One Man, One Bomb
Apr. 6th, 2009 06:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
4thofelevenFor a game set in the anarchistic decaying ruins of civilization, Fallout’s a pretty funny game. Giant mutant mole rats are hard to take seriously. Two headed cattle being a common sight is hard to take seriously. The Church of Atom, worshipers of the Bomb are hard to take seriously.
And the “Fat Man” is hard to take seriously. For those who haven’t played the game, the Fat Man’s the most powerful gun in the game. It’s a mini-nuke launcher, and can take out any but the most powerful enemies in the game in a single shot. It’s overkill against most foes – though a friend of mine swears by it – and I assumed it was included as a joke, like how every car in the game explodes in a mushroom cloud when shot at. It’s a humorous take on the ubiquitous nature of the Bomb in 1950s popular culture, right? I mean, come on – a hand held nuclear weapon? That’s a little too silly…
Right?
Nope.
“The Davy Crockett was the smallest and lightest nuclear weapon ever deployed by the US military… the W54 warhead weighted just 51 pounds, with an explosive yield of 0.01 kilotons.”
Granted, this weapon isn’t quite as miniaturised as the Fallout Fat Man - still, a portable nuclear weapon launcher that small is a hell of a lot closer to the Fallout weapon than I ever expected to see exit.
And the “Fat Man” is hard to take seriously. For those who haven’t played the game, the Fat Man’s the most powerful gun in the game. It’s a mini-nuke launcher, and can take out any but the most powerful enemies in the game in a single shot. It’s overkill against most foes – though a friend of mine swears by it – and I assumed it was included as a joke, like how every car in the game explodes in a mushroom cloud when shot at. It’s a humorous take on the ubiquitous nature of the Bomb in 1950s popular culture, right? I mean, come on – a hand held nuclear weapon? That’s a little too silly…
Right?
Nope.
“The Davy Crockett was the smallest and lightest nuclear weapon ever deployed by the US military… the W54 warhead weighted just 51 pounds, with an explosive yield of 0.01 kilotons.”
Granted, this weapon isn’t quite as miniaturised as the Fallout Fat Man - still, a portable nuclear weapon launcher that small is a hell of a lot closer to the Fallout weapon than I ever expected to see exit.