Product Description

Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel is a thrilling 3rd-person strategy-adventure, where you'll try to maintain peace after the nuclear holocaust.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5966 in Video Games
• Brand: Universal Interactive
• Model: SLUS 20539 7198860
• ESRB Rating: Mature
• Number of discs: 1
• Platform: PlayStation2
• Dimensions: .50 pounds

Features

• Life is hard in the world of Fallout -- food is scarce, mutation is everywhere, and the only law & order comes from the barrel of your gun
• Choose from three different characters that you can customize -- choose which of their strengths & attributes you can develop
• Fight against raiders, mutants and a host of radioactive nightmares as you defend the scattered remains of humanity
• Unleash over 50 weapons on the radioactive and mutant creatures -- while acquiring tons of equipment from defeated enemies

Amazon.com Review
Black Isle’s original Fallout RPG is a bona fide classic, and the post-apocalyptic gameworld used for that game series is one that’s sorely missed by plenty of gamers. While some of them would prefer another straight up RPG set in that world, most will be content with Brotherhood of Steel, a co-operative beat ‘em up action RPG that bears more than a passing resemblance to the fan favorite fantasy game Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance.

Fallout: BOS uses the same game engine as Dark Alliance, so fans know they’re getting sharp graphics, an isometric action perspective, and an easy to use inventory. Instead of kobolds and giants, Fallout pits your characters against mutated ghouls, giant bugs, mice of extraordinary size, and much worse, all set against the backdrop of nuclear devastated cities and wastelands. The goal of the game is to find the Brotherhood of Steel, self appointed guardians of the wastes.

Prostitutes, two headed cattle, and regular folks dish out quests that have you killing monsters and finding lost items in no time, and the combat is as cool and responsive as the environments are weird and refreshing after all the fantasy themed D&D-like games in the genre. You can use guns, lasers, and nasty melee weapons and, as always, you must loot the bodies of your foes for better weapons, ammo, and the credits you need to buy more weapons. Characters level up and gain new skills and abilities, to better face the challenges to come.

Unlike most action RPGs of this type Fallout BOS features branching conversations that alter some of the quests ahead. This makes the replay value higher than normal and makes the game feel all the more refreshing. Parents should note that this Fallout is similar to the earlier games in that the subject matter tends to be more "adult" but Fallout fans should also be warned that this isn’t the Fallout III they’re pining for. It’s satisfying enough as an action RPG, but that’s all it is.--Andrew S. Bub

Pros:

• Gauntlet with guns
• Quests are affected by dialog choices

• Where is Fallout 3?

Game Informer Review

What we're witnessing here, people, is the merging of two separate groups of people: Fallout fans who will slit the throats of those who betray their franchise, and action/role-playing fans who would rather slay radioactive spiders than dragons (at least once in a while).

I have good news for both camps. Fallout devotees can breathe again, knowing that the transition to top-down action preserved some of the most noteworthy aspects of the franchise. Like the strategy entries in the series, Brotherhood of Steel features hysterical, well-done voice acting and post-apocalyptic humor of that very particular breed popularized by the earlier games.

What the rest of us should know is that this is an entirely adequate action game, with a touch of role-playing about a post-apocalyptic Earth. During your journey, you'll hack n' slash your way through an army of foes, defeat a few interesting bosses, and allocate points towards customizing your hero. Other notable features include a two-player mode and the nice implementation of having your equipped armor and weapons appear clearly on your character.

Using the Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance engine, Brotherhood of Steel is certainly a respectable entry into this genre, and is funny enough to bring a few holdouts into its fold.

