The mainline Fallout series has evolved over the years, inviting players on a journey through a retrofuturistic wasteland from 2D to 3D perspectives. Before Bethesda acquired the license from Interplay, a squad-based tactics spin-off was developed by Micro Forte - releasing in 2001 on PC. At that time, Fallout was still known as a turn-based CRPG that set players against mutants, madmen, and a post-war shadow government on the West Coast of the United States, with a delicate mixture of levity and grim atmosphere in an alternate future that fans came to love.
Micro Forte's project, unique from other titles in the franchise, combined the systems and perspective of the first two games with a series of missions where players became members of Fallout's Brotherhood of Steel faction. The campaign spanned across the Midwest of the United States, beginning in Chicago and ending in Colorado. The core premise of Fallout Tactics focuses on the Brotherhood's expansion into other territories in the country, and this peacekeeping operation eventually leads to clashes with cultists and robots. Bethesda has directly stated that it does not consider Fallout Tactics as part of the canon, however, some plot elements from this spin-off have been referenced in new titles.
The Story of Fallout Tactics
Set in 2197, players create their own character as an initiate in the Brotherhood of Steel's ranks. Clearing threats across several locations, the Brotherhood discovers Vault 0 and a cyborg overseer that aims to conquer the wastes with an army of villainous robots, and it is up to the player's squad to survive but also neutralize this unnatural force. Before the events of the game, this version of the Brotherhood existed as a subgroup that supported outside recruitment and was sent on an airship expedition to hunt down hostile mutants. Instead, the Brotherhood convoy crashed and had to re-establish itself after being disconnected from the main organization.
Fallout Tactics shared similar themes and an interface that was consistent with Interplay's original titles, although its story was less of a focal point. The game's largest contribution to the series was how it expanded the background of the Brotherhood of Steel and how this faction splinters when its set of values comes into question. Some of these complexities might have inspired the best factions in Fallout games, and it is partially related to the Brotherhood's presence on the East Coast. The Midwest Brotherhood is referenced in Fallout 3, yet the events of Tactics are not clarified in this beyond the group being described as a rogue chapter that survived after their airship fleet was destroyed.
The Brotherhood of Steel in Fallout Canon
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The Midwestern Brotherhood of Steel's expedition in Fallout Tactics could have inspired the journey of Elder Lyons's Brotherhood, another subgroup that came from the Lost Hills bunker in California. Lyons came to lead this detachment of the Brotherhood which inserted itself in the Capital Wasteland in Fallout 3. In Bethesda's 2015 sequel, the Brotherhood also managed to build the Prydwen, a zeppelin capable of ferrying an army over vast distances very much like the airship voyage from the 2001 spin-off. Although some larger concepts have been adapted, the remainder of the story in Fallout Tactics has not been acknowledged, nor have any of its most significant characters re-appeared in the newer games.
When the remnants of the Enclave appeared in 2008's Fallout 3, fans might have noticed the resemblance between its soldiers' power armor and the Midwestern Brotherhood's design from Fallout Tactics. Interesting callbacks like these could demonstrate the shared aesthetic between games, even if those details are not directly translated into the canon. Micro Forte's strategic take on the IP was well received at the time, and a small-scale Fallout game like this might be appreciated by those anticipating new installments in the post-apocalyptic universe. After all, it could be time for a sequel to Fallout Tactics given that fans might be waiting quite a while for Bethesda's Fallout 5 plans to come to fruition.