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Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel (truncated as Fallout: BoS), is an action role-playing game developed and self-published by Interplay Entertainment for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox game consoles. Released January 13, 2004, it is the fourth video game set in the Fallout universe, second spinoff and the first to be released on home video game consoles.

According to an Interplay employee, Fallout: BoS was not intended to be a canonical continuation of the original games, only taking place within a recognizable tangent of the Fallout universe.[1] The idea of the game not being canon was reiterated by Todd Howard, who mentioned that the events of the game are not considered to have occurred in the continuity of Fallout 3.[2]

Gameplay[]

Fallout: BoS is the last Fallout title to be released before the franchise was sold by Interplay Entertainment to Bethesda Softworks. Although the game was created by Interplay, most of the writers and developers of the original games did not work on Fallout: BoS, with the exception of Brian Freyermuth and some quality testers of the originals becoming level designers and scriptors, such as Alendor E. Vulaj, Henry C. Lee, Rene Hakiki and Steve McLafferty. A sequel, Fallout: BoS 2, was initially planned, but was canceled.

Fallout: BoS plays like a dungeon crawling run-and-gunner. The game also contains some light platforming elements such as jumping across bottomless pits and crouching under lasers which will instant kill the player. While puzzles are absent for most of the game, chapter three has a few of them. Skills have the same function as perks in other Fallout games. Each playable character has some skills that are unique to them. The game allows for two-player co-op multiplayer. Due to no split screen, the players share the same screen and the players' boundaries are restricted by the camera, forcing the two players to stay close and move in tandem.

BOS Dweller bar

Cyrus with the wasteland stranger in the Atomic Diner

There are very few NPCs that can be interacted with, and while the player can speak with them, the game aims to tell a mainly linear and fixed story so there are not dozens of branching paths, although there are a few consequences for some dialog choices. The game has quests given by these NPCs and there are several sidequests the player can do for rewards. Some NPCs are merchants that will buy and sell, with Jesse being chapter one's merchant and a pair of ghoul brothers for chapter two.

BOS Dogmeat

Dogmeat helping the Initiate to defeat deathclaws

Apart from multiplayer, the game does not feature companions except for a few moments where the player must follow an NPC; the one exception to this if the player unlocks the Man's Best Friend skill which allows a dog named Dogmeat to follow the player and attack enemies. However, this skill is not available for Cain players. If Dogmeat is defeated, he will return at the next save point.

Combat and equipment[]

Nadia in combat with Attis

Nadia in combat with Attis

Combat in Fallout: BoS is in real-time and there is no V.A.T.S. Players can crouch behind obstacles, lock onto enemies, and dodge roll to avoid damage. Certain melee weapons can also be charged for greater damage as well.

There are 56 weapons in total including 6 glove weapons, 3 club weapons, 4 hammer weapons and 7 bladed weapons for a total of 20 Melee Weapons. There are 3 Small Guns pistols, 3 burst-fire, 3 rifles, 2 shotguns and 3 weapons that can be dual-wielded for a total of 14 Small Guns and 8 Big Guns. There are 2 Energy pistols, 5 rifles and 1 weapon that can be dual-wielded for a total of 8 Energy Weapons and 6 Explosives. These weapon types overlap; e.g. a home-made laser pistol is a homemade weapon, an energy weapon and a gun type. The highest damage weapon, other than the mini nuke grenade, is the Shredder, a Big Gun with 480-606 damage. There are four location types of armor: headgear, chest, gloves and boots. The eight successively more protective grades of armor, in order: cloth, leather, riot, metal, combat, Tesla, power armor and advanced power armor. The advanced power armor chest piece offers the most protection of all locations and grades.

Story[]

The game takes place in and around the settlement of Carbon in the year 2208,[citation needed] 47 years after Fallout and 33 years before Fallout 2. The player character is called the "Initiate" and chooses to control one of three initial characters: Cain, Cyrus, or Nadia, all of whom have pledged their allegiances to the Brotherhood of Steel and have become initiates.

Chapter One

Brotherhood members have gone missing in Carbon, and the chosen Initiate is tasked with searching for the paladins, starting with the nearby town. The Initiate is welcomed by a prostitute, Ruby. Armed thugs loiter in town and harass Armpit, a bartender. Armpit is grateful the Initiate saves him, and steers the Initiate in the direction of the shifty mayor of this lawless town, Richard.

