The Deal of the Day on Amazon today is a brand new copy of Fallout 3 for $20.

Now, a Game of The Year Edition, is also available today. That edition comes with all available DLC, but it’s also bears a full-on $60 price tag.

Ooh choices, gotta love ‘em.

Amazon Deal of The Day

That ended today as Bethesda released the game’s first digital ware “Broken Steel” on the PlayStation Network.

“Broken Steel” is the first of 5 planned expansions for PS3, continuing next week on Oct. 1 with Operation Anchorage and The Pitt, followed by the release of Point Lookout and Mothership Zeta on Oct. 8.

All DLC is $9.99 but a “Game of The Year Edition,” with all 5 expansions is due out October 13, so the money-conscious gamer might want to wait for that one.

“Broken Steel,” will hit the PlayStation Network next Thursday, September 24, followed by “Operation Anchorage” and “The Pitt” October 1, and then “Point Lookout” and “Mothership Zeta” a week later on October 8.

If Bethesda follows through on that ambitious promise that means PlayStation 3 Fallout fans, in less than a month, will have every last piece of FO3 digital wares at their disposal, and that’s got to be a good thing, considering how long a wait it’s been.

What’s more, Bethesda also revealed the “Fallout 3 Game of The Year” edition for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. This pack has all 5 DLC packs and drops October 13th priced at $59.99 for PS3/Xbox 360 and $49.99 for PC.

So if you’re on board to play Fallout 3 in its complete entirety, I’d wait till October 13 and save some scratch.

Now, Fallout 3’s protagonist has one more frontier to conquer: Space!

Mothership Zeta, Fallout 3’s fifth and final Downloadable Content, takes the Lone Wanderer on a galactic adventure filled with Aliens, spaceships and, best of all, advanced weapons.  However, with many other DLCs to compete with, how will Bethesda’s most recent Fallout 3 add-on stack up against the competition?

Mothership Zeta opens like most other DLCs; with a mysterious radio signal that ultimately reveals a new location on your map.  The location, aptly named Alien Crash Site, is where a small round ship called Recon Craft Theta had crash-landed in the Wasteland.  Upon arriving at the location, the Lone Wanderer will notice that there is fairly heavy radiation surrounding the ship.  Eventually, when players approach the ship, the Lone Wander is beamed up to Mothership Zeta.

Once the Lone Wander teleports to Zeta, players find themselves trapped (and stripped of all armor and weapons) in a holding cell with a Waster named Somah.  Somah doesn’t know much more than you when it comes to general information about the ship, but she has learned that your Alien captors would prefer to keep their human specimens alive.  With this in mind, Somah suggests that you should fight her, making the Aliens have to open the cell and break up the scuffle.  Once you agree to the plan, it is executed perfectly and the escape begins.

One of my favorite parts about Mothership Zeta is the unique cast of characters you meet during your attempt to escape.  First, the Alien enemies on the spacecraft were very cool.  Each Alien looks similar to what we all imagine an extraterrestrial would look like: small, green and with a big head.  Still, even with this classic interpretation of extra-terrestrials, the natives of Mothership Zeta are quite interesting because of their beautifully animated armor and masterfully recorded voices.  These aspects alone were probably two of the best things about this DLC.

Also, the Aliens of Mothership Zeta seem to have been in the abducting business for quite a while, judging by the types of folks you encounter.  The Aliens cryogenically froze many different types of NPCs, good and bad.  Some of the frozen enemies that are frozen (and possibly unfrozen) include Slavers, Super Mutants and those ever-pesky Feral Ghouls.  The allies you meet on Mothership Zeta are from Earth’s present and past.  Characters such as a cowboy, a little girl who survived the Great War (and is very helpful throughout the DLC) and a medic from the liberation of Alaska.  My favorite NPC was a cryo-frozen Samurai, complete with ancient Japanese armor and weaponry.

Speaking of weapons, the Aliens on Mothership Zeta really know how develop some tools of destruction.  In addition to the massive device called the Death Ray (useable only at the end of the DLC), the fallen Aliens usually leave behind impressive loot.  Items such as the Shock Baton and Electro-Suppressor serve as viable weapons for melee characters.  The Alien Atomizer and Disintegrator are found often throughout the DLC and do considerable damage against your extra-terrestrial adversaries.  My favorite weapon in Mothership Zeta was the Drone Cannon.  This weapon, which is found on the Aliens’ security robots, fire large spheres of energy that bounce around and eventually explode.  This was especially helpful when I wanted to eliminate enemies who were hiding around corners and behind objects.

Sadly, the characters and the weapons were the only things I really liked about the Mothership Zeta DLC.

The great thing about Fallout 3 is the fact that it is driven by such an interesting storyline.  Unfortunately, Mothership Zeta fails to provide anything resembling an intriguing plot.  I found myself becoming bored with this DLC very quickly, not caring about whom I talked to or what information I uncovered.  Instead, I seemed to just be playing Mothership Zeta so I could get my character to level 30 and be done with it.  Though I was able to get to that pinnacle level, I still wasn’t happy with the story that got me there.

