In October 1997, a small team at Interplay
introduced the world to their very strange, deeply engaging, and instantly classic
new role-playing game: Fallout. It was a post-apocalyptic, bleak, and darkly
humorous experience, but its most memorable aspect was its world. The Fallout universe
is dotted with unique iconography that has since recurred throughout the series, such as Nuka
Cola, The Brotherhood of Steel, enormous bugs…no, not those. Well, yes, okay, those too, but…right,
perfect. And, of course, there were the Vaults. Built by Vault-Tec with the stated goal of
saving mankind from Armageddon, the truth was far less noble. After all, there were only 122
Vaults built across the entire United States; hardly enough to save a significant percentage
of the population. This meant thatVault-Tec would get to decide exactly which segments
of humanity would come to an abrupt stop. Vault-Tec calling? More like Vault-Tec culling!
Oh, and instead of being bomb shelters, they were actually a front for hideous social,
biological, and psychological experiments on the occupants. Tiny little ant farms for the
mad scientists to shake up however they saw fit. Still, though, it must be nice to hear the bombs
falling rather than feel them landing, right? And with the end of the world drawing nearer every
day, we’ve been reflecting on the series’ Vaults, trying to decide where we’d like to reserve
our spots. So let’s go through them all, and rank them from worst to best.
For the purposes of this list, we’ll be judging the Vaults based on how
much we’d like to occupy them. That, in turn, is based on the experiment performed on the
occupants, the demeanors of our fellow residents, the number of environmental storytelling
skeletons strewn around…you know. The usual. We will not be considering any of the unnumbered
Vaults or related Vault-Tec installations, such as the demonstration Vault under Vault-Tec
University or Bradburton’s private Vault underneath Nuka World. Nor will we be considering
Vaults that make non-canonical appearances, such as those in Fallout Shelter or the tabletop games.
Spoilers throughout, by the way, as we will be discussing the lore behind each one. If you’d
rather experience the lore for yourself, you’ve been warned. And we understand! After
all, once it’s spoiled for you, that’s it. Because lore…lore never changes.
Let’s rank ‘em. I’m Benand I’m Peter from TripleJump, and this
is Every Fallout Vault Ranked from Worst to Best. #32: The Nine Fallout Bible Vaults
The Fallout Bible Some of you will know exactly what we’re
talking about, so feel free to heat up some iguana bits while we explain it for everyone else.
The Fallout Bible is a set of design documents created between the development of Fallout and
Fallout 2. They were released to the public by former employees of Interplay and they make
for interesting reading, not least because you’ll read about many ideas that were eventually
built upon by Wasteland 2, Wasteland 3, Fallout: New Vegas, and, yes, even Bethesda’s Fallout
games. Most relevant to this list is the fact that they contain information on nine Vaults that
– so far – have not been featured in any games. These are Vaults 27, 36, 42, 53, 55, 56, 68,
69 (nice), and 70. We know little about their experiments and nothing about how any of them
turned out. We can lump Vault 29 in with these, as it’s suggested Harold lived
there, but we know nothing else. If you’d like some footage of inside
these Vaults, I’m afraid you’ll have to use your imagination. Or don’t do that,
because it was probably quite horrible. #31: Appalachia’s sealed Vaults
Fallout 76 Oh, come on, another catchall entry at the
bottom of this list? Yes, and this time we can thank Fallout 76: the grift that keeps on giving.
Unlike the conceptual Vaults in the Fallout Bible, these Vaults do exist. You can visit them in
the game and walk around the outside, posing for photos, wondering why they’re here without
providing any content to the game whatsoever. At Vault 63, a terminal will tell you that
only authorized personnel are permitted. At Vault 96, a terminal will tell you that
it’s “currently operating within normal parameters.” That’s all we’ve got for now.
It is worth noting that Vault 94 was another sealed Vault that eventually opened
to the public, so it’s possible these areas will be added as well. Being as the
Nuclear Winter mode was added in June 2019 and is still in beta, however, I’m
not sure we should hold our breath. #30: Vault 12
Fallout Vault 12 was home to one of the simplest
experiments, but also perhaps the most cruel: the door was prevented from sealing, allowing
Vault-Tec to obtain data on how the human body was affected by radiation. It turned out that
the radiation produced by the Great War turned the Vault-dwellers – and much of humanity – into
Ghouls. On the bright side, this made them much more resilient and granted them a longer life. On
the less-bright side…well…they looked like this. Sure enough, that’s what happened to
the occupants of Vault 12, and the high concentration of Ghouls in one place gave rise
to the post-apocalyptic town of Necropolis. Like everywhere else in the Wasteland, the
population here is split between feral ghouls and those who have retained their mental faculties.
