Fallout 3: 500 Ways To Leave Your Shelter

Well, you know what? I was just pondering on last month's news that Fallout 3 is to have 500 endings. Five hundred. And I thought, you know what, out of the blue I think I'll post about this today. Ahem.

So the question is, how do you think it will work? How can a game possibly have 500 hundred endings?

In tribute, this post concludes in multiple ways.

Ending 1: If they'd said "Ten different endings," I'd have thought, "Hmmm, they have many plans for the story." But five hundred? It does seem to suggest only the tiniest details could be different between each one, right? They're not really writing elaborate endings for every single possibility? They'd surely die.

Ending 2: What a fantastic idea! Every game should do this - fixed endings don't reflect real life in any meaningful way. It's exactly how games should work, allowing our influence to dictate the narrative.

Ending 3: If you attended a writing class, the first thing you'd be told is: have a strong opening, middle and end for your story. Not having a fixed ending implies a lack of confidence in your tale. Are Bethesda worried?

Ending 4: "No!" cried Mary, looking deep into Simon's eyes. "Don't leave me!" Simon's eyelids blinked slowly, a slight gasp escaping from his dry, broken lips. Then he was gone. Mary put her head to his chest and sobbed. "But I never had the chance to say that I love you," she whispered, her tears soaking his blood-stained shirt. "I love you."

Ending 5: Onion rings ordered, RPS fades to black.

Ending 6: Kieron was a ghost all along.