Rounding up a few of the remaining notable reviews. First of all, GameBanshee has as usual updated their Fallout 3 database with information on the latest DLC with equipment, achievements, a walkthrough, that sort of stuff. Here's their review, 6.3/10.<blockquote>Oddly, despite basing the setting on such RPG juggernauts as Space Siege and Space Hack, the campaign isn’t a lot of fun to play, and it sort of feels like Bethesda finished half of it and then said, “Eh, close enough.”
The Mothership Zeta DLC pack has a couple of fun sequences (including one battle where you essentially get to play pinball with the aliens), but most of its six-hour playing time is a boring slog consisting of killing the same things over and over again, looting the same things over and over again, and seeing the same sights over and over again. Unless that sort of repetition excites you, Mothership Zeta is a DLC pack to avoid.</blockquote>GameCritics.<blockquote>Far too much time is spent eliminating enemies in the cut-and-pasted environments, and as most Fallout players will agree, killing things is the least satisfying part of the game. The true value of the wasteland lies in the interesting situations players stumble into; the moral dilemmas and hard choices. Exploration and the desire to find out what lies around the next corner are another big reason why people spend so much time among the raiders and radscorpions—just wandering from place to place was endlessly rewarding. Unlike the superb Point Lookout which immediately preceded it, Zeta offers exactly none of these things, and ends up being the least enjoyable, least complex, and least interesting expansion Bethesda's offered.</blockquote>Gaming Nexus, C+.<blockquote>One of the things that Fallout 3 isn't very strong with is first person combat and here is another shortcoming of the DLC with Mothership Zeta doing nothing to improve on it. When the folks at Bethesda try to turn Fallout 3 into more of an action game, the results are usually not that good as it didn't work too well for Operation Anchorage, and it only fares a little better with Mothership Zeta. Trying to maneuver around and fight against a bunch of aliens can be a bit annoying as you get caught in different areas of the environment. I spent most of my time in VATS or just standing still and shooting while munching on alien bio-gels that help replenish your health significantly rather than try to run around dodging attacks. The Fallout 3 engine doesn't handle being a fast paced action game well, and here's where Mothership Zeta makes you spend most of your time in. Yes, there are a few spots of dialog and some minor puzzles to solve but the ratio of combat to role playing isn't balanced out well enough.</blockquote>Xbox360Achievements, 6/10.<blockquote>While Mothership Zeta's use of classic science fiction cliches could have been great, it feels flat and soulless in its execution. With a paper-thin story, bland environments a little too similar to old Sci-Fi movie sets, and none of the moral ambiguities and decision options that make the core game so great, Mothership Zeta simply lacks the impact of great expansions like Broken Steel or Point Lookout. Clocking in at 4-6 hours, with little to nothing to do upon quest completion, this piece of content can only be recommended to completionists and die-hard Fallout 3 fans.</blockquote>GameZone, 7.0/10.<blockquote>On the whole, it seems Mothership Zeta is a simple bit of entertainment that doesn’t last very long. Even if you don’t mind that it plays like a big shooting gallery, things tend to get rather tedious early on. There’s nothing that will keep die-hard fans from going nuts over it, but even they will be forced to admit that this is far from the highlight of Fallout 3.</blockquote>Thunderbolt, 7/10.<blockquote>However, in the end the fun factor that comes from the combat can’t be sustained over Mothership Zeta’s relatively short run-time. There’s just not a lot of variety here, and exploration is minimal. You can search containers for a few new items and look for audio logs from other captives on the ship, but it’s not all that exciting. The ship is definitely a cool place to navigate and seeing all of the different experimental devices is a high point, but looking at them is as far as the exposition will go. Everything still remains a mystery including a few of the new characters you meet. They seem interesting on the surface but beyond that there’s nothing else there so the story becomes extremely bland and monotonous.</blockquote>Extreme Gamer, 7.0/10.<blockquote>Mothership Zeta is another drastic change to the dreary old Wasteland. Unfortunately being abducted on an alien spacecraft is a lot less scary then it sounds. As you submerge yourself deep into this alien’s domain you will notice that Mothership Zeta is light on the story, aside from the initial setup, and focuses more on the combat side of Fallout 3. After spending a few hours navigating this structure and killing off alien after alien, I felt like something was still missing as the big bang ending crept near. The twist I thought was surely on its way never came and before I knew it I was back in the Capital Wasteland fighting off oversized scorpions and Mutants. Even though I feel a little let down, Mothership Zeta still strong points and is worth the purchase if you have enjoyed the other add-on content for the game.</blockquote>Game Vortex, 72%.<blockquote>Using the tried and true gameplay of the Fallout 3 core, Mothership Zeta expands on the formula with some new weapons, items, aid and apparel. While the variety of weaponry was nice, admittedly you'll really only need to use the Alien Atomizer, a single-handed energy weapon, because none of the enemies set before you are overly difficult.
