Todd Howard’s revelation in the summer that Fallout 4 wasn’t designed to support pacifist playthroughs was a tad disappointing. A bit of a niche concern, certainly, but non-lethality quickly becomes a matter of pride for those with the patience for it.
It should be impossible to finish the story without resorting to murder. But naturally, a subset of the internet has dedicated itself to doing just that, and one Kyle Hinckley has completed Fallout 4 on Survival difficulty without a single kill to his name.
Looking to change the rules of the wasteland? Here are the best mods for Fallout 4.
Sceptical? The whole thing’s on YouTube:
Hinckley’s 75-hour first attempt was thwarted when he realised he’d backed the wrong faction, to bloody effect. He began anew with a high-charisma character, and made it to the end after gathering enough settlement-related XP to acquire the calming Wasteland Whisperer perk.
His conscience isn’t entirely clear, however, since he’s regularly let robots, turrets and the like do the dirty work necessary to keep that counter at 0. At one stage, he’s seen repeatedly pickpocketing an NPC in order to better equip them against his enemies.
“The thing about Todd Howard is, even he doesn’t know what his games are capable of,” Hinckley told Kotaku’s Patricia Hernandez.
And that’s it, isn’t it? The thing that makes Bethesda games buggy but brilliant – their unwillingness to close off options players might discover on their own.
In other news,Fallout 4 modders have assembled working lightsabers. Inevitably.