Fallout 3: Operation Anchorage

Fallout of Duty
1/29/2009 8:50 PM | 5 Comments | Page 1 of 3

If I had to guess, I'd say that Fallout 3: Operation Anchorage, the first downloadable expansion for Fallout 3, was created to prove two points. First, that Bethesda knows how to use colors other than brown and green -- now it can use blue and white, too! Second, to show off how well the game can work when it is pushed determinately towards the first-person shooter end of the spectrum. In both cases, mission accomplished. Mostly.

There's also a statement here. Bethesda's last major title was The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, the first DLC for which was -- infamously -- horse armor. Operation Anchorage is the first of three planned Fallout 3 expansions to hit before summer. As such, it's a great start, and far better than horse armor, but it also feels like a teaser.

Players of any level can tackle the expansion, so long as their character has left Vault 101. A new radio station will appear that guides the listener towards an area near the Nuka Cola plant west of downtown D.C. Following the signal, I found a band of Outcasts from the Brotherhood of Steel. They were trying to open a cache of killer weapons, but had to pass through a simulation to do so. A Pip-Boy was just the interface they needed to access the program, so into the sim pod I went.

The simulation transported me back to the Chinese occupation of Anchorage. Appearing on a treacherously windswept cliffside, I was tasked first with taking out three massive guns, then leading a strike team against other targets within Chinese-held territory.

A few things are very obviously different. The new setting comes first. If it's a bit monotonous, it is at least meant to be a snowy near-wasteland, and in that respect looks great. Small details stand out: a few snowmen the Chinese soldiers have made inside one camp; the way your strike team members shuffle around trying to stay warm, blowing into their cupped hands; the edges of the map, where the sim flickers in and out of pixilated reality.

New enemies are out in force: The Chinese Army has rapid-fire snipers and cloaked Crimson Dragoons to bar any progress. Some snipers also wear the cloaked stealth armor; those equipped can be seen slightly by the naked eye, but not targeted within V.A.T.S. before you knock down the cloaking mechanism with a V.A.T.S.-unassisted blow or two.

Your weapon loadout is limited -- initially, a silenced pistol and knife. Soon enough the arsenal expands with assault and sniper rifles, and a few more pieces of gear. You won't be able to steal weapons or gear from downed enemies, as they dissolve into bits and bytes after death.

Oddly, almost every ammo dump you come across looks exactly the same. There will be an ammo dispenser to magically fill your clips, a health dispenser to similarly restore life, a few grenades and mines, two missiles and some energy cells. These items will all be glowing red; almost nothing else in the expansion can be picked up. And currently, these items can only be collected only if your reticule is directly on them.