When we first heard of the Broken Steel dlc, me and my friend already envisioned a set of possibility of what might have happened in continuation to Fallout 3.
My friend suggested that the title Broken Steel referred to the physical condition of the Lone Wanderer had he stepped into the purifier, that his body would have been left in a critical state, but salvaged by the Commonwealth and had cybernetic implants. Meanwhile I assumed it would have simply put the Outcasts into the center stage one way or another, with Liberty Prime now fully functional, the Outcasts may reconsider their position with Lyon's Brotherhood, either positively or negatively, who knows.
Of course Broken Steel turned out to refer to the destruction of Liberty Prime. Sure, why not.
But the way the rest of plot plays out however ... well, it's kind of a huge missed opportunity for me.
So, aside from the fact that the Broken Steel dlc still doesn't allow the player to consider joining the Enclave regardless of whether Eden or Autumn perished, and regardless of whether the FEV was inserted to the purifier as well, I still find it baffling that the plot consists of nothing more but creating a new man-held weapon to replace the now defunct Liberty Prime, and then win the fight after all against the east coast Enclave. And that's Even If the player never considered using the Tesla Cannon at all, which further renders the whole fetch quest at Deathclaw country moot to begin with.
Instead, I believe that the loss of Liberty Prime could have been the cataclysm that leads to the one single major moment where the player stages the re-unification of the east coast Brotherhood of Steel through various stages of diplomacy and compromise driven decisions with the Outcast and perhaps even the west coast Brotherhood.
The potential is evident especially when you consider that, unlike Point Lookout and Mothership Zeta, the first two DLCs prior to Broken Steel -Anchorage and the Pitt- both linked to the Brotherhood itself: that of the Outcasts and the aftermath of the Scourge that made Ashur lord of the Pitt.
Players who had downloaded and completed Anchorage and the Pitt could have sought after those consequences and lead to barter at least a temporary truce in strengthening Lyons' Brotherhood in fighting against the Enclave. After completing the Anchorage simulation and unlocked the armory for the Outcasts, the player could use this to bargain a favor from the Outcasts, perhaps even required to hand over the full armory content to please the Outcasts, and leading to a long awaited confrontation between Lyons and Casdin. Meanwhile whosoever is left to rule the Pitt could be asked differently in lending a hand. If Werhner is left in charge then the player could just force him to lend use of the steel mill, whereas if Ashur is left to rule then the player would have to set a painful reunion between Ashur and his old brethren.
A third option could exist, as well as being the only potential course of action for the player to achieve if he didn't complete the Anchorage and Pitt dlcs, that is to help re-establish contact and communication with the west coast Brotherhood and demand assistance due to the critical situation, and use the water purifier, or perhaps even the G.E.C.K. itself, as a bargaining tool.
The player then has to handle both the set-up and the aftermath of such a reunification. Will Elder Lyons still be in charge of the east coast division? Can the Pitt's Steel Mill remain in the hands of its ruler and not seized by force by the Brotherhood? And if so, who will the player align themselves with? Or will the Steel Mill be targeted and destroyed by the Enclave anyway?
This huge set-up of a multifaction truce isn't so far fetched even by Bethesda standards when you consider the quest Season Unending in Skyrim, where the player has to reunite four to five different factions in the same room and negotiate a temporary truce in the verge of facing a greater source of danger. Even though granted, Seasons Unending was still very much on rails in terms of available negotiation options, but in the case of Fallout 3 and Broken Steel, I rather had at least a pretense of temporarily forming a combined alliance with disgruntled Brotherhood paladins than this Tesla Cannon macguffin that somehow helped defeat the Enclave, as if the bloody thing rivaled Liberty Prime to begin with, it's an awkward conclusion.
My friend suggested that the title Broken Steel referred to the physical condition of the Lone Wanderer had he stepped into the purifier, that his body would have been left in a critical state, but salvaged by the Commonwealth and had cybernetic implants. Meanwhile I assumed it would have simply put the Outcasts into the center stage one way or another, with Liberty Prime now fully functional, the Outcasts may reconsider their position with Lyon's Brotherhood, either positively or negatively, who knows.
Of course Broken Steel turned out to refer to the destruction of Liberty Prime. Sure, why not.
But the way the rest of plot plays out however ... well, it's kind of a huge missed opportunity for me.
So, aside from the fact that the Broken Steel dlc still doesn't allow the player to consider joining the Enclave regardless of whether Eden or Autumn perished, and regardless of whether the FEV was inserted to the purifier as well, I still find it baffling that the plot consists of nothing more but creating a new man-held weapon to replace the now defunct Liberty Prime, and then win the fight after all against the east coast Enclave. And that's Even If the player never considered using the Tesla Cannon at all, which further renders the whole fetch quest at Deathclaw country moot to begin with.
Instead, I believe that the loss of Liberty Prime could have been the cataclysm that leads to the one single major moment where the player stages the re-unification of the east coast Brotherhood of Steel through various stages of diplomacy and compromise driven decisions with the Outcast and perhaps even the west coast Brotherhood.
The potential is evident especially when you consider that, unlike Point Lookout and Mothership Zeta, the first two DLCs prior to Broken Steel -Anchorage and the Pitt- both linked to the Brotherhood itself: that of the Outcasts and the aftermath of the Scourge that made Ashur lord of the Pitt.
Players who had downloaded and completed Anchorage and the Pitt could have sought after those consequences and lead to barter at least a temporary truce in strengthening Lyons' Brotherhood in fighting against the Enclave. After completing the Anchorage simulation and unlocked the armory for the Outcasts, the player could use this to bargain a favor from the Outcasts, perhaps even required to hand over the full armory content to please the Outcasts, and leading to a long awaited confrontation between Lyons and Casdin. Meanwhile whosoever is left to rule the Pitt could be asked differently in lending a hand. If Werhner is left in charge then the player could just force him to lend use of the steel mill, whereas if Ashur is left to rule then the player would have to set a painful reunion between Ashur and his old brethren.
A third option could exist, as well as being the only potential course of action for the player to achieve if he didn't complete the Anchorage and Pitt dlcs, that is to help re-establish contact and communication with the west coast Brotherhood and demand assistance due to the critical situation, and use the water purifier, or perhaps even the G.E.C.K. itself, as a bargaining tool.
The player then has to handle both the set-up and the aftermath of such a reunification. Will Elder Lyons still be in charge of the east coast division? Can the Pitt's Steel Mill remain in the hands of its ruler and not seized by force by the Brotherhood? And if so, who will the player align themselves with? Or will the Steel Mill be targeted and destroyed by the Enclave anyway?
This huge set-up of a multifaction truce isn't so far fetched even by Bethesda standards when you consider the quest Season Unending in Skyrim, where the player has to reunite four to five different factions in the same room and negotiate a temporary truce in the verge of facing a greater source of danger. Even though granted, Seasons Unending was still very much on rails in terms of available negotiation options, but in the case of Fallout 3 and Broken Steel, I rather had at least a pretense of temporarily forming a combined alliance with disgruntled Brotherhood paladins than this Tesla Cannon macguffin that somehow helped defeat the Enclave, as if the bloody thing rivaled Liberty Prime to begin with, it's an awkward conclusion.