Though even those ghouls aren’t too happy about the whole “being an apocalyptic guinea pig” thing.
The Great War was ages ago, guys, just move on! #29: Vault 11
Fallout: New Vegas The good news: Vault 11 chooses its
overseer by democratic election. The bad news: Literally everything else. In one
of the most heinous experiments in the entire series – which is saying something – this Vault
was designed to cease life-support functions if one of its residents weren’t sacrificed
each year. The original overseer was the first sacrifice and it became a tradition to
elect a new one annually, who would then be sacrificed to keep life support operational.
It led to residents being nominated out of spite or revenge, as well as factions forming and
voting as blocs to keep their own members safe. That’s why you see such…confusing election
propaganda when you explore the Vault. Of course, the real experiment was to see how
quickly the residents refused to sacrifice anyone. Unfortunately, the occupants didn’t see
through the ruse until only five of them remained. Ah well. Live and learn, right? Or,
in this case, don’t do either of those things. #28: Vault 87
Fallout 3 Fans of Fallout and Fallout 2 might have
been a bit puzzled by the appearance of Super Mutants in Fallout 3, which takes place decades
later and on the other side of the continent. While it might be fun to picture them on a
riotous cross-country roadtrip, the fact is that the Super Mutants in Fallout 3 originate
in Vault 87. The experiment there involved the Forced Evolutionary Virus, which was meant to
help humans adapt to post-nuclear conditions. In one way, it was a rousing success!
In only one very, very specific way. Vault 87’s different FEV strain explains why
these Super Mutants are less intelligent and more vicious, though there are some
notable exceptions, such as Fawkes, who you meet in the Vault and fall
in love with mere moments later. In case there was any confusion, no, we do
not wish to live in the Vault in which human beings are chemically transformed into Shrek.
We’ll be in the puss in boots one. Sorry. #27: Vault 75
Fallout 4 We can all agree that any experiment involving
“selective breeding” is going to be appalling, right? Right. Vault 75, built beneath Malden
Middle School, was advertised as a way for families to survive the apocalypse. In reality,
everybody over the age of 17 was disposed of, and the children were subjected to constant, rigorous
– and sometimes fatal – physical training. The idea was to improve the resilience and
heartiness of humanity, allegedly so that the occupants could return to the surface and retake
the Wasteland. That…never happened. Each year, the most successful subjects were dissected and their
organs harvested. The least successful subjects were incinerated. Those who performed poorly in
a physical sense but well intellectually were recruited to the research team…so that they could
dissect and incinerate their old schoolmates. And you thought you had a
tough time in middle school! #26: Vault 17
Fallout: New Vegas We know very little about Vault 17, and what we
do know comes from a mentally unstable source: Lily the Super Mutant. It could have been a
control vault, or it could have housed a truly repugnant experiment. Either way, it doesn’t
quite matter, because the Wasteland claimed it in the year 2154. It was raided by Super Mutants,
with its occupants either dying in the struggle or being taken to Mariposa Military Base to
be exposed to the Forced Evolutionary Virus. This happened when Lily was 75 years old,
seeing the sun for the first time on her way to be turned into a Super Mutant herself.
The experience was understandably traumatic. She carries with her a holotape
of her grandchildren’s voices, and developed an alternate personality to further
shield herself from the horrors of her situation. Bet you feel bad for laughing at the
big purple grandma now, don’t you? #25: Vault 112
Fallout 3 If you have to be trapped underground for years
on end and experimented on, you’d think Vault 112 would be the best possible situation.
After all, the experiment involved letting occupants live in a virtual world that could be
reprogrammed endlessly to keep them entertained. What could possibly go wrong? Well, the same thing
that always goes wrong in Fallout games: people. Overseer Stanislaus Braun is positively out
of his gourd by the time you meet him here, in a simulation called Tranquility Lane, within
which he acts as a little girl named Betty who delights in tormenting the vault dwellers. Braun
has been virtually torturing and murdering the occupants of Vault 112 for two centuries.
