Something went wrong. Try again later
    Follow

    Fallout 3

    Game » consists of 45 releases. Released Oct 28, 2008

    In Bethesda's first-person revival of the classic post-apocalyptic RPG series, the player is forced to leave Vault 101 and venture out into the irradiated wasteland of Washington D.C. to find his or her father.

    Broken Steel Evaluation

    Avatar image for lies
    Lies

    3985

    Forum Posts

    32517

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 12

    User Lists: 14

    Edited By Lies

    The Broken Steel DLC package for Fallout 3 came out ten days ago, and I've had a lot of people ask me what I thought about it, and if it was worth their money. I figured I'd post my impressions of the expansion here.  First off:

    The "Fixed" Ending

    This dude doesn't end up having much impact at all, in the grand scheme of things
    This dude doesn't end up having much impact at all, in the grand scheme of things
    This has been a major focus of the promotion for this package, and I honestly believe it to be the weakest part. Whereas the original ending nicely tied up the story and left you with a huge decision at the end that would have a real impact on the Capital Wasteland, Broken Steel essentially returns things to the status quo. Whereas the impression given to you originally was that you could essentially either save the Wasteland or destroy it, Broken Steel reveals that your choice ultimately had very little consequence. The ending cinematics aren't even changed though, which makes it very odd when Ron Pearlman says: "So ends the story of the Lone Wanderer", and then you wake up two weeks later. About the only good thing about the new ending is that it allows for play after the story concludes, which, I suppose, was the main complaint. The ending of Broken Steel presents you with a much bigger choice, that allows you to do something that quite literally changes the Wasteland forever.

    Luckily, the new content is great. Broken Steel feels much more like an expansion of the base game than either Operation Anchorage or The Pitt did. Where those felt like singular missions added to the game with no effect elsewhere, Broken Steel is much larger. There are new story missions, new sidequests, new dialogue, new NPCs, and even new environmental touches. You'll even get Three Dog news reports on some of the stuff you do in Broken Steel. Essentially, this stuff just feels more naturally like part of the original game, where OA and TP stood out like sore thumbs.

    The new content is geared towards higher-level players though, and is extremely hard, even for people who had hit the previous level cap of 20. Not so much in the tactical: "I can beat those dudes if I position myself better" way, but more in the: "Holy jesus I just hit that Super Mutant Overlord with a mini-nuke and it only took away a tenth of his health shit run" sort of way. Don't enter the Presidential Metro without a dart gun and a lot of darts, is the advice I will give you, because even with the uber-gear from Anchorage and The Pitt, Feral Ghoul Reavers are bullshit. And you'll face about 12 at once in the Presidential Metro.

    You'll have access to new weapons and armor
    You'll have access to new weapons and armor
    Not to say that the game doesn't give you some means to deal with these new threats- new weapons like the Tesla Cannon or the Enclave Heavy Incinerator. These toys are fun to play with, but they don't quite match up to the increased difficulty, and Fallout was never a very combat-focused game anyways. Which is unfortunate, because you are going to have to do a lot of combat to make the climb from the previous level cap of 20 to the new cap of 30. Thee simply isn't enough content in Broken Steel to get you to level 30 alone. For reference, my character did Broken Steel and the Pitt with two ranks in the Swift Learner perk (I was young and naive), and doing both of those packs only got me to around level 26. I eventually got to 30, but it was a lot of unfun combat grinding. The new perks added in Broken Steel are also somewhat of a sticking point. Unlike the creative and original ones in the base game, the perks added by Broken Steel are essentially PC console commands. Three of the new perks do nothing but set your karma to a specific alignment. Others are equally useless. Only the level 30 perk: "Nuclear Anamoly" is any fun.

    Those probems aside though, the great thing about Broken Steel is that it ismply feels like more Fallout 3, in a way Anchorage and The Pitt did not. The content contained within feels like it could have shipped with the base game. It's a very small-scale expansion- 3 main quests, 3 sidequests, and two repeeatable quests- but it's certainly worth your money. I especially think that if OA and The Pitt didn't click with you, you'll dig Broken Steel.
    Avatar image for lies
    Lies

    3985

    Forum Posts

    32517

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 12

    User Lists: 14

    #1  Edited By Lies

    The Broken Steel DLC package for Fallout 3 came out ten days ago, and I've had a lot of people ask me what I thought about it, and if it was worth their money. I figured I'd post my impressions of the expansion here.  First off:

    The "Fixed" Ending

    This dude doesn't end up having much impact at all, in the grand scheme of things
    This dude doesn't end up having much impact at all, in the grand scheme of things
    This has been a major focus of the promotion for this package, and I honestly believe it to be the weakest part. Whereas the original ending nicely tied up the story and left you with a huge decision at the end that would have a real impact on the Capital Wasteland, Broken Steel essentially returns things to the status quo. Whereas the impression given to you originally was that you could essentially either save the Wasteland or destroy it, Broken Steel reveals that your choice ultimately had very little consequence. The ending cinematics aren't even changed though, which makes it very odd when Ron Pearlman says: "So ends the story of the Lone Wanderer", and then you wake up two weeks later. About the only good thing about the new ending is that it allows for play after the story concludes, which, I suppose, was the main complaint. The ending of Broken Steel presents you with a much bigger choice, that allows you to do something that quite literally changes the Wasteland forever.

    Luckily, the new content is great. Broken Steel feels much more like an expansion of the base game than either Operation Anchorage or The Pitt did. Where those felt like singular missions added to the game with no effect elsewhere, Broken Steel is much larger. There are new story missions, new sidequests, new dialogue, new NPCs, and even new environmental touches. You'll even get Three Dog news reports on some of the stuff you do in Broken Steel. Essentially, this stuff just feels more naturally like part of the original game, where OA and TP stood out like sore thumbs.