Similar to the plot, the quests in Mothership Zeta were quite bland.  Many of the tasks that the Lone Wanderer must complete tended to be tedious and uninteresting.  There was no real problem solving during the quests.  Instead, the Lone Wanderer is forced run from one location to another, having no say in the way he or she completes the task.  Fallout 3 is all about making the right or wrong choice.  However, for the developers of Mothership Zeta, it seems that this DLC is all about making *their* choice.

Not helping the entertainment value of the quests was the confusing nature of the spacecraft’s environments.  Though each room and hallway on Mothership Zeta looked clean and futuristic, I found it very easy to get lost while trying to find important points of interest.  The use of teleportation pads came in handy quite often, but they often made things much more confusing than they needed to be.  I applaud the effort by Bethesda, but they just didn’t do anything for me.

Blast Factor: Overall, Mothership Zeta was a real letdown for me.  Though the characters and advanced weaponry in this DLC were a pleasure to interact with, important aspects such as the plot, quests and environments were either flawed or just plain boring.  If $10 means little to you, Mothership Zeta may be worth purchasing if you have all of the other Fallout 3 DLCs and would like to reach level 30.  However, if you’re still lacking any of the previous DLCs, I suggest you invest in those first.

Mothership Zeta is currently available exclusively on Xbox Live and Games for Windows for 800 Points / $9.99.

As you can see in the screens, stumbling upon this crashed spaceship grants you access to something much larger. We’ll have more info for you as Bethesda unveils it, and eventually a review of this latest batch of DLC.

However, in the video game world, mainly in the Fallout universe, it doesn’t mean just any carnival.  Remember, this is Fallout 3, where only the creepiest of carnival settings will suffice.

Welcome to Point Lookout, the newest addition to Fallout 3’s downloadable content.

Point Lookout takes the Lone Wanderer on a foggy, swamp filled adventure to the previously-unknown-to-me bayous of Maryland’s marsh country. In this DLC, players will encounter interesting quests, interesting characters and one very cool psychedelic drug trip.

Like most of Fallout 3’s DLCs, Point Lookout begins when the Lone Wanderer receives a radio transmission indicating that a ferryboat called the Duchess Gambit has docked at the Riverboat Landing location in the Capital Wasteland.  Upon arrival, you meet two non-player characters named Catherine and Tobar. Catherine reveals that her daughter, Nadine, recently stowed away on a ship to travel to the mysterious settlement of Point Lookout and begs for you to find and return her.  Tobar, a coastal trader and owner of the Duchess Gambit, provides safe transit to Point Lookout for the price of a ticket… running at $330 a piece.

Still, even with the hefty price tag, traveling to Point Lookout is well worth the cost, as the action begins right away. As you travel to Point Lookout for the first time, you watch a cinematic cut-scene (a medium I feel is underused in Fallout 3), which shows smoke rising from a mansion, later revealed to be a major location in the DLCs main quest. Once landed on the docks at Point Lookout, the Lone Wanderer talks to Tobar and the adventure begins.

Point Lookout has no lack of intrigue within its storyline. Once the Lone Wanderer lands at Point Lookout, he finds himself in the middle of a conflict between a surly ghoul named Desmond Lockheart and the native people of the region called Tribals. From there, players are called upon to complete quests for both sides, eventually evolving the storyline into one of the most morally gray adventures available in the world of Fallout.

One of my favorite moments in this DLC is when the Lone Wanderer goes on an incredibly bizarre hallucination after collecting the seeds from a giant plant. In this psychedelic trip, the Lone Wanderer walks through the mysterious swamplands of Point Lookout, having strange and sadistic visions of some familiar faces of his past. The environment is turned upside-down (literally) in this short offshoot in the plot, creating an important time of reflection for both the Lone Wanderer and the player himself.

There is no lack of side quests in Point Lookout either. In fact, some may argue that some of the side quests are actually more fun than Point Lookout’s main quest. Though I wouldn’t necessarily agree, I do feel that Bethesda really went above and beyond when it came to writing the plot for this DLC.

Point Lookout is unique in that it has a very unique ambiance when compared to the other available DLCs. There is a certain old Louisiana feel to the environments, full of haze, swampland and, of course, mutated hillbillies. The NPCs have a different crusty flavor to them, delightfully contrasting themselves from your basic Fallout Waster.

The folks living in the tattered carnival region of Point Lookout are as diverse as the services they offer. In the belly of the swamp, on the other hand, is where a few new breeds of characters reside. Some of the most interesting and unique enemies you will find are called the Swampfolk. These radiated marsh dwellers resemble your classic country bumpkin stereotype, complete with buckteeth and aggressive behavior. Whether or not they are inbred is still unknown (take a look at an attacking Scrapper in the screenshot below). Also, keep an eye out for the previously mentioned Tribals: a group dedicated to the growth and preservation of Punga Fruit, a crop with precious healing properties that is exclusive to the region.

The variety does not end at the citizens’ local flavor, however. Point Lookout also offers an abundance of new weaponry as well. Basic arms, such as the double-barreled shotgun, axe, and lever-action rifle add to the already strong country feel to the game. Unique items like moonshine, fishing poles, and workman’s coveralls will make you feel like you are a real backwoodsman.