Of course, the fact that you have the option of putting the residents out of their misery
and trapping Braun forever in a Hell of his own making does mean that this experiment is
one of very few that may have a happy ending. #24: Vault 95
Fallout 4 Many of Vault-Tec’s experiments are comically
evil, which is part of the fun of uncovering them. In the case of Vault 95, however, there’s nothing
comical about it. The Vault was designed to house recovering drug addicts and alcoholics. Here,
they had no choice but to recover from their addictions. It was a painful process, full
of agonizing withdrawal symptoms. They did, at least, have support meetings during which
they helped each other and offered support. Eventually, it actually worked. The residents
moved past their addictions. They were reborn. And then, after five years, an undercover
Vault-Tec operative opened a massive stash of drugs and alcohol. The experiment was to see
how quickly the residents would relapse. Even the overseer was unaware of this and unprepared
for the binges and anger to follow, let alone the violence from the residents who felt rightly
betrayed. If you ever want to point to a singular example of man being the real monster in Fallout,
look squarely at the researchers behind Vault 95. #23: Vault 43
“One Man, and a Crate of Puppets” In many cases with these Vaults, players are
required to use their imaginations. Sometimes they can piece the story and its outcome
together by checking terminals, reading notes, and soaking in the environmental storytelling
that both Interplay and Bethesda handle very well. Other times…well, other times we have Vault 43.
Vault 43 is canonical and we even catch a glimpse of the experiment in the official “One
Man, and a Crate of Puppets” comic. Not that it tells us much. In fact, it tells
us only that it was inhabited by 20 men, 10 women, and one panther. The humans don’t look
especially thrilled by the experiment. Then again, the panther doesn’t seem to mind, so
at least one of the residents is happy. Could 20 men and 10 women
take down a panther? Possibly. Would 20 men and 10 women take down a panther?
Possibly not. That’s all we know, though, and I’m grateful that I have no personal
experience to add to the discussion. #22: Vault 106
Fallout 3 Vault 106 was one of the original Vault
experiments dreamed up in the Fallout Bible, with this being the only information: “Psychoactive
drugs were released into the air filtration system 10 days after the Door was sealed.” Bethesda
took that single sentence and gave us one of the most memorable Vaults in the series.
It was expected that the gas would render occupants docile. And it did! Of
course, it also rendered other occupants paranoid and homicidal. 50% success, at least.
Residual gas in the Vault has an effect on you, the player character, as well. As you explore
the destroyed, present-day version of Vault 106, you hallucinate a much cleaner, pre-crisis
version, complete with terminals eerily suggesting you “relax” and “breathe deep in the
blue.” You’ll also hallucinate encounters with your old friends from Vault 101, including your
father. What’s more, the Vault concludes with you murdering the only non-insane occupant of
Vault 106. Now that’s what I call a bad trip. #21: Vault 22
Fallout: New Vegas When entering Vault 22 for the first time, you see clearly that the experiment had
something to do with botany. Your mind runs wild. What will you find? What was the outcome? What
could…it’s plant monsters. You and I both know it’s plant monsters. You can’t mix Vault-Tec
and botany without getting plant monsters. Vault 22 is one of the more tedious Vaults to
explore, and its story isn’t especially great, either. The experiment was meant to develop hardy
crops that could revegetate the post-nuclear landscape. The problem came in the form of
an experimental fungus, which released spores that turned the researchers into plant monsters.