    The new content is geared towards higher-level players though, and is extremely hard, even for people who had hit the previous level cap of 20. Not so much in the tactical: "I can beat those dudes if I position myself better" way, but more in the: "Holy jesus I just hit that Super Mutant Overlord with a mini-nuke and it only took away a tenth of his health shit run" sort of way. Don't enter the Presidential Metro without a dart gun and a lot of darts, is the advice I will give you, because even with the uber-gear from Anchorage and The Pitt, Feral Ghoul Reavers are bullshit. And you'll face about 12 at once in the Presidential Metro.

    You'll have access to new weapons and armor
    You'll have access to new weapons and armor
    Not to say that the game doesn't give you some means to deal with these new threats- new weapons like the Tesla Cannon or the Enclave Heavy Incinerator. These toys are fun to play with, but they don't quite match up to the increased difficulty, and Fallout was never a very combat-focused game anyways. Which is unfortunate, because you are going to have to do a lot of combat to make the climb from the previous level cap of 20 to the new cap of 30. Thee simply isn't enough content in Broken Steel to get you to level 30 alone. For reference, my character did Broken Steel and the Pitt with two ranks in the Swift Learner perk (I was young and naive), and doing both of those packs only got me to around level 26. I eventually got to 30, but it was a lot of unfun combat grinding. The new perks added in Broken Steel are also somewhat of a sticking point. Unlike the creative and original ones in the base game, the perks added by Broken Steel are essentially PC console commands. Three of the new perks do nothing but set your karma to a specific alignment. Others are equally useless. Only the level 30 perk: "Nuclear Anamoly" is any fun.

    Those probems aside though, the great thing about Broken Steel is that it ismply feels like more Fallout 3, in a way Anchorage and The Pitt did not. The content contained within feels like it could have shipped with the base game. It's a very small-scale expansion- 3 main quests, 3 sidequests, and two repeeatable quests- but it's certainly worth your money. I especially think that if OA and The Pitt didn't click with you, you'll dig Broken Steel.
    Avatar image for guerrilla_mason
    guerrilla_mason

    524

    Forum Posts

    2

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 1

    User Lists: 7

    #2  Edited By guerrilla_mason

    I have this downloaded, but haven't played it yet. I'm very happy to hear good things about this DLC though.  I thought Anchorage and The PItt weren't exactly awesome, but weren't too bad. It's cool to hear Bethesda put a lot of work into this.

    Avatar image for deactivated-5f9398c1300c7
    deactivated-5f9398c1300c7

    3570

    Forum Posts

    105

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 2

    User Lists: 0

    #3  Edited By deactivated-5f9398c1300c7

    Haven't tried it out yet. If only my last profile was attached to my Xboxlive account, would I actually play it.

    (NOTE: I have the PC version)

    Avatar image for kurtanionnz
    KurtanionNZ

    28

    Forum Posts

    31

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 0

    #4  Edited By KurtanionNZ

    I agree with the useless perks, I reckon those Karma ones are purely there for achievement whores.. on the cusp of level 30 save.. kill something.. switch karma.. blink achievement unlocked.. rinse and repeat. Well..thats what I plan on doing

    Avatar image for skrutop
    skrutop

    3810

    Forum Posts

    23630

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 48

    User Lists: 14

    #5  Edited By skrutop

    I went through my third playthrough a few months ago and stopped right when I hit Level 20.  I figured that I can wrap up the rest of the sidequests, go thorugh The Pitt and Operation:Anchorage, and then start on Broken Steel when my character is already at a higher level.

    Here's the kicker, though.  My character is a melee specialist, so I expect to get my ass handed to me by the new foes.  About the only thing in my favor is that with the new level cap, I can get Grim Reaper's Sprint and Ninja at the same time.  I can also add Pyromaniac to deal out more damage with the Shiskebab.

    Avatar image for ket87
    Ket87

    472

    Forum Posts

    156

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 1

    User Lists: 3

    #6  Edited By Ket87

    Broken Steel is great but still weeks after release every time I try and finish "Who Dares Wins" the game freezes outside the mobile platform and I get screwed over and have to try again, and again. Is it too much to ask for to have these great pieces of downloadable content work properly. Broken Steel was no The Pitt but damn this is getting ridiculous.

    Avatar image for natetodamax
    natetodamax

    19464

    Forum Posts

    65390

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 32

    User Lists: 5

    #7  Edited By natetodamax

    I beat it today and I thought it was really neat. The last quest, however, was agonizing. I used up all 55 of my Stimpaks just by going through the Presidential Metro. It's ridiculous. Plus, it took me about an hour and a half to figure out what the hell I was supposed to do in the Mobile Crawler thing. The quest arrows were friggin' useless during that entire part. They would tell me to go through a door, and when I did the arrows would tell me to go back through the same door. It was so confusing, but the ending was satisfying nonetheless.

    Avatar image for billcosby2004
    billcosby2004

    103

    Forum Posts

    0

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 0

    #8  Edited By billcosby2004

    I just got this DLC too, and was curious about karma perks...If you change your alignment upon hitting level 30, do you get the level 30 bad/neutral/good karma acheivement only, or do you get the level 8,14,20 acheivements as well if changing alignment?

    Browse Boards
    Jump to Top

    ×

    Move topic to another board

    Pick a board and hit submit

  • (Or search for a more specific forum)
    • Close
    ×

    Pick a List

    Close

    This edit will also create new pages on Giant Bomb for:

    Beware, you are proposing to add brand new pages to the wiki along with your edits. Make sure this is what you intended. This will likely increase the time it takes for your changes to go live.

    Comment and Save

    Until you earn 1000 points all your submissions need to be vetted by other Giant Bomb users. This process takes no more than a few hours and we'll send you an email once approved.