It's been nearly seven years since the last "Fallout" video game launched. Seven years! There's a new "Call of Duty" every year; there's a new, massive "Assassin's Creed" every year. It's rare for major franchises to take off seven years.
Hell, it's rare for major franchises to take off one year.
To say there's a lot of anticipation for the newly announced "Fallout 4" is a tremendous understatement. People are going nuts. It's currently the number three trending subject on Twitter in the United States, below a promoted topic and #NationalRunningDay:
The excitement is easily justified: The three minute trailer released Wednesday morning is both full of referential nods to series fans and features an adorable dog. And who doesn't like adorable dogs? Monsters, that's who. Just look at this sweetheart exploring a post-apocalyptic house:
It's almost like the little guy doesn't know or care about thermonuclear war!
In case it's not already clear, that's what "Fallout" games are all about: exploring the remains of a bizarrely retro futuristic version of the United States. In the case of 2008's "Fallout 3," players explored the Washington D.C. area and its suburbs.
In "Fallout 4," players will explore Boston; The trailer specifically showcases several prominent locations in the historic Northeastern city. In this bit, there's a peek at the hallowed field of the Boston Red Sox, complete with"Green Monster" :
Most importantly for "Fallout" fans, the trailer flits between the aforementioned dog exploration and what the world looked like just before the bombs dropped. Though it's not expressly spelled out, to many this is a hint at a playable pre-apocalypse setting – a first for the "Fallout" series, and potentially a game-changer.
As seen above, the "retro futuristic" concept is a central theme of the series. It's as if the 1950s vision of the future came true.
The floating robot seen above is actually being powered by atomic power. The conceit in the series is that, after World War II concluded with two atomic bombs being dropped on Japan, a new era of atomic power was introduced.
Everything was going great!
And then a massive nuclear war happened – the "apocalypse" – as seen here:
And that's how we end up in "Fallout 4," in a wrecked version of Boston that looks more like something out of "Mad Max" than "Good Will Hunting."
Regardless of the apocalypse, the dark humor of the "Fallout" series is strewn throughout the trailer – most directly referenced by the theme song. It's by The Ink Spots, an old singing group that was popular in the 1930s and 40s; their music also led the announcement for "Fallout 3." Here's the killer song, "It's All Over But the Crying":
Oh, and that power armor (seen above) will assuredly help.
Here's the full trailer, all set within the game world rather than made up of fancy CGI:
SEE ALSO: Here's the first official trailer for 'Fallout 4,' one of the world's most anticipated games
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