Fallout 3: Broken Steel Review (PS3)
I’ll admit two things straight off the bat: first, this is the first time I’ve ever reviewed downloadable content in the form of a story-extension, usually it’s the additional few maps affair, so hopefully I won’t balls this one up too much; secondly, I’m going into this with quite a lot of anticipation, Fallout 3 being one of only two games I’ve ever ‘Platinumed’ on the Playstation 3, the second being Quantum of Solace, but that was because it was really bloody easy. My guess is that if you’re reading this then you’ve probably played Fallout 3 before and most likely own it; that, or you enjoy my writing so bloody much that if I were to write about 18th Century Georgian architecture, you’d still find riveting. Which would be exciting if it wasn’t a bloody lie.
If you didn’t know, Broken Steel, whilst being the third downloadable content released chronologically, is the first released on the Playstation Network, having been released on the 24th September. Broken Steel wangles its way into existance by using its magical false-memory syndrome machine and altering the end of the game. If you activated Project Purity and consequently suffered quite an agonising Chernobyl-inspired death, you didn’t. You actually fell into a coma and awoke two weeks later. A tactic lifted out of the Most Generic Soap Ever, (read: Eastenders for those of you British enough to have seen it). The level cap is lifted from 20 to 30, which is brilliant for those who’d completely searched every knook and cranny of the normal, boring basic game. However, and I’m not sure how this will pansout for other people, at the end of Broken Steel I was still only a level 24. This may fair differently for people who didn’t reach the level 20 cap/didn’t complete the game, as I’m fairly sure that there was a good few levels-worth of experiences points wasted when I’d reached 20.
The first thing I noticed is that Dogmeat has returned to me. After having him for about five minutes, sending him to get some weapons and never seeing him again. That’s how it is, is it Dogmeat? Actually, I accidentally killed him whilst fighting some of the Enclave, I feel sort of bad now. Anyway, Elder Lyons informs you that you’re in the Citadel, a Knight of the Brotherhood of Steel and Sentinel Lyons is injured, yet still alive and lying suspiciously scantily clad on her bed, making you wonder if she’s actually injured at all; I’m not sure what she did, I mean it’s you that encountered near-lethal amounts of radiation, she probably just fell down the stairs of the rotunda. The Enclave are dead hooray! Well, nearly. There are apparently remnants still level, a cutting parallel to the war in Iraq perhaps? Apparently, while you’ve been out a cold, a lot’s been going on but I’ll leave you to play the game for that.
The first quest, however, makes you walk to the most south-westerly point on the map for some totally arbitrary reason. I understand that the Enclave and the Brotherhood of Steel don’t want to be in close proximity of each other, but it shouldn’t take a three-day hike to get anywhere near close to them. However, in the second quest, which takes you to Olney, the name still sending shivers down my spine, there’s a building you find yourself in after going through the Olney underground and encountering countless Deathclaws. This building, the name of which escapes me, captures the ‘feeling’ of Fallout 3 the best of any location I’ve encountered. Sure, derelict, partially destroyed buildings certainly look cool, but this one is different. It’s what seems to be an old office block, but the West hand side is partially collapsed, with a faint aura of dust in the air and the sound of wind blowing through the windows. This, my friends, is what it feels like to be in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Only in here, has it genuinely hit me how completely fucked humanity really is; in this one building, Bethesda has managed to capture the entire essence of what makes Fallout 3 such a good title.
At one point, the details of which I won’t go into for your sake, there is sequence which puts the destroying of Megaton, from Tenpenny, to shame. On that note, you’re handed the best weapon on a plate, a weapon that ends up being almost more fun than the Fat Boy. Well, close enough. At least this one has an almost infinite amount of ammunition; I’m talking about the Ion Cannon, the beast can shoot down Vertibirds for Christ’s sake, although that name has never really sat comfortably with me. Birds are known for their flight, which is generally partaken on both the horitzonal and vertical axis, it’s a bit like calling it ‘wet-water’ or ’stupid Twilight fangirl’.
I guess the best way to tie up this review would be a buy or not to buy verdict. I bought Fallout 3 in January of this year for a mere £18, so even including the extra £8.00/$9.99 of Broken Steel, one of my favourite games ever is also one of the cheapest games ever. Alas, £8 is quite a lot for what is essentially five more quests, and it’s a shame they’re not releasing all of the new DLCs as a single bundle. Well, they might yet, but they are releasing a Game of the Year edition later this month at £29.99 or $56.99. Assuming all of the to-be-released DLC is £8’s a-piece, you might as well sell your retail copy and go out and buy the GOTY. If you can be bothered, that is.
On second thought: buy it. Because Bethesda are such lovely people.
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