Fallout 3, the hit role-playing action game from Bethesda Softworks, refuses to fade away. Not that we want it to. After all, the 2008 game scored an average of 93/100 on Metracritic, and keeps us coming back for more with decent downloadable content that adds new areas, missions and items to the game.
The first download, Operation Anchorage, felt somewhat divorced from the rest of the game, as a stand-alone run-and-gun campaign, while more satisfying The Pitt played like a traditional Fallout quest, but was still set in a different map (a slave camp in the ruins of Pittsburgh).
The third download pack, called Broken Steel, will arrive on May 5, 2009 for 800 points on Xbox 360 and PC. If you're thinking of dropping some Microsoft Points for it, here's what you need to know.
1. If you didn't like how Fallout ended, you can keep on going.
One of the biggest complaints about Fallout? Finish the main quest and the game comes to a screeching halt. If you haven't played through all of the side quests before that point, you are forced to load an older saved game and continue from there. Broken Steel removes the finality of the original ending and allows you to keep exploring.
2. Level cap raises from 20 to 30
In the regular game, characters can build skills and add perks, special permanent stat boosts, until they reach level 20. Now the level cap has been moved to 30. Pete Hines, VP of Public Relations for Bethesda, says it will be progressively more difficult to jump from level to level; to keep people more engaged in the experience. As you reach new levels, you will be allowed to select new Perks for your characters, including a new one called "Puppies!" which will let you get a new dog in case your canine companion Dogmeat gets killed during battle. Other new perks will unlock as you reach new levels, but the number or names of them have not been announced yet.
3. Ghouls aren't just low-level cannon fodder anymore
Broken Steel also brings more mutation madness with more challenging enemies like the Feral Ghoul Reaver -- a feral ghoul with armor and a tendency to toss grenades. Players will also run across Super Mutant Overlords, new Super Mutants with bigger guns and a bigger challenge to kill.
New, more powerful weapons, like a Tesla cannon that shoots a powerful laser, and armor will be available to combat these new, more powerful enemies.
4. Welcome to Adams Air Force Base
Broken Steel will unlock a new area called Adams Air Force base, where you start with a crate of supplies and your orders. The specific tasks weren't identified during the demo, but it will involve avoiding heavy incoming fire while strategically taking out soldiers, turrets and enemy helicopters. In another part of the expansion, players will also be able to check out the Presidential Metro Tunnel that runs underneath the White House.
5. There will be no more official Fallout endings.
This Xbox 360 and PC add-on promises to be a little longer than the previous two downloadable packs -- The Pitt and Operation Anchorage -- and, no, it will not add a new ending to the original story. Bethesda apparently plans to keep the doors wide open for many more add-on packs. Unless you own Fallout for PlayStation 3, that is. There is still no word whether Broken Steel or any other other additional content will come to Sony's gaming system anytime soon.
Reader Comments (5)
hey is it me, or does the Tesla look kinda like the human rocket launcher from the Halo games?
Jdrizzle, you have no idea what you are talking about so go back to the m$ propaganda pages and keep your mouth shut. The format the PS3 uses is older then what m$ and windows uses, there have been several programmers to come forward and say the PS3 is actually EASIER to program for then the m$ programs. You also state that the PS3 Cell processor has been proven to be inferior to the 360, I ask you to prove it, give me a link that was done by a true neutral 3rd party(I know there are hundreds if not thousands of m$ propaganda sites out there) where it proves your statement. As for the on-line multiplayer, m$ has had many many many more years to practice w/ that considering they started off with computers when it comes to that... So go back to your hole and stop spitting out propaganda you m$ fan-boy.
That Vegas Fallout game? Yeah, it's coming to Xbox as well, so thats not what PS3 gets. Also, pretty sure microsoft paid for the exclusivity of downloadable content, just like they did with GTA IV.
Strange you would say it crashes that much. Personally I haven't had a single crash after logging over 100 hours of gameplay on the Xbox 360 version and its DLC's. It's a shame its like that on PS3, but I'll give my opinion why - Not sure why PS3 gamers are getting the shaft...I'm sure there must be more things going on behind the scenes. It's wrong to think they're being greedy, as providing it to PS3 owners would increase overall revenue by allowing a whole new audience of gamers to purchase it. I can't imagine why they wouldn't want that...my opinion - some private politics between them and Sony related to how much of a cut Sony wants per download and the details of hosting it. Sony is sadly far, far behind Xbox live in terms of multiplayer community and sometimes it glaringly shows...and obviously they do know how to write good code...they wrote it for the 360 and windows which use many of the same components. This is one big reason why the 360 was designed the way it is. Sony chose to make some funky "unique" processor now shown to be inferior to the Xbox's as well as strange pipeline restrictions that make it very hard to either develop for or to convert. Conversion and a completely different development crew costs money...it just appears that many game companies don't feel the marginal revenue they might get from the PS3 community isn't worth the effort.
[rant] There are so many complaints with the way BethSoft made F3...granted, it is an absolutely fantastic game--- when it doesnt crash,glitch or decide you're not worthy. But all that is beside the point in my opinion. What I'd like to comment on is the fact that they 'passed the buck' on Playstation users. What I'm trying to convey is that 360 and PC owners get 3 add-ons, while PS3 owners get a new game set in Vegas...done by another developer. What the **** is wrong with Bethesda? Getting greedy like MS, or are they just too untalented to write proper code? As previously stated, F3 has more crashes than the Autobahn. Nuff said. Maybe Black Isle can do the PS3 justice...Time will tell. [/end rant/]