The Brotherhood of Steel is one of the most iconic factions in the entirety of Fallout, so it's no surprise that the organization eventually made its way into Fallout 76. As the primary focus of multiple updates, the Brotherhood of Steel now plays a pretty large role in the ongoing story and politics of Fallout 76. Now, the faction's updates have come and gone, bringing closure to the Brotherhood of Steel storyline and leading many fans to start comparing the game's version of the faction to previous iterations.
With how popular the Brotherhood of Steel is, there was a lot of pressure on Bethesda to do it justice, especially with how contentious Fallout 76 has been during its release and the years since. However, Bethesda did get off on the wrong foot for many Fallout fans, as the series' lore dictates the Brotherhood of Steel wouldn't exist when Fallout 76 is set. That discrepancy was fixed with a ret-con to the lore, and the Brotherhood of Steel has been added anyways in a nascent form that fans had never seen before.
The Brotherhood of Steel in the Original Fallout Games
Before comparing the Brotherhood of Steel to previous iterations, however, there are some major differences in the faction depending on what developers made the game in question. Fallout was first developed by Interplay Entertainment before the property was purchased by Bethesda, which went on to develop Fallout 3, Fallout 4, and Fallout 76, as well as publishing Fallout: New Vegas.
The original games, as well as Fallout: New Vegas, depict the chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel that is located on the Western side of the United States, and they are depicted as a highly reclusive and arrogant faction. They were extremely elitist and are seen as being doomed to destroy themselves due to their extremely flawed view on one of the worst dystopian futures in games.
This approach to the Brotherhood of Steel translated to them being portrayed in a much more negative light. Those Fallout titles did make an effort to give all of their factions flaws and benefits to make choosing one to support more difficult. However, members of the Brotherhood of Steel were often downright mean, militaristic individuals that would consistently insult the player and preach their own superiority. They were the most technologically capable faction, especially with Fallout's iconic power armor, but their power was offset by questionable morals that generally made them reprehensible.
The Brotherhood of Steel in Bethesda's Fallout Games
This characterization of the Brotherhood of Steel was completely changed once Bethesda was at the helm of the Fallout series. Bethesda's games explore a Brotherhood of Steel that is housed on the Eastern side of the United States, after the faction expanded from its original inception in California.
Bethesda's writing for them tends to depict them as extremely noble and chivalrous while showing their militaristic nature as a positive source of order that helps them thrive in the chaos of the wasteland. They are shown to be the clear victor in the wasteland thanks to their superior might, and in Fallout 4 players are actively encouraged to mimic them by upgrading and maintaining their power armor suit.
This leads to the Brotherhood in Bethesda's Fallout titles being much more friendly, and often naturally occupying the role of the faction of reasonable voices. When the player interacts with them, characters tend to give direct orders with confidence that have the planned results without complications. This sends a big message to players, as it makes the faction seem like the right choice for who to rule the wasteland, as they are successful in typically every facet the player can measure. The Brotherhood of Steel as the best faction is further reinforced by most of their gear being some of the strongest in all of Fallout, often associating the faction with great power.
How the Brotherhood of Steel in Fallout 76 Compares
It would have been very easy for the developers and writers of Fallout 76 to simply follow the template set by Bethesda's previous titles when designing the Brotherhood of Steel. Instead, a much more interesting route was taken that capitalizes on Fallout 76's place in the series' timeline. To do this, the game introduces the player to a Brotherhood of Steel that is still very early in its conception. Not only is its iconic gear interspersed with retro space suits and thrown-together elements, but there is also a lot of infighting within the faction over its philosphy, with each side representing the ideologies of the west and east coast Brotherhood factions.
This allowed the Brotherhood of Steel to feel natural and right for players regardless of whether they prefer the older or newer titles in the series, while also potentially trying to explain the discrepancies between the two representations. Throughout the Brotherhood of Steel storyline, the choices that players make regarding the two ideologies have an impact on the faction as a whole and the story moving forward.
This allows the player to play a large role in the founding stages of one of Fallout's biggest factions and gives players some deeper choices than interactions with the faction in previous titles. The choices that players make also have some big implications for the larger Fallout universe, which should be interesting to watch play out moving forward.
It is really great to see Bethesda continue to develop and work on Fallout 76 to make it the game that the developers always hoped it could be. There are still plenty more updates coming Fallout 76's way, and one can only hope that they will continue to do unique things like what was done with the Brotherhood of Steel. Hopefully, players will get some more news on what to expect sometime soon.
Fallout 76 is available now on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.