After 3 years of it dusting down in the shelf I decided to finally give Fallout 3 a real chance since I dropped it after five hours back in 08 (I actually started it on release)

Now, I'm 80 hrs in, walking to find empty triangles in Capitol Wasteland before I complete the game, and I'm wondering if I should jump over to New Vegas or extend the gameplay some more. Is the DLC worth the money?

Playing on Xbox 360.

After 3 years of it dusting down in the shelf I decided to finally give Fallout 3 a real chance since I dropped it after five hours back in 08 (I actually started it on release)

Now, I'm 80 hrs in, walking to find empty triangles in Capitol Wasteland before I complete the game, and I'm wondering if I should jump over to New Vegas or extend the gameplay some more. Is the DLC worth the money?

Playing on Xbox 360.

The DLC in Fallout 3 is awesome, especially The Pitt, Broken Steel and Point Lookout.

Point Lookout is really good. The rest are semi-interesting quests, but not really necessary. Worth playing if you're really into Fallout though.

New Vegas is a much better game.

Broken Steel is fantastic, it increases the level cap by 10, new perks, adds a bunch of more difficult enemies to the random spawns, and adds 6-7 more quests after the end of the game. If you haven't completed every single bit of content in the main game, this is a must buy, and even if you have it's great.

The Pitt and Point Lookout are both pretty good, they add a new area - The Pitt is smaller and has less quests, but the main plot line is better. I didn't like the main plot line in Point Lookout, but the area is larger and more interesting, and has some nice side quests.

You should pass on Mothership Zeta and Operation: Anchorage, they're pretty bad.

Also, you should consider taking a break from Fallout, jumping from F3 straight to F:NV seems crazy. The games are super long.

I agree that Point Lookout is probably the best DLC for Fallout 3 and is probably better than any of the New Vegas DLC as well. Broken Steel is okay as well but more important because of what it gives you gameplay wise (increased level cap and more perks) versus the actual content itself. Though if given the choice, I would recommend you play New Vegas since story and character wise, it's a much richer experience than you'll get from any DLC. Also, while the improvements they made to the gameplay is meaningful is not hugely significant (hardcore mode for instance is a great addition). Money wise, it's definitely better to buy New Vegas for ~$15 vs. $10 for each piece of Fallout 3 DLC. You could also wait a couple of months and get the New Vegas Ultimate Edition which have all the DLCs for $50 but I didn't really like any of the New Vegas DLCs that much (and you would only end up saving $5 anyway).

I had the most fun with Point Lookout, Broken Steel, and The Pitt. Mothership Zeta was ok while Operation Anchorage was just 'meh'.

Tanks! I'll get Broken Steel and Point Lookout.

How do they tie in with the game? Is just just there in the world or do I have to finish the main game because they take place in a "different" wasteland?

Broken Steel immediately increases the level cap and changes the enemy spawns when you install it, but the new quests show up after the end of the original game.

When you install Point Lookout it gives you a quest to talk to an NPC who sends you to the new area. It can be done before completing the original main quest.

@HellBrendy said:

Tanks! I'll get Broken Steel and Point Lookout.

How do they tie in with the game? Is just just there in the world or do I have to finish the main game because they take place in a "different" wasteland?

Broken Steel (I think that's the one) extends the end of the game, so make sure you've got that installed before you finish it. The others just appear as new radio distress calls and appear on your map like any other quests... Mothership Zeta actually causes a phat UFO to crash in the wasteland, and most of that DLC takes place inside of it (that was a nice change of pace).

Apparently Fallout 3 has the best DLC in history 

As many other have said, Broken Steel is pretty much a must, Point Lookout is the best of the bunch in every way and The pitt has a cool storyline, though I didn't like it that much. Mothership Zeta is plain shit, Operation Anchorage was kinda fun and you get some cool items, but meh, skip it.

So if I'm smart I'll get Broken Steel, play around some more to level up and then play it?

Skip Operation Anchorage, and probably even Mothership Zeta unless you just HAVE to have more fallout 3 content. They're not really that exciting.

If I were you, I'd just get the F3 GOTY Edition, with all the DLC packed in. Been awhile since its release, so I bet you can find a used copy for what you'd pay for a single piece of DLC in the marketplace.

I agree that if you just wanna play the top DLC, then it's Point Lookout and Broken Steel. The thing with the other 3 DLCs (and main reason why people diss them) is that they follow the formula of enter DLC, lose all gear and don't get to return to main world until you've finished the new content.

@WinterSnowblind said:

Point Lookout is really good. The rest are semi-interesting quests, but not really necessary. Worth playing if you're really into Fallout though.

New Vegas is a much better game.

This, although I would say The Pitt is worth playing as well.

Broken Steel is great and it extends the level cap, which was the most important thing for me. I put down every RPG once I reach a point where I can't progress my character anymore. Broken Steel was what let me start playing FO3 again.

operation anchoagre has some nice loot at the end of it

I can't say I enjoyed the DLC too much, but if you're enjoying the rest of the game that much, I'm sure you'd like it enough. With New Vegas already out, I'd have to recommend that over the former, though.

@Catfish666: Yeah, I've been thinking about it. Maybe I'll fid a used copy on Gamestop or something.

@mandude: Yeah, I'm thinking more and more on that too. But it's something about playing the shit out of this game wich I've been really enjoying so far that's keeping me from start up NV.

@McGhee said:

The DLC in Fallout 3 is awesome, especially The Pitt, Broken Steel and Point Lookout.