this dlc is only good because you get power armor and a gauss rifle that never breaks everything else is kinda boring
I was playing a melee character. So the loot after finishing the DLC was great :D I used that sword until the end.
WHAT A PIECE OF SHIT!
This DLC was so much fun. The story was quite creative.
Why did you think this was a good idea.
My least favourite FO3 expansion is ironically the one I enjoy talking about the most because it's uniquely terrible.
On the surface it's (ostensibly - I may be putting too much faith in the writers) a straightforward parody of what was, at the time, every shooter on the market: You are simultaneously a nobody and a legend, the entire US military cannot do anything without you, and there's no real way to engage with the world beyond murdering people in linear, grey hallways.
This is only aided by the in-universe notes/audio logs that make it obvious the simulation is massively detached from reality at the behest of an insane, sinophobic American general. So it's an in-universe parody as well an out-of-universe one.
There's just one big stinky winky dinky problem:
The parody doesn't work because the core of it is what Fallout 3 already is.
Fallout 3 at its core is a game where you walk through unwieldy shooting galleries in boring environments, endlessly massacring nearly everything you come across in areas that're 99% of the time either linear hallways or intersections that lead to linear hallways.
The only meaningful difference between OA and the game it's bolted onto is that Fallout 3 very occasionally pretends to be an RPG and lets you talk to someone. Even then, 9/10 times you either kill them or having a big prompt that lets you do so.
Perhaps what makes OA so much worse is that it's a thinly-veiled excuse to deposit some loot on you. Your incentive to do the DLC isn't "see this cool place", "free some slaves", "finish the main story" or "aliens, right?", no. You're told in no unclear terms that you should do this DLC for the loot that's in the vault. That's it.
I'll speak on it in more depth when I finish the actual Fallout 3 review, but the actual rewards you get really compound the game's overall issue with loot being meaningless. Namely, OA is perhaps the only part of FO3 that features a reward dump that isn't shit. The stealth armor, winterized T-51B, shocksword and gauss rifle are all excellent regardless of one's build, and given how easy OA is they're functionally free.
But there's a lot in the vault that I can only describe as nothing more than shelf-filling garbage. Upon slogging through OA and opening it, you'll be met with uh... A Chinese Assault Rifle, some ammo for it, and a Missile Launcher, alongside lots of mines and grenades. All incredibly common loot in the wasteland, to the point where I don't blame anyone for thinking the vault is bugged when they see so much trash loot.
And, all things considered, it probably is bugged or at least unfinished. As is the norm for Bethesda games, there's a bevy of cut content for this DLC and the vast majority of it is stuff that'd fit in the loot vault - most noticeably reskins of the sim weapons but without the bloated HP. Which would still be unremarkable, but at least it'd be unique - that simulation exclusive Chinese Assault Rifle looks gorgeous.
The extra 0.5 of a star rating only comes from me having played this through Tale of Two Wastelands, which makes it less of a slog (due to your armor's DT/DR outclassing that of your enemies) and fills the vault with all the aforementioned cut content - plus some other goodies.
The only saving grace to this DLC is that it's perhaps the first and only time I've agreed with people who're fans of Bethesda's Fallout: They hated it at release, so do I.
They still hate it in 2024, and so do I.
On the surface it's (ostensibly - I may be putting too much faith in the writers) a straightforward parody of what was, at the time, every shooter on the market: You are simultaneously a nobody and a legend, the entire US military cannot do anything without you, and there's no real way to engage with the world beyond murdering people in linear, grey hallways.
This is only aided by the in-universe notes/audio logs that make it obvious the simulation is massively detached from reality at the behest of an insane, sinophobic American general. So it's an in-universe parody as well an out-of-universe one.
There's just one big stinky winky dinky problem:
The parody doesn't work because the core of it is what Fallout 3 already is.
Fallout 3 at its core is a game where you walk through unwieldy shooting galleries in boring environments, endlessly massacring nearly everything you come across in areas that're 99% of the time either linear hallways or intersections that lead to linear hallways.
The only meaningful difference between OA and the game it's bolted onto is that Fallout 3 very occasionally pretends to be an RPG and lets you talk to someone. Even then, 9/10 times you either kill them or having a big prompt that lets you do so.
Perhaps what makes OA so much worse is that it's a thinly-veiled excuse to deposit some loot on you. Your incentive to do the DLC isn't "see this cool place", "free some slaves", "finish the main story" or "aliens, right?", no. You're told in no unclear terms that you should do this DLC for the loot that's in the vault. That's it.
I'll speak on it in more depth when I finish the actual Fallout 3 review, but the actual rewards you get really compound the game's overall issue with loot being meaningless. Namely, OA is perhaps the only part of FO3 that features a reward dump that isn't shit. The stealth armor, winterized T-51B, shocksword and gauss rifle are all excellent regardless of one's build, and given how easy OA is they're functionally free.
