Fallout 3: An Ethical Dilemma

So I got Fallout 3, and after overcoming some nightmares and an addiction to Psycho, I began to want to settle down and raise some mutant children.  When it comes to post-apocalyptic real estate, I have two options:

Suite in Tenpenny Towers
Tenpenny Tower was a luxury hotel back before mankind went all upside its own head.  The owner is Alistair Tenpenny, and he allows rich people to live there, although he won’t allow ghouls (mutated people) in under any circumstances.

Shack In Megaton
Megaton is a town built around a crater formed by an undetonated Atom bomb.  Not the best idea, right?  The town is basically made of scraps, like the remains of an old airplane carrier, etc.

When I first heard about the two options, the choice seemed simple.  Luxury hotel?  A tower, stories above deadly creatures?  I’ll take the suite!  If only it were that simple.  As the title of this post suggests, an ethical dilemma has been presented.  (Warning: spoilers ahead!)

The player can only choose one place to live because the part of the story which grants the player their dwelling only allows one, not both.  Choosing the humble shack merits no real negative consequence.

If you wish to choose the suite in Tenpenny tower, you have to do some bad stuff.  Mainly detonating that dormant atomic bomb in the middle of Megaton.  Aside from feeling really bad about killing all those innocent people, you also take a -1000 blow to your karma, which would change even Jesus’s status to evil.  While it MAY be possible to become good again, it will take a lot of work.

On a personal level, I would feel much more secure in a tower, and I project my insecurities and desires onto my character.  On the same level, I don’t condone killing people for such a selfish reason, even in video games. The fact that the decision is so permanent further elevates my anxiety.

Another strange connection I formed in my head concerns the two leaders of the respective properties.  One is a wealthy elderly man who refuses to allow different peoples into his property.  For some reason he reminds me of John McCain.  The other is the badass sheriff of Megaton who wishes to improve the quality of everyone’s life by dismantling the weapon around which the city was formed.  Yup.  Totally Barack Obama:

So what do you guys think I should do? Kill Barack Obama and all his followers to sell my soul to John McCain?  Or ride into the sunset with sheriff Obama?

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