10 Toughest Video Game Moral Choices (And What You Picked)
4. Who Should Have Access To Electricity? - Fallout: New Vegas
The stakes: In the quest ‘That Lucky Old Sun’ players are tasked with bringing the HELIOS One solar power plant back online. Succeed and they must choose who among the citizens of the post-apocalyptic Mojave Wasteland get to benefit from the newfound electricity supply, and the better quality of life that comes with it.
The choice: There are five: Divert power to the wealthy New California Republic home states, the NCR controlled Camp McCarran and the New Vegas strip, earning NCR fame; divert power to the poor areas around the Strip, earning fame from the altruistic Followers of the Apocalypse; divert power equally to all areas, but at the cost of limited power supply all round along with frequent brownouts; divert power to the Archimedes II orbital weapons system, allowing players to use it; or overload the plant, preventing any future misuse of Archimedes II.
The verdict: As per this poll players chose the egalitarian option and distributed power equally. The belief is that electricity is a fundamental human need, and though the power output will be low and suffer from disruption at least everyone gets to benefit, a sentiment that even those players who sided with the NCR agree with.