RichardFOBOS

Richard turns hostile in the Crater

The mayor might be due some choice words from the electorate for the state of his town; one, in particular, will give the Initiate a discount as a reward for telling off the mayor. Even this outburst won't make the mayor reveal the location of the missing paladins. He insists the Initiate clear out an infestation of radscorpions in the nearby warehouse. The Initiate can collect the scorpion tails and whatever contents of the warehouse that aren't nailed down, which Armpit is interested in buying. When all the giant, radioactive, and the more common mutated scorpions are all rendered lifeless, the Initiate returns to the mayor. The mayor reveals the missing paladins headed off in the direction of a massive crater outside of town.

Following the trail to the bottom, the Initiate finds that the mayor was threatened by the raiders who seek revenge for the ones killed in the bar; lure the Initiate on the outskirts so they can be killed, or have Carbon be burned to the ground. The mayor then turns homicidal as well, mentioning that he is not normally a violent man, but the thought of killing the Initiate seems enjoyable. Mayor Richard has more explosives on him than anyone really ought to be able to carry, and is determined to unload as much of it as possible in the Initiate's vicinity. Despite this, the end result is the mayor's demise. The Initiate returns to the town.

BOS Armpit dies

Armpit is murdered under Jane's orders

The raiders have given up loitering in favor of looting. Their leader, Jane, shows her sadistic side by ordering her men to burn Armpit to death. Many of the citizens of the town have fled while those who have survived have chosen to take cover in the locked warehouse; the terrified town doctor, Vidya, requests the Initiate's aid in saving the townspeople and refuses to unlock the door until the raiders have been killed. There are a total of 37 citizens scattered throughout the town areas. Should they be saved by the Initiate, the wasteland stranger will be very grateful indeed, to the tune of a Red Ryder LE BB gun. After the town is cleared of raiders, Vidya is thankful to the Initiate and is saddened by those who died, but she does not blame the Initiate, saying she knows they tried their best. After the Initiate tells Vidya that the raiders will just come back and kill more townspeople in revenge, she agrees that they need to be eradicated. She directs the Initiate to the base of the raiders, an old mill on the outskirts of the town.

BOS Jane

Jane, the antagonist of chapter one

Inside the town mill, the Initiate finds Jane who has been cooperating with a super mutant. She reveals that she helped the Brotherhood of Steel when she met with a group of paladins who wanted information on super mutant activity in the area. She directs them to a mutant army that was located at the nearby ghoul city of Los. She then reveals that the paladins not only knew about her activities in Carbon but they also offered her protection. She is then killed by the Initiate in combat, who returns to the town. With the help of the Vault Dweller, the protagonist of Fallout, the Initiate heads to the city of Los.

Chapter Two
Find Brotherhood Paladins

Rhombus being held hostage by Blake

In Los, the Initiate looks for mutants. Harold, a mutated man, has chosen to remain in Los until he can retrieve his lost body parts. The search for the paladins leads the Initiate to the Church of the Lost, a cult based inside the city. A Brotherhood paladin, Rhombus, asks the Initiate to kill the cult leader, Blake. Blake and the Initiate fight, and after recovering a key from the dead cult leader, the Initiate escorts Rhombus to a truck where he had hidden the key.

When he tries to recover the key, it will be guarded by kamikaze ghouls. The Initiate, warned of the danger, kills all the kamikaze ghouls in the area. Rhombus, seriously wounded, gives the Initiate the key card and entrusts the task of stopping the super mutants. The Initiate asks the Los ghouls for information and one of them named Giese speaks of a warehouse and a secret vault to be found not far from the current location. The Initiate finds the warehouse and goes inside.

After fighting in the warehouse, the Initiate manages to revive an old generator and takes an elevator that overlooks the entrance to the Corporate Vault. Here, two super mutants activate turrets, which the Initiate must destroy. After all that, the Initiate uses the key card to open the door of the armored shelter and enter.

