Why Fallout 4 Won't Be The Same

Fallout 4, maybe you've heard of it?

Easily the most anticipated game that was showcased at E3 this year, and with so many people boasting Bethesda Game Studios for being such a revolutionary company with limitless capabilities, I believe it's time to shed some light on one man that illustrated the world of Fallout.

Adam Adamowicz, a name you may have never heard until now, but this man is responsible for the look and feel of the game we found to be so beautiful. From sprawling radiation filled landscapes, Super Mutant Behemoths, the Pip-Boy 3000, to the devastated Capitol Wastes, all of them were drawn and hand painted by this imaginative genius. However Mr. Adamowicz wouldn't live to see Fallout 4's release, he passed away back in 2012 from complications from lung cancer. He was only 43 when he died, and there are a lot of people who have no idea that the artist who brought us such a wonder of a game is now gone, we owe every visual spectacle from the Fallout realm to this man.

His inspiration didn't just stop at the drawing board however. He was always encouraging everyone in the studio to evolve all the designs together. He wrote on the Fallout Website, “I like to feel that it's my job to instigate the process with a cool drawing that inspires everyone else here into making something really cool.” Adam was the reason the Fallout series has the feel of a 1950's sitcom set in the nuclear wilderness. He wanted the game to feel like an episode of Leave it to Beaver where Ward Cleaver would be forced from his bunker and traverse the wasteland in search of tobacco for his pipe, but then being attacked by a raider right over the top of a hill. He says he loved working with the dark humor concept of the game, and it's evident that this was his best work.

Adamowicz also worked on part of the game Skyrim before passing and is responsible for the iconic designs for the dragons that you go toe to toe with. It's been three years since we've said goodbye to Adam and I for one am terrified that Fallout won't feel the same without his imagination at the healm. Even if he did have some time to work on Fallout 4 he wouldn't have lived to see it's completion. I hope that Bethesda kept all his concept art and made sure that some of it made it into this new world of Fallout 4.

I often wonder what Adam's opinion of the game would be if he were here today.