Fallout 3 Operation: Anchorage DLC Reviews

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Written by BuckGB on January 28th, 2009

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In fitting with the subject matter, Operation Anchorage is a much purer shooting and stealthing experience than the original game, not just in terms of theme, but also in terms of gameplay. For one thing, you won't be able to just pop an infinite number of stimpacks or chug Nuka Cola to heal up in the middle of a firefight. Restorative items have been completely removed, replaced instead with health-restoring terminals available at regular checkpoints, along with a similar ammo dispenser. We didn't find that we ever had to really conserve ammunition, though, at least not on the normal difficulty setting. Missiles and energy weapon ammunition are fairly abundant, as are grenades, so as long as you use a variety of different weapons you won't have much trouble with shortages.

After completing the DLC quest and collecting my items I had mixed feelings about the download. The environment looks like a copy paste of the capital wasteland with snow and the enemy AI is still so-so. For 800 points, you get two hours of linear combat, new items, achievements, and a couple of holotapes that detail a soldier's experience. I appreciate Bethesda giving me a glimpse into Fallout's lore (future), but the immersion that makes the game so tantalizing is absent during the entire quest. Operation: Anchorage forces the game to play out more like a full fledged shooter and takes the game out of its comfort zone. The weapons and armors are nice additions to anyone's arsenal but the quest serves its purpose as a mediocre distraction until the next download is made available. Fans of the Fallout 3 series should purchase this with no second-thoughts, it will do a good job at pumping them up for the next two DLC episodes; others may just want to wait.

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