Wasteland Relics: The Other Cancelled Fallout

Rejoice, for there is suddenly and magically a crapton of information about the cancelled Interplay Fallout game. No, not Van Buren - the other cancelled Interplay Fallout game. What, eh, etc? Okay. Back before Bethesda's take on Fallout split PC gamers down the middle, Interplay caused similar controversy by side-stepping the series into the action-RPG curio Brotherhood of Steel on Playstation 2 (which, confusingly, was itself an entirely different game to Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel that hit PC a few years earlier).

While fairly (and justifiably) reviled by Fallout fans at the time, you could argue it was a little closer to the world of the original two Fallouts than the recent Fallout 3 was. Hence, the leak of a design document for a never-made sequel to BoS is a pretty big deal for Fallout veterans. And hey, probably for new Fallout fans too.

Alright, it may have been planned for Playstation 2 rather than PC. However, the fact it was penned by one Brian Freyermuth, a key member of the team behind the original Fallout, and that, according to this doc, it was intended to be a lot closer to first the two PC RPGs in terms of content and plot, means it makes for an interesting what-if thought experiment. What would the Fallout series have become today if this had been made and been a success? We probably wouldn't have seen Bethesda's Fallout 3. We may not, in fact, have seen any more Fallouts on PC at all, as it could have been repositioned as purely a Playstation franchise. But if we did, no doubt they'd have been like this.

It's 32 detail-fatted, heavily illustrated pages, going into the mechanics and plot at incredible length, and featuring a ton of ne'er before seen Fallout Boy art. With talk of GECKs and the freedom to be a saint or a dick depending on your personal preference, it really does sound Proper Fallouty. It's a document to get excited by then, but do remember that its engagingly hyperbolic language doesn't guarantee one second it wouldn't necessarily have been as watered-down dumb as the first BoS. It sure is nice to dream of what might have been, though.

Thanks to NMA's ever-lovin' Brother None for the tip.