Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel

Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel (truncated as Fallout: BoS), is an action role-playing game developed and self-published by Interplay Entertainment for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox game consoles. Released January 13, 2004, it is the fourth video game set in the Fallout universe, second spinoff, and the first to be released on home video game consoles.

It is also the last Fallout title to be released before the franchise was sold by Interplay Entertainment to Bethesda Softworks. Although the game was created by Interplay, most of the writers and developers of the original games did not work on Brotherhood of Steel, apart from some quality testers of the originals becoming level designers and scriptors, such as Alendor E. Vulaj, Henry C. Lee and Rene Hakiki.

Although Interplay intended for the game to be canon when it was released, it has since been declared non-canon by Bethesda Softworks executive producer and game director Todd Howard. The game received mixed reception and its sequel was planned but cancelled.

Gameplay
Brotherhood of Steel plays like a dungeon crawling run-and-gunner. There are very few NPCs in the game that can be interacted with, and while the player can speak with them, there are no consequences for dialog choices, as the game tells a mainly linear and fixed story. There are a few sidequests the player can do for rewards. While puzzles are absent for most of the game, chapter three has a few of them.

The game allows for two-player co-op multiplayer. Due to no split screen, the players share the same screen and the players' boundaries are restricted by the camera, forcing the two players to stay close and move in tandem. Apart from multiplayer, the game does not feature companions except for a few moments where the player must follow an NPC; the one exception to this if the player unlocks the Man's Best Friend skill which allows a dog to follow the player and attack enemies. However, this skill is not available for Cain players.

Skills
In Fallout: BoS, "skills" have the same function as perks in other Fallout games.

Equipment
There are 56 weapons in total:
 * 6 glove weapons, 3 club weapons, 4 hammer weapons and 7 bladed weapons for a total of 20 Melee Weapons.
 * 3 Small Guns pistols, 3 burst-fire, 3 rifles, 2 shotguns and 3 weapons that can be dual-wielded for a total of 14 Small Guns.
 * 8 Big Guns.
 * 2 Energy pistols, 5 rifles and 1 weapon that can be dual-wielded for a total of 8 Energy Weapons.
 * 6 Explosives.

These weapon types overlap; e.g. a home-made laser pistol is a homemade weapon, an energy weapon and a gun type. The highest damage weapon, other than the mini nuke grenade, is the Shredder, a Big Gun with 480-606 damage.

There are four location types of armor: headgear, chest, gloves and boots. The eight successively more protective grades of armor, in order: cloth, leather, riot, metal, combat, Tesla, power armor and advanced power armor. The advanced power armor chest piece offers the most protection of all locations and grades.

Story
The game takes place in Carbon, Texas, in the year 2208, 47 years after Fallout and 33 years before Fallout 2. The player character is called the "Initiate" and chooses to control one of three initial characters: Cain, Cyrus, or Nadia, all of whom have pledged their allegiances to the Brotherhood of Steel and have become initiates.

Chapter One
Brotherhood members have gone missing in Carbon, and the chosen Initiate is tasked with searching for the paladins, starting with the nearby town. The Initiate is welcomed by a prostitute, Ruby. Armed thugs loiter in town and harass Armpit, a bartender. Armpit is grateful the Initiate saves him, and steers the Initiate in the direction of the shifty mayor of this lawless town, Richard.

The mayor might be due some choice words from the electorate for the state of his town; one, in particular, will give the Initiate a discount as a reward for telling off the mayor. Even this outburst won't make the mayor reveal the location of the missing paladins. He insists the Initiate clear out an infestation of radscorpions in the nearby warehouse. The Initiate can collect the scorpion tails and whatever contents of the warehouse that aren't nailed down, which Armpit is interested in buying. When all the giant, radioactive, and the more common mutated scorpions are all rendered lifeless, the Initiate returns to the mayor. The mayor reveals the missing paladins headed off in the direction of a massive crater outside of town.