Chapter Three
FOBOS Mary finds Cyrus

Mary helps the armless Initiate

During a battle with Attis, the mutant general, the Initiate is knocked unconscious and left for dead, with their left arm cut off. Mary, a young woman who has lived her life in the vault, finds the Initiate and guides them to safety. The Initiate receives a new arm thanks to the generosity and technology of the scientists. The Initiate meets Patty, a security officer of the vault. Patty explains how they are trapped in the vault, ever since their own security officer, Blake, was involved in a local civil war between the guards and the scientists, after Blake convinced the guards the scientists' research was evil due their methods. As a result of an explosion, the guards returned to the surface, transforming into the ghouls of Los, while the scientists became trapped in the vault. The Initiate reveals to Patty how super mutants are targeting their vault.

PattyBush

Patty, being consumed by Attis' blob, asks for a mercy killing

Seeking a way to escape before the mutants arrive, Patty asks the Initiate to help disable the ventilation systems so an auxiliary shaft will open. The super mutants begin infiltrating the vault and begin slaughtering its inhabitants. The Initiate finds Attis who reveals the mutants want to control the vault because it focused on curing sterility due to mutation. Attis seeks to allow him and his super mutants to reproduce with each other so their species can thrive. However, when Attis tries the chemical compound, he claims it does not work, although he begins mutating to become more powerful, and is excited he can follow in his Master's footsteps. The Initiate defeats a mutated Attis, whose remains scatter and grow around the vault, infesting the substructure with polyp-like growths. While escaping, the Initiate discovers Patty who has been consumed by a blob which is eating her. Patty mentions she stayed behind in an attempt to eliminate all research so the super mutants could not recreate FEV or use it for their own agenda. She asks the Initiate to head to the decontamination center in order to gain access to a computer terminal that can start the decontamination of the vault; in this case, a large explosion which will eradicate the vault. Patty then asks the Initiate for a mercy killing.

FOBOS player characters2

The Initiates watch Los' destruction

The Initiate then runs to a monorail car, narrowly escaping the now self-destructing vault. During the explosion, Cyrus, Nadia and Cain are seen watching Los from the outskirts of the city.

Locations[]

The action takes place in only one zone per chapter. A zone is composed of many locations and a player character can return to previously visited locations when they want until they entered into a new chapter and a new zone (Carbon, Los or Corporate Vault). They can also sometimes not be able to visit a new location until the storyline advances. There are 50 separate maps of varying size in the game, the primary locations include those as follows.

Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three

Playable characters[]

FOBOS Player characters

Left to right: Patty, Cyrus, Nadia, The Vault Dweller, Cain and Rhombus

FOBOSHuman

Cyrus and Nadia, two playable characters

One chooses one of up to six playable characters to control as the player character. There are no party members. The last three unlockable characters on the following list become available to control after the player completes a chapter in the game.

  • Cain: Cain is a ghoul who decided to join the Brotherhood after super mutants destroyed his hometown, Necropolis. Of medium build, he is able to use heavy weapons and dual weapons, but not maneuver well with the former and cannot run while using the latter.
  • Cyrus: Cyrus was born in a tribal farming village, but he started roaming the wastes after his village was destroyed by super mutants. He later decided to join the Brotherhood as a soldier. Of heavy build, able to use and maneuver well with heavy weapons. He cannot equip dual weapons and cannot run while firing any weapon.
  • Nadia: Nadia spent her childhood as an orphan living on the streets. Although she adapted to life there, she decided to join the Brotherhood when she witnessed several of its members engaging in an act of philanthropy. Of light build, she is able to equip dual weapons. She cannot use heavy weapons. The weapons she can equip, she can fire while running.
  • Patty: Has the same access to and restrictions on weapons as Nadia. She has +10 to her Base Armor value, and bonuses to the following skills: +20% bonus to Bargaining, +80% to Gun Damage, +25% to Desert Soldier and +25% to Future Woman.
  • Rhombus: Unlike the first four characters, Rhombus has no restrictions or bonuses to weapon class in regards to equipping or movement. Rhombus has a Base Armor bonus of +30. He has a +100% bonus to Melee Damage, and +50% bonuses to Explosive Damage and the skills Heavy Hitter and Wastelander.[3]
  • The Vault Dweller: This powerful player character can be selected for use only in a new game, and as with Rhombus, has no weapon class restrictions or bonuses. He has a stacking unarmored Base Armor value of 20, and +100% bonuses to Melee Damage, Gun Damage and Explosive Damage. Additionally, +20% bonuses to the Slayer and Fortune Finder skills, and +100% to the Heavy Hitter and Wastelander skills.

