Summary
An unmarked location inFallout 4constitutes an in-depth reference to a classic TV show. AlthoughFallout 4takes a lot of liberties with its portrayal of a post-nuclear Boston (the so-called Commonwealth), there’s a measure of accuracy in the landmarks it includes.The Old North Church becomes theHQ ofFallout 4’s Railroad, MIT is renamed the Institute, and of course, Fenway Park transforms into the bustling Diamond City.
But whileFallout 4draws attention to these Boston icons by tying them closely to major factions and mandatory story quests,some of its lesser-known landmarks receive much less fanfare. Players with a little more knowledge of the local geography may search them out, while others might just be lucky enough to happen upon them. That’s especially true of this unmarkedFalloutlocation, which references an iconic Boston-set sitcom with plenty ofFalloutflair.
Fallout 4’s Prost Bar Is A Hidden Reference To Cheers
Where Everybody Knows Your Name
Fallout 4players can discover an unmarked bar that references the titular location of classic Boston-set sitcomCheers. The bar is called Prost - a German toast functionally equivalent to the English “cheers.” An iconic sitcom that ran for over a decade,Cheersis set in a Back Bay dive bar, where the lives of its employees and regulars play out over 11 seasons.Cheerswas the most popular TV show of all time in its day, drawing 93 million viewers for its series finale. It spawned three spinoffs, includingFrasier, and is fondly remembered as a foundational text of the sitcom genre.
Surprisingly, for such an under-the-radar reference,Prost is one of the more accurate recreations of a Boston landmarkinFallout 4. Its location almost exactly reflects its real-life address, at 84 Beacon Street, on the northwest end of Boston Common. InFallout 4, players can easily find Prost by traveling slightly northwest of the Boston Common waypoint; look for a fenced-in set of stairs leading down into an external basement entrance, just as it appears in the opening credits ofCheers.
Inside,Prost features a faithful rendition of Cheers, from its central, square-shaped bar to its dingy, divey atmosphere. Players can find two skeletons sitting at and adjacent to the corner seat, representing beloved characters Norm and Cliff in their preferred stools. Other skeletons wear clothes resembling the personal styles of other Cheers characters, The walls around the bar are covered in baseball posters, not only reflecting the actual knick-knack-laden walls ofCheers, but also slyly referencingCheersprotagonist and bar proprietor Sam Malone. Played by Ted Danson, Sam takes pride in his past as a celebrated relief pitcher for the Red Sox, and is known to talk baseball with his patrons.
Players can also find a pair of baseball grenades in Prost’s rear office. It’s also a great place to farm for glass, as the bar, the floor, and every other available surface are covered with discarded bottles and cups.
Fallout 4’s Prost Ties Into Two Creation Club Side Quests
“Nuka-Cola Collector Workshop” & “Anti-Materiel Rifle”
Although technically an unmarked location,Prost does tie into twoFallout 4side quests, each of which is related to a piece of officially-released Creation Club content. If players have downloaded “Nuka-Cola Collector Workshop,” they’ll find two pieces of collectible Nuka-Cola merch inside Prost: the Scavenger’s Nuka-Cola Outfit, a tattered red-skirted suit of armor that gives bonuses to Charisma and Endurance, and the Vault-Tec Cross-Promotional Item #3, a bobblehead depicting Vault Boy giving the thumbs-up sign while holding a bottle of Nuka-Cola. These tie into the quest “Carbonated Concerns,” which eventually unlocks the Nu Café Ola as a potential player base.
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While the pre-war timeline is a little shaky,this quest gives a little more context as to what happened to Prost after the war. A note found on the body of Ellie, the former owner of the Nu Café Ola, reveals that Prost operated right up until the bombs dropped, but has yet to be reclaimed, perhaps because the slouching skeletons didn’t make for the best possible atmosphere. Since then, it’s remained a kind of time capsule, completely frozen in its pre-war state. It did, however, find a new life as a scavenging site for Ellie, who presumably used it to collect fresh glasses and unused beverages for her own establishment.
“Nuka-Cola Collector Workshop” and “Anti-Materiel Rifle” both touch on Prost’s legacy, but unfortunately,neither quest takes advantage of theCheersconnectionfor any additional pop culture references. Somewhat ironically, though, at least one player,cn1731on Reddit, has taken matters into their own hands by using their reward from thisCheers-related quest to recreate another iconic sitcom location: the Central Perk café fromFriends.
So, as interesting as Prost is, it really only constitutes a fun little reference for fans ofCheers- nothing more, nothing less. Whether it was originally intended to play a larger role, or was always meant to be a little, unmarked corner of the Commonwealth map, isn’t totally clear. Either way, it’s a great littleFallout 4detail worth seeking out, especially for the unique Nuka-Cola merch players can claim via the Creation Club.
