Saturday 23 October 2010

Operation: Anchorage

Hey there, im Sean and i play the PS3. all my posts will be in yellow and I hope you enjoy, anyway onto Operation: Anchorage

Following the unprecedented success of Fallout 3, Bethesda decided to grace us with some extra download able goodies. That's where Operation: Anchorage comes in! The first of the Fallout 3 Expansions, Operation Anchorage adds a team based theme to the game.

So here's the story. Da Lone Wanderer (or Pedro, as he is known on mine) is shuflin' around in the wastes like usual, when he comes across a strange radio broadcast from inside DC ruins. The signal tell him to go to Baileys Crossroad (but is actually supposed to be a secret). With a bit more shuflin' through some ghoul infested underground, you reach the secret rendezvous point. Greeting you with open arm (you wish) is the horribly pessimistic and often hurtful Outcast, who basically tell you to fuck off. However, seeing the Pip-Boy on your arm, they hatch a fiendish plan to use you to their own ends, possibly culminating in you being maimed or killed. However, that's by-the-by. You go inside and meet McGraw, who tells you that they are there to get some AWESOME gear from a locked cupboard. The only way to get into said cupboard is to do a military grade virtual reality simulator, that  plays out America's greatest victory in the war, Anchorage (you can see that memorial near Grandma Sparkles). After strapping in to the do-hickey, you are sent into a deep sleep by the  watsa-majigg, and appear near thingy-bob. After many (three) daring missions, you defeat the Chinese and are sent back. You go to claim your reward, but for some inexplicable reason, some of the Outcasts do a mutiny against McGraw, and all the outcasts end up dead (some by your hand). You go back in and get a cool sword, a big gun, some sneaky invisible armor, a spiky knife and, best of all, a set of Winterized T51-b Power Armor. Cool. Job done!

As the game is only an add-on, the game play features are similar to the original, with some minor differences. One of the main ones is that in the simulator, you cannot actually pick up any ammo or stimpaks, as health and ammo are dispensed by big machines. Also, weapon are never fully owned. The dispensers are covered in a red glow, that makes it stick out like neon testicle. Also, the add-on gives the player the opportunity to command an elite squad of soldiers. This works like the companions (like Fawkes) in the full game, but on a bigger scale. This helps to add a twist to game and keep it fresh (even though it is entirely optional ).

However, it isn't without its faults. The biggest of these is the inability to use a current Fallout 3 save game (this is a recurring problem for all of the Fallout Add-On's). You see, when Bethesda made the add-ons, they neglected to make sure all of the files were fully compatible with the old game. It can be run with an existing save, however, this causes graphical issues, freezing and, unfathomably, it actually makes the Add-On more difficult. This could easily be sorted by a patch on PC, but on a PS3 like mine, this can be very irritating (a fact that Ethan WILL relish). The only way to solve this is to start new, and delete your possible level 20.

So, if you loved starting new games on Fallout 3, or were particularly fast at leveling, or don't mind trying to kill impossible enemies, I strongly recommend you getting any of the expansions, especially Operation: Anchorage. However, if you really don't want to do any of the above, I'd steer clear. But if you stay away from it for just that reason, you're a fag. Just start new. It isn't very hard.                     

6.8/10

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