Vault 101, a bomb shelter the size of a small town built inside of a mountain to protect the last of humanity from the threat of nuclear devastation (assuming they could afford a spot, of course), is hardly the only one of it’s kind in Fallout 3. According to my map, there’s a little over half a dozen of the things dotting the wasteland, each presumably waiting quietly for the day when the world is livable enough for them to reopen. While not the most exciting life, it’s hard not to envy them a little – Vault 101 may have been a dull place to grow up, but nobody there ever tried to shoot and/or eat me. For the most part.

Of course, one of the major themes of the Fallout games is that things rarely go the way they’re supposed to. Each Vault I’ve found so far has been more of a tomb, a disaster area brought on by whatever social experiment Vault-Tech was running there or from outside influences. Sometimes there are survivors, like the people in Vault 106, driven mad from some sort of experimental gas, or the Gary’s of Vault 108. Sometimes there’s no one left, like Vault 92, an artist’s community where the residents swapped their instruments for laser pistols and tore each other apart. Whatever their story, the Vaults offer some of the most haunting and atmospheric locales in the game, creating a sense of dread that’s impossible to get away from. From the moment you step in to a Vault you can’t help but feel watched, and the feeling sticks with you even after you’ve killed every living thing just to be on the safe side.

While the original inhabitants of Vault 87 are all dead, the results of their experiments are still wandering the halls. the place is absolutely rotten with super mutants, hulking green-skinned monsters that used to be human and now stalk the Wasteland looking for people to kill and eat (if they’re very lucky) or to kidnap and turn in to more super mutants. They’re bad enough outdoors, where you at least have the option of running away, but underground it’s just you and them in a tight hallway, and they tend to be carrying a mini-gun. Lucky, I’ve poured a lot of skill points and perks in to the fine arts of sneaking around and shooting people in the head, so I’m able to take out most of them before they even know I’m there.

I’m deep in Vault 87 when I hear someone crying for help. It’s muffled and a little odd sounding, but given the circumstances that’s pretty easy to understand. I round the corner at a jog, figuring any one who’s still alive in here will need to be gotten out in a hurry, which means I don’t see them till they’ve already opened fire: two super mutants, both carrying assault rifles, both laughing maniacally as they cut me to ribbons. I get a few shots off before retreating, ducking in to a side room and activating a Stealth Boy cloaking device to keep them from finding me. After a bit of healing up and a lot of cursing, I creep back up to the corner. I hear the cry for help again, only this time it’s followed by a guttural laugh. One of the super mutants congratulates the other on his hummie impression, and wonders if they can trick more meat in to coming down here.

I pop around the corner and shoot them both in the head before they can react. Once the hallway is quiet and relatively safe again, I pick my way past their bodies to find there’s nothing else to see. There’s nobody else here, no survivor of Vault 87, no kidnappee about to be experimented on, nothing. Just me and the super mutants, laughing in the dark.

Filed under: Fallout 3