DLC I Beat: Operation Anchorage

Fallout 3 Operation Anchorage
Reverse Engineered RPG
1 Player
 System: Xbox 360
Developer: Bethesda Softworks
Year of Release: 2008
Beaten: November 11th, 2015 (and sometime in 2008!)

Fallout 3 bastardized the series pretty hard. Going from a classic infinity engine inspired RPG to a post apocalyptic Elder Scrolls with guns. It did reignite a fan following for the series though, even if many still cannot get into, or flat out dislike the original two, either way, Fallout 4 is THE game right now. Unfortunately a day after release and I still haven't been able to pick it up. I'd been playing Fallout 3 prior to release because, well, I was pretty fucking excited to head back to the wasteland. Little did I know I'd still be playing after 4 came out, like a sad little drug addict.

I've gotten about half way through the game again, my weapons were breaking, both my ammo and funds were dwindling quickly. I've just met up with the Brotherhood of Steel (RIP dad... spoilers?) and learned the art of power armor wearing, which just so happens to be part of the reward for finishing this first chunk of DLC, Operation Anchorage. Actually, a veritable treasure trove awaits. So I headed out to help the Outcasts, an offshoot of the Brotherhood (I think), which starts the whole thing.

The group you run into is under attack, and tell you to help or fuck off. Helping here is actually kind of annoying. I had to restart about three times because if a single stray shot hits an Outcast they apparently turn on you. And of course the super mutants they're attacking almost all use melee weapons guaranteeing friend and foe grouping close together. The encounter isn't hard, it's adjusted to your level I believe, just kind of annoying. Afterwards they notice your pipboy and send you through. I happened to be wearing a suit of their armor (while I was browsing the wares (slowly stealing everything out in the open) of a local merchant a huge explosion went off, I turned in time to see a large batch of cars exploding on the highway I'd just come from. I headed down, and low and behold an entire group of Outcasts had blown themselves to smithereens. So I looted their bodies. Honest!), and the guard mentioned it, clearly pissed off about it. The dialogue is fairly weak in this game, but little touches like that help make up for it.

You're quickly filled in on the situation. They've found this building with some pre-war tech locked away. The key is to apparently complete an simulation. Only the simulation is set to kill you in real life if you die inside, and the simulation can only be run by someone with a wrist mounted computer. That's where you come in. So you oblige the guy, because, duh, treasure, put on some fancy techno suit and hop in the simulation. Before going any further with this, I just want to point out something that kind of bugs me. It doesn't detract from the DLC at all, but they really don't play up the simulation aspect of this. No real glitches occur (occasionally there's a "digital" effect, but, eh), nothing too extraordinary happens, you just run through a fairly standard simulation. Just a bit disappointing.

Suddenly Fallout 3 goes from open world RPG to linear FPS, but maintains it's clunky gun play. I'll admit, when this first came out and I played it, and quickly realized what they were going for I wasn't a fan. "What the hell do they think they're doing?" I remember asking myself. At some point (I've replayed this DLC probably four times now somehow, it's only about two hours long at least) it started to click with me though. The game isn't built for this kind of gameplay, but this is the way to handle it. Guns don't degrade, they aren't your guns, you don't have any healing items, health and ammo depots are strewn about the levels, you pick up a weapon set before heading out, enemies vanish on death, you can't loot anything. Everything is stripped down. The only thing to really look for are these ten intel packs that are almost all fairly obviously placed, the first might honestly be the most well hidden away.

I realize I haven't mentioned what this simulation even entails. Operation Anchorage may very well be the name of the program your character experiences. Sometime before/during the war, China had invaded Alaska, and this simulation is the last few missions of that particular battle. You start off blowing up some anti-air artillery, here you meet your constant companion Sergeant Montgomery who can't die and is quite helpful. From there you warp back to base, where you then have the "choice" between destroying a listening post, and destroying a tank depot, both objects need doing though. You get a small squad of soldiers here that you can actually customize, you don't control them, but back up is appreciated. This is all just linear FPS stuff, move forward, kill, restock and heal when you can, kill some more. It shouldn't, but it somehow works well enough. There were even a few tense moments, with just a few bars of health left peaking around the corner getting head shots and dodging bullets just barely.

The finale sees you into the trenches, lots of enemies jumping around corners and explosions galore. Again, just keep moving. It's a fairly standard set up for an FPS style game, but it works, I think the clunkiness might actually work for it, because (at least for me personally) I never expected them to go this route with it. A mine field is stopping all the armored units from moving in, but you can very easily disable it and storm the base. You see a Chinese general kill an American soldier before speaking with you. In classic Fallout style you can speech check your way out of a fight, resulting in the general killing himself to avoid capture, or he comes at you with a ton of health and an electro-sword. After he falls everything freezes and the general walks up to you, congratulating you for finishing the mission.

Stepping out of the simulation the leader of the Outcasts asks you to open the armory, and promises you whatever tech you want from the collection. Of course earlier you encountered a real dick head member of the group (seriously, his voice just screams "I'm going to fuck this all up later!") and he argues with the leader. Then it all went wrong. They fight, and I immediately help out the rational leader, but suddenly every other member has become hostile but the main guy. We wind up working together taking them all out, the only other ally, a simple Scribe, was found dead in the treasury. I tried speaking to the guy in charge again, but he just acted like everything was okay. Like he could just move forward from here, like everything was alright. I had to kill him, alright? He couldn't go on like that. And then I took everything.

On my way out, I realized the door man was still out there. He told me thanks for helping out with getting into that room. And then I killed him too. I couldn't have him spreading rumors about me, I'm no killer. And now I have a nice winterized power armor rotting away in my closet with all my other armors that I probably won't wear!

Somehow Operation Anchorage breaks through my preconceived notions and just works. It takes you on a tour of how the game could be set up, has a really fun background of "evil red Chinese attacking righteous American soil", and nets you some nice rewards. Alongside the aforementioned power armore lies a really powerful energy sniper rifle, some stealth armor and even that electro-sword the Chinese general had. It's short, fills in a bit of the lore, and pretty fun to boot. If you hadn't already played Fallout 3, or at least the expansions, the game of the year edition has everything, should be really cheap (especially now) and is still worth your time even now. I mean, yeah, Fallout 4 is out. But if you want more. Or are a schmuck like me and haven't gotten your copy yet.