So is Fallout 3: Mothership Zeta worthy of a download? Absolutely, but don't expect a difficult go of it. What you will get for your money is the originality (well, as far as the Fallout universe goes as least) of traveling to space for this latest mission.</blockquote>Gamers Daily News, 6.5/10.<blockquote>Ultimately, this means Mothership Zeta’s strong points are that it’s a fun way to kill a few hours, and it offers some really nice items for your character, both in terms of practical fighting with alien energy rifles and stylistic ’character design’ choices like the samurai outfit. This is good, because the rest of the DLC pack is poorly presented; minor to moderate glitches abound, and the layout of the ship sometimes encourages ’attrition’ shootouts; you line up opposite some aliens and take turns shooting one another. Combined with a laughably bad plot (it’s not even bad in a good way, it’s just bad), it’s fair to say the presentation isn’t why you’re buying Mothership Zeta. The real reason would be the new equipment, combined with a few hours of alien blasting being a good way to pass some time. While Mothership Zeta is probably the weakest of the DLC packs and hardly a fitting way to send Fallout 3 off, it is a decent experience and worth considering for purchase.</blockquote>
The Mothership Zeta DLC pack has a couple of fun sequences (including one battle where you essentially get to play pinball with the aliens), but most of its six-hour playing time is a boring slog consisting of killing the same things over and over again, looting the same things over and over again, and seeing the same sights over and over again. Unless that sort of repetition excites you, Mothership Zeta is a DLC pack to avoid.</blockquote>GameCritics.<blockquote>Far too much time is spent eliminating enemies in the cut-and-pasted environments, and as most Fallout players will agree, killing things is the least satisfying part of the game. The true value of the wasteland lies in the interesting situations players stumble into; the moral dilemmas and hard choices. Exploration and the desire to find out what lies around the next corner are another big reason why people spend so much time among the raiders and radscorpions—just wandering from place to place was endlessly rewarding. Unlike the superb Point Lookout which immediately preceded it, Zeta offers exactly none of these things, and ends up being the least enjoyable, least complex, and least interesting expansion Bethesda's offered.</blockquote>Gaming Nexus, C+.<blockquote>One of the things that Fallout 3 isn't very strong with is first person combat and here is another shortcoming of the DLC with Mothership Zeta doing nothing to improve on it. When the folks at Bethesda try to turn Fallout 3 into more of an action game, the results are usually not that good as it didn't work too well for Operation Anchorage, and it only fares a little better with Mothership Zeta. Trying to maneuver around and fight against a bunch of aliens can be a bit annoying as you get caught in different areas of the environment. I spent most of my time in VATS or just standing still and shooting while munching on alien bio-gels that help replenish your health significantly rather than try to run around dodging attacks. The Fallout 3 engine doesn't handle being a fast paced action game well, and here's where Mothership Zeta makes you spend most of your time in. Yes, there are a few spots of dialog and some minor puzzles to solve but the ratio of combat to role playing isn't balanced out well enough.</blockquote>Xbox360Achievements, 6/10.<blockquote>While Mothership Zeta's use of classic science fiction cliches could have been great, it feels flat and soulless in its execution. With a paper-thin story, bland environments a little too similar to old Sci-Fi movie sets, and none of the moral ambiguities and decision options that make the core game so great, Mothership Zeta simply lacks the impact of great expansions like Broken Steel or Point Lookout. Clocking in at 4-6 hours, with little to nothing to do upon quest completion, this piece of content can only be recommended to completionists and die-hard Fallout 3 fans.</blockquote>GameZone, 7.0/10.<blockquote>On the whole, it seems Mothership Zeta is a simple bit of entertainment that doesn’t last very long. Even if you don’t mind that it plays like a big shooting gallery, things tend to get rather tedious early on. There’s nothing that will keep die-hard fans from going nuts over it, but even they will be forced to admit that this is far from the highlight of Fallout 3.</blockquote>Thunderbolt, 7/10.<blockquote>However, in the end the fun factor that comes from the combat can’t be sustained over Mothership Zeta’s relatively short run-time. There’s just not a lot of variety here, and exploration is minimal. You can search containers for a few new items and look for audio logs from other captives on the ship, but it’s not all that exciting. The ship is definitely a cool place to navigate and seeing all of the different experimental devices is a high point, but looking at them is as far as the exposition will go. Everything still remains a mystery including a few of the new characters you meet. They seem interesting on the surface but beyond that there’s nothing else there so the story becomes extremely bland and monotonous.</blockquote>Extreme Gamer, 7.0/10.<blockquote>Mothership Zeta is another drastic change to the dreary old Wasteland. Unfortunately being abducted on an alien spacecraft is a lot less scary then it sounds. As you submerge yourself deep into this alien’s domain you will notice that Mothership Zeta is light on the story, aside from the initial setup, and focuses more on the combat side of Fallout 3. After spending a few hours navigating this structure and killing off alien after alien, I felt like something was still missing as the big bang ending crept near. The twist I thought was surely on its way never came and before I knew it I was back in the Capital Wasteland fighting off oversized scorpions and Mutants. Even though I feel a little let down, Mothership Zeta still strong points and is worth the purchase if you have enjoyed the other add-on content for the game.</blockquote>Game Vortex, 72%.<blockquote>Using the tried and true gameplay of the Fallout 3 core, Mothership Zeta expands on the formula with some new weapons, items, aid and apparel. While the variety of weaponry was nice, admittedly you'll really only need to use the Alien Atomizer, a single-handed energy weapon, because none of the enemies set before you are overly difficult.
So is Fallout 3: Mothership Zeta worthy of a download? Absolutely, but don't expect a difficult go of it. What you will get for your money is the originality (well, as far as the Fallout universe goes as least) of traveling to space for this latest mission.</blockquote>Gamers Daily News, 6.5/10.<blockquote>Ultimately, this means Mothership Zeta’s strong points are that it’s a fun way to kill a few hours, and it offers some really nice items for your character, both in terms of practical fighting with alien energy rifles and stylistic ’character design’ choices like the samurai outfit. This is good, because the rest of the DLC pack is poorly presented; minor to moderate glitches abound, and the layout of the ship sometimes encourages ’attrition’ shootouts; you line up opposite some aliens and take turns shooting one another. Combined with a laughably bad plot (it’s not even bad in a good way, it’s just bad), it’s fair to say the presentation isn’t why you’re buying Mothership Zeta. The real reason would be the new equipment, combined with a few hours of alien blasting being a good way to pass some time. While Mothership Zeta is probably the weakest of the DLC packs and hardly a fitting way to send Fallout 3 off, it is a decent experience and worth considering for purchase.</blockquote>