Blast Factor: Point Lookout’s plot is as interesting as it is different. Along with the diverse characters, weapons, and environments, Point Lookout is definitely one of the most creative DLCs available. With that said, however, I couldn’t help but ask myself how necessary this add-on was to the overall Fallout 3 storyline. With the base Fallout 3 game combined with Broken Steel (my favorite of the DLCs, which extends the level-cap from 20 to 30), there are definitely enough quests to get to level 30 without spending another dime. All things considered, Point Lookout is a fun addition to Fallout 3, but should only be downloaded by those who have already bought Broken Steel and are ready for some new, exciting content.

Point Lookout is available first on the Xbox Live Marketplace and Windows PC for 800 Points.

No Sony fans, Bethesda did not forget you and your love of Fallout 3, they just had to wait until the right time to show that love…er something like that.

Operation Anchorage will release via the PlayStation Store next month in June followed by The Pitt and Broken Steel 4-6 weeks apart.   As always, nothing is set in stone and Bethesda promises forthcoming details of the more solid nature.

Furthermore, Bethesda continues their barrage of DLC with Point Lookout and Mothership Zata arriving in late June and July respectively and exclusively for PC and Xbox 360 with the PS3 version inbound after all three previously unavailable packs become available.

All DLC opportunities are priced at $9.99/800 MS Points.  That Fallout love is starting to hurt the wallet yeah?

But wait, there’s more, kinda.

Fallout 3 Add-on Pack #1 (The Pitt, Operation: Anchorage) arrives on disc at retail May 26 and Pack #2 hits shelves in August with Broken Steel and Point Lookout inside.  Sadly, as Bethesda puts it, “retail versions of the game add-on packs for PS3 are not possible” and can only be purchases digitally.

However, come October,a Fallout 3: Game of the Year edition will arrive on retail shelves bearing a $59.99 price tag for Xbox 360 and PS3 ($49.99 on PC) and will contain all five DLC expansions.

Personally, the slew of DLC available for Fallout 3 is a tad intimidating, and with my birthday in October, that Game of the Year SKU sounds right up my alley.

However, according to its most recently released downloadable content, Fallout 3’s ending does.

Bethesda Softworks, creators of the most recent installment of the Fallout series, has released the final of three Fallout 3 DLCs to be released this year.  This DLC, named Broken Steel, was highly anticipated due to the exclusive quests, items and, of course, the raised level-cap which will allow characters to go to all the way to level 30, significantly higher than the traditional 20.

However, will Broken Steel live up to the hype that surrounds it?  Or will Bethesda once again fall into their bad habit of releasing borked DLCs?  Let’s take a look.

Broken Steel takes place after the main quest is completed.  Though the Lone Wanderer actually dies at the end of the main quest, Broken Steel allows the Brotherhood to conveniently revive you.  This allows you to complete all of the Broken Steel and incomplete traditional quests without having to deal with that whole “being dead” thing.

The story starts with the Lone Wanderer waking up after being unconscious for two weeks.  Elder Lyons, the leader of the Brotherhood, greets you when you wake.  He informs you that the Enclave, though significantly weakened, is still running rampant throughout the Wasteland.  According to Lyons, it is up to you to finish what the Brotherhood of Steel has started.

Your first quest, called Death From Above, involves the Lone Wanderer to travel with a small Brotherhood taskforce in order to destroy a small Enclave outpost.  Armed with powerful weapons and Liberty Prime, the giant Communist-crushing pacification robot that many players will remember from the quest Take It Back!, you and your team must suppress the Enclave soldiers and retrieve intel regarding their communication methods.

Unfortunately, the mission ends up being a bit of a failure.  The Enclave turn out to be a little tougher than you and your team anticipates, as your rivals have gotten their hands on some heavy-duty missile technology.  Your company is almost completely wiped out and Liberty Prime is damaged beyond repair, setting the Brotherhood back “years!”  From this point on, it is your job to do some very intense reconnaissance missions for the Brotherhood.

Broken Steel offers a ton of new weapons to the Lone Wanderer, though most of them are of the “heavy” variety.  Items such as the Heavy Incinerator and the Slo-Burn Flamer are sure to whet the appetite of any character who likes a slow kill.  Likewise, the (very) cool Tesla Cannon is sure to satisfy those who are looking to quickly annihilate their opposition.  The DLC offers some very good armor as well.  Tired of those pesky fire-based attacks from the enemy?  Then try Enclave Hellfire Armor on for size.  Looking for something special to wear for a night with Nova?  Then let the All-Nighter Nightwear set the mood.

There is no lack of new enemies in Broken Steel, either.  Keep an eye out for some nasty creatures such as the Albino Radscorpion, the Feral Ghoul Reaver and the Super Mutant Overlord.  Each of these critters are significantly tougher than their traditional counterparts (for example, the Albino Radscorpion has three times as much health as a Deathclaw).  The Enclave has improved their infantry, too.  The Lone Wanderer will surely encounter the Hellfire Trooper and Sigma Leader, which will give every user more trouble than they bargained for.  Each of these enemies provides a challenge that is unmatched in the other DLC’s, making Broken Steel very satisfying in that aspect.

