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Fallout 3 - More Operation: Anchorage Reviews

by Dhruin, 2009-01-28 22:34:41

Two more new Operation: Anchorage reviews, with neither being won over.  Let's start with VideoGamer.com, who call it "Falllout 3 vs Call of Duty: Winter Edition". The score is 6/10 and here's a taste:

What this essentially means is that you get to play through roughly four hours of Fallout 3 vs Call of Duty: Winter Edition. All role-playing elements of the game are completely scaled back, resulting in a simple first-person shooter with added VATS. There's very little in the way of pick-ups: ammo and health are now dispensed via little machines dotted around the maps, and because your enemies disappear when they die, it's impossible to loot corpses. As a result of these changes, and the fact that you are now fighting Chinese soldiers, it's quite remarkable how different it all feels from the Fallout 3 we know and love.

Unfortunately, in this case being different isn't a particularly good thing. Aside from the fun and games of VATS, combat was never Fallout 3's strong suit. Your enemies are as brain-dead as ever, and the chances are that you'll cut through them like a hot knife through butter. While you don't have access to any of your old equipment, your in-simulation character retains the same stats as your "real-world" adventurer - and indeed it's possible to level-up while you're playing. If you happen to be at a reasonably experienced stage when you join Operation Anchorage (we used a save at level 15) then you'll barely bat an eyelid, never mind break a sweat.

...and a site called The Reticule says "just don't buy it":

Escape this dull world of horrendous blue and grey, you’ll find yourself in… another horrendous world of blue and grey. Where Fallout 3 is pretty well stylised in this respect - it looks like a stereotypical barren wasteland - O:A is simply just horrific. The “squad choices” amount to little more than talking to that dull US soldier friend from the start of the simulation to choose what weapons they have. If you want squad control, go download the Enclave Commander mod. Hell, Bethesda even advertised it themselves weeks ago, clearly in anticipation of their failure. You then proceed to have the wonderful world of choice dangled in front of your eyes, only to realise you’re basically choosing little more than the order in which you follow a small number of linear paths. There’s a few nice touches along the way. It’s nice seeing the T-51b’s given their proper place once more especially. But nothing truly justifies either the financial cost. It’s not particularly long either - there’s a lot of people understandably annoyed at how short it is on the Bethesda forums. The rest are obviously having fun getting the darn thing running.

The Reticule also has this invaluable tip:

One useful little nugget of information for you all is the location of the actual game files. Following this procedure will allow you to play without GFWL running. Bliss:

Go to C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Xlive\DLC

From here, copy the .bsm files into C:\Program Files\Bethesda Softworks\Fallout 3\Data

And there you have it! You’ll be able to do everything normally as per the good old ways.

Meanwhile - though not a review - MTV Multiplayer is impressed so far.  On bodies disappearing so there is no looting:

I knew Bethesda’s downloadable content would be a different experience, but I hardly expected them to toy with gamers expectations for how they should play “Fallout 3.” If that’s the approach they’re taking with each of these downloadable expansions, I need to buy some more Microsoft Points.


Source: No Mutants Allowed

Information about

Fallout 3

SP/MP: Single-player
Setting: Post-Apoc
Genre: Shooter-RPG
Platform: PC, Xbox 360
Release: Released


Details