Game Review: 'Fallout 3: Operation Anchorage'

Billy O'Keefe - Mclatchy -Tribune News Service

Fallout 3: Operation Anchorage

For: Xbox 360 and PC

Requires: Fallout 3

From: Bethesda Softworks

ESRB Rating: Mature (blood and gore, intense violence, sexual themes, strong language, use of drugs)

The liberation of Anchorage, Alaska, from an invading Chinese army has been a source of in-game whispers and references since the original "Fallout" debuted more than 11 years ago, but the $10 "Operation Anchorage" add-on marks the first time fans have been able to experience the event through their own eyes and thumbs.

As such, the first of three downloadable "Fallout 3" add-ons is also the most acute in its target audience. Its ties to the "Fallout 3" storyline are threadbare - you'll visit Anchorage via a simulation that exists inside the present setting of Washington, D.C. - and outside of experience points and some new weaponry and armor, little that happens within carries over to rest of the game.

The upside to all that autonomy is that "Anchorage" is free to play by some of its own rules. Standard "Fallout 3" protocols apply, but "Anchorage" puts you in the middle of a war rather than a solitary trek across a post-nuclear wasteland, and the extreme emphasis on combat - including skirmishes alongside a hand-picked team of comrades and showdowns against an army's worth of devious human and vehicular adversaries - lies in stark contrast to the rest of the game's affinity for solitary discovery.

The downside to that upside? Not all of it works. Bethesda compensates "Anchorage's" bloodlust by making it a too easy to stay alive and equipped without really earning it. Whereas "Fallout 3" has you scraping for ammo and medical supplies however you can, "Anchorage" spoils you with recharge bins that replenish both without limit. Beyond those bins, 10 intel suitcases and some explosives that are harder to pick up than they should be, nothing in the environments can be scavenged for later use.

Fortunately, while "Anchorage" unquestionably takes you down a more linear path than "Fallout 3's" missions typically do, you still have the freedom to fight as stealthily, loudly or mischievously as you wish. Per usual, certain characters are off-limits and cannot be killed, and there's no way to change the ending of a battle that's already entrenched in "Fallout" lore. But how you reach the end of "Anchorage's" not-quite-four-hour runtime is largely your call.

Bethesda has confirmed two more downloadable packs for "Fallout 3," and both appear to deal more directly with the main storyline than "Anchorage" possibly can. Overwhelmingly, this is a fun piece of one-shot fan service that anyone can enjoy but only a select audience of long-time fans will truly appreciate. If you're not in the latter camp and simply are in it for the new enemies, weapons and armor, it's important keep that in mind.

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