But there's a lot in the vault that I can only describe as nothing more than shelf-filling garbage. Upon slogging through OA and opening it, you'll be met with uh... A Chinese Assault Rifle, some ammo for it, and a Missile Launcher, alongside lots of mines and grenades. All incredibly common loot in the wasteland, to the point where I don't blame anyone for thinking the vault is bugged when they see so much trash loot.
And, all things considered, it probably is bugged or at least unfinished. As is the norm for Bethesda games, there's a bevy of cut content for this DLC and the vast majority of it is stuff that'd fit in the loot vault - most noticeably reskins of the sim weapons but without the bloated HP. Which would still be unremarkable, but at least it'd be unique - that simulation exclusive Chinese Assault Rifle looks gorgeous.
The extra 0.5 of a star rating only comes from me having played this through Tale of Two Wastelands, which makes it less of a slog (due to your armor's DT/DR outclassing that of your enemies) and fills the vault with all the aforementioned cut content - plus some other goodies.
The only saving grace to this DLC is that it's perhaps the first and only time I've agreed with people who're fans of Bethesda's Fallout: They hated it at release, so do I.
They still hate it in 2024, and so do I.
Exploring this worlds Alaska is interesting but it feels like kind of a bore.
Centering a DLC out of the game’s clunky gun play was certainly a choice, though it’s not nearly as much of a slog to get though as Mothership Zeta. The Gary glitch is also one of the funniest exploits in the games.
Games I Like That Everybody Else Dislikes
Like the other Fallout 3 DLCs... it's fine! If it doesn't totally crap out on you before dropping down to the framerate of a Viewfinder, that is. It truly wouldn't be the seventh gen if even Bethesda didn't have their own little CoD clone where literally all you do is mow down waves of enemies in grey wartime FPS combat. It's a neat change of pace - brisk and unfussy, plus you get some killer white Power Armor as a well-earned reward at the end of it. The Alaska maps look nice, and its shooting gallery combat is tight and consistent. Just wish it had even an ounce of interesting writing in counterbalance.
Like the other Fallout 3 DLCs... it's fine! If it doesn't totally crap out on you before dropping down to the framerate of a Viewfinder, that is. It truly wouldn't be the seventh gen if even Bethesda didn't have their own little CoD clone where literally all you do is mow down waves of enemies in grey wartime FPS combat. It's a neat change of pace - brisk and unfussy, plus you get some killer white Power Armor as a well-earned reward at the end of it. The Alaska maps look nice, and its shooting gallery combat is tight and consistent. Just wish it had even an ounce of interesting writing in counterbalance.
BORN IN 1993 - BEEN PLAYING GAMES FOR OVER 20 YEARS AND I CAN HONESTLY SAY THIS IS ONE OF THE WORST THINGS I HAVE EVER PLAYED IN MY LIFE
I CAN'T BELIEVE BETHESDA ACTUALLY MADE PEOPLE PAY FOR THIS
I COULD MAKE A BETTER CAMPAIGN IN DOOM SNAP MAP
I CAN'T BELIEVE BETHESDA ACTUALLY MADE PEOPLE PAY FOR THIS
I COULD MAKE A BETTER CAMPAIGN IN DOOM SNAP MAP
pretty fun seeing war in anchorage but the quest actually sucks
also very good weapons and armor at the end which can set you up for the rest of the game
also very good weapons and armor at the end which can set you up for the rest of the game
To this day, Operation Anchorage remains as one of Bethesda's most mediocre DLCs. Which is weird to me, because I hardly consider it to be forgettable.
I'll chalk that up to the artstyle though. Operation Anchorage, in contrast to the base game of FO3, is a DLC that solely aims to be a first-person-shooter, not some RPG hybrid. And how does that end up affecting the experience of playing through the whole thing?
Well, on an original FO3 copy on XBox 360, prolly not too fun lol. Every single time I have played this thing it has been as part of TTW, the total conversion mod for FNV coded to include FO3... aka, the definitive way of playing it. With QoL mods and certain modernization add-ons like weapon inertia, smoother aiming, and more, this DLC is at the very least... okay.
There's not much at all to write home about for OA from a gameplay perspective. All objectives amount to killing a bunch of dudes, pressing a key input on an object and... well, actually, that's it lol. The real reason I play through this thing EVERY TIME in a TTW playthrough is for that sweet loot at the end.
In the original release of FO3, OA featured a bugged suit of T-51b power armor that had infinite durability. This pretty much made you invincible on lower difficulties like normal... and lord above I would be lying if I said I didn't appreciate that this swift cut to endgame gear exists. I usually hit this DLC up even before I get to GNR, which REALLY bungles up gameplay progression for this game!
