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Computer Times
Editors' Choice Game Fallout 3 DLC Reviewed by Angie Kibiloski
At its release in 2008, Fallout 3 was my favorite game to come out that year, and it received an enthusiastic Editor’s Choice. It is still among my favorite games, in fact, and no less addictive than it was then. So, earlier this year, I was thrilled to find out that Bethesda was releasing additional Downloadable Content (DLC), to extend my gaming experience. One at a time, over the last 7 months, 5 new chapters to Fallout 3 have been made available, through Windows LIVE and Xbox LIVE. Now that all 5 exciting DLCs have come out, I can do nothing but give them all, collectively, their own Editor’s Choice. Bethesda continues to put out the highest quality content for this title, with new missions that combine seamlessly with the original game. Each new story retains the feel and intensity of the world you have grown accustomed to, while providing an atmosphere and experience unique to each DLC. By logging into your LIVE account before entering Fallout 3, you will have access to these new missions while roaming around the Capital Waste. The first DLC, Operation: Anchorage, places you inside a simulation from the war 200 years before. In the sim, you have to free Anchorage, Alaska from the invading Chinese forces. Your experience and level, which you have earned in the main game, are retained but as for fighting, you only have access to the weapons that you find within the sim. This can mean being forced to employ a whole new skill set than you are used to playing with. You are required to be stealthy and quick instead of relying on brute strength and firepower. It is an interesting challenge, as well as in-depth mission. There are several objectives within the sim, which will provide quite a few hours of game play. You not only get to control your own character, but you also get the chance to command a strike team of your own choosing for each mission objective. The snow covered landscape of Anchorage is a nice break from the brutal devastation of the Waste.
The next DLC, The Pitt, takes you to Pittsburgh and a hot, fiery environment. An escaped slave, who happens upon you in the Waste, tells you about the situation in Pittsburgh, where turmoil between Raider slavers and their slaves is boiling over. Also, there is possibly a cure for mutations to be found there. Much like the rest of Fallout 3, your choices and actions within The Pitt have a rippling effect on the story. You can go in with stealth, or blast your way into the middle of the action. You can be on the side of the oppressed slaves, or that of the evil Raiders. The decisions are yours to make. In addition to loads of action and excitement, you will discover new and interesting weapons that will really kick the gore up to a new level.
Download number three, Broken Steel, extends the main Quest, which you have followed throughout the original Fallout 3 storyline. You have beaten the Enclave at Project Purity, but surely there could be more of them out there? What do you think will happen in the Waste now that you have defeated them? Well, Broken Steel lets you find out. Search out the remnants of the Enclave, with the aid of the Brotherhood of Steel and the super cool Liberty Prime robot, to wipe out their influence and hold on the Waste for good. Not only will there be new weapons to discover in this DLC, but you will also be able to upgrade your character beyond the standard level 20 of Fallout 3, all the way to level 30! But be wary, because just as you can become more powerful and receive fancy new perks, your enemies will become tougher to defeat as well. I always enjoyed fighting alongside the Brotherhood in the main game, so any time I get to see them again is a plus for me.
Next up is Point Lookout, which takes you to a creepy swampland town in Maryland with the same name. You will feel like you have stepped onto the set of Deliverance or The Hills Have Eyes when you see what sort of nasty neighbors live in Point Lookout. This DLC is the most open ended mission to come out, and really lets you have total free reign over your experience. You’ll find new weapons and explore beautiful new landscapes, but what really makes this Add-on cool is the atmosphere of the whole episode. Creepy, eerie, haunting, and just freakin’ awesome are perfect words to describe this new world filled with swamp, fog, and crazy hillbilly nasties.
The final DLC of the five is called Mothership Zeta, and is a really unique departure from the main game. You have left the Wasteland completely and entered…outer space! Yes, believe it or not, you have been abducted by aliens. You were only investigating a distress call from a downed alien craft when the mothership thanks you for your concern by beaming you up and plopping you right in the middle of their plans to take over Earth. You must figure out their plans, thwart them, and escape back to Earth with your life. You’ll have access to super new alien weapons to aid you in your mission, and be able to team up with other abductees. Bet you never thought your humble character from Vault 101 would be battling invading aliens while in orbit around the planet. Well, I couldn’t have imagined it, but I am so glad the good people at Bethesda could, because this DLC is certainly not one to miss.
You can find all of these DLCs in the Add-On section of the Windows LIVE or Xbox LIVE Marketplace, to be purchased individually at $9.99 each. Also, sometime in October, Bethesda will be releasing a special edition DVD of the game, called the Fallout 3 Game of the Year Edition, containing the original Fallout 3 title, and all 5 DLCs together. This will retail for $49.99 for the PC version, and $59.99 for Xbox and PS3. So, if you prefer to physically have the DVD in your hands instead of a download, you won’t have too long to wait. Either format you choose, if you were a Fallout 3 fan last year, you absolutely have to buy these DLCs. Your gaming experience will not be complete without them. All of your friends who have Fallout 3 will be talking about their new missions, and you will be left out in the cold, harsh wasteland, deprived of the purest joy a gamer can have: more Fallout 3 content! And if you never bought Fallout 3 to begin with, and have yet to enjoy the heart pumping pleasure of blasting away super mutants with laser rifles and bottle cap mines…get with the program, you’re truly missing out! October will be a perfect opportunity for all of you stragglers to come out of your Vaults and live a bright new life in the Waste!
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