Following the trail to the bottom, the Initiate finds that the mayor was threatened by the raiders who seek revenge for the ones killed in the bar; lure the Initiate on the outskirts so they can be killed, or have Carbon be burned to the ground. The mayor then turns homicidal as well, mentioning that he is not normally a violent man, but the thought of killing the Initiate seems enjoyable. Mayor Richard has more explosives on him than anyone really ought to be able to carry, and is determined to unload as much of it as possible in the Initiate's vicinity. Despite this, the end result is the mayor's demise. The Initiate returns to the town.

The raiders have given up loitering in favor of looting. Their leader, Jane, shows her sadistic side by ordering her men to burn Armpit to death. Many of the citizens of the town have fled; one who couldn't make it to their refuge in the recently cleared warehouse requests the Initiate's aid in saving them. But first, there are a total of 37 citizens scattered throughout the town areas. Should they be saved by the Initiate, the wasteland stranger will be very grateful indeed, to the tune of a Red Ryder LE BB gun. The bandits inside, and their leader, are doing what they do best; getting in the way. The Initiate finds ways to make them less obstructive.

Inside a mill, the Initiate finds Jane. She reveals that she helped the Brotherhood of Steel when she met with a group of paladins who wanted information on super mutant activity in the area. She directed them to a mutant army that was located at the nearby ghoul city of Los. She then reveals that the paladins not only knew about her activities in Carbon but they also offered her protection. She is then killed by the Initiate in combat, who returns to the town. With the help of the Vault Dweller, the protagonist of Fallout, the Initiate heads to the city of Los.

Chapter Two
In Los, the Initiate looks for mutants. The search leads to the Church of the Lost, a cult based inside the city. A Brotherhood paladin, Rhombus, asks the Initiate to kill the cult leader, Blake. Blake and the Initiate fight, and after recovering a key from the dead cult leader, the Initiate escorts Rhombus to a truck where he had hidden the key.

But when he tries to recover the key, it will be guarded by kamikaze ghouls. The Initiate, warned of the danger, kills all the kamikaze ghouls in the area. Rhombus, seriously wounded, gives the Initiate the key card and entrusts the task of stopping the super mutants. The Initiate asks the Los ghouls for information and one of them speaks of a warehouse and a secret vault to be found not far from the current location. The Initiate finds the warehouse and goes inside.

After fighting in the warehouse, the Initiate manages to revive an old generator and takes an elevator that overlooks the entrance to the Secret Vault. Here, two super mutants activate turrets, which the Initiate must destroy. After all that, the Initiate uses the key card to open the door of the armored shelter and enter.

Chapter Three
During a battle with Attis, the mutant general, the Initiate is knocked unconscious and left for dead, with their left arm cut off. Mary, a young woman who has lived her life in the vault, finds the Initiate and guides them to safety. The Initiate receives a cybernetic new arm, and meets Patty, a security officer of the vault. The Initiate reveals to Patty how super mutants are targeting their vault. Patty explains how they are trapped in the vault, ever since their own security officer, Blake, was involved in a local civil war between the guards and the scientists, after Blake convinced the guards the scientists' research was evil. As a result of an explosion, the guards returned to the surface while the scientists became trapped in the vault. Seeking a way to escape before the mutants arrive, Patty asks the Initiate to help disable the ventilation systems so an auxiliary shaft will open.

Unfortunately, the super mutants begin infiltrating the vault. The Initiate meets Attis who reveals the mutants want to control the vault because it focused on curing sterility due to mutation. Attis seeks to allow him and his super mutants to reproduce with each other so their species can thrive. However, when Attis tries the chemical compound, he claims it does not work, although he begins mutating to become more powerful, and is excited he can follow in his Master's footsteps. The Initiate defeats a mutated Attis, whose remains scatter and grow around the vault, infesting the substructure with polyp-like growths. While escaping, the Initiate discovers Patty who has been consumed by a blob which is eating her. She asks the Initiate to head to the decontamination center in order to gain access to a computer terminal that can start the decontamination of the vault; in this case, a large explosion which will eradicate the vault. Patty then asks the Initiate for a mercy killing.



