As a series, Fallout has always celebrated a dark, often humorous world punctuated by brief moments of brutality. But how do you find the balance when the series enters a 3D world? Bethesda's Peter Hines explains:

We don't want [violence] to be the focal point of the game, but it is what it is. It's a violent world, and so the combat should be violent as a result.

He continues:

I think we've done it to the extent that it's not realistic. It's a bit more tongue-in-cheek. It's Quentin Tarantino. So it's not storming the beaches of Normandy in Saving Private Ryan, where it looks like it's actually happening. It's more Kill Bill. It's violence that's a bit more over the top so it's more comical than disturbing.

So in other words, just take the violence knob and crank that thing up to 11. Make violence, in essence, more violent. That's how you appease the masses. That's how you make a video game. Fallout violence "tongue-in-cheek" [CVG]

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