There was a point in Fallout New Vegas where I stood in place, not sure what decision to make. To kill this man, sleeping in front of me could mean the end of a long war. A truce. A new alliance. But for how long? How long can you cultivate an already tumultuous relationship if the foundation of it is deception, half truths and hidden agendas? on the other hand, keeping this man alive would mean no changes to the status quo. No resolution between these two factions. A battle for another day.
The man in question is Old Papa, leader of the Great Khans, one of the factions in New Vegas (with a long history in Fallout games, of which sadly I’m not a connoisseur). The mission at hand: resolve the confict between the Khans and the New California Republic (NCR). The NCR is clear: we don’t want them around anymore. They are in eternal conflict with the NCR and so they could ally themselves with the NCR enemies: the Caesar Legion. Get rid of them. One way or the other.
Soon, if you are playing in a more diplomatic way, you’ll realize there’s already discomfort among the Khans about allying the Legion. The Legions are known for elitism and absorbing the tribes they conquer, same as the Romans they are based on. On the back of their hand they already know they won’t survive this alliance. Yet, the NCR are their sworn enemies, at least for their leader, Old Papa. Resolving their differences is out of the question.
You can help them find evidence for the things they already suspect: that the Legion dominates all their allies, takes their people, makes women and children slaves, that they don’t tolerate some practices, they assimilate their allies into their own. They already know that. You can make them backtrack on this plan.
Yet the conflict with the NCR persists. This one is deep and ingrained. It is personal for him, the crimes against his tribe cannot be fixed with a truce. He has seen how their expansionist goals can also be brutal, and how in this new republic, same as the old republic only the rich barons are heard, everyone else is stepped over. His only choice is to leave the Mojave altogether.
There’s another solution. You see, his right hand has no grudge with the NCR. He is willing to side with them, but of course that means taking care of their current leader. This is of course very helpful to the republicans, who are on board with this plan.
So here I am, against this old man. Who is sleeping and unaware that I lockpicked and sneaked my way to kill him. Yet now I have my doubts.
I am aware these characters have some deep lore in the Fallout universe, one that I’m totally oblivious. It’s not that part that makes me stop. I love good stories in any kind of media, and specially when those stories have something to say and make us confront new (and old) ideas in the real world. And here I really felt something.
Living in Mexico was constantly being reminded of the quote probably wrongly attributed to Porfirio Diaz (Mexican president and dictator from 1884-1911): “Poor Mexico, so far from God and so close to the USA”. The history of Mexico has been shaped a lot by bad leaders, but also by the hidden hand of the USA. The term banana republic is a common term in Mexico, one that maybe has lost a little of its meaning, now being used for anywhere where money reigns regardless of who’s on power. Yet its origins are literally tied to Honduras where the Banana Barons controlled the government, contracted mercenaries and staged coups. All to control those precious bananas. And money. It’s always money.
One doesn’t have to point the finger at just the US. As this 4D chess is played everywhere and at all levels, with bad outcomes that impact people not only through space but also through time. While I’m standing in this game I remind myself that right now at this moment we’re living through 2 wars between countries that have grudges that span decades if not centuries. Russia invading Ukraine and the Gaza conflict are a failure of politics, diplomacy and humanity over all things.
Through the lenses of history we think we see things as a big masterplan almost perfectly executed. Some setbacks might happen but the winner was victorious not only through perseverance but also because of wits. Yet it’s not always like that, the consequences of playing with other people is only seen in the long term, by then most of these people playing the chess are long gone, we are left to clean the mess.
This year has been exceptional to remind us about the repercussions of long held grudges, of how leaders take their countries towards meaningless fights and how we all loose our humanity and chances of reconciliation on every stupid decision taken in the heat of battle.
I am in this 13 year old game thinking of Gaza, Ukraine, Kissinger and every dictator imposed by the US in South America while watching an NPC sleep.
