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Not to be confused with Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel.
Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel
Developer(s)Interplay Entertainment
Publisher(s)Interplay Entertainment
Composer(s)Craig Stuart Garfinkle
Devin Townsend
Matt Gruber
SeriesFallout
Platform(s)PlayStation 2, Xbox
Release
  • NA: January 13, 2004[1]
  • EU: April 2, 2004
Genre(s)Action role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel is an action role-playing game developed and published by Interplay Entertainment, and distributed in Europe by Avalon Interactive for the Xbox and PlayStation 2.[2] Released on January 13, 2004, Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel was the fourth video game to be set in the Fallout universe. It was also the first to be made for consoles, and the last to be made during Interplay's initial run on the series, before the rights passed to Bethesda Softworks. The game chronicles the adventures of an initiate in the fictional Brotherhood of Steel, a militant quasi-religious organization that has come to power in a post-apocalyptic world.

In 2007, Todd Howard stated that "neither Fallout Tactics nor Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel happened".[3] Emil Pagliarulo revealed in 2020 that the decision to disregard Fallout Tactics was revised.[4]

Gameplay[edit]

As a spinoff, Brotherhood of Steel's gameplay greatly differs from that of other Fallout games. The gameplay is linear, not open-world.[5] Instead of being able to travel freely across a broad world full of places and events as in other Fallout games, the player is confined to one location at a time. Previously visited locations cannot be visited again, and new locations can only be discovered by advancing the story. There are 50 distinct zones of varying size in Brotherhood of Steel.

Brotherhood of Steel uses many of the same mechanics as other entries in the Fallout series, including the SPECIAL (Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility, Luck) attribute assignment system. These seven attributes are assigned numeric values and govern most interactions in the game. Unlike other Fallout games, however, the values are constant for each character rather than customizable.

Skills exist in this game, but they do not behave like skills in other Fallout games. Rather, they are analogous to perks. When the player levels up, they receive "skill points" to increase the power of skills. Some skills also have level restrictions.

Playable characters[edit]

The player chooses one of up to six playable characters to control as the PC. There are no party members, but a co-op mode is available. The last three characters on the list are unlockable. The player meets them within the story, and they only become available to control after completing specific chapters in the game.

  • Cyrus grew up fighting off raiders in a community of tribal farmers. When the community was devastated by the Super Mutant army, he wandered the post-apocalyptic wastelands. In time, he heard about the Brotherhood of Steel's opposition of the mutant army, and chose to join them. He can use heavy weapons, and can maneuver with them better than the other playable characters. However, he cannot run while firing.
  • Cain was born a human, but became a ghoul after exposure to radiation poisoning from the apocalypse. He controlled the City of the Dead, Necropolis, until its destruction at the hands of the Super Mutant army. Cain joined the Brotherhood of Steel to seek vengeance for his city. He can use all heavy weapons, but is unable to run while firing them. Unlike Cyrus, he can also use dual pistols.
  • Nadia grew up in a ravaged urban area as an orphan, stealing to keep herself fed and clothed. She is the archetypical rogue, relying on cunning and light fingers to keep herself alive. She became aware of the Brotherhood of Steel one day when they came to her town, providing food and cleaning up for the residents. She joined the Brotherhood soon after that. She can use dual pistols and can run while firing, but lacks the ability to use heavy weapons.
  • Patty was the leader of those who survived in the Garden area. After the player fights the leader of the Super Mutant army, she provides them with medical assistance. She then masterminded a plot for her people to escape to the wastes, but she herself stayed behind to destroy the Vault-Tec research, sacrificing herself in the process. As a playable character, she is most similar to Nadia in that she can use dual weapons, but not heavy weapons.
  • Rhombus was a Paladin who led a separatist faction of the Brotherhood of Steel. This faction tracked and engaged directly with the Super Mutant army. He was captured by the army and tortured, but would later be saved by the player, only to be wounded by a suicide bomber shortly afterward. His fate is unknown, but he is presumed dead. As a playable character, he is most similar to Cyrus, but has the ability to use all weapon types except dual wield.
  • The Vault Dweller is the protagonist from the original Fallout. He is a powerful player character, and can only be selected by starting a new game after completing the chapter in which the player meets him. He has the ability to use all weapon types.