However, the best part about Broken Steel is the fact that it wasn’t broken (well, for Xbox 360 users at least).  For those who haven’t heard, Bethesda has had some issues regarding the bugginess of their DLC releases.  Their DLC’s, most notably the first and second release of The Pitt, have been frustratingly glitchy.  There have also been horror stories of players had their 100-hour campaign file corrupted by these DLC’s.  Luckily, Broken Steel has been perfect for Xbox 360, which is very refreshing.

The only real problem with Broken Steel was its difficulty.  I can’t imagine many beginning players who could beat the majority of this DLC without dying an obscene amount of times.  Pro-tip: use the expanded level-cap to your advantage.  Try not to beat the traditional main quest until you are at least level 16.  Otherwise, you will probably just be in for a world of frustration.

That said, Broken Steel was probably my favorite of the three released DLCs for Fallout 3.  None of the other releases even came close to the depth and intensity of Broken Steel’s quests.  Also, Broken Steel had many more interesting weapons and armor than its sister DLCs.  Along with the extended level-cap and bug-free functionality, Broken Steel is far and beyond the best $10 investment a Fallout 3 player can make.

No, Broken Steel is not the name of a new drink, or a taco topping, rather the third installment of DLC for the popular RPG that hit digital shelves today.

Available for 800 MS Points/$10, Broken Steel you play as the character you’ve so lovingly built as you work with the Brotherhood of Steel to destroy the Enclave for good! Hopefully.   Broken Steel also raises the level cap to a mighty 30, brings new weapons and the ability to revive your canine companion, and most interestingly extends the title to infinity and beyond removing any ending the title ever had.

Gamers take the good with the bad, and again, there is some bad to be had with Broken Steel.

According to Kotaku Bethesda has recognized the following error message PC Fallout fans have encountered and is promising a thorough and timely examination and ultimate fix of the issue.

“Not a cryptographic message or the cryptographic message is not formatted correctly. (Exception from HRESULT: 0×8009200D)”

No complaints regarding the Xbox 360 version however and your download can be started here (even if you’re at work or school) via the Xbox Live web marketplace.  Happy hunting!

Broken Steel comes exclusively to Xbox 360 and PC (sorry PS3 fans, you must smell bad or something), raises the level cap to 30, and eliminates the games’ ending.  Closure is overrated anyway.

Available for 800 MS Points, Broken Steel will introduce your character to an entirely new environment outside of the Wasteland and bring new weapons, enemies, and perks to the fray, one in particular that that allows for the summoning of your deceased canine companion.

Furthermore, Broken Steel drops you into the latter part of the title, changes the way the original title ends, and expands the storyline unendingly.

Speaking with Brian Crecente, managing editor of Kotaku.com, Pete Hines of Bethesda said “Broken Steel has no ending, there are no more endings, we got the message.”

As far as length is concerned, Hines stated that the total duration is a “bit longer than The Pitt, coming in at about four to five hours of gameplay, and that it also adds a bunch of sidequests which each take 30 minutes to an hour to complete.”

Now that we know Broken Steel ups the level cap to 30, what about more difficult enemies and the effort needed to reach the cap?

“Enemies are a lot tougher,” Hines said. “You start seeing new enemies at level 18.

“Advancement from 20 to 30 takes a ton of experience points.”

There you have it folks, Fallout 3’s latest DLC drops in two weeks, brings a slew of new features and quests to the experience, and eliminates any sense of conclusion.  Just what could Bethesda possibly do next? Oh that’s right, the company recently revealed Fallout Vegas with scant details. Let the hype begin!

via Kotaku

In the beginning, Bethesda Softworks took gamers on an exciting adventure through the Nuclear Wastelands of Washington DC in Fallout 3.  Next, Bethesda took patrons back in time to witness the liberation of Alaska from Chinese Communists in the Fallout 3 downloadable content pack Operation: Anchorage.

Now, the company that brought you these two exciting bits of content is now taking you on an adventure in…

Pittsburgh?

Yes, Pittsburgh.  Though it seems like an odd idea, The Pitt seemed to have the potential to be the most interesting and entertaining DLC for Fallout 3.  The only question was: would it reach that potential?

The Pitt puts the Lone Wanderer in the middle of a skirmish between the large network of Slavers and their large slave population.  From there, players are posed with morally ambiguous decisions while encountering numerous new characters, weapons (including the hyped AutoAxe) and enemies.

After downloading The Pitt, players will shortly find a message pop up in their HUD stating that there is a distress call being broadcasted on the radio.  Soon after reading this message, a quest will be added as well as a marker designating the location where the message is being broadcasted.

At the broadcast station, you find a man named Werhner who has been ambushed by Slavers. Once you help him, he explains the message he broadcasted across the Wasteland’s airwaves. In short, Werhner says that he needs your assistance to help free the slaves (or “workers” as the leaders of The Pitt would say) and to remove the evil monarchy running what’s left of the war torn city.

The first step in the plan, as Werhner explains, is to, not surprisingly, enter The Pitt. To do this, you must look like a slave. This means that you must wear slave clothes. You also cannot have any of your weapons, armor or anything of value on you when you try and get into The Pitt. If you do try and smuggle your items into The Pitt, a less-than-charming Slaver name Mex takes all of your items (which you will eventually be able to recover later in the quest).

