Fallout 76 brought some expansive new activities on the heels of last year's resurgence of the Brotherhood of Steel in Appalachia, which featured interesting new characters and storylines with more weight than most of the game's previous quests. That story finally comes to a head in Fallout 76: Steel Reign. Though the questline is fairly brief, it gives players a proper taste of the moral quandaries they've come to expect from the Fallout franchise, and it makes for a promising teaser of the potential still ahead for Appalachia.
The divide between Paladin Rahmani and Knight Shin was already well established at the onset of the Steel Dawn questline, building to a pivotal head before the super mutant attack on Fort Atlas. The growing chasm between the Paladin and the Knight is put on hold only temporarily as the Brotherhood must work to stop Fallout 76's increasing mutant threat. Still, the inevitable rift comes full circle by the end of the questline, forcing players to finally choose what the future of the Brotherhood in Appalachia will truly be.
While Fallout 76 has worked very hard to recover from its rocky start, even the much-appreciated Wastelanders expansion didn't have any deep narrative direction. The Settlers and Raiders were both fleshed out well, but at the end of the day, it was just a question of which faction the player liked the most to help them break into Vault 79. The Brotherhood questline brought about more nuanced quests as players have to ask themselves whether they believe in Rahmani's or Shin's vision of the Brotherhood, which showcased how well the game has grown. This gets expanded greatly at the expansion's finale with a decision not simply between the two sides but also one of what the player believes is the proper form of justice and what is best for Appalachia in a profound manner.
The questline doesn't merely stick the landing, though. Even the story's setup is well executed as players must first take a step back while working to solve the super mutant problem, which takes them on a series of quests with Rahmani and Shin individually to give players a better understanding of the characters and what drives them. Both Rahmani and Shin get some well-written, humanizing moments that make choosing one over another more difficult, but Fallout 76: Steel Reign doesn't stop there. In the conclusive Brotherhood questline, players will also be reintroduced to some of the earliest NPCs they encountered in an impressively woven narrative that postulates what lengths are acceptable in the quest for the greater good of humanity, what is a bridge too far, and what are the proper consequences for those who cross that line.
If Fallout 76: Steel Reign has any glaring shortcoming, it's that more of these more thought-provoking missions would have been even better. Whereas the Wastelanders missions at times seemed too lengthy with very little depth, the Brotherhood quests, while much stronger narratively, are considerably shorter. It's a trade-off worth having for anyone who values quality over quantity, but having the better quality certain makes a player want more. Navigation of Vault 96 can also prove quite challenging at times. Still, these issues are easily forgettable in an otherwise impressive story that will leave players debating the moral efficacy of their actions and what those decisions mean for the Brotherhood going forward.
There are several interesting things at play as Steel Reign ties a neat bow on the current Brotherhood of Steel story that brings about questions of what comes next for the Brotherhood regardless of which choice they make. It also sets up new potential narratives depending on the player's choice that could shape the future of Appalachia as well as the expanded lore of Fallout. Whatever comes next, Fallout 76: Steel Reign proves that 76 is just now hitting its stride.
Fallout 76: Steel Reign is available now on PC, Xbox One, and PS4, as well as Xbox Series X/S and PS5 via backwards compatibility.