Plot[edit]

Immediately prior to Brotherhood of Steel, the three playable characters (Cain, Cyrus, and Nadia) have joined the Brotherhood as new Initiates. After selecting which character to play as (hereafter referred to as the Initiate), the game opens with the Initiate searching for missing Paladins in the nearby town of Carbon. Minor investigation leads the Initiate to question the Mayor of the town, who demands the destruction of a radscorpion lair before he will reveal any information. Also, the Initiate gains the trust of Jesse, a trader, and Vidaya, the town doctor. Once the radscorpions are defeated, the Mayor informs the Initiate of the direction the paladins were last known to be traveling. The Initiate goes into the Crater near the town to find the Paladins. Unfortunately, the Mayor reveals himself shortly afterward to be a treacherous man and attempts to murder the Initiate using explosives. However, he only succeeds in causing a rock slide and killing himself. Blocked by the rocks, the Initiate heads back to Carbon to find it being looted by raiders, who must then be defeated. The townsfolk have holed up in the warehouse while the Initiate rescues others who didn't make it to the warehouse. When that is done, the Raider lair is discovered to be the nearby former steel mill. The Initiate (with some inventory help from Jesse) goes in and defeats the Raider Matron. While here, the Initiate meets up with the Vault Dweller (the protagonist from the original game) and get directed to look for the Paladin Rhombus in the ghoul town of Los.

The Initiate leaves for the town of Los, they meet up with Harold and many of the ghouls in the town. Paladins from a separatist faction of the Brotherhood formed a cult known as the Church of the Lost. The leader of the separatist faction, Rhombus, accompanies the Initiate on a quest to kill Blake, the leader of the cult. The Initiate moves around the town of Los killing mutants who are following Blake, and meets up with some ghoul brothers that are competing merchants. Along the way, Rhombus is captured, and the Initiate frees him after killing Blake. The Initiate discovers a key on the cult leader's body. In their haste to escape, however, Rhombus is mortally wounded by kamikaze ghouls and the Initiate must go on without him. Inquiring around the city, the Initiate learns of a nearby vault that may be held by the Super Mutant army, under the direction of Attis.

The Initiate goes to the vault, but is found by the mutant general Attis. After a brief fight, Attis severs the left arm of the Initiate and dumps him in some ruins of the vault. Having been left for dead, the Initiate is discovered and assisted by Patty some time later. After regaining the use of the left arm again, the Initiate helps the residents of the vault to evacuate. The Initiate goes deep into the computer core of the vault to open the AUX AC ducts so the residents can escape. The Initiate goes back into the Ruins to find the Laboratory passkey to find Attis. After retrieving the passkey, the Initiate finds that the Super Mutant army has found the Garden area where the residents were hiding and started massacring them all. One of the residents sacrifices himself to give the residents time to escape. After clearing out the Mutants in the Garden, the Initiate heads down into the Laboratory. Attis went there to find a "cure" of sorts, because of the FEV (Forced Evolutionary Virus), the Mutants are sterile. While the Initiate was searching for Attis, Patty followed him and got caught when Attis exploded. During the climactic battle, Patty is caught by the blob, and it begins to consume her from the inside. The Initiate, before being caught by Attis as well, is able to start a self-destruct sequence for the vault and quickly performs a mercy killing on Patty before escaping the ensuing destruction via monorail.

Development[edit]

In the early 2000s, Interplay Entertainment attempted to expand into the console game market, which they had previously ignored in favor of the PC game market.[6][7] At the time, Interplay was undergoing a period of financial hardship, an issue that would persist for several years.[6] Journalist Kat Bailey credits Interplay's financial struggles to the increased cost for game development, and the industry shift toward console gaming in the late 1990s.[6] In 2001, Interplay released Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, the first console entry in the Baldur's Gate series.[7] Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance was a commercial success, and sold over one million copies by 2003.[8] This in turn inspired Interplay to greenlight development on a console entry to the Fallout series.[7]

The idea for a Fallout console game had existed for years before development began on Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel.[7] Designer Chris Pasetto noted that an initial pitch was to make it a first-person shooter.[7] After the release of Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance however, Interplay mandated that Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel should feature more action oriented gameplay as opposed to the role-playing gameplay that had previously defined the series.[7] Additionally, it would need to use the Snowblind game engine, which had been developed by Snowblind Studios for Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance.[7] Pasetto described the engine as a "rigid template".[7] In an interview with Eurogamer, Pasetto said, "We didn't have the engineering bandwidth to do more than a few tweaks. Our main technical focus was improving the ranged combat for the gun-focused gameplay of Fallout."[7]

Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel was developed in tandem with the Van Buren project by Black Isle Studios, which was intended to be the next entry in the mainline Fallout series.[7] However, development on Van Buren was hampered by mismanagement from Interplay, and after numerous developers from Black Isle resigned, the project was canceled in 2003.[6]

Release and reception[edit]

Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel was announced in March 2003, and was initially scheduled for a fourth quarter release.[15][16] Its release date was postponed when Interplay terminated its contract with distributor Vivendi Universal Games, due to a legal dispute between the two companies regarding payments for the game Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader.[16] Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel was released on January 13, 2004, for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox.[17] According to Pasetto, Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel sold poorly.[7] When asked about the commercial impact the game had on Interplay, Pasetto remarked, "It was just one of many projects that underperformed and would have had to sell miraculous numbers to change the fate of Interplay."[7]

Brotherhood of Steel has mixed reviews according to review aggregator Metacritic. It received a 7.3/10 from GameSpot[5] and a 7.5/10 from IGN,[14] but only a 3/10 from Eurogamer.[11] Some common themes among these reviews are criticism for the amount of swearing ("Brotherhood of Steel trades Fallout's visceral feel for a lot of four-letter words." -IGN[14]) and repetitive gameplay ("repetitive drawn out maze-like levels [don't do] the game any favours." -Eurogamer[11]). Whilst noting the "incessant" profanity and "very repetitive" gameplay, GameSpot nevertheless considered the game to be "entertaining to play" although not great.[5]

Retrospective commentary[edit]

Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel is consistently ranked by journalists as one of the worst entries in the series, due to its repetitive gameplay and linear design.[18][19][20] Fans similarly deride the game, and sometimes refer to it not by the acronym Fallout: BOS, but as Fallout: POS.[21] In a retrospective article, Zoey Handley of Destructoid gave a different opinion, and argued that the game's negative reputation was not the result of poor gameplay, but the mismanagement of the Fallout series by Interplay and its parent company Titus Interactive.[22] Handley wrote, "The developers definitely didn't just phone it in. While Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel isn't a great game, it's not just a quick write-off. You can tell the team behind it at least cared to some extent about the quality of the final product."[22]

The tepid reception toward Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel and its predecessor Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel, as well as the cancellation of the Van Buren project, led to the stagnation of the Fallout series in the mid 2000s.[23] In October 2004 Bethesda Softworks purchased the rights to develop Fallout 3 from Interplay for $1,175,000 minimum guaranteed advance against royalties.[24] Fallout 3 was released in 2008, and revitalized interest in the series.[25] It was well received by critics, and sold more than 5 million copies in its first year.[23][26] In pre-release interview, producer Ashely Cheng noted his disdain for Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel, and stated that Bethesda sought to avoid any resemblance to the game while working on Fallout 3.[21] Executive producer Todd Howard further added, "For our purposes, neither Fallout Tactics nor Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel happened."[27]

Canceled sequel[edit]