That’s…pretty much it. It’s a disappointingly dull Vault and, obviously, we wouldn’t want
to live there. Becoming a plant monster or being mauled by a plant monster are
two ends I’ve always hoped to avoid. You can learn what happened to the Vault
22 survivors in the Honest Hearts DLC. But while that story is at least interesting, it also unfolds off-camera. #20: Vault 51
Fallout 76 It’s the Fortnite Vault. Vault 51 is the
Fortnite Vault. That’s all you need to hear, right? It’s the result of a struggling
Fallout 76 trying to tempt players back. It exists so people who enjoyed Fortnite could
play it in Fallout 76 instead of in…Fortnite. Surprisingly, there’s a good bit of lore
to be found in Vault 51, assuming you play enough of the mode to unlock access to all of
it. Vault-Tec’s experiment here was to put a computer in charge of selecting an overseer,
which it would do after studying the residents. Ultimately – and we are skipping a lot of
lore here, believe it or not – the computer decided the 52 residents could simply fight
to the death for the position. Presumably the winner would have really enjoyed ruling
over 51 smoking corpses. And, I imagine, flossing. So yes, it’s the Fortnite
Vault. But whichever writers were in charge of the backstory did their
best with what little they had. #19: Vault 3
Fallout: New Vegas Vault 3 was one of Vault-Tec’s “control vaults,”
but that doesn’t mean the residents didn’t have their own pivotal conflict to resolve. Honestly,
it’s to Vault-Tec’s credit that incidental tragedy is sometimes indistinguishable
from their orchestrated tragedies. Several generations after the Great
War, Vault 3 struggled with a water leak that continued to get worse until their
access to drinkable water was threatened. Vault 3 decided to use this complication as
an excuse to extend a friendly hand into the Wasteland and attempt to establish relationships
with whoever or whatever was out there. And it worked! For a couple of weeks, anyway.
A heavily fortified underground base full of people unprepared for the post-apocalypse was of
understandable appeal to raiders. It’s raiders that you meet in the Vault in New Vegas, with
the original occupants long since…actually, let’s not think too much about what
happened to the original occupants, okay? #18: Vault 15
Fallout Vault 15 is a hollowed, looted shell
when you explore it in Fallout, but you will meet a good number of its former
residents throughout the game. In fact, many of them will try to kill you! What a wonderful
experiment they must have been subjected to. Actually, the experiment really wasn’t so bad. The
residents of Vault 15 were intentionally selected from different ideologies and cultures to see
how they’d interact. Unfortunately, the occupants did not achieve harmony and were frequently at
odds, with the Vault opening three decades early just so they could get away from each other. The
occupants went in two very different directions, socially speaking; some of them founded the
quiet town of Shady Sands and the rest became raiders. But even the raiders couldn’t get along,
with three separate factions forming among them. The experiment was a failure, in the sense of everyone learning to get along, but it did at least succeed in proving
that dickheads come from all walks of life. #17: Vault 114
Fallout 4 Vault 114 was ostensibly designed to
house the Commonwealth’s upper crust in the lap of luxury. In truth, the Vault was
significantly less secure than most others, as it used parts of Boston’s existing subway
system to save money. But that’s not even the experiment; that’s just Vault-Tec cutting corners.
The experiment was to install an overseer who, in Vault-Tec’s own words, had “no
supervisory or government experience, and hopefully with a strong anti-authority bias.”
They settled on a homeless man named Soup-Can Harry…but the Vault was not completed
before the war and we have no idea how Soup-Can Harry would have handled the trials
and tribulations of Vault overseership. That’s especially disappointing because
the experiment represents some of the most fun writing in all of Fallout 4, but
by the time we get here it’s just overtaken by gangsters with no particular connection to
the environment. So close, Bethesda. So close. #16: Vault 77
“One Man, and a Crate of Puppets” The experiment in Vault 77 was…oh, come on.
It’s right there in the name, people. There was only one occupant of Vault 77. At least,
only one who had innards. This man discovers that his only companions to guide him through
the apocalypse are A Crate of Puppets. Somehow, he doesn’t discover this until he’s been locked
in Vault 77 for over one year. Maybe it’s a big Vault. Maybe he was doing a low-intelligence
playthrough. It’s impossible to know. His mind soon breaks, and he finds that the
Vault Boy puppet is especially talkative. And daring. And violent. He eventually
leaves the Vault and…well…some of the people he met may have survived the encounter.