It is beyond the scope of a game to simulate all the scenarios that could happen. Even though Obsidian made a great stab at it with the complexity of choices in this game. In my mind I can’t help thinking what would happen next? How many times have we all as a society decided we couldn’t work out the differences so a fight is the only way around, or lies, or financing guerrillas in other countries, or promote certain candidates with under the table deals, or kill leaders of opposing movements? And how many of those times has it actually worked in the long term?
I am naive. I don’t play diplomatic 4D chess and I’m not versed in international conflicts enough but I do think a relationship that settles their differences through lies and backstabbing can’t work out long term. Many of our current conflicts are complex and incredibly hard to solve just because we have tried to brute force our way to solve differences, many times with blood.
Short term solutions don’t ever last long.
Fallout New Vegas is a fantastic game just because it makes you rethink these conflicts of power. Most games settle with the good guys and the bad guys. Which one is you? They ask, pretending it to be an interesting question.
This game is different. There’s of course good and bad guys. but with nuances: Good for whom? Bad for whom? More interesting though is that there’s a lot of factions in between this major conflict, which is usually the case in real life too. Rarely someone is fully 100% on board with their politician of choice yet you are caught in the crossfire of their battles.
Furthermore the game lets you understand each faction: The NCR is the USA as we pretty much know it, with all the good things but also the bad things. Democracy and Capitalism. The Legion is modeled after Rome, totalitarian and brutal to our modern eyes, but also they have a point: “Look what democracy gave to us” referring to the wasteland of nukes. They are not ignorant of the past, they have their reasons, the new republic has left them behind by prioritizing greed. This is their way to fight back as misguided as it is. It is ironic that it’s a battle of the pasts, an battle between committing old mistakes against even older mistakes.
Contrasted with plenty of bothsidesm games (Looking at you Bioshock) here it is plenty visible that each side has its own perspective and priorities. Both are wrong in different ways, yet you can see the humanity of how their own lens of the conflict has shaped them.
And yet this isn’t even about them, which is what makes this scene even better. This is about the Great Khans. A group caught in the crossfire, who has payed with innocent blood and is only being played by the powers at hand. Not too dissimilar to those Latinamerican countries in the Cold War. The powers are just playing them as a chess piece, they are not on the table.
One could argue the Khans are barbaric. Yea, they look like a biker gang, they make and sell drugs, yet when you talk to them you find out they are pretty much just people. Some are even related to NCR citizens, some like poetry, most are just getting by.
The humanist side of me feels bad about thinking as an utilitarian and trying to solve for the problem from the NCR perspective, yet forgetting the human side of this tribe. On the other hand, this is a. problem for the NCR too, they are basically the druglords of the Mojave which again feels close to home having lived in Mexico. Shall we condemn them all equally? If the sentiment of letting go of grudges and assimilate into the republic is already strong in this community is it right to give the “last push”, in form of assassinating this NPC for it to happen? Who gives you, the outsider, the power for such a thing?
I find this game fascinating for making me think of the outside world, not just shutting me down into its own. I always remind myself of Jacob Geller’s words
The good games are not the ones that take the longest to beat but the ones that stay with you the longest
And so I walked away. Let them go. Inaction is also an action. I decided I wasn’t the one who would solve this short term and live with the consequences long term of it. Maybe the Khans are doomed to fight the Legion or the NCR forever, or be assimilated by either one of them. Maybe Old Papa will be succeeded by someone who’s willing to play diplomacy, or maybe not. This isn’t part of the simulation.
All I know is that I live in a world where interventionism has always created more problems than solutions. It’s just kicking the can thinking you did your action for a better tomorrow, yet not willing to see what that tomorrow unfolds. Playing the 4D chess requires a conviction and self-deception on your ideas and plans, one that I didn’t have here.
And I do recognize my decision is also kicking the can. But sometimes its only fair to recognize that all the cards you have been dealt are bad, so the only good choice is to fold and wait for the next round.