henke on 4/8/2009 at 16:33
About to start up a new playthrough of FO3. Finished the first one in January and haven't touched it since. Which DLC should I get?
I saw The Pitt & Op:Anchorage doublepack in the store for 20 euros, which according to my caluclations is a few bucks cheaper than what they'd cost via Live Marketplace. The reviews are mediocre but are they still worth getting, or should I start considering them first after I've played the other DLCs?
Broken Steel and Point Lookout are getting great reviews. I'm thinking of getting one of these. Is BS just new missions and enemies? No new landscape or locations at all? And just how big, compared to FO3, is the new playable area in PL? Which one has the best stories?
Mothership Zeta is, so far, getting the poorest reviews of all the DLCs so I think I'll pass on that one. For now.
T-Smith on 4/8/2009 at 19:40
The Pitt was easily my favourite of the DLC. Too short, but quite original compared to the rest of FO3.
Besides that one, I can recommend either Broken Steel or Point Lookout. BS adds a fair amount of new content (in addition to raising the level cap to 30, allowing players who plan right to reach 100 in every skill) but is somewhat same-ish in terms of the new missions added. There ARE some new areas, but nothing you'll ever really return to. Point Lookout provides more of the normal "explore the giant map and find shit" gameplay, but with new enemies and a new location, giving you a more non-linear experience than the other DLC. It should take you a couple days to find everything in it. Neither of them have fantastic stories, but they're servicable. I'd say PL has the better one, though again I found the only DLC with any real story was The Pitt.
The only reason to get OA is for the goodies at the end, the actual DLC is garbage. Same goes for Zeta - a boring corridor shooter with the same two enemies over and over. And even though you can return to the ship after the main mission, 90% of it is blocked off, meaning it's impossible to search for anything you missed.
EvaUnit02 on 5/8/2009 at 06:31
Point Lookout is by far the best, IMO (I've yet to play Zeta). You're given an entirely new non-linear land mass, that's dripping in atmosphere, entirely different to that of the Capital Wasteland (chuck in the mods (
http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=2672) Fellout + (
http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=6170) Enhanced Weather - Snow and Rain and it feels a lot like Stalker). The quests themselves are quite engaging too.
Broken Steel does indeed have new locations (and as far as I'm concerned is an essential purchase. Whilst the "new ending" quests aren't all that great it overall added to the Fallout 3 experience fixes a lot of flaws with the original game design. (i.e. Fawkes,
a character immune to radiation, refusing to turn on the Purifier).
The new BS locations are quite sizeable though, I'm talking mainly about Adams Air Force Base.
The Pitt is pretty good. The new setting is an interesting one and the main quest does pose an interesting moral dilemma, that's painted in shades of grey rather than straight up black and white (like most side-quests in the vanilla game - i.e. Power of the Atom).
Yeah, Anchorage is pretty bleh. You do get some sweet items out of it though, particularly the Gauss Rifle and Chinese Stealth Armour.
Judith on 8/8/2009 at 15:53
I'm not so sure that Point Lookout is all that great. I mean, I liked the setting and those main quests (Desmond, Obadiah, Chinese spy), but the game was awfully unbalanced for me. Swamp dudes are just humans and they're harder to beat than a Deathclaw. Tribals can withstand a few point-blank shots from a combat shotgun. And they're all deadly with a crappy rifle from a quite long distance.
BS is nice, Adams reminded me of Sierra Army Depot and some military bases from Fallout Tactics. You'll also some purified-water-related quests in Rivet City and Megaton.
T-Smith on 8/8/2009 at 19:09
Quote Posted by Judith
I'm not so sure that Point Lookout is all that great. I mean, I liked the setting and those main quests (Desmond, Obadiah, Chinese spy), but the game was awfully unbalanced for me. Swamp dudes are just humans and they're harder to beat than a Deathclaw. Tribals can withstand a few point-blank shots from a combat shotgun. And they're all deadly with a crappy rifle from a quite long distance.
BS is nice, Adams reminded me of Sierra Army Depot and some military bases from Fallout Tactics. You'll also some purified-water-related quests in Rivet City and Megaton.
PL is meant for higher level characters (though mind you with enemy level scaling even level 30 players can have a tough time, but at least they typically have enough stimpacks and ammo to rough through). I personally spent most of my time in Point Lookout sneaking around. 100 Sneak skill + Chinese stealth suit + silenced Perforator = few problems.
Digital Nightfall on 8/8/2009 at 19:47
Slightly off topic, but has there been any indication of when they're going to do a boxed retail bundle of the game plus all DLCs?
T-Smith on 9/8/2009 at 00:40
Quote Posted by Digital Nightfall
Slightly off topic, but has there been any indication of when they're going to do a boxed retail bundle of the game plus all DLCs?
Apparently, a (
http://xbox360.gamespy.com/xbox-360/fallout-3-game-of-the-year-edition/) GOTY edition will be released on the 13th of October. It will include all the DLC packs.
Aja on 9/8/2009 at 08:43
I really enjoyed the Pitt. Great atmosphere, interesting area, good new weapons and dammit I liked searching for all the ingots. Plus it has the most interesting moral choice since Oasis.
Broken Steel is mainly good because it raises the level cap. I was glad to see the storyline continue after the ending (would've been lame if the game just continued with no point), but the additional content wasn't too compelling. Although they did weave in the side quests smoothly—if you go back to Underworld, for example, there's a ghoul trying to hawk de-purified water as a miracle cure. I suppose Broken Steel is worth it for keeping the game open-ended, though this stuff probably should've been included originally.
I haven't played Point Lookout enough to make a real judgement, but straightaway I can tell that it's larger and less centralized than the other DLC packs. The atmosphere is unique for fallout, as well. Kinda feels like Deliverance.
henke on 9/8/2009 at 12:01
Thanks for the write-ups guys! :D
I decided to start with Broken Steel. Downloaded it yesterday and started it up today. Haven't noticed too much difference yet, except for Enclave soldiers appearing and a pop-up saying my levelcap has been raised to 30. My character is just lvl7 yet. Are there any new sidemissions or does all that stuff appear first after the "end" of the game?
Think I'll go with The Pitt next, or - if I'm feeling brave - Point Lookout.
EvaUnit02 on 9/8/2009 at 12:19
Quote Posted by henke
Are there any new sidemissions or does all that stuff appear first after the "end" of the game?
Aside from running into the Enclave patrols earlier and about four higher level monsters added to the Wasteland (Enclave Hellfire Trooper, Super Mutant Overlord, Ghoul Reaver, Albino Giant Radscorpion, IIRC), all of the new quests take place directly after you've completed the main campaign.