Non-player characters[]

  • Armpit: Armpit is the bartender in Carbon. He is willing to pay money for radscorpion tails.
  • Attis: Attis is the leader of the mutant army and the final boss.
  • Blake: Blake is the leader of the Church of the Lost. He fights the player character in Chapter Two.
  • CALIX: CALIX is the Corporate Vault's main computer system. It could share some information.
  • Ching Tsun: Ching is a merchant in the vault. He is willing to buy computer parts.
  • Dubois: Dubois is the chief scientist of the vault.
  • Giese: Giese is a ghoul living in Los. He is able to fashion weapons from pieces of junk.
  • Harold: Harold is a ghoul-appearing FEV contact living in Los who asks the player character to recover missing body parts for him.
  • Hieronymous: Hieronymus runs a gladiator ring in Los.
  • Jane: Jane is the raider matron. She is in charge of the raiders that attacked Carbon.
  • Jesse: Jesse is a trader in the wasteland.
  • Mary: Mary helps the player character after the first fight with Attis. She also informs the player character about her mother's ring.
  • Patty: The security officer of the hidden vault, Patty is unlocked when the first chapter is completed.
  • Richard: Richard is the mayor of Carbon who sold the town to bandits.
  • Ruby: Ruby is Carbon's resident prostitute. She provides the player with several quests.
  • Rhombus: A returning character from the first Fallout, Rhombus is a paladin of the Brotherhood of Steel. Although wounded by a ghoul suicide bomber, Rhombus is playable after the player beats chapter two.
  • Salieri: Salieri is a merchant in Los. He asks the player character to deliver a package to Hieronymous.
  • Technician: In the vault facilities, the technician helps the player.
  • The Vault Dweller: The protagonist of the original Fallout, the Vault Dweller is unlocked after the game has been finished. In-game, he is met by the player in Carbon.
  • Vidya: Vidya is the town doctor of Carbon and can heal the Initiate at no charge.

Production[]

A lot of the FO:BOS team are old-time fans of the Fallout games. During the project (very much so during the initial stages of conception and planning), we tore through all and any materials on the subject matter - and believe me when I say that the Interplay Fallout Archive is extensive in that respect (it's not as grandiose as that final scene from 'Raiders...' but it's damned close). We discussed story and setting with Black Isle ambassadors, and followed their recommendations and ideas. We like the genre, we like the locale. Given the choice, I'd go for Fallout over Baldur's Gate because I'm really not that big a fan of 'Swords and Sorcery'. Give me the wasteland any day of the week.

But we wanted to carve out our own niche, and tell our own stories seen through our eyes. Maybe this could have been made clearer from the get-go, I guess we were hoping that this should have been rather obvious but in hindsight it seems we were wrong. Is there an answer that will appease your "Why the hell change it..."? Probably not, because when you get right down to it, we changed it because we wanted to. We're not pulling a 'Lucas' and re-writing the previous games, we're not telling you what you believe about them to be false. They are your games and always will be. This is our game. If you play it and you like it, then good for you. If you don't, well... that's okay, too.
— Interplay employee[1]

To create the game, Interplay used the "Snowblind" game engine also used in the console games Dark Alliance and the online-capable PS2 game Champions of Norrath.[4][5] 480p and Dolby digital are supported.[5] Level designer Dan Kingdom mentioned that the Black Isle Studios team was very interested in what they were doing with F:BOS, and from the very beginning they had a lot of contact with them regarding storyline, setting and characters. The Black Isle team also provided them with a mountain of information to help out with all the details, from timelines to bibles.[6] The game's website mentioned, "We've read the Fallout bible and updates, worked with people in BIS on the concept, and determined that we'd stay within the guidelines of the Fallout universe but at the same time presume that this is a different type of game for a different audience. Fallout: BOS has its own setting, characters, and events that fit within the larger Fallout world. Nothing in this game contradicts the events that occur in Fallout or Fallout 2."[7]

Developers[]

The game's three producers were Mark Teal, Charles Cuevas and Trevor Snowden. Its lead artist was Perry Scalf, lead designer was Chris Pasetto, and lead programmer was Randy Culley.

