Fallout 3 – Broken Steel DLC

by Christopher Kirkman · Published October 15, 2009 · Updated March 2, 2011

Fans of the massive Fallout 3 know that the worst thing about the game was the finale. The way the game ended, that it ended so quickly when playing only the main quest, heck, the fact that it even had to end at all.

Unless you’d read the FAQs and knew not to play through to the ending too quickly, you were likely to finish the game without exploring half of the burnt-out wastes of Washington D.C. Bethesda must have been reading those forums, because Broken Steel remedies this problem, completely undoing the game’s ending. One slightly awkward transition later, you’re no longer dead and the Brotherhood of Steel needs your help. Fallout fans won’t care about awkward transitions because of the many ways Broken Steel extends, expands and polishes the already huge Capitol wasteland.

In addition to upping the level cap from 20 to 30 there are new perks, weapons (yay Tesla Cannon!), enemies, items and areas to explore. Improved graphics in the new areas and well-constructed missions and set pieces – including more fun with the giant robot Liberty Prime – will make players glad they spent the money.

With its downloadable content for Fallout 3, Bethesda is attempting to craft a whole new paradigm of single-player episodic content for those lone-wolf gamers interested in continuing story lines and expansive universes but without the basement or time to play never-ending online games of World of Warcraft.

This method of expanding upon popular games – potentially indefinitely – will certainly be a big part of the future of gaming throughout the industry. And I’m sure people will look back fondly at this round of Fallout 3 DLC and say that this is when “they” started to get it right.

There are five DLC packs available now (The Pitt, Operation: Anchorage, Point Lookout and Mothership Zeta) via the Playstation store, but Broken Steel is the one to start with as it changes the original Fallout world the most.