I actually think Bethesda did a pretty good job in keeping the struggle between the Factions ambiguous. One of the things I like is they do that in subtle ways as well as big ways. It would be easy to view the Railroad as the "Good Guy" faction but they add things to make you call into question what's real and what's not.

The Sunshine Co-Op is one example as you have a bunch of pot-smoking hippies reprogram a Mister Handy into being "Professor Goodfeels" and it's ridiculous.

Then you learn about how the Institute reprograms Synths.

You also have the option of reprogramming Protectrons to have different personalities.

Is Nick a person or just a guy programmed to act like one?

Is there any meaningful difference?

And while people argue Synths are different from Mister Handys, Sentry Bots, and else....we meet Codsworth and a Sentry Bot that has adopted a little girl to protect.

Here's a scary thought-- What if Synths aren't any different from regular robots--and it doesn't matter because regular robots are intelligent too?

Woah.