Music[]

The soundtrack background music and music by modern bands, such as Slipknot, Killswitch Engage, Celldweller, Meshuggah, Skinlab and musician Devin Townsend. For modern bands, however, the game diffuses, playing only the instrumental and this music is only played during boss fights.

Voice actors[]

All voice acting citations are from the Internet Movie Database.[8] Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel is the first Fallout game to not feature an introduction voice-acted by Ron Perlman, who is famous in the series for the line, "War...war never changes." The narrator of this game is Tony Jay, the Lieutenant from Fallout.

Voice actors
  • Dee Bradley Baker recorded the part of non-player character merchant Ching Tsun, and minor non-player characters Wasteland Man and City Ghoul Civilian.
  • Michael Bell acted the voice of the non-player character and the Vault Dweller, Cain and the nightkin and super mutant enemies.
  • Earl Boen (credited as Eril Boen) played the voice of Richard, the Carbon mayor, and the voices of the ghoul officer and Vault-Tec Computer NPCs.
  • Cam Clarke acted the parts of non-player characters vault man, patrol, Plasma and kamikaze robot.
  • Grey DeLisle recorded the part of Vidya, the Carbon doctor, Nadia, and the vault elder's daughter.
  • Brian George played the parts of Dubois, the chief vault scientist, ghoul merchant and non-player characters Tesla and service robot.
  • Kristakis Gepetto recorded the voice of the tutorial computer.
  • Nick Jameson voiced the parts of non-player characters ghoul engineer, raider thug, drunk, turret and sentry robot.
  • Tony Jay recorded the voice of the narrator, and the voice of Attis and mutant blob.
  • John Mariano played the voice of Armpit, the Carbon bartender. Also non-player characters ghoul psycho User, raider Torch (sic) and soldier.
  • Vanessa Marshall voiced the part of Jane the raider matron and Ruby the sex worker.
  • Alan Oppenheimer spoke the part of Harold in Brotherhood of Steel. He also voiced the parts of a non-player character soldier and the wasteland trader, and the non-player character enemies cult ghoul thug and Kamikaze.
  • Kevin Michael Richardson voiced the player character Cyrus, the non-player character Blake and soldier, and the non-player character enemies ghoul high priest and mutant grunt.
  • B. J. Ward recorded the voices of the raider lieutenant, vault security and the vending computer.

Reception[]

The game received mixed reviews, and currently holds a 64/100 score on Metacritic for the PlayStation 2 version, and a 66 score for the Xbox version. The user review score is a 4.0 for the PlayStation 2 version, and a 5.4 for the Xbox version.

GamePro gave Fallout: BoS a 8/10, mentioning, "The icing on the cake is the game’s superb production value, which includes beautifully crafted sound effects like devastating explosions and the eerie whistling of radioactive wind, solid voice acting, and copious visual details that flesh out a nightmarish world decimated by nuclear warfare."

IGN gave it a 7.5/10, calling it "a fun hack 'n' slash title that provides plenty of mutated bodies blowing up." Their review criticized the game's forced top-down perspective which they felt was too high up, wishing it could be angled more to get closer to the action. They mentioned the game has a lack of background music, calling it "eerily silent."[9]

GameSpot gave it a 7.3/10, feeling, "Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel isn't a great game, but it can still be entertaining to play. The action is repetitive and straightforward, but the game features a lot of cool weapons and tons of stuff to hack or shoot at, plus it's got some of the charm that helped make Fallout a genuine classic. Brotherhood of Steel is no substitute for a true Fallout sequel, but it doesn't aim to be one."[10]

PSM Magazine called the story well-written, although TotalPlayStation felt the game was "more focused on action than story progression and deep character development" and that it "comes dangerously close to being called a Fallout game in name only." Eurogamer criticized the game's map and level design, feeling it has too many bland environments and repetitive drawn out maze-like levels that go on longer than they should.[11]

In 2024, IGN conducted a poll and players voted it as the worst game in the Fallout series, with voters considering Fallout 76 and Fallout Shelter better games.[12]

Behind the scenes[]

