A bunch more reviews. GameBanshee 6.4.<blockquote>The set-up is decent enough, if a little unlikely. It was nice to see the Outcasts get into the spotlight, since they got so little play in the main campaign, and fighting Chinese soldiers in the mountains of Alaska is also nice, just because it’s so different from everything else in the game. But the problem, or perhaps I should say one of the problems, is that Bethesda created the content so it could be completed by almost any character (you can actually trigger the quest at level 2, immediately after leaving Vault 101), and that means everything about it is easy for advanced characters.
Let me give you some examples. You start the VR simulation with a knife and a 10mm pistol, which aren’t exactly the most powerful weapons in the game. But you can complete the entire simulation with just those two weapons if you want, and not have too many troubles. If you actually use the assault rifle or the sniper rifle or the new gauss rifle that you can find, then the Chinese soldiers will go down like weeds versus a weed whacker. Or how about this? Bethesda actually took out the need to scrounge for bullets, or to collect stimpaks, or to keep your equipment repaired. Instead, you find “health dispensers” and “ammo dispensers,” and the dispensers are so liberally placed that you can spray bullets around all you want, and you don’t have to bother with sneaking or using cover at all. If you like playing action games in god mode, then this is about as close as you can get without having to use a console cheat. </blockquote>Gaming Nexus C+.<blockquote> The problem I have though with the missions in the DLC is that the game tries to be an action FPS when Fallout 3 clearly is not one and doesn't feel like one in the first place. I know Bethesda is trying something different with Operation Anchorage but the gameplay just doesn't feel right. I shouldn't be running around and gunning like I was in Quake or Unreal Tournament. Yes, you can try to sneak around and take enemies out quietly but there's little or lack of any role playing other than that. You can't repair anything, you don't have to worry about picking up health or ammo, and you don't have to use much strategy other than going in guns blazing to finish the act. It took me roughly 2.75 hours to get through the entire thing as the progress is pretty linear so it's also short. In retrospect, it falls short when trying to be an action game.</blockquote>IncGamers 6.5.<blockquote>Gameplay-wise the mechanics stay the same - I still haven’t tired of seeing someone’s head explode in a mess of gore and eyeballs and there are quite a few enemies to deal with in Operation Anchorage. Unfortunately, the range of enemies is not particularly diverse. There are your standard goggle wearing Chinese grunts, the rather nifty looking Predator-camouflaged Crimson Dragoon elite troops and a tank, with the latter being the most disappointing. I was expecting a large-scale brawl with the tanks but after a damp squib of a set piece they were never to be seen again. Bah!</blockquote>And finally an editorial from the Escapist going over the problems of getting the DLC to run, again, and offering solutions.<blockquote> The problem seems to be that after you download and install the game, and even after the Games For Windows client has told you that it's been installed, the DLC doesn't seem to go into effect in-game. Technically, you should be able to wander to a certain spot in the Wasteland, whereupon you'll pick up a mysterious radio signal that will lead to the new content. For a number of players, however, that radio signal never shows up.</blockquote>
Let me give you some examples. You start the VR simulation with a knife and a 10mm pistol, which aren’t exactly the most powerful weapons in the game. But you can complete the entire simulation with just those two weapons if you want, and not have too many troubles. If you actually use the assault rifle or the sniper rifle or the new gauss rifle that you can find, then the Chinese soldiers will go down like weeds versus a weed whacker. Or how about this? Bethesda actually took out the need to scrounge for bullets, or to collect stimpaks, or to keep your equipment repaired. Instead, you find “health dispensers” and “ammo dispensers,” and the dispensers are so liberally placed that you can spray bullets around all you want, and you don’t have to bother with sneaking or using cover at all. If you like playing action games in god mode, then this is about as close as you can get without having to use a console cheat. </blockquote>Gaming Nexus C+.<blockquote> The problem I have though with the missions in the DLC is that the game tries to be an action FPS when Fallout 3 clearly is not one and doesn't feel like one in the first place. I know Bethesda is trying something different with Operation Anchorage but the gameplay just doesn't feel right. I shouldn't be running around and gunning like I was in Quake or Unreal Tournament. Yes, you can try to sneak around and take enemies out quietly but there's little or lack of any role playing other than that. You can't repair anything, you don't have to worry about picking up health or ammo, and you don't have to use much strategy other than going in guns blazing to finish the act. It took me roughly 2.75 hours to get through the entire thing as the progress is pretty linear so it's also short. In retrospect, it falls short when trying to be an action game.</blockquote>IncGamers 6.5.<blockquote>Gameplay-wise the mechanics stay the same - I still haven’t tired of seeing someone’s head explode in a mess of gore and eyeballs and there are quite a few enemies to deal with in Operation Anchorage. Unfortunately, the range of enemies is not particularly diverse. There are your standard goggle wearing Chinese grunts, the rather nifty looking Predator-camouflaged Crimson Dragoon elite troops and a tank, with the latter being the most disappointing. I was expecting a large-scale brawl with the tanks but after a damp squib of a set piece they were never to be seen again. Bah!</blockquote>And finally an editorial from the Escapist going over the problems of getting the DLC to run, again, and offering solutions.<blockquote> The problem seems to be that after you download and install the game, and even after the Games For Windows client has told you that it's been installed, the DLC doesn't seem to go into effect in-game. Technically, you should be able to wander to a certain spot in the Wasteland, whereupon you'll pick up a mysterious radio signal that will lead to the new content. For a number of players, however, that radio signal never shows up.</blockquote>
