Fallout 3 DLC – Broken Steel Review

Months have passed and all the while I have been waiting patiently for my time to come out of the shadows. It has finally come about and it’s time to put down the poorer redundant games and return to the wastelands. Truth be told I extremely enjoyed Fallout 3, and with this DLC having its name attached I am automatically tempted to give it a 9.5 and be done with it; however for the purpose of professionalism (argh!) I will proceed to review the game with an open mind, beyond my favouritism.

Broken Steel, the title of the latest downloadable content available, takes place after (yes, just trust me on this one) the ending. The main aspect of the downloadable content is the continuation of the game, with three key quests along with a handful of side quests. Also included is the largely important feature of a level raise from 20 to 30, extra enemies, fresh weapons, more armour and new perks to cover the additional 10 levels. You will also find that impressively the game will account for any decisions you made in the original content, with quests and encounters having altered depending on the path you have chosen.

The storyline of Broken Steel takes off two weeks after the events of the original game, continuing the battle against the Enclave. Anyone who has seen the closing of the game will know of the large scale epic battles, of which are a beauty to behold. Broken Steel continues this trend with continual combat, overly powerful allies, enemies and even weapons, large outdoor quest events and a constant threat of death throughout. In fact, the threat of death in Broken Steel is great, too great. As I had not touched the previous two DLC packs, nor any quest after hitting level 20, I have missed out on some key armour and weapon upgrades, which in turn made surviving enemy assaults extremely difficult. I found that my initial load of 40 stimpacks quickly depleted before I had even finished the first quest.

The level increase is the single feature that makes this DLC, the third, a requirement rather than an option. The second I hit level 20 on the original game, I saved and turned the console off. Something about questing, killing and exploring with no character progression in terms of experience is extremely off-putting, something which paused my enjoyment in the wastelands whilst I waited for the then announced level raise. Now the level raise has arrived, I expect to return to the original games content (after recently having finished all the DLC’s quests) and finish what I had left off. If you are in a similar situation, I implore you to take the plunge and return to the wastelands, I can say on their behalf that they miss you. Not only will you get to level once again, you will get a wide select of new and fantastic perks to choose from to boost your character even further. One particular perk could be rather interesting, if not a little useless “Whenever your health is reduced to 20 or less, you will erupt into a devastating nuclear explosion affecting enemies and allies alike.”

Basically if you have missed the wastelands, Broken Steel gives you more than enough reasons to return. Keeping with the high quality set by the original, Broken Steel gives you more engrossing content for up to five hours of gameplay, whilst increasing the story behind the game whilst removing the full stop.

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Reece Warrender

Reece is an obsessed gaming fanatic that finds enjoyment from any console. He began to enjoy games from a very young age but the addiction did not consume him till the days of Zelda – Link to the Past. Currently he is himself trying hard to break into the gaming industry, as a young programmer whilst also forcing his opinions onto the gaming population.

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