The Initiate then runs to a monorail car, narrowly escaping the now self-destructing vault. During the explosion, Cyrus, Nadia and Cain are seen watching Los from the outskirts of the city.

Locations
The action takes place in only one zone per chapter. A zone is composed of many locations and a player character can return to previously visited locations when they want until they entered into a new chapter and a new zone (Carbon, Los or Secret Vault). They can also sometimes not be able to visit a new location until the storyline advances. There are 50 separate maps of varying size in the game, the primary locations include:
 * Training - Vault prototype
 * Chapter One - Carbon
 * Carbon Town Center
 * Carbon Bar
 * Carbon Warehouse
 * Carbon Crater
 * Carbon West
 * Carbon North
 * Carbon East
 * Carbon Mill
 * Chapter Two - Los
 * Bridge of Los
 * Docks of Los
 * Gladiator Pit
 * Vault-Tec Warehouse
 * Chapter Three - Secret Vault
 * Secret Vault - Residence Area
 * Secret Vault - The Garden
 * Secret Vault - Facilities
 * Secret Vault - Ruins
 * Secret Vault - Laboratories

Playable characters


One chooses one of up to six playable characters to control as the player character. There are no party members. The last three unlockable characters on the following list become available to control after the player completes a chapter in the game.

Cain: Cain is a ghoul who decided to join the Brotherhood after super mutants destroyed his hometown. Of medium build, he is able to use heavy weapons and dual weapons, but not maneuver well with the former and cannot run while using the latter.

Cyrus: Cyrus was born in a tribal farming village, but he started roaming the wastes after his village was destroyed by super mutants. He later decided to join the Brotherhood as a soldier. Of heavy build, able to use and maneuver well with heavy weapons. He cannot equip dual weapons and cannot run while firing any weapon.

Nadia: Nadia spent her childhood as an orphan living on the streets. Although she adapted to life there, she decided to join the Brotherhood when she witnessed several of its members engaging in an act of philanthropy. Of light build, she is able to equip dual weapons. She cannot use heavy weapons. The weapons she can equip, she can fire while running.

Patty: Has the same access to and restrictions on weapons as Nadia. She has +10 to her Base Armor value, and bonuses to the following skills: +20% bonus to Bargaining, +80% to Gun Damage, +25% to Desert Soldier and +25% to Future Woman.

Rhombus: Unlike the first four characters, Rhombus has no restrictions or bonuses to weapon class in regards to equipping or movement. Rhombus has a Base Armor bonus of +30. He has a +100% bonus to Melee Damage, and +50% bonuses to Explosive Damage and the skills Heavy Hitter and Wastelander.

Vault Dweller: This powerful player character can be selected for use only in a new game, and as with Rhombus, has no weapon class restrictions or bonuses. He has a stacking unarmored Base Armor value of 20, and +100% bonuses to Melee Damage, Gun Damage and Explosive Damage. Additionally, +20% bonuses to the Slayer and Fortune Finder skills, and +100% to the Heavy Hitter and Wastelander skills.

