And so, the countdown is over, and a whole new countdown begins. The trailer for Fallout 4, leaked thanks to a timely LinkedIn post, has been released, and the new countdown to the Bethesda E3 event is already on in earnest. But with the arrival of the trailer, some questions have been answered, and--seeing as I've already watched the trailer like four times already--I'm going to take this sucker apart and note some findings here.

One, Fallout fans had long suspected that the series would be going to Boston in Fallout 4, and not without reason. It made sense from a narrative standpoint; Fallout 3 was in Washington D.C, and Fallout: New Vegas was the offshoot, not the main narrative. So Fallout 4 would carry on with the events from the third one. There were plenty of unanswered questions from the third one, naturally, including the existence of the Institute. Fallout 3 introduced us to the Institute--likely the former Massachusetts Institute of Technology--where androids of incredible complexity were made. It certainly didn't hurt that reports suggested Bethesda was already scouting the place out looking for locations, and the new trailer made the confirmation complete.

Several familiar Boston landmarks actually cropped up throughout the trailer, which I confirmed from a couple different sources, including a buddy of mine in Salem. For instance, catch that big golden dome? That's been confirmed to be the State Capitol building, as seen from the end of "The Departed." That bit with the flying zeppelin in the thunderstorm revealed briefly a statue of Paul Revere on horseback. And that ship with the huge engines strapped to the side? My buddy expressed some alarm at that, asking if he was indeed looking at the U.S.S Constitution with anti-grav engines on the side. I couldn't confirm either, but someone else--Forbes' Dave Thier--noted that that sure looked like the Constitution to him as well.

This, as far as I'm concerned, is great news. We're establishing a continuity that's welcome, as well as a potential dichotomy. Fallout 3 was east coast, Fallout: New Vegas was west coast. Fallout 4 is shaping up to be east coast...so why wouldn't the next Fallout, maybe "Fallout: NCR" or "Fallout: Midwest" go back over in that direction? Plus there was one obvious issue never covered with the Institute: the reaction of the Brotherhood of Steel to such a location as the Institute. We know that the Brotherhood believes itself to be the true heir of all pre-war technology, and a place like the Institute should pose a real issue to the Brotherhood. That opens up the kind of faction-based gameplay that we saw in Fallout: New Vegas, and should prove a welcome addition to the franchise.

We've got plenty of questions left to ask, though, particularly in terms of "When is this finally coming out?" That might well be answered in another week and a half with the Bethesda press conference at E3, but it's good enough for now just knowing it's coming.