A review of Fallout 3: Broken Steel

[Ghost]

Hello fellow board goers,

In case some of you are interested, I made a review of Broken Steel on the PC for the biggest online Fallout community; No Mutants Allowed.

Here is a link to the review;

http://www.nma-fallout.com/article.php?id=50794

[Demon Cleaner]

That's a great review, thumbs up

(and that by someone who wasn't pleased with the game release in first place )

[Harrison]

Yes, very well written review. However for anyone who hasn't yet played the game, or is still playing it and hasn't completed the main quest I recommend not reading it as it contains a lot of the plot outcomes and has a lot of spoilers in there. Maybe you should have this as a warning at the start of the review?

Also your comment about being able to max out all stats with a perk not being good doesn't take into account that most running this DLC will have already completed the game at least once and maybe a few times experimenting with various character builds. Therefore this DLC offering the ability to max out a character is a final sand box handout for advanced players to have some fun.

[Ghost]

That's a great review, thumbs up

(and that by someone who wasn't pleased with the game release in first place )

Who says I am pleased?

I want to come over as professional and not a raving lunatic a lot of the Fallout newbies hold us NMA'ers for.
For that reason I bring up what I think was good about the DLC as well as what I think is bad about the DLC, and so far the bad out weights the good.

Its a linear shooter experience with some choices, that's it.

Also your comment about being able to max out all stats with a perk not being good doesn't take into account that most running this DLC will have already completed the game at least once and maybe a few times experimenting with various character builds. Therefore this DLC offering the ability to max out a character is a final sand box handout for advanced players to have some fun.

I understand what you mean, but my philosophy behind RPGs and building characters is that you can never be a master of all, a jack-of-all-trades is a master-of-none.

That is one of the reasons why companions come into play, they bring in the skills the player lacks or is terrible at it, and the player on its turn provides strength in the areas the party members are terrible at.
They balance each other out, compensating for each others' weaknesses.

Some of the praise for this review should also go to Sander and Brother None who helped me out with some of my grammar and keeping the review on track.

[Harrison]

But it is still nice to have access to all skills once you are done with a game just to have a play around. I remember with the original Tomb Raider, when you completed the game you unlocked an option to be able to jump to any level in the game with all weapons and unlimited ammo. That was fun for a short while, but it quickly got boring just being able to shoot everything with little skill. Nice bonus though for completing the game.

The thing is. A lot of gamers do cheat in games. Most because they reach a point where they get bored and so cheat just to speed up the rest of the game to see the ending. Developers know people do this, so I suppose they thought, why not hand them this as an upgrade to use if they wish. Personally I won't be using it as like you say I like to play a more realistic game when RPG elements are involved, and the companions in the game are definitely meant to be the way to fix your own character's limitations to achieve certain goals in the game.

And a quick question. I've still not yet had time to complete the main quest in FO3, so would you recommend I play it to the end before installing Broken Steel? Or would it be better to run the rest of the game with it included?

[Ghost]

Hello Harrison,

Regarding your question.

Hmm...

I'd say, throw on Broken Steel, it really doesn't make the ending that different, in fact one sensible option actually becomes available once Broken Steel is on it.

Also, BS allows for easier integration of Operation: Anchorage and The Pitt as well as the upcoming Point Outlook and Mothership Zeta.

[Harrison]

Have you tried the High Definition Texture Pack with is now available in the Fallout 3 community? It is meant to have much better higher resolution texture maps for the game that look better if you have a system capable of running the game with them installed.

I've not tried them out myself yet as I'm currently downloading the pack, but I will once it is complete. My system should run it perfectly so I look forward to seeing what differences it makes.

[Ghost]

Seeing as I no longer play the game anymore (I only downloaded it to see what it was) and have it removed from my PC it will be rather difficult to try that pack.