Non-player characters
Patty, Rhombus and the Vault Dweller can be encountered while they are not being controlled as the player character.
 * Armpit: Armpit is the bartender in Carbon. He is willing to pay money for radscorpion tails, but he dies during the bandit raid.
 * Attis: Attis is the leader of the mutant army and the final boss.
 * Blake: Blake is the leader of the Church of the Lost. He fights the player character in Chapter Two.
 * CALIX: CALIX is the Secret Vault's main computer system. It could share some information.
 * Ching Tsun: Ching is a merchant in the vault. He is willing to buy computer parts.
 * Dubois: Dubois is the chief scientist of the vault. He is eaten by the queen deathclaw.
 * Giese: Giese is a ghoul living in Los. He is able to fashion weapons from pieces of junk.
 * Harold: Harold is a ghoul-appearing FEV contact living in Los who asks the player character to recover missing body parts for him.
 * Hieronymous: Hieronymus runs a gladiator ring in Los. He is killed by Salieri.
 * Jane: Jane is the raider matron. She is in charge of the raiders that attacked Carbon.
 * Jesse: Jesse is a trader in the wasteland.
 * Mary: Mary helps the player character after the first fight with Attis. She also informs the player character about her mother's ring.
 * Patty: The security officer of the hidden vault, Patty is unlocked when the first chapter is completed.
 * Richard: Richard is the mayor of Carbon who sold the town to bandits. He fights the player character at the bottom of the crater.
 * Ruby: Ruby is Carbon's resident prostitute. She provides the player character with several quests and is available for sexual encounters.
 * Rhombus: Rhombus is a paladin of the Brotherhood of Steel. Although wounded by a ghoul suicide bomber, Rhombus is playable after the player character beats chapter two.
 * Salieri: Salieri is a merchant in Los. He asks the player character to deliver a package to Hieronymous.
 * Technician: In the vault facilities, the technician helps the player character.
 * Vault Dweller: The protagonist of the original Fallout, the Vault Dweller is unlocked after the game has been finished. In-game, he is met by the player character in Carbon.
 * Vidya: Vidya is the town doctor of Carbon and can heal the Initiate at no charge.
 * Wasteland stranger: He is a champion of Gladiator Pit in Los.

Engine
To create the game, Interplay used the "Snowblind" game engine also used in the console games Dark Alliance and the online-capable PS2 game Champions of Norrath. 480p and Dolby digital are supported.

Voice actors

 * Dee Bradley Baker recorded the part of non-player character merchant Ching Tsun, and minor non-player characters Wasteland Man and City Ghoul Civilian.
 * Michael Bell acted the voice of the non-player character and the Vault Dweller, Cain and the nightkin and super mutant enemies.
 * Earl Boen (credited as Eril Boen) played the voice of Richard, the Carbon mayor, and the voices of the ghoul officer and Vault-Tec Computer NPCs.
 * Cam Clarke acted the parts of non-player characters vault man, patrol, Plasma and kamikaze robot.
 * Grey DeLisle recorded the part of Vidya, the Carbon doctor, Nadia, and the vault elder's daughter.
 * Brian George played the parts of Dubois, the chief vault scientist, ghoul merchant and non-player characters Tesla and service robot.
 * Kristakis Gepetto recorded the voice of the tutorial computer.
 * Nick Jameson voiced the parts of non-player characters ghoul engineer, raider thug, drunk, turret and sentry robot.
 * Tony Jay recorded the voice of the narrator, and the voice of Attis and mutant blob.
 * John Mariano played the voice of Armpit, the Carbon bartender. Also non-player characters ghoul psycho User, raider Torch (sic) and soldier.
 * Vanessa Marshall voiced the part of Jane the raider matron and Ruby the sex worker.
 * Alan Oppenheimer spoke the part of Harold in BoS. He also voiced the parts of a non-player character soldier and the wasteland trader, and the non-player character enemies cult ghoul thug and Kamikaze.
 * Kevin Michael Richardson voiced the player character Cyrus, the non-player character Blake and soldier, and the non-player character enemies ghoul high priest and mutant grunt.
 * B. J. Ward recorded the voices of the raider lieutenant, vault security and the vending computer.

All voice acting citations are from the Internet Movie Database.

Fallout: BoS is the first Fallout game to not feature the introduction voice-acted by Ron Perlman, who is famous in the Fallout series for the line, "War...war never changes." The narrator of this game is Tony Jay (the Lieutenant from Fallout). Fallout 4 would later have its introduction done by Brian T. Delaney, the voice actor of the male player character, Nate.

