With Fallout 3’s release, Bethesda announced five paid downloadable content packs (DLC) were to be released in the coming months. These DLC (Operation Anchorage, The Pitt, Broken Steel, Point Lookout, and Mothership Zeta) were received with moderate reviews. As I hated Fallout 3, I felt like I should give the DLC’s another chance. Boy was I wrong.

Operation Anchorage:

This DLC takes place in an old army simulation of a pre-war battle in Alaska. Normally I would talk about the story, but it’s basically non-existent. The mechanics and story were dumbed down to fit the simulation idea, but since Fallout 3 is not a good shooter, this DLC is just a frustrating run and gun. The only thing remotely interesting is the gear at the end and even then, it’s the best armor and makes all other armor completely useless. I rate it a 3/10, which sort of sets the bar for the future DLC’s.

The Pitt:

Despite having more choices, The Pitt still lacks any RPG elements, even less than the base game. The game takes place in the toxic ruins of Pittsburgh, ruled by a slaveholder named Asher. It’s up to you to save the slaves and take back the Pitt. The story is slightly interesting but doesn’t delve into some more interesting ideas, like how exactly the toxic waste mutates people, and how the Pitt develops after the end of the DLC. I rate it a 5/10 for being above average for Fallout 3 DLC’s.

Broken Steel:

Broken Steel was the best DLC in my opinion for Fallout 3, but included what should have been in the base game. The story takes place after the main campaign, in which you sacrifice yourself to save the wasteland. But surprise, for 5 dollars you survive your sacrifice and are sent to eliminate the rest of the Enclave. The story was generic but did have a few twists which I appreciated. Not to mention, you could keep playing the game after the ending, which was nice. I rate it a 6/10 for having good content, but that should have been in the base game.

Point Lookout:

Point Lookout takes place on an island off the coast of Maryland, chock full of places to explore. Other than that, the DLC has no real purpose, as most of the gear is useless, and there is no main story. Instead, we get several side quests and irradiated hillbillies to fight. While being large, the world lacks any depth besides the ocean *ba dum tiss*. I give it 4/10, being ok, but not revolutionary.

Mothership Zeta:

No. Just NO. Bethesda, why would you release this crime upon the gaming community? This is war-crime levels of bad, do NOT buy this DLC. -1/10, F- for effort.

So yeah, these DLC’s were pretty bad, with Broken Steel being the only one that could stand by itself. Next time on my Fallout series, I’ll take a look a the best Fallout game ever made, that is so hot, it makes these games wish for a nuclear winter.