Bethesda Ruins

The Bethesda Ruins are located northwest of Washington, D.C. It is inhabited by raiders and ghouls, and is divided into three sections: Bethesda offices west, Bethesda offices east and Bethesda Underworks.

Background
Prior to the Great War of 2077, Bethesda was a major town in the DC area. There was Metro and City Liner service to this city. North of Bethesda is an old monorail train. As the west-east highway ends in the city, another highway traveling north, passes through the area. The city has a local park, named after the largest employer in this city, where baseball was played.

Exterior
The raiders have barricaded most of the streets leading to the ruins with crudely constructed structures and derelict vehicles. There are also some mines in a small, grassy area to the south, next to Bethesda Offices East.

In between the two office buildings is a walkway connecting them with a raider carrying a sniper rifle near two ammunition boxes containing a random amount of .308 caliber rounds. Further east (roughly east by southeast) is the metro entrance to Bethesda Underworks.

West of the entrance to the Bethesda offices west, at the Red Rocket gas station in the outskirts, there is a random encounter location.

Bethesda offices west
Mostly reception and office space, Bethesda offices west is home to a considerable number of raiders. The cramped confines of the building render most hard-hitting long-range weapons ineffective as they become unwieldy when turning corners and investigating small rooms.

In the reception area there are two raiders and a Mark VII automated turret in the center of the room. On the semi-circular desk next to the turret terminal lies a Big Book of Science. Upstairs, at least three shotgun traps, activated by the same pressure plate, and aimed at the same place, as well as two grenade bouquets, are located in this building. Players with sufficient Repair skill can disarm and take these weapons (though the two clusters are in a rather difficult to reach space between floors). You may encounter a raider with a flamer sleeping in the bed in this room. Note: Also in the room with the sleeping raider with the flamer, at the foot of his bed are 4 stacked boxes. Use R3 to lift them all and you will find a mini-nuke under one.

Bethesda offices east
Much of the east building is offices, with more cramped fighting conditions. Extensive damage to the building also includes large gaps and holes in the floor, making fighting on the upper floor treacherous in places. In the small room with two cubicles, you will find a Chinese Army: Special Ops Training Manual laying on top of the desk in the left cubicle. There is a raider here, armed with a flamer and carrying a U.S. Army: 30 Handy Flamethrower Recipes skill book in their inventory, as well as the Bobblehead - Lockpick behind them. The raider respawns after 72 game-hours.

Bethesda Underworks
Please refer to Bethesda Underworks for the metro area underneath the area.

Appearances
Bethesda ruins appears only in Fallout 3.

Behind the scenes
Bethesda Softworks was founded in Bethesda, Maryland in 1986. The offices were moved to Rockville, Maryland in 1990.

Bugs

 * All the ghouls in the Underworks may spawn right outside of the tunnel entrance, remaining inactive unless the player engages them.
 * If you put your marker on the Bethesda Ruins, it will lead you southeast of the Bethesda Ruins, instead of going there directly.