Once you actually get into The Pitt, you are told to meet with a slave named Midea. Midea, who is noticeably cleaner and more polite than many of the other NPC you will encounter in The Pitt, plays the role of a sort of leader and representative of the slaves. Once you tell her that you are the one who is helping Werhner, she tells you to work in the Steelyard. There, she explains, you will be able to blend in with the other slaves while also staying out of sight of the Slavers. However, she fails to tell you (well, initially anyway) that working in the Steelyard is actually the most dangerous job in The Pitt, putting the Lone Wanderer in the middle of a breeding ground of the Trogs, a demented once-human life-form looking to attack you at any moment.

From there, you slowly work your way up the slave/Slaver food chain, gaining more power and access around The Pitt as you go. How you use this power, however, is entirely up to you.

The Pitt is brilliant in it’s writing and the morally grey choices that it presents (including taking a page out of Amalia Tabata’s book giving players a choice to kidnap a child). The DLC, unlike many that I’ve encountered in the past, did not seem forced into the overall storyline nor did it seem like it was made just for Bethesda to get some extra revenue.  The attention to detail with the character models was superb.  The slaves looked convincingly affected by the harsh working conditions and heavy radiation.  The dialogue was also excellent.

In short, the Pitt had purpose and was fun at the same time. However, The Pitt had its shortcomings as well.

The first release of The Pitt, as you might have heard, was a bit of a disaster. Customers of version 1.0 reported terrible glitches and lagging within the game. Also, some users even had their entire saved game file corrupted, causing some completely lose upwards of 40 hours of work.

I, luckily, waited until Bethesda (who, to their credit, quickly took off and replaced the bad version) posted a new and improved version of The Pitt on Xbox Live. But, when I downloaded the DLC, I was still disappointed with how The Pitt ran.

The game was virtually glitch-free after the update.  I was very satisfied with how well Bethesda cleaned up The Pitt in a relatively short time.  Sure, it would have been nice if it worked correctly the first time, but I’d take a delayed-but-working game over a never-going-to-be-fixed glitchfest any day.

However, beyond the quality of the game’s programming, some of the quests within The Pitt were flawed. Within The Pitt’s main quest, players will find themselves running back and forth between areas that were quite distant from each other to have very short conversations with other characters.

The Pitt, though flawed, still makes for a decent DLC. I’d say that this DLC beats Operation: Anchorage hands down.  The Pitt will last for as many hours as it’s users want it to. With the decent number of side missions and moderately complex main quest, this DLC will last you somewhere between 3-8 hours. If you’ve got an Xbox 360, a copy of Fallout 3 and a spare $9.99, The Pitt will be a worthy investment.

Tim Schafer, legendary game designer hosted the event, as major titles Fallout 3, and LittleBigPlanet took home most of the hardware.

Media Molecule’s crazy-popular, user generated content oriented LittleBigPlanet took home four awards for Best Game Design, Best Technology, Best Debut Game and Innovation.

Bethesda Softworks received the Game of the Year and Best Writing awards for their latest post-apocalyptic endeavor, Fallout 3.

Not all the nods went to the games themselves as Hideo Kojima, creator of Metal Gear was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award for his twenty years of dedication and work on the Metal Gear series and others.

Finally, Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy, co-developers of the Guitar Hero and Rock Band franchises accepted the Pioneer Award for their undying enthusiasm and dedication to their work.

Full list of winners at the Game Developers Choice Awards below.

Game of the Year
Fallout 3 (Bethesda Softworks)

Best Game Design:
LittleBigPlanet (Media Molecule)

Best Writing:
Fallout 3 (Bethesda Softworks)

Best Technology:
LittleBigPlanet (Media Molecule)

Best Visual Arts:
Prince of Persia (Ubisoft Montreal)

Best Debut Game:
LittleBigPlanet (Media Molecule)

Best Handheld Game:
God Of War: Chains Of Olympus (Ready at Dawn)

Innovation Award:
LittleBigPlanet (Media Molecule)

Best Audio:
Dead Space (EA Redwood Shores)

Best Downloadable Game:
World Of Goo (2D Boy)

Recipients for the evening’s special awards were:

Lifetime Achievement Award
Hideo Kojima

Pioneer Award
Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy

Ambassador Award
Tommy Tallarico

via GamaSutra.

The Pitt allows your character to travel through the destroyed remains of Pittsburgh, ravaged by time, neglect, nuclear radiation, and moral degradation.  New weapons, enemies, shady NPC’s, and morally grey choices await you in Bethesda’s latest digital offering.

The trifectas of screens are Arena, Attacked, and Pittslave, each with unique and intriguing visual components.

All three are dark and ominous, as would be expected in such a desolate metropolis, and while Trog’s and hacksaws are great, Arena appropriates great lighting and texture elements scoring my vote.

The Pitt DLC hits Xbox 360 and PC March 24 costing you 800 golden Microsoft Points.

Bethesda Softworks has released three new screenshots for the upcoming Fallout 3 DLC, named The Pitt.  The new screenshots include pictures named Trog, Steel Mill and Courtyard.  Steel Mill and Courtyard show the new environments and areas.  Trog is a picture of one of the many new types of enemies you will encounter in The Pitt.