Music
The game features different style of music compared to other Fallout games, with some ambient music from the 1940s and 1950s, Fallout style background music and music by modern bands, such as Slipknot, Killswitch Engage, Celldweller, Meshuggah, Skinlab and musician Devin Townsend. For modern bands, however, the game diffuses, playing only the instrumental and this music is only played during boss fights.

Cultural references

 * In the game, the Vault Dweller gives the Initiate a canteen with the Vault 13 logo. This item previously appeared in Fallout, Fallout 2 and would later appear in Fallout: New Vegas, if pre-ordered from Gamestop and in the add-on Courier's Stash.
 * In the three different regions traveled in the game, Nuka-Cola doesn't appear and is replaced with Bawls Guarana.
 * There is a townsperson who says "His name is Robert Paulson" when the raiders attack Carbon; this is a reference to the 1999 film Fight Club.
 * The service robot is a reference to the MSE-6-series repair droid from Star Wars.
 * A "carhenge" appears for the first time in the series, as the site of the Richard boss fight. Carhenges would later appear in Fallout 4 and Fallout 76.

Canon status
According to Bethesda Softworks' Todd Howard, Fallout: BoS is not canon. Also there are a number of inconsistencies in Fallout lore including:


 * The game's manual claims that the United Nations disbanded in 2025, when in other Fallout games, this happened in 2052. However, it is possible this was merely a typo and the writer accidentally wrote "25" instead of "52".
 * In Fallout canon, the Brotherhood of Steel is formed by soldiers stationed in Mariposa that deserted from the U.S. Army after killing scientists that experimented with the Forced Evolutionary Virus. In the manual for Fallout: BoS, the soldiers themselves were the intended subjects for an advanced FEV strain known as FEV-2 before they rebelled, killed the scientists experimenting on them, and locked down the facility. All of this is also said to happen after the Great War, rather than before it.
 * The Brotherhood of Steel in this game is far more willing to recruit outsiders, including ghouls, than the Brotherhood of the canon Fallout titles. They are also interpreted as a self-appointed peacekeeping force instead of an isolationist group strictly concerned with collecting and preserving pre-War technology.

Reception
The game received mixed reviews, and currently holds a 64/100 score on Metacritic for the PlayStation 2 version, and a 66 score for the Xbox version. The user review score is a 4.0 for the PlayStation 2 version, and a 5.4 for the Xbox version.

IGN gave it a 7.5/10, calling it "a fun hack 'n' slash title that provides plenty of mutated bodies blowing up." Their review criticized the game's forced top-down perspective which they felt was too high up, wishing it could be angled more to get closer to the action. They mentioned the game has a lack of background music, calling it "eerily silent."

PSM Magazine called the story well-written, although TotalPlayStation felt the game was "more focused on action than story progression and deep character development" and that it "comes dangerously close to being called a Fallout game in name only."

Fred Zeleny, who worked on Fallout 3, was critical of the game;

Behind the scenes

 * Interplay received a lawsuit from Snowblind Studios for using the Snowblind engine, which Interplay previously contracted them for to create Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance. Snowblind claimed that Interplay used their engine for Brotherhood of Steel, Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II, and the GameCube version of Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance without their consent and that Snowblind is entitled to certain royalties on the exploitation of their product. The two studios were engaged in this legal conflict between 2003 and 2004. The litigation ended with both companies signing an agreement on April 19, 2005. The agreement determined that while Interplay would be allowed to work with materials already using the Snowblind engine, they would not be able to use it for any future games.
 * The credits for the game mentions "Thanks for the laughs: www.duckandcover.net, www.nma-fallout.com". These fansites were known for heavily criticizing the game, even before it launched.
 * The game's manual has a list of tips and mentions: "Save, save and save again. If you find a save game console, use it. Don't come crying to us because you ignored one and now have to replay the last fifteen minutes again. Life is a harsh, unforgiving wasteland. Get used to it."