Fallout 3 - Operation: Anchorage

This all sounds a bit doomy and dour, but the truth is that Operation Anchorage is neither brilliant nor terrible: it's simply a sidestep that doesn't quite work. It's linear, simplistic and extremely un-Fallouty, but it does have couple of decent items and it offers a fresh change of scenery.

The entire download only took me about three hours to finish which isn't a whole lot of time considering the $10 price tag. I had fun while playing Operation:Anchorage despite a few bugs and a couple of game crashes, and the items you get for completing the missions are awesome. If you get a kick out of watching heads fly in VATS like me, you'll find a lot to like in Operation: Anchorage.

If anything, Operation Anchorage is a good hint of what's to come from Bethesda in future downloadable packs.

Bethesda says Operation Anchorage takes 3-4 hours to complete. I’d put that number at more like 2-3, but for only $10 it represents moderate gaming bang for your buck. I’m hoping future DLC will be much better.

Electrified ninja swords, stealth armor, and a new gauss rifle are only a few of the goodies awaiting players. The vignette is an entertaining diversion, but the rewards for completing it are what make it truly worthwhile.

A linear and slightly boring shoot'em up, which does not tap into the main game's strengths. Why the heck did we get a small scale conflict as the climax, when there was this whole end of the world stuff readily available as a dramatic finale? [Mar 2009]

Big Mistake from the developers to create an add-on, witch is nothing like the main game!

The first mini add-on can be beaten in an hour, but it's fun anyway. Especially for those who are about to start their Fallout 3 experience, since it allows to beef up the character just after the beginning of the whole adventure. [Mar 2009]

Its three hours of solid combat with identical soldiers gets wearing extremely quickly with nothing else to distract you.

Better than Oblivion's DLC, but save your money for now. [Apr 2009, p.71]

What's left if you remove the roleplay elements from an action-based RPG? In this case it's three hours of uninspired action. Everything that made Fallout 3 a good game has been removed, obviously to rip off gamers who already explored the whole wastelands - and for those players it's totally worthless.

I love Fallout 3. I love it to an almost indecent extent. It was far and away my game of 2008, and doesn't look like being knocked out of my personal top spot for a good while yet. But when you sift out its role-play, the ammo-box inspection and the exploration and draft in a fleet of health and ammo regeneration points to compensate... well, affairs just feel shallow and somewhat naked.

I can't deplore enough how little story there is. [Apr 2009, p.66]

The short answer to this question is: not very good. Even if you absolutely love Fallout 3, Operation Anchorage is barely worth a purchase, because all you're getting for your ten dollars is a two to three hour experience of minimal challenge that forsakes the best features of the game to provide a simple, dull, FPS-style quest. leaving a dull FPS-style mission behind.