Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Unexpected Conan: Fallout 2 Restoration Project


Fallout is obviously not sword-and-sorcery, but if you install Fallout 2's Restoration Project mod, you might get to meet a character who bears a striking resemblance to a famous pulp hero. 

Among the content that was cut from the original release of the game but restored by the mod is a primitive tribe living on the California coastline in Fallout's post-nuclear setting. The hero of Fallout 2, the Chosen One, can meet a member of this tribe named Sulik while exploring the settlement of Klamath. Sulik is a "tribal" who comes from the Umbra Tribe and after recruiting him as a companion, you can travel to their small village. After arriving, you can meet the tribe's head warrior, a fellow named Krom.

The game's description of Krom: "This sun-bronzed giant looks as if his corded muscles were carved out of granite. Beneath a mane of black hair, his smoldering blue eyes pierce into you." Krom goes on to ask you about who you are and what your purpose is. Krom is well-spoken and supportive of your quest to find the Garden of Eden Creation Kit to save your village, although he scoffs at the concept of the GECK itself in favor of man toiling against the earth with his own natural gifts. He also makes it clear that he's well-travelled and the village is just a temporary home for him before he decides to move on and see what else the world holds for him. You can continue to interact with him while staying with the tribe and he'll put you to work on solving some simple tasks the village could help with.

So Krom is an expy of Conan himself, transplanted cleanly into Fallout's world. It goes to show in a very minor way that despite the differences, post-apocalyptic fiction and S&S are cousins of sorts, both genres about people battling strange forces and hostile environments as much to just survive as to vanquish some great evil.

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