Finally finished the goty edition.I'am glad i didn't have to pay separatly for those content, or the full release price.
It good not to be hurry...
1. The Pitt (good)
Amongs all the DLC and the main game, that was the part i remember i enjoyed the most.
- There is a good ambiance/scenery. Plus, the visual aspect is consistant with the story and the setting.
- The place in accessed by some kind of world travel, which released me from that open world's crap.
- Almost all locations that you explore are relevant to the story. Even those who aren't much provide some nice feelings. So you don't feel you're wasting your time.
- The story/quest have step that allows you to discover the locations/characters/situations one by one, in a way that is intriguing and always relevant in the big picture.
- The characters that are underdevellopped help you to understand how the city works, so they serve a purpose.
- The setting with slavery and the contagion are nice. So is the baby cure. Plus, it makes you care about it.
- There is a good twist when you learn that Werner is worst than Ashur.
- This is the only part of the game that doesn't crash much. (but still does)
- Everything seems rushed at the moment you meet Ashur.
- The two endings seems not to differ enough. In the end, the slavery continues and the cure is not found yet.
- Not enough post-main quest content.
- It make the rest of the game even more awfull knowing that they could deliver that kind of setting.
- It is still lower than other games standards. (FNV and previous Fo, others post-apo RPG/FPS...)
2. Mothership Zeta (average)
Contrary to most of users, i, since the beginning, entairtained the idea that one of the subsequents Fallout would make the aliens appear as characters/creatures/factions.
They were presents in almost all previous games, in specials encounters or dead bodies, and fit with the SF parodic aspect that Fallout always had (with or without wild wasteland).
Plus, they aren't canon breaking IMO, as they keep a low profile, and are from a distant place, not targetted from the war.
So, in that aspect, Bethesda satisfied my wish in a way that is not much offensive.
- If we can go past the fact it is not an RPG, nor a strong story, i appreciate that the situation evolve every step of the way. It is not just a straight shooting without purpose.
(Evasion from cells, discovery of the ship, realeasing of the prisoners, progress in the ship with those, uncovering experiments, path to the captain, fight agains't the captain, space ships fight)
- All places seems relevants, both in the Sally's plan and in the way the ship is processed.
- All those places are differents. It is not the same metro with the same ghouls.
- The ending is epic, with that ship battle and every characters on the line. Silly, but epic.
- I am satisfied by the way aliens are depicted.
- Abomination are a little surprise, but at least, the twist is positive, and give aliens a purpose.
- While not great, the characters had some good traits. Plus they resisted the english speaking samourai with bad accent. And Sally is not a jerk.
- Like the characters from the past on stasis stuff.
- The aliens recordings and brahmins stuff help a lot on the fun/mystery aspect.
- You don't ask yourself why you would undertake those quests. (need that dream crusher perk... Too bad there's not gonna be a second Fo3 playthrough)
- It is definitally not an RPG DLC. It is a FPS with no hurry.
- The characters are underdevelloped. (too bad Somah is not able to say she's a slaver, thanks to a corrupted skill check...)
- There is nothing original. (at all)
- It can't say there is a strong storyline beyond surviving, killing aliens, uncover experiments, and escaping. (but it is at least entertainting)
- It could have been easily more fun, with competents writters.
- Sally knows too much about areas she's never been.
- Bethesda didn't took any risk on that DLC. So the success is moderate.
- Considering those bad aspects, the fact this addon is second becomes itself not reassuring.
3. Point Lookout (poor)
I put this DLC above Broken Steel only because it bring more content, and a little more quests but it found myself pretty disapointed by this DLC.
- The setting is different from Capital DC.
- There are moderate RPG aspects.
- There are trees
- Swampfolks are an interesting concept. But it is just a concept, like almost everything in Fo3.
- The Mother punga sequence is very nice on a self contained level. The problem is that it don't fit with the rest of the game. Fo3 is not about psychology or alternate realities.