Concept:
Bring the Fallout of yore into an overhead action game

Graphics:
I have a sneaking suspicion that they're fabulous, but the top-down view doesn't really let you get in there for a good look

Sound:
No soundtrack to speak of, but great voice acting and useful enemy sounds

Playability:
The controls are easy and straightforward

Entertainment:
Brotherhood of Steel is strangely engrossing despite its merely average show in many regards

Replay:
Moderate

Rated: 8 out of 10
Editor: Lisa Mason
Issue: February 2004

2nd Opinion:
It's nice to see a sci-fi themed dungeon crawler every once and a while. This style of game typically has a fantasy setting, so the change in motif instantly sets Fallout apart from the rest of the genre. But does that mean it's one of the best titles of its type? Well, no; but it ain't bad, either. With its tongue-in-cheek humor and sharp graphics, Fallout has a great mood to it, and the gameplay is sound, if a little shallow. Ranged combat is a tad painful until you level up your shooting skills. The quest is a bit too linear to have much replay value, but the three playable characters each develop uniquely later in the game, adding a bit more reason to pick it up a second time. Much like the ‘50s sci-fi films on which it is based, Fallout will only appeal to a specific audience, but those who pick it up will enjoy its camp appeal.

Rated: 8 out of 10
Editor: Jeremy Zoss


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From the Manufacturer
Assume that the "World of Tomorrow" display at the 1939 World's Fair became a reality - flying cars, robotic assistants, and self-cleaning homes. Now assume that world was nearly destroyed by nuclear war. That's the world of Fallout.

Fallout takes place many years after the apocalypse, as humanity struggles to pick up the pieces. Some groups have barely managed to survive above ground, either scavenging the scorched ruins of cities or surviving and adapting through mass mutation. Communities that were sealed in underground vaults during the war are now emerging to re-populate the blasted landscape. Striving to organize and sustain the human race, these tattered remnants of civilization are threatened by psychotic mutants, rogue machines, raiders, and all manner of hostile creatures.

Welcome to the wasteland.

In this gritty and darkly humorous 3rd person action adventure, players join the courageous Brotherhood of Steel, whose mission is to maintain peace in the grim post-nuclear world of Fallout. Challenged by hordes of ghouls, mutants and other radioactive nightmares, players utilize a combination of intense combat strategies including melee, range weapons and explosives to fulfill their daunting task of defeating the mutant army in hopes of restoring humanity in a nearly unlivable universe. Life is hard, mutation is rampant and the closest thing to law and order is the fusion-powered pistol that you carry on your hip.

Features:

• Based on the world of Fallout, a successful series of PC games set in a grim post-apocalyptic universe inspired by classic 50's sci-fi films
• Supports 1-2 players on both Xbox and PlayStation2
• Three customizable playable characters, each with their own unique traits, strengths and attributes to develop over the course of the game
• Unleash over 50 ranged, melee and explosive weapons on hordes of radioactive and mutant creatures
• Unique auto-targeting ability to quickly cycle through enemies
• Tons of equipment to acquire from defeated enemies- obtain stronger weapons, a better army and more

Customer Reviews

Repetitive, linear and tragic waste of effort
Its all sad really. Fallout 1 and 2 were two of the best games ever made, IMO. This new game FO:BOS, has none of the humor, creativity, good plot lines, different choices, etc... It is so linear, characters are flat and game play gets sooooo old. It is instead plays like a hastily thrown together game, on top of a pre-existing (playstation Dark Alliance) game engine, which it is. It is crude, boring, uninspired and repetitive. After 10 + hrs playing I am burned out with it and want it to be over. Although the fan sites dismissed the game before released, they were definately right. Your better off with many other titles.

It's only not consisent with nor anywhere as good as its predecessors, it isn't a very good game at all, even based on its merrit as a console type action game rather than RPG. That combined with the horrible PR job Interplay did, managing to offend and insult their fan base, makes this bungle even more remarkable. I bought both the game and guide book pre-order because I loved the series but I certainly won't make that mistake in the future.

This one is a matter of taste...
I am a HUGE fan of the Fallout series(And yes, we should have slit Chucky's throat before he made this game.) and thusly, this game is a HUGE dissapointment. If you want to play a Fallout game, this is NOT the one to get, it is a bastardization of the series. This game is nothing like the others, and does not deserve to be called by the same name as those classic pieces of art.