The Pitt is based in the city of Pittsburgh years after a nuclear attack.  The Pitt, not unlike how Washington D.C. is portrayed in the basic version of Fallout 3, is full of mystery, danger and new areas to discover.  Your character will be posed with a quest to solve the burgeoning conflict between the Raiders and their slaves, dealing with “morally grey choices” along the way.

The Pitt will be available to Xbox 360 and Windows PC users for download later this month for 800 points / $10.  These are the second wave of screenshots of The Pitt that have been made available to fans.  You can see the other screenshots here.

The Pitt put characters in the middle of a struggle between the Raiders and their slaves in what is left of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Unlike Fallout 3’s previous DLC, The Pitt will be based in a present day reality and offer many different karma driven options.  Also, throughout the quest, players will be put through many difficult and often “morally grey” choices.  Be prepared to fight foes, find weapons and enjoy new experiences unique to the soon-to-be-released DLC.  The Pitt will be available through Xbox Live in March 2009 for 800 points/$9.99.

Still, I have always thought that Fallout 3 was missing something… I just could never put my finger on it. There was some element, some ‘thing’ that was keeping Fallout 3 from evolving from a very good game to a great game.

Enter Operation: Anchorage, the first downloadable content for Fallout 3, and the solution to the equation that has bothered me for the last month.

Operation Anchorage starts when you hear a distress signal from Defender Morill, a member of the Brotherhood Outcasts, the separated faction of the Brotherhood of Steel. Upon hearing the signal, the quest becomes available for you to pursue.

When you arrive at the Outcast Outpost, Defender Morill and Protector McGraw greet you, though with cautious hostility. However, eventually McGraw and Morill let you in on the Outcasts’ plans due to your character being the perfect subject for a certain simulation. Why, you ask? Because of the special device attached to your arm called the Pip-Boy 3000.

It is explained to you that the Outcasts would like to gain access into a secret vault. However, to get into the vault, the Outcasts need someone to complete a simulation of the rescuing of Alaska from Communist Chinese invaders AKA the Liberation of Anchorage. The Outcasts warn you that if you die in the simulation, you die in “real life”. However, if you complete the simulation successfully, you will be able to get a cut of whatever was inside of the vault.

After being jacked into the program, Sergeant Benjamin Montgomery greets you in “Alaska”. He leads you to see General Chase (probably one of the best-named characters in video game history). General Chase explains to you the operations you need to complete to finish the simulation. From there, you select from an array of military personnel to form your strike team (which turned out to be fairly useless) and head out.

As you start to fulfill your duties, fight various amounts of enemies, use many types of weapons, and visit some interesting locations, all of which are unique to the DLC. One of the coolest enemies were the Crimson Dragoons, invisible Chinese super soldiers who attack you in a variety of ways: sword, rifles or sniping. However, you’re not defenseless against the Dragoons. Within the simulation, you get to use the “old technology” of the time of the Liberation. Though you will often see classic firearms like the Silenced 10mm Pistol, you will also run into weapons such as Trench Knives and the always useful Gauss rifle. You also will have ammo and health replenishing machines that you will find along the way.

Overall, Operation: Alaska is a success. It achieves an experience that I could not find in the original content of Fallout 3. As a good karma character, I was able to kill almost everyone I saw with little to no consequences: a simple, but necessary pleasure in a FPS such as this.

Bethesda Softworks has released new downloadable content for Fallout 3 called Operation: Anchorage.  The DLC will be available for both Xbox 360 and PC versions of the game.

Operation: Anchorage puts you and your character in a brand new quest to help the Brotherhood Outcasts.  The Brotherhood Outcasts need your help to get into a vault containing advanced military technology.  However, the only way to get into the vault is to complete a “tactical simulation that only you can enter”.  This simulation will put you in the action of the Battle of Anchorage, the oft fabled liberation of the American state, fighting and surviving against the Chinese Communists.

Through the simulation, you will be able to collect unique items found only in Operation: Anchorage.  You will also be able to use strike teams and test new and old weapon technologies with nearly unlimited ammo at your disposal.  However, even with these advantages, the Chinese will not be easy to defeat… especially when they have Ninjas.  Yes, Ninjas.  See the picture gallery for details.

Look for the review of Operation: Anchorage in the next issue of Blast Magazine!

From Bethesda Softworks:
PUBLISHER:     Bethesda Softworks

DEVELOPER:     Bethesda Game Studios

PLATFORM:      Xbox 360TM and Games for Windows®

RELEASE DATE: January 27, 2009

DESCRIPTION:     Operation: Anchorage. Enter a military simulation and fight in one of the greatest battles of the Fallout universe – the liberation of Anchorage, Alaska from its Chinese Communist invaders. Gain access to unique armor, weapons, and exotic gadgets while you build and command interactive Strike Teams to win the battle and defeat the Chinese base.

STORY:     The Brotherhood Outcasts are trying to acquire advanced military technology, and the only way to open the vault containing these relics is by completing a tactical simulation only you can enter. In Operation: Anchorage you will re-live the epic Battle of Anchorage from Fallout lore. Find your way into the simulation, stripped of resources, and survive within the rules set up by the simulation’s creators. The Chinese red army is everywhere, so secure the surrounding mountain side and fight your way into the Chinese base.

