sneaky little tidbit in the Cosmodyssey event from version 2.1.
While answering question 7 at the Xianzhou Luofu flagship as part of the event, make sure to choose “Fight! Fight! Fight!” This will prompt the game to reply “War. War never changes,” in response to the Fallout series' iconic opening line. Now, if only they could get Ron Perlman to read the line.
