New Fallout 3 Developer Diary: Brotherhood of Steel

01/09/08

Considering the masterpiece that is The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Bethesda's next RPG, Fallout 3, is easily one of our most-anticipated games of 2008. Releasing for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 later this year (if all goes well--fingers crossed), Fallout 3 will break from the Fallout franchise mold while still staying true to certain key elements (such as humor, for instance).

Today, Bethesda released the latest of its Fallout 3 developer diaries, this one a profile about the Brotherhood of Steel. Along with the Fallout 3 developer diary, the company also released some new concept art, which you can see at the link below. In the meantime, we thought you'd want to read some of the diary right here:

How, exactly, does one worship technology?

Is it as simple as praying to a golden, robotic calf? Perhaps "god" is recognized as some kind of sentient artificial intelligence who demands subservience in exchange for feats and favors?

Or maybe, just maybe, the human race has already answered this question: technology is worshipped, simply and plainly, through obsession and attainment. We are a people dominated by technology, from our electrically-powered cities right down to our scientifically engineered anti-depressant medications. And every Sunday mass we miss to stay home and watch football on our HDTVs is further proof that now, more than ever, technology is the deity we hold most dear.

Now imagine all of that compulsion, all of that addiction we as an entire race share, and encapsulate it into one group of people. Imagine the obsession and fervor, the unending need for technological superiority, and the ultimate futility of such a goal.

Imagine, if you will, the Brotherhood of Steel.

In Fallout 3, the Brotherhood of Steel is one of the most important and influential factions you'll encounter. And while it's true they are a military organization, the Brotherhood's values and command structure are actually more representative of a medieval knightly order. Like the Templars of old, in their own eyes, the members of the Brotherhood of Steel are pure, they are just -- they are truly human in a world filled with both physical and moral corruption.

But it is the worship of technology that truly defines and drives them. For a Brotherhood of Steel Paladin, Power Armor is his plate mail, a powered Super Sledge his warhammer. A non-combatant Scribe is more scientist than scholar, utilizing computers as a monk in the Middle Ages would a quill and ink.

It's not enough for the Brotherhood of Steel's members to use whatever high-tech gadgetry they've acquired, though. The organization's entire existence is predicated on the acquisition of technology. Whatever they've got is never enough. Their best equipment? It could be better. Even if this endless search for high-tech toys means keeping the good stuff out of the hands of others who could really benefit from it, well, that's okay with the Brotherhood of Steel.

So it really didn't come as a surprise to anyone within the Brotherhood of Steel when the order's ruling council, based in Southern California, decided to send a contingent of soldiers all the way to the East Coast, with two important objectives:

  • To scour the ruins of Washington D.C., once the nation's capital, and recover any and all advanced technology. After all, D.C. was the home of the Pentagon, the very headquarters of the United States Department of Defense. Who knows what secrets -- or equipment -- they left behind?
  • To investigate the reports of Super Mutant activity in the area. Could these creatures be somehow related to those that fled eastward after the Master's destruction (as depicted at the end of Fallout 1.) Or were these Super Mutants something else entirely?
And so a small but hardened contingent of Brotherhood of Steel soldiers, led by an idealistic Paladin named Owyn Lyons (and accompanied by his friend and technological advisor Scribe Rothchild, as well as his seven year-old daughter Sarah) set out from the Lost Hills Bunker in California, and began the long trek east to what was once Washington D.C.

We highly recommend reading the full dev diary entry here. While you're there, check out the new concept art as well.

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