Fallout 3 The Pitt Reviews

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This ghoul has seen it all
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A row of reviews for the Pitt notes that despite the SNAFU launch this DLC is better than O:A, except for Xbox 360 Achievements who liked O:A better than the Pitt, something I can only label "a good sign". GameSpy 4/5.<blockquote>"...And let this be an example of how not to replace humans with machines."

That was one of my favorite lines from my time playing The Pitt, the latest downloadable content expansion for Fallout 3, our 2008 Game of the Year. The simple act of unlocking a door and hacking a terminal to pick up some supplies led me to one of the expansion's more poignant and interesting stories. It wasn't even part of a conversation with a major NPC -- just the closing to one of Fallout 3's signature back stories, providing a flash of insight into this broken world. These final words provided another brief glimpse into one of the many lives that I'll remember for more than the skeletal remains they left behind, or the supplies I scavenged from their corpse.

If The Pitt is looked back on as a success, it will be because it manages to feel more like a story-driven role-playing game, unlike Operation Anchorage, Bethesda's previous foray into the world of downloadable Fallout 3 content. It sticks to the formula that made people happy, even if it does once again give you another lame reason to take away all your hard-earned gear. Ah well, look upon it as an opportunity to brush up on those melee and unarmed skills. You'll want to complete the quest that first sends you into The Pitt, after all, because you're a goodie two-shoes sort of character that thrives on racking up the good karma, right? (If not, there might be a big reward in it for ya.)</blockquote>Xbox 360 Achievements 7.<blockquote> Unfortunately, The Pitt's story suffers from pacing problems. Arriving in the Pitt in the guise of a slave, players will spend the majority of their time in the storyline climbing up the ranks of The Pitt's rugged society. However, once a certain level of prestige has been reached, the plotline suddenly accelerates to its conclusion, with an ending that feels too quick and tidy, and even though completing the story offers a few bonuses, there's nothing to see here once the quest is complete.</blockquote>Gaming Nexus B.<blockquote> Now, the DLC didn't start off nicely on the 360 side with the corrupted file that forced Bethesda to take it down for a day. Even with the updated file, there are still issues that linger. First off, lock ups can still occur as there are some reports that those with level 20 are experiencing it if you have completed all the quests. There are also parts of the game where you can have it freeze on you. Reports of corrupted save files after a speech by Asher has also shown up. I’ve experienced weird slowdowns and stutters on some areas of the game that others have talked about. Also, I've seen items just floating in the air but that's not as big of a deal as I've seen that happen a few times in the core game. It's a little disheartening to have these happen as the Pitt was delayed a bit to try to iron these things out. Unfortunately, we still have some pretty sever bugs that can ruin your experience.</blockquote>Cheat Code Central 4.1/5.<blockquote> The Pitt certainly offers some really enjoyable, story-driven content and different types of situations to explore, but it is slightly lacking in terms of new goodies and adversaries. The Trogs are nasty, slathering beasts that you'll run into in large numbers often when you're poorly armed. Unfortunately, they're the only real new creature you'll face and are easily dispatched with the Man Opener's spinning saw blades. You can also pick up some new armor variations and a cool, high-powered scoped machine gun, among other things. Since Operation Anchorage left you with access to a treasure trove of powerful weapons and armor, it makes sense to find The Pitt reward players with its overall experience instead of a mere loot dump.</blockquote>
 
I'm not done with The Pitt yet because I only get to play in 20-30 minute sessions I sneak in before work (the weekend should free up some time though) and so far it is my favorite, which is what I expected. Anchorage was clever and it was an interesting change of pace, like saying "look, we can make a call of duty style game with the engine" but lacked merit beyond that and turning one of my characters into an ultra high tech sniper.

The Pitt has a lot more flavor so far, the factories look great and overall I like the armor remixes and new elements. Trogs are cool but they pretty much crawl at you so sometimes you dont see them until they are knawing on your ankles. I prefer the Auto Axe over the Ripper, I always thought the FALLOUT 3 ripper looked too much like a turkey carver while the Auto Axe looks more like a power tool. I should be done with it soon so I'll let you guy's know.

The problem is that this is the expansion I was excited for, the next one just does not draw me as much since I'm not really into "high level play" in any game. I mean I avoided the main plot a lot and I still was not at level 20 when I finished, and even in the original fallouts and other rpg's I tend to only level as much as necesary. You know, if I have to choose between finding everything and maxing every stat or starting a new character, I usually go with the other option. I'll probably pick it up to finish the series but I get more interested in new story over new levels.
 
Here's my review.
I beat the expansion in less than 2 hours. I don't know what they did in that fextra month they took, but this add-on is so short that it makes Operation:Anchorage look good in comparison.

Yeah the pit is dark and full of alot of well done atmosphere and you can feel it. However in the main design of the town there are a few problems.
1. It's too small. There's a slave area, a factory, a junkyard, and then a slaver area. The slave area (the first you encounter) is a joke. It's a courtyard, a lady's apartment, some stocks and a woman dishing out food from a bowl. No real depiction of where all these slaves are being kept.
2. It's too damn small. The design of the slaver area and the junkyard are full of alot of detail, but it's all really crammed in tight. The whole area feels like a big CTF map from HL2 or some other FPS.

But the main problem I have is that the quest is too short and rather idiotic. If you pick the good route, you start as a slave, get some items, kill some people in the arena, make the big moral decision of the quest, kill some more, and then your done. Nothing else. Sure there are 2 extra bonus (bring me back X items and I'll give you a reward) quests, which seem to be pointless and very reminicent of the scrap metal quests in the main game.
Now it feels like whoever wrote this also wrote the Tenpenny/Ghouls quest cause the same themes come up. That whole good path=death/idiocy/general wrongness.
I played the good path and at the end I felt stupid for picking it. By siding with the slaves, I basically doom the city. Now this twisted path might be intentional to get a dark feel to it, but it feels like the writers thought this was a good/happy ending. -_-

Finally, nothing changes at the end.
I killed the slavers and brought about a slave rebellion. And afterwards what happened? The damned slaves kept working!! They still trudged about in the factory, and labored all around. They even kept blurting out their "whipped slave" dialog when I talked to them! My actions had no discernable effect on the area aside from the death of the slaver NPCs. That's it. No "Yay, thank you" audio files, no "freedom" quips. Hell, the slaver who you trade steel ingots to for items is still there! They don't swap him for a slave; rather the bastard is allowed to live, as I assume the slaves got pissed off about him being set as immortal as well.

This expansion is skippable as it adds very little and it dissapoints greatly. I didn't love O:A, but this one is a PoS. It's got me honestly worried about the next one.
 
as mentioned already many times before. Someone who did NOT really liked Fallout 3 will probably not have that much (more) fun out of the "Pitt". Cause of most of the ponits that you mentioned. Many of it can be seen in Fallout 3 as well. To short, to bad written/executed. The small towns and areas that you have to ask your self how they even defend and feed them self is a issue not only present in the Pitt. They seem not to have much left for words like "verisimilitude".
 
I agree that it wasn't very the best. but I think it's slighty better then fallout 3. Alot of wasted potenal however.
 
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