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Fallout: New Vegas Writer Reflects on Caesar’s Persuasiveness, Worries It Worked Too Well

He says crafting a convincing authoritarian was necessary to explore freedom versus tyranny.

Overview

  • In a new interview reported by PC Gamer and echoed by GamesRadar, John Gonzalez says you cannot reduce tyrants to cardboard villains when the story confronts liberty and oppression.
  • He explains that Caesar was deliberately written to present a robust case for authoritarianism so players could challenge it through dialogue.
  • Gonzalez now expresses unease that the portrayal sometimes inspires real-world defenses of Caesar's Legion on social platforms.
  • He credits designer Josh Sawyer for dialogue touches that let players probe concepts like Hegelian dialectics during conversations with Caesar.
  • Gonzalez also notes that Mr. House was conceived with a resonance to contemporary Silicon Valley magnates.