OUT OF FUCKING MEMORY

"OUT OF FUCKING MEMORY"

  • Brotherhood of Steel is commonly believed to take place in Texas. However, this is not stated anywhere in materials or interviews related to BoS, as far as anyone has been able to tell.
    • Its canceled sequel, which would have continued elements from the first game, was going to begin in Texas.
    • Many characters in Brotherhood of Steel have Southern accents, including Mayor Richard.
    • Carbon is the name of a town in Texas, though there are 18 towns named Carbon in America. Carbon is east of Necropolis.
    • In archived internet discussions, some fans casually mention the game being set in Texas, even upon its release in 2004.
    • It's possible a developer statement once established the game to be set in Texas, and was lost to time.
    • It may simply be the intentional subtext that the game is set in Texas, without having been stated.
    • The game may theoretically take place elsewhere in the mid-wastelands.
  • A text string in the game's files reads "OUT OF FUCKING MEMORY" and it can be seen if the .elf file is extracted from the .iso and viewed in the Ps2dis assembly program. Another common string reads "FADE OUT, YOU BASTARD!" Many of the game's internal strings are written out in a descriptive way, so its console log is easy to parse.
  • Interplay received a lawsuit from Snowblind Studios for using the Snowblind engine, which Interplay previously contracted them for to create Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance. Snowblind claimed that Interplay used their engine without their consent for Fallout: BoS, Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II, and the GameCube version of Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance. They also claimed that they were entitled to certain royalties on the exploitation of their product. The two studios were engaged in this legal conflict between 2003 and 2004. On April 19, 2005, the litigation ended with both companies signing an agreement, determining that while Interplay would be allowed to work with materials already using the Snowblind engine, they would not be able to use it for any future games.[13]
  • The credits for the game mentions "Thanks for the laughs: www.duckandcover.net, www.nma-fallout.com". These fansites were known for heavily criticizing the game, even before it launched.
  • The game's manual has a list of tips and mentions: "Save, save and save again. If you find a save game console, use it. Don't come crying to us because you ignored one and now have to replay the last fifteen minutes again. Life is a harsh, unforgiving wasteland. Get used to it."
  • In the game, the Vault Dweller gives the Initiate a canteen with the Vault 13 logo. This item previously appeared in Fallout, Fallout 2 and would later appear in Fallout: New Vegas, if pre-ordered from Gamestop and in the add-on Courier's Stash.
  • In the three different regions traveled in the game, Nuka-Cola doesn't appear and is replaced with Bawls Guarana.
  • There is a townsperson who says "His name is Robert Paulson" when the raiders attack Carbon; this is a reference to the 1999 film Fight Club.
  • A "Carhenge" appears for the first time in the series, as the site of the Richard boss fight. Carhenges would later appear in Fallout 4 and Fallout 76.
  • In a trailer, Nadia mentions she was born "just after the bombs fell" despite the fact that the game takes place over a hundred years since the Great War. On the game's website, it was clarified to be a mistake that slipped through recording, and that "just" should have not been said.[7]
  • Fred Zeleny mentions disliking the game in his meet the Fallout 3 devs interview.[14]
  • A large amount of the game's weapon/armor in footlockers are duplicated in co-op.

Gallery[]

Screenshots[]

Artwork[]

Videos[]

External links[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Interplay forums
  2. Todd Howard Fallout 3 interview, GameSpy
  3. Initiates: Rhombus Gamebanshee
  4. BoS: Chris Pasetto Interview TeamXbox
  5. 5.0 5.1 BoS XBox review Gamechronicles
  6. Dan Kingdom interview Gamebanshee
  7. 7.0 7.1 Fallout: BoS FAQ
  8. Cast of Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel at the Internet Movie Database
  9. IGN review
  10. Fallout:BoS review on Gamespot
  11. Eurogamer review
  12. IGN poll
  13. Settlement agreement between Interplay and Snowblind Studios
  14. Fred Zeleny: "I don't know if I'll ever feel fully clean again. I so wanted it to be good, because it had been so very long since a good Fallout game. Nowadays, I keep the disc around solely to focus all of my hatred and scorn into it. But I try not to actually touch it, lest its fundamental badness rub off on me."
    (Meet the Fallout 3 devs - Fred Zeleny)
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