You can find his Vault 77 jumpsuit in Fallout 3, alongside a recording of a slaver who hopes he
never has to see him – or his puppet – ever again. If the experiment were intended to create
someone who could survive in the Wasteland, Vault 77 was a success. But, y’know,
forgive me for settling down elsewhere. #15: Vault 94
Fallout 76 The residents of Vault 94 were a congregation
of agrarian pacifists, and their pastor was appointed their overseer. The experiment, as far
as the occupants knew, involved them reintroducing vegetation to the world after nuclear war. A noble
goal, and they were provided with a rare Garden of Eden Creation Kit to get the job done, as well
as a complete seedbank, greenhouses, and more. The real experiment, which a Vault-Tec operative
was there to make sure was carried out, was to find out whether the pacifists
would change their ways, or die the moment they opened the Vault door and faced
the post-nuclear horrors that awaited them. The Vault-Tec operative grew to be
very fond of the occupants, however, and pleaded with them not to open the Vault to
outsiders. They refused to listen, believing the Appalachian survivors would welcome them and
their crops with open arms. I’m assuming I don’t need to tell you what happened after that, but I
will at least say it only lasted a few minutes. #14: Vault 88
Fallout 4: Vault-Tec Workshop Boy, Fallout 4’s DLCs really run the
gamut of quality, don’t they? On one side, you’ve got Far Harbor, which is great, and
Nuka World, which is fun and interesting. On the other side, you’ve got…extra crap you can
build for your settlements. F in the chat for anyone who shelled out for the season pass.
Vault-Tec Workshop is one of the latter, adding a number of Vault components that you can
construct at your leisure. You know, instead of doing something pointless such as tracking down
your kidnapped child. It’s here that you are tasked with completing the unfinished Vault 88,
which ceased construction when the world ended. These builders and their excuses, I tell you.
You work with the ghoulified overseer to finish Vault 88 and even conduct some experiments
on new residents, but none of it is anywhere near as fun or creative as it sounds. Another
huge, missed opportunity in a game full of them. #13: Vault 108
Fallout 3 Anyone who has been swarmed by clones in what’s
usually called The Gary Vault will be willing to believe that Vault-Tec implemented
one very strange experiment indeed. And, well, they did! But it had
nothing to do with anyone named Gary. Instead, Vault-Tec selected an overseer suffering
with serious cancer and programmed the main power supply to fail in 20 years. They wanted to study
the conflict that would arise when desperate people were faced with a leadership vacuum.
Only…uh…none of that ever came to pass, because some of the occupants passed the time by cloning
Gary – whoever he was – many times over. Each clone got less coherent and more violent, until the
Garys were incapable of saying anything other than their name. The Garys, each shouting “Gary,”
massacred the other residents and destroyed the Vault. In this case, Vault-Tec, your victims
did a better job of conjuring up a nightmare than you did. I think the residents of Vault 108
deserve a lovely gold star for that, don’t you? #12: Vault 92
Fallout 3 The stated purpose of Vault 92 was to house
accomplished and promising musicians so that musical knowledge and talent would
not perish with the rest of humanity. Uncommonly noble of Vault-Tec, so of course it
was really meant to test the effectiveness of brainwashing its residents with white noise.
The experiment succeeded…in the sense that the occupants of Vault 92 were indeed brainwashed
into becoming bloodthirsty killers. (Success is very relative in these games.) The experiment did
genuinely have one positive impact on the world: Vault 92 preserved a number of musical
instruments that would have otherwise been lost, including the rare Soil Stradivarius.
You can retrieve this instrument from the Vault for Agatha, one of the rare truly gentle
souls you’ll meet in Fallout 3. In return, she will play her music for the entire Wasteland on a
dedicated radio station. It’s an example of true beauty blooming from ugliness. And, ultimately,
isn’t that what Fallout is really all about? No. #11: Vault 34
Fallout: New Vegas An overstocked armory represents quite a tame
experiment for Vault-Tec, but Vault 34 still managed to give them a show. Its overseer was
not convinced of the wisdom of allowing universal access to firearms in an enclosed bunker, and
locked them up tight. A number of residents bristled at this, believing their right to bear arms to
be more important than anyone else’s right to stay alive. Thank God this is fiction, eh?
The disgruntled group left the Vault.Those who stayed behind were spared the dangers of stray
gunfire, but overpopulation gradually became the more urgent concern. Even worse,
the Vault door refused to open again after the deserters left. Desperate riots
ensued, damaging a reactor, and turning nearly all of the remaining occupants into feral ghouls.
I’m going to end the entry here because I fear I’m dangerously close to making a joke that goes “Ghouls Just
Wanna Have Guns”. Oh I've just done it. Sorry about that #10: Vault 79
Fallout 76 Vault 79 was designed to house America’s
gold reserve, or at least as much of it as could be transported there before the
bombs fell. The intention was to rebuild the country’s economy after the Great
War. As such, and understandably, Vault 79 would not house any of the general population.
