Fallout Critical - Tumblr Posts

This might be one of the best criticisms I've seen of the Minutemen. I wish more people looked at the faction through this lens. I highly reccomend Fallout 4 fans watch this video essay which goes into more detail about the imperialist implications of the Minutemen from a gameplay perspective

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwhUsfowOt0&ab_channel=CrocodileGambit The Minutemen could have been so interesting if Bethesda actually read their damn history. They want to do their history parallels without considering the implications of those parallels so bad it really kills a lot of the potential depth in Fallout.

F4 thougts: Minuteman

The Minuteman are the faction than most of the players of fallout 4 encounter firs. Ignoring the infamous memes about Preston Garvey, they are often considered the best fraction of fallout 4, or at least, the most morally clean and overall good for the Commonwealth. Part of it stems from the lackluster game design of their main questline which mostly consist of the repeatable radiant quests, and also them being "Yes man" faction, meaning that in the base game it was impossible to fail their questline. They are also nicely slide into any of the other faction ending, without contributing anything to their questlines (they are involved in one Institute quest, the game "villian option" for faction ending).

But when talking about the Minuteman people rarely discuss the fact that the faction is based on a real existing organization, which played a great role in the creation of the United States. And the function of the Minuteman in the game is quiet similar to their real life historical counterparts. So let me take you to a improvised history lesson:

Real life Minuteman were best known for their contribution to the American war for independence and were main part of the Boston militia. The game call attention to this part of Minuteman history quet often, with their starting location being the museam of freedom, the main location the player retake is fort Independence, it's not wery subtle.

But the history of the Minuteman goes way further back, to the times of the last wars for colonies in America. Created by the colonial government, Minuteman were rapid-deployment units of the Massachusetts Bay militia, a "first response" to any threat that might befall settlements. The "treats" the Minuteman were deployed against were the military units of other colonial powers, gangs or, most often, indigenous tribes. The first offensive deployment of Minuteman was in Pequot war, when in august 1636 fourth companies were deployed under orders of Jong Endecott with the task of killing Pequot Indians. Despite the first failures of the raids conducted by the Minuteman, the war itself ended with complete destruction of the Pequot tribe, with remaining survivors being sold into slavery or given as captives to the other tribes that were then loyal to the British colonies. After that the Minuteman were involved with the subjugation of Narragansett and Wampanoag tribes, with the practice of issueing bounties for scalps of Indians during the Second indian war. tactical advancements of Minuteman during the war for independence were the direct result of their role as force of the colonial expansion. After the war of independence they were absorbed into the future national guardguard, becoming key parts in iconography of American imperialism. Both anti-communism organization during Cold War and modern anti-immigration groups name themselves after organization.

Taken all this in consideration, I find it wery disturbing that the majority of the Minuteman quests in game consist of you helping settlements or even securing a place for new ones by the following process:

Find settlement.

Talk about their request for help.

They mark an area on the map that either troubles them, or could be used as a new settlement.

You go there and kill everyone you meet.

Inform the settlers about accompanying mission.

Rince and repeat.

The game of course justify suck tasks with the fact that locals you exterminating are all universally hostile feral ghouls, super mutants or gangs of generic raiders, the groups you could kill on sight without any moral reprocussions. The aesthetic of the faction as "freedom fighters" clashes greatly with the gameplay that is more remiscent of their role as imperialist tool, but fallout 4 never calls attention to that fact. Which I find especially glaring considering the fact that the faction is portrayed as a force of universal good. For the series that supposedly satirize American emperialism and it's nostalgia cult, fallout 4 sure does a lot to whitewash Minuteman of the role they played in said emperialis.

Fallout 4 thematic overview

Base game: Technological development (Insitute) is not valuable in itself. There should be considerations made as to the practical threats it poses (Brotherhood) and/or what ethical concerns it raises (Railroad).

Far Harbor: Belonging comes in many forms. It can be questioned (Children of Atom), brought onto another (Acadia), or earned by oneself (Town of FH).

Nuka World: Uhhhhh bad guys can be cool too? People who don't like you will turn on you actually. You can't please everyone??? Gage can tho he's chill.