KEY FEATURES:

•    Enter a top-secret battle simulator which allows you to test and use both new and old weaponry, with nearly unlimited amounts of ammo at your disposal!
•    Adds hours of extended gameplay to explore the Alaskan tundra with a new or existing character.
•    Gain access to new weapons, exotic armor, and items…even a Chinese Stealth Suit!
•    Chose your strike team to help you through your quest.
•    Exclusive new perks and achievements!

It will be up today on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network and the PC patch can be found on the official Web site, and will also be up on Games for Windows Live as well.

You also can download the patch FREE from Blast.

The patch is required to play the downloadable content coming to Xbox 360 and Games for Windows. The first DLC for Fallout 3, Operation: Anchorage, is scheduled to be released January 27 via Xbox Live and Games for Windows Live for 800 points.

A full list of patch fixes is on page 2.

In Operation Anchorage we get to relive the much talked about liberation of Anchorage that was hinted to throughout the game.

To maintain continuity, you will play out the 200-years-in-the-past battle by entering a simulation like the one you have to complete in a vault to find your father in the main quest.

Operation Anchorage is focused mainly on battle/fighting/shooting and less on the verbose storyline of the rest of the game.

The download will be available for Xbox 360 and Games for Windows later this month for 800 points/$9.99. Fallout 3 downloads are exclusive to the 360 and Windows, as Bethesda announced at E3.

Building off that, here is my list of the top 10 video games of 2008.

11. The Honorable Mentions:

Mega Man IX — Platformer

(PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii) Ladies, want to buy your 20-something man a gift that will make him giggle like an eighth grader? Spend 10 bucks on Mega Man 9, a new take on the hyper-challenging classic video game that requires quick reflexes to battle a horde of evil robots and their sinister master.

AND — Final Fantasy IV for DS, Call of Duty: World at War, de Blob for Wii

10. The Witcher Enhanced Edition — RPG

(PC) This Atari title’s beautiful visuals and compelling supernatural story will remind you why you love to play computer games. The Enhanced Edition builds in an already good game, making it a great game.

9. N+ — Platformer

(DS, PSP) Atari had a hell of a year. N+ is a sickly addictive, graphically simple platformer where you do what good platforming good guys do — jump around and collect gold.

8. Resistance 2 — Action

(PlayStation 3) This might be the best multiplayer game on the list, with as many as 60 players getting together online and shooting the bejesus out of anything that moves. There is also a gripping alternate history storyline.

Resistance 2 also boasts the best trailer.

7. Dead Space — Action

(PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC) Electronic Arts stepped way out of its comfort zone of sports games and The Sims to put together a haunting sci-fi action game that will suck you in until you’re completely addicted.

Bottom line: EA’s balls dropped this year, and they put out some sick games that are better than 18 or the last 19 Maddens.

6. Guitar Hero: World Tour — Music

(PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii) This is comparable to the first Rock Band, with players jamming on drums, guitars, and a microphone. There’s one important difference, though: With Guitar Hero: World Tour, you can compose your own songs.

Activision finally made a music game that’s as good as Rock Band, a year later. The jury is still out on the studio mode. I’m just waiting for them to put out a Rammstein track pack so I can relive high school.

5. LittleBigPlanet — Platformer

(PlayStation 3, PSP) Users create downloadable content for this game, in which you guide players called Sackboys through a variety of levels and tasks.

Xbox 360 may be killing PS3 in sales again, but PlayStation has the most best games.

4. Fable II — RPG

(Xbox 360) This cerebral game starts with a magic box that grants wishes to your character – who begins as a poverty-stricken orphan and grows up to be whoever you want him to be – good or evil, even straight or gay.

Ok, here’s where I swallow hard, because we’re at #3 and it’s an Xbox exclusive. Fable II is also one of our highest rated games.

3. Rock Band 2 — Music

(PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, Wii) It looks, feels, and plays a lot like the original Rock Band, the four-player phenomenon with guitar, bass, drum, and microphone. But Rock Band 2 has more than 80 new songs and plenty more available to purchase, plus an 18-song AC/DC concert you can buy or download.

2. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots — Action

(PlayStation 3) The only argument I might find here is that it’s not #1, which GameSpot may insist on. They gave it a perfect 10/10.

1. Fallout 3 — Action/RPG

As my review said, not only is Fallout 3 the best game o f the year, but it’s one of the best games ever made. Blast’s Best Game of E3 is also Blast’s Best Game of 2008. Fallout 3 is the best game of 2008, and may not be beat for a long time.

Aftermath

Missing Wii-only games? Yeah. We are. And it’s not just because I said Wii would fail back in 2006. You can make the case for Mario Kart, and you can argue Brawl into the mix, but 2008 was a disaster for the Wii. Nintendo also did a belly flop at E3, and we were there to see it. Funny thing is that 2007 was huge for Wii, 2008 was a write-off, and 2009 might be another huge year if the Motion Plus takes off, and I do like the Motion Plus.

Minor spoiler warning. We’re not giving away anything vital.

Every once in a while, a game comes along that plays out like so:

You sit down at 5:30 in the afternoon to play the game. You open a box of Cheez-Its. You figure on playing the game for an hour or two and eating a few handfuls of crackers.

