Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel
Developer(s)	Interplay
Publisher(s)	Interplay
Series	Fallout
Engine	Dark Alliance Engine
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2, Xbox
Release date(s)	NA January 14, 2004 EU April 2, 2004 JP April 28, 2005
Genre(s)	Action role-playing game
Mode(s)	Single player, Multiplayer
Media/distribution	DVD

Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel is an action game developed and produced by Interplay for the Xbox and PlayStation 2.^[1] Released on January 13, 2004, Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel was the fourth video game to be set in the Fallout universe and the first to be made for consoles. The game chronicles the adventures of an initiate in the fictional Brotherhood of Steel, a militant religious organization that has come to power in a post-apocalyptic world. The game by both Interplay Entertainment and Bethesda consider the game to not be a part of Fallout's Canon at all because its heavy divergence in the official Fallout timeline, and its poor criticism among gamers.

Contents 1 Gameplay 1.1 Playable characters[3] 2 Plot 3 Development 4 Reception 5 External links 6 References

Gameplay

As a spinoff, Brotherhood of Steel's gameplay greatly differs from that of other Fallout games. The gameplay is linear, not open-world.^[2] 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^[3]

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.
• 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

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. Once the radscorpions are defeated, the Mayor informs the Initiate of the direction the paladins were last known to be traveling. 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.

After taking care of the raiders, the Initiate leaves for the town of Los, meeting the Vault Dweller along the way. Arriving at the town, the Initiate meets Paladins from a separatist faction of the Brotherhood, and discovers 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. After infiltrating the cult's base and 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.

The Initiate goes to the vault, but is found and easily dispatched by the mutant general Attis. Having been left for dead, the Initiate is discovered and assisted by Patty some time later. After regaining health with further assistance from other residents of the area, Patty and the Initiate search for Attis in hopes of fighting again. Deep in the recesses of the vault, Attis has mutated himself into a regenerative blob form and waits for the Initiate to find him. 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

Interplay built Brotherhood of Steel with the Snowblind game engine previously used in the console games Dark Alliance and the online-capable PS2 game Champions of Norrath.^[4][5] Dolby Digital and 480p formats are supported.^[5] The soundtrack contains song instrumentals from various heavy metal groups such as Slipknot and Killswitch Engage.

Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel 2 was also planned, but ended up canceled due to the poor sales of the first game.^[6]

Reception

Brotherhood of Steel has mixed reviews. It received a 7.3/10 from Gamespot^[2] and a 7.5/10 from IGN,^[7] but only a 3/10 from Eurogamer^[8] as well as a 64 (for PS2) and 66 (for Xbox) out of 100 from MetaCritic.^[9][10] 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^[7]) and repetitive gameplay ("repetitive drawn out maze-like levels [don't do] the game any favours." -Eurogamer^[8]).

External links

• IGN guide to Brotherhood of Steel
• Review on Gamespot
• Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel at The Vault, a Fallout wiki
• Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel at MobyGames

References