Fallout 4 trophies tell us a (tiny) bit about the game

Fallout 4

Bethesda has spoken quite a bit about some of the mechanical elements of Fallout 4, but it's remained surprisingly quiet about the story. We know the game is set in the Commonwealth, better known in contemporary geographical terms as the New England region, but why we're there or what we'll do to pass the time remains anybody's guess. But the list of Fallout 4 trophies that recently appeared on Exophase shines a spot of light on what's coming—a dim light, to be sure, but at least it's something.

(Bear in mind that some of these are slightly spoilerrific, so bail out now if you want to avoid such things.)

Some of the trophies—they're the PlayStation equivalent of achievements, by the way—are earned by completing routine in-game tasks, like finishing ten side quests or picking 50 locks. But others reveal that you'll be able to join at least three different factions—the Minutemen, the Brotherhood of Steel, and the Railroad—each of which appears to have at least one unique side quest.

The more social side of Fallout 4 is hinted at through trophies for achieving "maximum happiness in a large settlement," allying with three other settlements, recruiting five different companions, and reaching the "maximum relationship level" with one of them—which, going by the attached image, means post-nuclear smoochies! You'll once again be collecting Vault-Tec bobbleheads during your travels, and stuffing a live grenade in somebody's pocket will be appropriately rewarded as well.

And it sounds like the finish will be a big one: The final trophy in the list, "Prepared for the Future," invites players to "Decide the fate of the Commonwealth." Here's hoping there's a little more to it than "Destruction/Control/Synthesis," am I right?

Fallout 4 comes out on November 10.

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.