In a move that has left experts baffled and residents outraged, the team behind Fallout 3 decided to reenact the nuclear annihilation of Washington D.C. in real life. Because who needs fiction when you can just blow up actual landmarks?
According to lead artist Istvan Pely, it was all just a fun game (literally) for everyone involved. "We didn't take it seriously," he said with a straight face. "It's like, 'Hey, let's blow up the Capitol building and then go get some tacos.'"
The team would drive around D.C., taking pictures of landmarks that they then used to create their post-apocalyptic wasteland. Because nothing says "artistic license" like using real-life tourist traps as backdrop for a nuclear holocaust.
But what really takes the cake is when Pely mentioned that security stopped one of their artists from taking photos downtown, only to find out he was just... taking pictures. Apparently, they didn't appreciate the irony of having a team of game developers snooping around the buildings, trying not to get caught blowing them up virtually.
The pièce de résistance is when lead designer Emil Pagliarulo expressed his desire to set the next Fallout game in Boston, citing "it's my hometown" as the reason. Because who wouldn't want to blow up their own city? (We're looking at you, Bostonians.)
In a bizarre twist of fate, the team had to scale down the size of D.C. in the game because it was just too big and unwieldy. So they took creative liberties, effectively turning it into a cartoonish caricature of itself.
When asked about their next move, Pely nonchalantly mentioned that they're already working on Fallout 5... set in... (dramatic pause) ...the team member's hometown. Again. Because why not?