A sequel to Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel, titled Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel 2, was planned.[28] It was scheduled for a 2004 fourth quarter release, and would have been a PlayStation 2 exclusive title.[28] According to a leaked design document, the gameplay of Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel 2 would have been more in line with the first two Fallout games as opposed to Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel.[29] It would have featured a reputation mechanic, which would have allowed players to change how other characters viewed them depending on whether their choices were deemed good or bad, as well as a stealth mechanic.[28][29] The story was written by series veteran Brian Freyermuth, and would have featured roaming tribes like Caesar's Legion and the Jackals, both of which would eventually appear in the game Fallout: New Vegas.[29][30] Ian Dransfield of Retro Gamer claims that the development of Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel 2 was close to completion before its cancellation by Interplay.[30]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Burnes, Andrew (2003-12-18). "Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel Release Date Set". IGN. Retrieved 2023-11-06.
  2. ^ "GameFAQS Info Page". gamefaqs.com. Retrieved May 19, 2012.
  3. ^ Nguyen, Thierry (July 1, 2007). "We finally crack open the Vault to get our first peek at the next Fallout". Retrieved April 14, 2024.
  4. ^ Emil Pagliarulo (2020). Willkommen zu #BGC2020 - unser Gamescom Streaming-Format für euch! (Stream). Bethesda Softworks DE.
  5. ^ a b c d Kasavin, Greg (January 16, 2004). "Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel Review". GameSpot. Archived from the original on May 9, 2024. Retrieved June 7, 2024.
  6. ^ a b c d Bailey, Kat (November 24, 2017). "The Last Days of Black Isle Studios". VG247. Archived from the original on April 21, 2024. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Mason, Graeme (November 11, 2018). "The Fallout game that time forgot". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on May 21, 2024. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  8. ^ Anon. (March 24, 2003). "Dark Alliance II Announced". IGN. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  9. ^ Anon. (May 2004). "Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel". Edge. No. 136. p. 109. ISSN 1350-1593.
  10. ^ Bynres, Paul; Elliott, Shawn; Gifford, Kevin (March 2004). "Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 176. p. 114. ISSN 1058-918X.
  11. ^ a b c Reed, Kristan (April 8, 2004). "Fallout: Brotherhood Of Steel". Eurogamer. Retrieved April 26, 2012.
  12. ^ Juba, Joe (n.d.). "Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel". Game Informer. Archived from the original on April 18, 2008. Retrieved June 7, 2024.
  13. ^ Meston, Zach (January 12, 2004). "Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel (Xbox)". GameSpy. pp. 1–2. Archived from the original on February 5, 2007. Retrieved June 7, 2024.
  14. ^ a b c Lewis, Ed (January 13, 2004). "Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel Review". IGN. Archived from the original on January 17, 2004. Retrieved April 26, 2012.
  15. ^ Anon. (March 13, 2003). "Watch Out For Fallout". IGN. Archived from the original on June 7, 2024. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  16. ^ a b Calvert, Justin (September 30, 2003). "Vivendi dumped by Interplay". GameSpot. Archived from the original on March 27, 2023. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  17. ^ Adams, David (December 18, 2003). "Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel Date Confirmed". IGN. Archived from the original on January 18, 2013. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  18. ^ Stapleton, Dan (July 24, 2015). "The Best Fallout Games". IGN. Archived from the original on January 12, 2024. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  19. ^ Watts, Steve (April 10, 2024). "Best Fallout Games, Ranked". GameSpot. Archived from the original on May 5, 2024. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
  20. ^ Stone, Sam (May 15, 2024). "All Fallout Games, Ranked From Worst to Best". The Escapist. Archived from the original on May 22, 2024. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  21. ^ a b Thorsen, Tor (May 7, 2007). "Fallout 3 360-bound?". GameSpot. Archived from the original on May 7, 2024. Retrieved May 7, 2024.
  22. ^ a b Handley, Zoey (May 1, 2023). "Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel doesn't glow, but it isn't radioactive". Destructoid. Archived from the original on April 15, 2024. Retrieved June 7, 2024.
  23. ^ a b McLaughlin, Rus; Kaiser, Rowan (July 21, 2010). "IGN Presents the History of Fallout". IGN. Archived from the original on July 19, 2019. Retrieved April 26, 2024.
  24. ^ Burnes, Andrew (October 14, 2004). "Interplay In Trouble; Assets Sold & Optioned". IGN. Archived from the original on April 13, 2024. Retrieved May 7, 2024.
  25. ^ Studholme, Billy (January 31, 2023). "'Fallout 4' has aged beautifully. You should play it again". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 22, 2023. Retrieved May 28, 2024.
  26. ^ Cobbett, Richard (June 5, 2015). "A brief history of Fallout". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on March 22, 2024. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
  27. ^ Nguyen, Thierry (July 1, 2007). "Previews: Fallout 3". GameSpy. p. 1. Archived from the original on May 15, 2024. Retrieved May 15, 2024.
  28. ^ a b c Breckon, Nick (March 16, 2009). "Brotherhood of Steel 2 Cancelled". Shacknews. Archived from the original on December 23, 2023. Retrieved April 26, 2012.
  29. ^ a b c Meer, Alec (March 11, 2009). "Wasteland Relics: The Other Cancelled Fallout". Rock Paper Shotgun. Archived from the original on May 29, 2024. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  30. ^ a b Dransfield, Ian (April 4, 2019). "The complete history of Fallout". PC Gamer. p. 2. Archived from the original on April 4, 2019. Retrieved May 4, 2024.

External links[edit]

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