A handful of secret service agents were assigned to the Vault in order to protect the gold, which
overall seems like a pretty cozy assignment. Sadly, they were unprepared for the effects
of prolonged isolation, and many of them died from suicide and conflict within the Vault. A
few are still alive by the time of Fallout 76, though, so the Vault didn’t entirely fail.
Then again, Fallout 76 is chronologically the earliest Fallout game, and the fact that bottle
caps continue to be the main currency throughout the series suggests that it didn’t succeed
in preserving the old-world economy. Still, it was worth a try. It’s not like they would
have worked this hard to save…y’know…more people. #9: Vault 111
Fallout 4 Ice, ice, baby. Actually, I probably shouldn’t
mention the baby; sore subject, I think. Anyway, Vault 111 was designed to study the effects of
long-term cryopreservation on humans. A bit of a disappointment for residents who prefer warmer
climes but, hey, it could be worse! You could end up dead! Actually, that does happen to the other
subjects. Hmm…well, at least there’s a chance you’ll be unfrozen at some point! Actually…oh.
Right. Yeah, that doesn’t go too well, either. Okay, fine, well, not all of the Vault’s
residents were test subjects. There were scientists and security guards who got
to stay warm and go about their daily routines of research and Vault maintenance.
Actually, nevermind; there was a violent clash as supplies dwindled and they were forced to
leave the Vault before it was safe to do so. Boy, Vault 111 was just a disaster all
around. No wonder Shawn grew up to be so…cold. #8: Vault 19
Fallout: New Vegas Vault 19 was split into two sections: red and
blue. There were a few common areas in the Vault, but the occupants of Vault 19 spent most of
their time with others of the same color. Vault-Tec likely wished to study how the two
groups would behave toward each other. If so, they got a wealth of data from Vault 19.
Paranoia between the groups was rife. When there was a seemingly legitimate problem with the
water purifier, each group suspected the other of sabotage. If a vent kicked on unexpectedly in
the night, people assumed the other group was trying to gas them in their sleep. If a light was
flickering, people assumed the other group was sending messages in morse code to each other.
Definitely one of the more interesting experiments in the series, if only
because of how minor and subtle the stimulus was. This Vault collapsed into chaos, and
there weren’t even any plant monsters! Weaklings. #7: Vault 76
Fallout 76 Vault 76 was technically a control vault,
as it had no real experiment attached to it, but the intention was to pack it full of
America’s best and brightest so that they could rebuild and repopulate Appalachia 25
years after the bombs fell. Unfortunately, something went horribly wrong, and the
only occupants of the Vault turned out to be those who liked to yell obscenities
at each other through their headset mics. We don’t learn much about Vault 76; it’s a brief
tutorial area that’s sealed off after we leave. Evidently, though, things went well. The Vault
opened on time, there were no serious conflicts, and the overseer did a good job of keeping
spirits high and egos in check. All in all, we can’t imagine much that could have gone better
for the occupants, and we’re happy for them. So why wouldn’t we choose to be in this Vault?
Well, because we’d end up in Fallout 76 #6: Vault 118
Fallout 4: Far Harbor It’s not at all surprising that one of the
best Vaults in Fallout 4 is where most of the best stuff in Fallout 4 is: Far Harbor. Vault
118 was designed to be a powder keg, housing 10 extremely rich individuals who would have
their every whim catered to by robot servants, and 300 lower-class residents who
would be confined to a single, cramped wing with limited rations.
We’d give this Vault experiment roughly…twelve minutes before the bloodbath, but we can’t
know for sure; Vault 118 was never completed. When the bombs fell, there was
only room for the upper class. All fine and good, right? Well, actually, yes,
though one resident convinced the others that they could ride out the entire war and its aftermath
by implanting themselves into Robobrains. For those unfamiliar with the series, Robo means
robot, and brain means brain. That’s about it, but you do get to solve a robot murder mystery.