However, if you ignore the fact that they are trying to pass this off as Fallout and try not to get pissed off about it, you might have a bit of fun. I thought the game was alright when I wasn't steaming about all the changes in the storyline that make it a piece of crap.

Then I played it co-operativly with a friend. We had fun, mostly from making jokes as we did stupid things. I remember the final battle in this arena, telling my friend "Follow me, I have a plan!", a second before being roasted by a continous fire laser. So, yes, you can have some fun with this one.

Keep in mind, this game is not a deep RPG like it's predecessors on the PC, it is an action game and should be approached as such. So the bottom line on this one is: If you like action games and playing them with friends, you might like this one. If you are a hardcore Fallout fan and are looking for more of the great PC type games, you won't.


Therefore I give this game 4 stars for fun, and 2 for over-all, because I hate what Interplay has done to the Fallout license. Thank God they sold it to someone else, who just might make a worthy Fallout3. But don't get your hopes up on that one...

Great for 2 players but bland in every other regard.
Ever since Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance came out for the PS-2 it spawned many similar action/rpg hybrid clones. For example there is the Champions of Norrath series and even Hunter the Reckoning. These games attempt to take the themes we enjoyed about Ever Quest, Baldur's Gate, and the world of darkness and make them into entertaining hack n slash co-op fests. In that regard Brother-Hood is more of the same. While it may wear a cheap Vault dweller uniform you can tell it is more " loot n shoot" than it is Fall Out 1-2 or Fall-out tactics.

I understand why the Fall-out fans were peeved about Brother-Hood of steel. It was at a time Fall Out 3 had been promised many times only to let us down. Of course Bethesda FINALLY answered our prayers so bitterness and skepticism are things of the past.

The main thing you should know is this is NOT going to stand up to Fall-Out 3. Fall out 3 has a great series of plots. Brother Hood of steel doesn't. Fall out 3 has interesting non player characters to interact with in myriad ways. Brother-hood of Steel's NPCs are a cliche nasty bar tender, a prostitute, a cowardly mayor, and an old gnarled military vet missing an arm. Yup, I'd say Carbon has about 6 NPCs to talk to and that's it.

However keep in mind Brother-hood of steel was not even trying to be Fall-Out 3 to begin with. It simply wanted to provide a fun 2-player destruction fest in a post apocalyptic world setting which is interesting. On that level it does succeed. Assuming you have a friend over it can pass the time. However I imagine playing it alone is a drab task of monotony.

Each brother hood of steel initiate has different strengths and weaknesses. The girl is fast and agile, the tribal male is the proverbial slower power-house, and Kain the cool ghoul can actually walk through radiation without it harming him. When he upgrades certain attributes rads even heal him.

I'd elaborate more but that's it. None of these characters have profound connections to their world. There is no stellar story line on the horizon. You accept a mission, kill raiders, ghouls, mutants, scorpions, rats, and death claws, upgrade equipment, and repeat that in tedium about 50 more times.

While this game is supposed to follow the formula of a Fall-out Diablo a little innovation would have been nice. For example it would be better if some missions were personal to certain characters or that you could actually make pivotal choices instead of just being given the illusion of choices through giving those you talk to varied responses.

I believe even 2-player action RPGs can have lovable protagonists and deep plots but apparently those in charge rather crank out the same dull uninspired engine over and over again.

If you have a friend over all the shooting and smashing is fun, then again the same can be said of almost any game using this same premise.

If you find this game in a bargain bin or for dirt cheap pick it up but if someone is asking for a high price laugh at them, extend your middle digit, and proceed to getting FallOut 3. (Aka how Fall-Out SHOULD be done!)

Pros

+ A decent 2 player hack n slash fest.

Cons

- Nothing to offer a single player and lack luster in almost every regard. Cussing, profanity, and kinky clad raider girls does not automatically make a game worthy of the name "Fall-Out".