Wow. Fallout 3 is one of my favorite games in a long time, and the new DLC doesn’t disappoint. The whole premise of this new content is that you’re in a computer simulation. The government created this simulation to train soldiers for Chinese invasion. It takes place in 2066, and the Chinese have invaded Anchorage, Alaska.

It is your task to take out the enemy troops and reclaim your territory. Being in the winter land of Alaska, it has a type of scenery previously unseen in the game, and they manage to pull it off extremely well. What really holds it all together is the “simulation” aspect. It’s like you’re playing a computer game within a computer game, and they appropriate for such. Instead of being able to pick up any weapons the enemy drops, you can only pick up specific drops, highlighted in red. Instead of Stimpacks, there are health dispensers to instantly heal you spread around the area, as well as ammo dispensers to replenish your ammo stock.

Another interesting concept is the level design. While stealth previously took a backseat and was rarely used, you basically have the option to be stealthy many times in OA(Operation Anchorage).

While I just went it guns blazing, there were clear options to rack up kills without even being seen. Your first weapon is a silenced pistol, and it really takes the stealth attribute to a level thats *actually* useful.

Your enemies are almost all human, and aren’t particularly challenging. Just aim, shoot, rinse and repeat. It’s a great place to work toward your “doesn’t play well with others” achievement. However, there is one special enemy, and it’s the only time I can think of fighting such heavy machinery. That’s right, you fight a tank, and it fights back. That being said, even that isn’t a challenge since you have a squad with you to help, and you can defeat the final boss with only a dialog option if your speech skill is high enough.

After your first quests, you get the ability to customize your personal ordinances and build a squad. you get 4 basic weapon sets for your character, such as an assault rifle/grenade combo, a missile launcher and pistol combo, and a sniper/silenced pistol combo. This decision is important, as it decides how you will play for the rest of OA. I personally picked the sniper combo, and the plethora of ammo dispensers let me use this high-powered small guns weapon without consequence. Your squad also follows you around the rest of OA. You get five requisition credits toward picking squad members. you can have a maximum of three members. The more powerful of a unit you pick, the more points it will cost you. Therefore, you can’t stack up 3 powerful sentry bots, but can still get a decently strong squad with a few standard troops and a sniper. You command your troops to attack different locations through a dialog menu. While your squad is useful, they aren’t too groundbreaking and it’s entirely possible to beat the game without telling your squad to go anywhere, or just making them stay put and not fire.

The achievements (there are only four) are received after storyline points in the game. Unfortunately, Bethesda didn’t throw in anything unique in this field, just play through OA and the measly 100 gamer score is all yours.

The only drawback? It should take you about two- three hours to complete every quest.

Pros-
-Gameplay is great, just like the regular game
- The “game within a game” is pulled off really well.
-It’s fast paced, and presents several unique and powerful items at the end.

Cons-
- A bit short
-Very easy
-A few sparse glitches

Final thoughts-
It’s Fun. It’s Fallout. It’s short and 10 bucks. take it or leave it, it’s really up to you. This feels like a quick Fallout fix for those who really want some more content, but it’s nowhere near full blown enough and I’m highly anticipating the next dose of DLC for Fallout 3.

Overall rating-
7/10

Recommended for purchase-
Only if you “need” your Fallout fix. It’s fun, but not quite 10 bucks worth of fun.

By: Basil
G3/XBL tag- Superbond2

Second Thoughts by: Matt Jo

I had originally planned on the doing the Operation Anchorage review but since I had not told anyone Basil(Superbond2) beat me to it. Usually this would be ok but since Fallout 3 is my favourite game of all time I felt as if I had to comment on the DLC. You know most of what you need to know from Basil’s review so I’m not gonna repeat what he said, I’ll just give my general thoughts on the DLC.

Operation Anchorage is the first of three promised DLC expansions for Fallout 3 and overall it is a brief but enjoyable experience. The environments are nothing like we have seen before in the game since this takes place in snowy Alaska. Not only are the environments and graphics extremely well done but it is also a welcome change from the browns and grey tones that are seen all over the wasteland.

One thing that I did enjoy about the DLC was that it was very straight forward and to the point, you never got lost, never got confused and almost never died. This did combine to make the DLC quite easy but if you really want a challenge just ramp up the difficulty level. There are almost no creatures in the DLC so your only fighting humans, making it even easier. The fact that in some missions you can a squad to fight with you once again adds to making this DLC a very easy experience.

This is not necessarily a bad thing though as I for one dislike when a game is to challenging, another thing I dislike is being ripped off though. I paid 800 Microsoft Points for the Fable 2 DLC and got about 2 hours out of it and that included getting all the achievements. This was the same with the Fallout 3 DLC, same price and it took about 2.5 hours to beat it and get all the achievements. It was far to short.

I did like how the DLC presented a totally new environment and setting for the game. None of the missions before had really ever had that “war” like feeling where you felt you were in a battle. In Operation Anchorage I felt at times like I was playing Call of Duty with Fallout 3 rules. At some points it really felt like you were in the middle of a war.

For those that are into the weapons and armor of Fallout 3 you will be happy with the DLC. After you complete Operation Anchorage and are returned back to the real world, out of the simulation you can go into the armory of the building where the simulation was held and you can take anything you want. There are old and new items in here as while as an awesome type of armor that is clearly the best armor in the game, so once you finish the DLC feel free to take as much as you want, stock up!

In conclusion Operation Anchorage did some things really well. It provided new enemy types and new environments that are drastically different from the wasteland that we have wandered for so long. The “war/battle” like feeling it provided was nice considering none of the missions in Fallout 3 ever felt like that. All these elements combined gave Operation Anchorage a new, fresh feel that as a Fallout 3 fan, I welcomed even if it did feel like it was taking place outside of the Fallout 3 universe. The only complaint I have is the length and I can only hope that in future DLC there will be more gameplay.