But who cares. It's a single player affair... I'll do what I want. Oh, and the gauss rifle is cool too. At the end of the day, OA is an expansion I play for 90 mins on autopilot that I end up liking it more than disliking it. But I cannot front... the mission design in this DLC is a joke.
I'll chalk that up to the artstyle though. Operation Anchorage, in contrast to the base game of FO3, is a DLC that solely aims to be a first-person-shooter, not some RPG hybrid. And how does that end up affecting the experience of playing through the whole thing?
Well, on an original FO3 copy on XBox 360, prolly not too fun lol. Every single time I have played this thing it has been as part of TTW, the total conversion mod for FNV coded to include FO3... aka, the definitive way of playing it. With QoL mods and certain modernization add-ons like weapon inertia, smoother aiming, and more, this DLC is at the very least... okay.
There's not much at all to write home about for OA from a gameplay perspective. All objectives amount to killing a bunch of dudes, pressing a key input on an object and... well, actually, that's it lol. The real reason I play through this thing EVERY TIME in a TTW playthrough is for that sweet loot at the end.
In the original release of FO3, OA featured a bugged suit of T-51b power armor that had infinite durability. This pretty much made you invincible on lower difficulties like normal... and lord above I would be lying if I said I didn't appreciate that this swift cut to endgame gear exists. I usually hit this DLC up even before I get to GNR, which REALLY bungles up gameplay progression for this game!
But who cares. It's a single player affair... I'll do what I want. Oh, and the gauss rifle is cool too. At the end of the day, OA is an expansion I play for 90 mins on autopilot that I end up liking it more than disliking it. But I cannot front... the mission design in this DLC is a joke.
Very linear, the characters have zero personality and they treat you like a god, doesn't have important lore or side content. only good thing is the OP powerarmor that you get when you beat this.
Cool concept, lame execution. There were basically no meaningful dialogue options. Felt like a CoD mission with Fallout gunplay, which is not the game's strongest pillar to lean on. The quest rewards were pretty great though.
Hallway simulator ft. free power armour
cool setting and idea but this was a slog, especially after all these years.
War, war never changes. Impractical spider tanks, health and ammo refilling stations... it doesn't matter the time or place... those things, never change.
people give this one shit but i actually loved it
Every single time I play Operation Anchorage I expect for it to be a relatively good experience but unfortunately it isn't, like a lot of Bethesda Fallout all I can think about when I play it is what could have been.
The general concept of a VR simulation of the battle of anchorage is not bad, they could've done something cool with it, maybe it was developed with Vault Tec to make a hyper realistic simulation powered by AI but it was shut down when the AI gained self awareness and now in the present you're trapped in a hyper patriotic AI simulation forced to do the bidding of a rouge artificial intelligence. Or alternatively they could've just made a game set in Anchorage where the battle between Chinese and American forces never stopped over the course of 200 years or tons of other ideas, but all we got was a shitty cod knockoff whose only redeeming quality is the Gauss Rifle, the sword, and the power armor.
The general concept of a VR simulation of the battle of anchorage is not bad, they could've done something cool with it, maybe it was developed with Vault Tec to make a hyper realistic simulation powered by AI but it was shut down when the AI gained self awareness and now in the present you're trapped in a hyper patriotic AI simulation forced to do the bidding of a rouge artificial intelligence. Or alternatively they could've just made a game set in Anchorage where the battle between Chinese and American forces never stopped over the course of 200 years or tons of other ideas, but all we got was a shitty cod knockoff whose only redeeming quality is the Gauss Rifle, the sword, and the power armor.
It's basically a hallway shooter, that feels like an FPS more than an RPG (although your skills still transition to the DLC, you are fairly limited in what you can do). It's fun to unwind and it's short duration is good, as well as the loot, however, it fails to be memorable or meaningful in the scope of Fallout 3.
QUEM DEIXOU A BETHESDA FAZER UMA CÓPIA BARATA DE CALL OF DUTY?
A maior qualidade dos jogos da série Fallout e da Bethesda como um todo vem da exploração e da rica construção do mundo e sua temática. O que acontece se você tira essas duas qualidade essenciais? ESSA DLC!
Ela é basicamente um simulador (não foi piada) de Call of Duty 4 só que ruim. As pessoas não jogam Fallout pela diversão que sentem com a gameplay das armas (que é horrorosa nesse jogo). Elas querem uma boa história e locais para ir e descobrir coisas que não viram antes.
Não existem segredos a serem descobertos (tirando as maletas de inteligência, se é que podem ser chamadas disso, já que ficam em locais ESCANCARADAMENTE VISÍVEIS ao jogador), locais diferentes para vasculhar, decisões a serem feitas. Todas as 3 quests são ABSURDAMENTE lineares, com um ou outro corredor para entrar e conseguir mais vida ou munição.