- Ghoul safari seems a nice gameplay concept, but it was no point being there.
- I liked the way they chose to unlock safer in the people bank. Too bad it is one of the place that crashes the most. (i may have restarted the game 30 times on a single trip (i had all the relevant holodiscs))
- Most quests seems meaningless. Who Cares about Desmond/Calvert as they are both the same jerk and you learn nothing more from them that you'll already knew after the first encounter ? What the point of doing the chinese spy quest, as war is long over, chinese are supposed to be ennemies and the only ones encountered were only hostiles to the players ? So much fuzz for a book ? Is the lone wanderer a believer ?
- Almost all quests are disapointing in the end. You can't work for Calvert. Sparing or killing Desmond is meanlingless, morally, offer no reward (he authorizes you to loot), and you learn nothing more except that you could use another bullet on him. The only quest that matters is solved by Nadine. And Tobar just say some sarcasm before becoming a permanent guest on what was his ship (that he gave easily). You gain nothing except stuff, from the spy quest.
- All spawmpfolk are hostiles.
- There is almost none living in the dock. I get that there was an intention to feel cheated by the postal card, but no fucking dock inhabitant is a shame.
- Actual speaking character are few and far between, and seems unlikely to be there, as the crippled old man, the merchant with no memory, or the ghoul safari, that none could step across.
- Too much useless places, like in Fo3.
- It's like all the low points of Fo3, on a different "city".
4. Broken Steel (poor. Not really a DLC)
I won't say much about the last two DLC as they are, IMO those who received the least care.
Broken Steel had the nice initiative to make the game world change after the main quest ending, but, beyond it, is doesn't bring any strong story or new setting.
- Bigsley became one of my favorite characters of Fo3, as he keep shouting at loud about all the nonsense around him. (a remainder of the great ability Fallout series had to break the fourth wall in a good way)
- Water caravans are a nice addition. I would have prefered that they would actually go to some cities, instead of wandering randomly on the waste, but i won't blame the writers on this. The engine is to be blamed.
- Jefferson Memorial and Rivet City Entrance become more active.
- You get ONE challenging battle agains't the Enclave.
- You learn nothing more about the Enclave, nor you can join them.
- The Feral Ghoul Reaver and the Albinos radscorpions ruined any balance that the game could have. I hate the former.
- The Enclave quests are just FPS, with no story beyond. (some part were nice, the rest was just boring. Shoot, shoot and more shoot)
- The Caravans quests were silly in a way. So much fuzz for something that lost any price value...
- They actually SOLD it as a separate content ? I see the whole thing as a simple patch, with 2 missions...
5. Operation Anchorage (only bad)
I am not sure you could balance anything up, except that the intro scenery is nice... Ho, and it is on par with the Pitt for not crashing much...
- A pure FPS, not an RPG.
- A missed opportunity to give depth to chinese. (always hostile taunting faction, like Talon & muties)
- A missed opportunity to give more depth to BOS Outcast. (and even with a grunt who prefer killing his friends than giving to you his toys)
- Contrary to Mothership Zeta, the missions seems random, and the ending is anti-climatic.
- The Jingheï fight is silly, underwelming and quickly boring. Same for the dialogs. He is the leader of an entire faction, for god's sake.
- The DLC is boring after 5 minutes and done after 2 hours.
- What the point of that quest ? The war is over and the BOS outcast won't use that tech anyway...
- You learn nothing about Anchorage, as Constantine invented everything.
- The latter is the only character that seems to matter as he's lying veteran, but no more depht is given beyond the initial concept.
- I am not even sure if all american soldiers behaviors are supposed to be parodic or heroic... (considering they are the proto-enclave i would say the former, but i am not sure Beth got it...)
In the end, the Vanilla Game vary between moderate and horrible, but i took some risks and added many content that could be used for New Vegas modders (Fo3 crashes too much) so i'll put it right after The Pitt. But the Mothership Zeta was entertaining.
