Fallout 3: Broken Steel
Developer: Bethesda Game Studios
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks/ZeniMax Media
Platform: Xbox 360, PC
Modes: Single player
Format: Downloadable [XBLM]
ESRB: M
Price: $10/800 MS
We’ve finally come to the end of the “exclusive content for Fallout 3 on the 360/PC with Broken Steel. In Broken Steel, you are essentially getting a much longer and satisfying end to the main quest. In the story, you survive the ending of the game, and Project Purity was a success; un-raidated water is flowing through the Wasteland, which causes even more problems with people fighting and stealing water. You also find out that the war with the Enclave is not over, and you enlist to help in the war.
The DLC includes three quests that are extended from the main quest, as well as some side quests. The biggest thing that most people were excited for is that Broken Steel raises the level cap in the game from level 20 to level 30, and it makes it so you can play the game after you finish the main quest, which was a big flaw in the game. There are also a couple new weapons, armor, and new perks when you level up.
I believe that this expansion feels a lot more like a natural expansion more than the Pitt and Operation: Anchorage was. The missions are set in the world of the main quest in Fallout 3, unlike the Pitt and Anchorage where you have to travel to another location, and because of that the DLC plays very well and naturally, like it was in the game already. There are also moral decisions in this expansion, just like the rest of the DLC, but the decisions in Broken Steel seem like they affect the rest of the game more than the other expansions.
The expansion is also full of more content than the rest. It takes about seven hours to complete, which is way longer than the other two DLC. The weapons that you get also add to the experiences, including the amazing Tesla Cannon. Also, by raising the level cap, Bethesda is encouraging people to come back to Fallout 3 if they have quit playing, which is always good. There are also new achievements, including mission based ones as well as level/karma ones, however there are some problems with the achievements at the moment, which Bethesda has said they will patch, as well as the glitches in the PC version.
Overall, I think that if someone was considering getting only one expansion for Fallout 3 this would be the wise one to get. It adds more to the actual game itself, instead of having the player visit a new location; and encourages people to play more by raising the level cap.
GOOD: Lots of gameplay, weapons, raised level cap, expands on ending/main story.
BAD: Achievement glitches, not working well on PC.
OVERALL: I think that this is the best of the three expansions for Fallout 3, and is easily worth the money for how much gameplay you get out of it.
SCORE: 9/10.
[Thanks to @bethblog for the review code!]
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