Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel

Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel is an action role-playing game that is played from a top-down perspective. At the beginning of the game, the player can choose to play as one of three player characters; three additional player characters can be unlocked for subsequent playthroughs by progressing through the game. For example, the Nadia character can dual wield weapons, while the ghoul character Cain specializes in bladed melee weapons. Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel does not feature an open world map like other Fallout games, and is instead linear in design. The player is confined to specific areas until all of the objectives have been met. NPCs can also offer optional quests known as sidequests, which will provide additional experience points. ==Plot==

Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel is set in the year 2208, 131 years after a devastating nuclear war between the United States and China. After the war, a militant organization called the Brotherhood of Steel was formed, which seek to restore order and secure harmful technology. The player controls a Brotherhood of Steel member nicknamed the Initiate, and is tasked with finding a group of Brotherhood of Steel soldiers called paladins that went missing near the town of Carbon. After defending the town from a group of raiders, the Initiate confronts the raider leader Jane, and learns Jane directed the paladins to the city of Los to investigate super mutant activity. The city of Los is populated by ghouls, many of whom belong to a cult called the Church of the Lost. The paladins were captured by the Church of the Lost, and all but paladin Rhombus were killed. The Initiate kills the cult leader Blake, but during the escape attempt Rhombus is mortally wounded. Before his death, Rhombus instructs the Initiate to destroy the super mutant compound in an underground fallout shelter called a Vault. The Initiate investigates the Vault, but their left arm is severed in a fight with the super mutant leader Attis. A group of Vault scientists rescue the Initiate and give them a robotic arm. The Initiate progresses further into the Vault, and learns that Attis was using the compound laboratory to research a cure for the virus that sterilizes super mutants. The Initiate starts a self-destruct sequence, and escapes the Vault via monorail. ==Development==

soft drink brand that had appeared in previous Fallout games with Bawls. Designer Chris Pasetto felt this change exemplified Interplay's desire to appeal to a broader console audience. At the time, Interplay was undergoing a period of financial hardship, an issue that would persist for several years. This in turn inspired Interplay to greenlight development on a console entry to the Fallout series. Additionally, the ideology of the Brotherhood of Steel organization was simplified, the fictional Nuka-Cola soft drink brand that had appeared in previous Fallout games was replaced with Bawls, and female characters are overtly sexualized. Pasetto claims these changes were instituted by Interplay executives, who wanted the game to appeal to a wider console audience. The development team objected to these changes, but their concerns were dismissed. Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel was developed in tandem with the "Van Buren" project by Black Isle Studios, which was intended to be the third entry in the mainline Fallout series. 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. ==Release and reception==

Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel was announced in March 2003, and was initially scheduled for a fourth quarter release. 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. and in Europe on April 2, 2004. According to Pasetto, Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel sold poorly. Fans similarly deride the game, and sometimes refer to it not by the acronym Fallout: BOS, but as Fallout: POS. 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." In October 2004 Bethesda Softworks purchased the rights to develop Fallout 3 from Interplay for $1,175,000 minimum guaranteed advance against royalties. Fallout 3 was released in 2008, and revitalized interest in the series. It was well received by critics, and sold more than 5 million copies in its first year. In a pre-release interview, producer Ashley 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. Executive producer Todd Howard further added, "For our purposes, neither Fallout Tactics nor Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel happened." ==Canceled sequel==

A sequel to Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel, titled Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel 2, was planned. It was scheduled for a 2004 fourth quarter release, and would have been a PlayStation 2 exclusive title. 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. Ian Dransfield of Retro Gamer claims that the development of Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel 2 was close to completion before its cancellation by Interplay. ==References==