Written by Citizen Alpha Friday, 12 March 2010 04:26

I’ve always been a massive fan of the Fallout series, I remember purchasing the first two games when I was dead broke and had a jalopy for a computer.  Unfortunately recommending everyone go back and play it nowadays, especially with Fallout 3 out there, would be a bit of a stretch thanks to the graphics.  One of the key elements that I really enjoy about the game was its robust and interesting atmosphere I can only appropriately sum up as “the future that never was”.  My computer’s been recently upgraded and with this I’ve solved a major lock up error in Fallout 3 allowing me to revisit the game with renewed interest.  While fumbling around the internet soaking up Fallout lore I stumbled across an entire Fallout game that never was.

Bethesda, the developer mastermind behind Fallout 3, purchased the rights to the Fallout franchise from Interplay.  This move came after the closure of Black Isle Studios back in 2003 after key members went to form Troika Games, later developing Arcanum, a steampunk fantasy game.  Black Isle studios was always a heavy hitter in my mind after developing the Fallout and Icewind Dale series plus publishing the Baldur’s Gate series.  These are all acclaimed RPG releases back in the late 90’s and early 2000’s.

Anyhow, apparently amidst all the corporate maneuvering, financial struggles, and turmoil the ensuing exodus happened right in the final stages of development for the original Fallout 3 titled “Van Buren”.  The game takes place in the American southwest.  A quick plot synopsis reveals:

The character would start the game as a prisoner; whether the character was wrongfully imprisoned or guilty was to be determined at character creation. The game would have started in a strange prison as it was attacked by an unnamed force. An explosion would knock the character unconscious, and the cell door would be open when he awakened. The player would then escape into the wasteland while being pursued by strange assailants. After leaving, the character would have the power to shape the destiny of the wasteland. His interactions with organizations such as the Brotherhood of Steel could bolster or destroy the organizations, influencing people associated with them, much as in the previous two Fallout games.

Rumor has it there’s a working tech demo on the loose somewhere but it’s incomplete abandonware.  Bethesda apparently has a copy however “has no intention of releasing someone else’s unfinished product”.  You can read up more information on Fallout’s missing link at Fallout’s wiki.  That is of course, if you’re interested in finding out about a future that never was.

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