And it’s not every day you can say you did that. #5: Vault 13
Fallout The very first Vault in the series is
also one of more desirable ones. Or, it would have been if not for a shipping
error. Vault-Tec accidentally sent the Vault’s allotted supply of water chips
to Vault 8. Perhaps surprisingly, this was not part of the Vault’s experiment; it
was just genuine, old-fashioned incompetence. The failure of the water chip sets into
motion the events of the entire series, so, okay, we’re grateful for it on that count. But it
also throws Vault 13 into turmoil. The peaceful community is thrown into discord by the fact
that their supply of drinkable water is dwindling, and everyone who leaves the Vault becomes
a lootable skeleton for the next guy. If it weren’t for that damn water chip, though,
Vault 13 might have been the best of the batch. Such a near miss. When you visit Vault 8 in
Fallout 2, you find that they not only have Vault 13’s water chip, but so many others that the game
considers them to be junk items. Way to rub it in… #4: Vault 8
Fallout 2 The easiest way to understand Vault 8 is to
understand Vault City. Vault 8’s 100 occupants genuinely experienced the safety and security they
were promised by Vault-Tec. Good for them, but it leaves us without much info on what happened.
What we do know is that the occupants used the Vault’s GECK to found Vault City, one of
the most advanced and successful settlements in post-war America. And the population of
that city is…103. Not much more than went into Vault 8 in the first place. That’s because
Vault City is both very insular – bigoted, if we’re feeling less charitable – and quick
to exile or enslave those they don’t like. In short, Vault 8 and everything about it
functioned perfectly. But when you bring humans into the post-apocalypse, you’re going to bring
all of their rotten qualities as well. Does that mean you’re better off dead? Probably not, but
you’d better make sure not to upset the neighbors. #3: Vault 21
Fallout: New Vegas Fitting for a Vault constructed on the Las Vegas
Strip, Vault 21’s experiment revolved entirely around gambling, with every decision made and
conflict resolved through games of chance. This ensured that no particular occupant
had an advantage over any other. Brains didn’t matter, brawn didn’t
matter, attractiveness didn’t matter, wealth didn’t matter; everything was settled
with a sometimes-literal roll of the dice. The experiment seemed to work extremely well, and
they lived in harmony for 197 years. The Vault only opened when Mr. House asked the occupants
to join him in New Vegas. Some were in favor of this and some were opposed, so it was settled
like everything else, this time with a game of blackjack. The House supporters won. Vault 21 was
decommissioned and remodeled as a small hotel. Far from the worst way for a Vault experiment to end.
Also notable is the fact that the first character you meet in Fallout: New Vegas
is a previous occupant of Vault 21. The one with the spinny head. Oh God... #2: Vault 101
Fallout 3 Vault 101’s experiment was to remain
closed for all eternity. The overseers through the years achieved this nefarious
goal by…convincing the residents to keep the Vault closed for all eternity. Some of
Fallout’s more trustworthy leaders, I guess. Of course, this wasn’t entirely the case; the
overseer of Vault 101 had the authority to create survey teams to explore the Wasteland, performing
research and bringing back samples of the new ecology to study. And, in one notable case, an
overseer in need of scientific expertise let Dr. Liam Neeson into the Vault with
his newborn baby. Good thing he did, too, or Fallout 3 would have been very short.
Overall, Vault 101 really isn’t such a bad place. Granted, the residents aren’t ever supposed to get
out, but that might be a good thing. Have you seen what’s out there? Wall to wall spookums. I’ll stay
in my underground metal tube, thank you very much. #1: Vault 81
Fallout 4 Vault 81 was intended to conduct one of the
cruelest experiments. The bunker was divided between a team of scientists and a group
of residents. They were each sealed into their own sections, with only the overseer having
communication with both sides. The intention was for the scientists to introduce various diseases
to the residents through a series of valves, and then experiment on them to find a cure.
The overseer felt this was just a bit beyond the pale, and prevented the research team
from being notified that the Vault was being activated. A few scientists showed up
anyway, so the overseer sealed them away and sabotaged the valves that were meant to
have introduced disease to the residents. Because of the overseer’s work – work of which
the residents were never aware – Vault 81 went from being one of the most potentially nightmarish
Vaults to one of the safest and most comfortable. More than 200 years later, the society here is
still fully functional. They’re even confident enough to have opened their doors to the
Wasteland, with the freedom to come and go as they please. Being safe in Vault 81, for the
only time in the series, doesn’t also mean being isolated. That’s quite an accomplishment.
Yeah. I think I’m gonna like it here…
