Fallout: London, PC [Part 5 – A Cultural Classic]

Initially, when I first saw the launch video for Fallout: London, I was sceptical about how good the voice acting would be in the game. I heard what sounded like a fake cockney accent and cringed… Thankfully, though, that first impression wasn’t correct, and I’m glad to report that the majority of the accents, and the voice acting, in Fallout: London, are absolutely spot-on.

If there’s one thing most British people will tell you, it’s that our accents are varied, and that they’re also very difficult to replicate for most non-English nationals. So the voice actors here have had to be very careful to avoid making them sound fake. In general, they did very well with that.

Regional accents are also vital for making the game sound quintessentially British, and culturally accurate, since accents from most regions are found all over the UK, and especially in London.

While playing Fallout: London I was always carefully listening to the accents in the game… I heard plenty of Cockney and Essex (East London) accents; various northern (Yorkshire and Lancashire) accents; Cornish; Scottish and Irish, but I didn’t hear many (if any) Scouse (Liverpool), Geordie (Newcastle and the North-East), Brummie (Birmingham) or Leicester accents. Zack the Knack, the barman at The Old Cheese of Cheshire, does have a Brummie accent, although it’s not a very strong one…

It’s a pity the developers of Fallout: London didn’t have the time or resources to do a bit more with the regional accents – to represent more of them – but I can’t hold what they’ve done against them, because it’s very impressive.

And just to demonstrate how much I thought about this: whenever I went to Gwendolin at The London Eye, to sell my stuff, whenever she spoke she sounded just like my dear-departed grandmother, on my mum’s side, who was from Golders Green in London. The way the voice actor voiced her lines was so authentic I almost cried… 😦

There is still room for improvement with some place name pronunciations, and an expansion of accents, though. If the developers decide to give Fallout: London a serious cultural boost before they complete it, they should do another round of voice actor recordings and enrich the game a final time. To cut down on repetition, and to add more subtle detail. I think it would be worth it… 🙂

It’s worth noting that there is apparently a user mod for Fallout: London, called “It’s A Soccer Ball“, that changes some item names into American-friendly words, for those who might be confused by the language. I’ll never try it, but many have. Mostly Americans. Which is great because the more Americans who appreciate Fallout: London, the better. In my humble opinion.

More: Fallout: London on GOG.com
More: Fallout: London on Wikipedia
More: Official Fallout: London website