Não preciso nem entrar no mérito do por quê essa simulação desempenha o papel de uma chave, o que acho ridículo. Outro ponto a ser ressaltado é que não há nenhuma exploração dos "Outcasts", facção mencionada anteriormente na campanha principal, que faz com que essa DLC exista dentro do universo do jogo, sendo uma oportunidade completamente desperdiçada.
"Operation Anchorage" é tudo que Fallout nunca foi e espero que nunca venha a ser. Não adiciona em nada no universo além de diminuir a escala de um dos eventos pré-guerra mais importantes na história do jogo. Se serve de consolo, existem 2 loots bons que vêm dessa DLC, que são o Gauss Rifle a Power Armor T-51.
A maior qualidade dos jogos da série Fallout e da Bethesda como um todo vem da exploração e da rica construção do mundo e sua temática. O que acontece se você tira essas duas qualidade essenciais? ESSA DLC!
Ela é basicamente um simulador (não foi piada) de Call of Duty 4 só que ruim. As pessoas não jogam Fallout pela diversão que sentem com a gameplay das armas (que é horrorosa nesse jogo). Elas querem uma boa história e locais para ir e descobrir coisas que não viram antes.
Não existem segredos a serem descobertos (tirando as maletas de inteligência, se é que podem ser chamadas disso, já que ficam em locais ESCANCARADAMENTE VISÍVEIS ao jogador), locais diferentes para vasculhar, decisões a serem feitas. Todas as 3 quests são ABSURDAMENTE lineares, com um ou outro corredor para entrar e conseguir mais vida ou munição.
Não preciso nem entrar no mérito do por quê essa simulação desempenha o papel de uma chave, o que acho ridículo. Outro ponto a ser ressaltado é que não há nenhuma exploração dos "Outcasts", facção mencionada anteriormente na campanha principal, que faz com que essa DLC exista dentro do universo do jogo, sendo uma oportunidade completamente desperdiçada.
"Operation Anchorage" é tudo que Fallout nunca foi e espero que nunca venha a ser. Não adiciona em nada no universo além de diminuir a escala de um dos eventos pré-guerra mais importantes na história do jogo. Se serve de consolo, existem 2 loots bons que vêm dessa DLC, que são o Gauss Rifle a Power Armor T-51.
I don''t like logging dlc before finishing the main game but I've just finished this and it's just
????
who is the target audience for this, why would you make an expansion solely based around your gunplay when no one who really likes these games is in it for that
at least it's not long but it feels like it goes on forever
just baffling, I guess they gave me power armor and two levels worth of exp so whatever
????
who is the target audience for this, why would you make an expansion solely based around your gunplay when no one who really likes these games is in it for that
at least it's not long but it feels like it goes on forever
just baffling, I guess they gave me power armor and two levels worth of exp so whatever
It's alright, I remember enjoying it a lot more back then but it's a fun little shooter DLC with some cool weapons and gear.
It's aight I guess, kinda wish they made it longer
Best DLC in Fallout 3 no doubt! I had fun with it, that's it. It has nearly to zero RPG elements and interesting characters, but the shooting is fun.
The coolest thing about this DLC is seeing the war that happened like 200 years ago or something like that. Everyone who's hating on this DLC just doesn't like shooters, and it's obvious, nothing wrong with that, but I've seen some people giving it a star or even half a star. Idk as I said pretty overhated DLC, it wasn't that bad.
Glory to the USA and all that
The coolest thing about this DLC is seeing the war that happened like 200 years ago or something like that. Everyone who's hating on this DLC just doesn't like shooters, and it's obvious, nothing wrong with that, but I've seen some people giving it a star or even half a star. Idk as I said pretty overhated DLC, it wasn't that bad.
Glory to the USA and all that
do they enjoy this? willingly putting out dogshit?
Probably the worst Fallout DLC of all time. It just feels pointless and boring. It's literally only combat, which isn't exactly the most fun part about Fallout 3. I think they should've used this setting for something more interesting. Only good part is getting the sweet new gear.
Mon premier DLC du jeu !
Je trouve le concept de simulation vraiment classe mais bordel c'est mauvais. Inintéressant à en mourir et peu de dialogues disponible. L'impression de jouer à un COD. C'était vraiment une mauvaise idée de dlc car le gameplay de Fallout n'est pas du tout fait pour ce genre de contenu.
Je trouve le concept de simulation vraiment classe mais bordel c'est mauvais. Inintéressant à en mourir et peu de dialogues disponible. L'impression de jouer à un COD. C'était vraiment une mauvaise idée de dlc car le gameplay de Fallout n'est pas du tout fait pour ce genre de contenu.
TTW + Modded
Really bland and uninteresting DLC for the most part.
Really bland and uninteresting DLC for the most part.
less rpg and more action but provides some great context for the series.