Suddenly the sun is coming up, the box is empty, and you’ve just gotten started in the game.

This caloric description doesn’t even begin to do justice to Fallout 3. Not only is Fallout 3 the best game of the year, but it’s one of the best games ever made.

That’s a lofty statement, but you’re reading a magazine that has a track record of telling the truth. So listen up.

The game takes place in post nuclear apocalyptic Washington D.C., and you’re one of the lucky few that got to live in the secure Vault 101, free from the radiation, deadly super mutants and certain death in the barren wasteland outside.

You begin Fallout 3 at the moment of your character (male or female) is born, and you age through the game in quick chapters until you one day when you wake up to discover your father, a scientist and doctor, has inexplicably left the Vault – a big no-no. Now the Vault director is after you, and your life is in danger.

Right from the start, Bethesda shows you the sheer volume of choices, side-quests, and adventures in Fallout 3. As you’re escaping the authorities, you’ll find that an infestation of giant radioactive cockroaches has swarmed the vault. You’ll run into a childhood bully begging you for help because his alcoholic mother is being attacked by the roaches, and he’s too scared to do anything about it. You’ll find that your father’s assistant – who was like an uncle to you – has been murdered for information about dad’s disappearance. Seeking revenge, you’ll find the vault director, but wait, he’s the father of your potential love interest and childhood best friend.

And that’s all before the game really even starts.

Leaving the vault, you’ll then spend the next, oh, month of your life exploring and re-exploring a visual masterpiece. Washington D.C., the surrounding area, and all the monuments have been reconstructed and then devastated by nuclear war. It’s eye-popping to walk through this virtual world and see the Washington Monument in ruins as you approach it and the museums of the Smithsonian in various stages of decay, squatters taking up shelter in their strong construction. It’s not just up-close either. From far in the distance, you can see the Washington Monument or the Capital Building, and it’s eerie.

Let me tell you what else is eerie: listening to the radio stations in the background. From the start, you’ll have your choice of Enclave Radio, the propaganda channel for a faction that claims to be the resurrected United States Government, and the rebel free radio wasteland station and its eccentric disc jockey, Three Dog.

You have the choice to be good or bad. You can be a hero, defending the helpless, saving cities and having townsfolk shower you with gifts (that does happen). You can walk into the slave trader’s village and kill all the slavers. Or you can be an asshole. You can exploit children, beat up women, destroy towns. You can be evil, corrupt, and terrifying.

That all starts when you’re a kid or when you’re escaping the vault. Your best friend steals a gun from her father to “aid” in your escape. When the childhood bully begs you for help, you can help him, save his mother and be the hero.

Or you can shoot him in the head and put two in the mother for good measure.

These are your choices, and don’t let emotion get in the way — yes, it’s just a video game, but we’ve all been there.

Even your own health is a series of carefully balanced choices. If your hit points are low, you can drink water from a stream or sink or even down a soda from a vending machine, but this increases your radiation level, which is bad for you in the long run.

You will also encounter a variety of drugs and chemicals that will raise HP or boost your abilities temporarily, but if you take too much, you’ll get addicted and dependent on the drug. If you run out, you’ll go through withdrawal and lose abilities.

The game is bloody, gory, violent, and full of sexually suggestive and explicit dialog. But the game doesn’t include swears in the same way that Kane and Lynch did — just for the hell of it. Fallout 3’s dialogue is tactfully woven together.

There are a lot of little things that I would have liked to have seen built up more, like sitting at a bar and ordering a drink, settling up two lovebirds and then going to the wedding, going to restaurants. These features all happen, but could have been a bit better designed. You don’t have food delivered to you or a drink poured for you; you just buy it and it appears in your inventory.

The game’s inventory system works exactly like Bethesda’s Elder Scrolls titles. You can carry items up to your strength limit, and then you have to drop stuff strategically.

The game world is massive. It takes many, many hours to go through it, and you can bet that expansion packs and downloadable content is coming.

Now, I’ll admit, I’m a little biased in favor of the post apocalyptic genre. I grew up playing and reading Shadowrun for Genesis, Super Nintendo and tabletop — still have all the books. I number Blade Runner, Escape from New York and Escape from L.A. in my list of favorite movies.

But forget about the genre for a bit. The visuals are unparalleled and the audio is sublime. Walking down a bombed out road in Washington is that much creepier when “America the Beautiful” is playing in the background, seriously. The controls are intuitive and can be inverted or adjusted for sensitivity. The plot is complex and gripping.

When I discovered Interplay’s Wasteland in the early 1990s, this was how I imagined the game would look in real life. Technically Fallout 3 is the fourth installment in the franchise. Interplay made Wasteland and then Fallout 1 and 2, as technical sequels. They also made two spin-offs: the combat-heavy Fallout: Tactics on the PC in 2001 and Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel (the first console Fallout title) in 2004. Interplay started making Fallout 3, (see Van Buren) but they were broke and struggling. Bethesda scooped up the Fallout franchise last year for just under $6 million. Bethesda completely threw out Interplay’s work and built this game from scratch.

It does use the same gameplay engine as The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion.

Fallout 3 is artistic and timely. It has a message to it — a frightening message. But unlike other games with a social context, Fallout 3 doesn’t push these factors down your throat.

It is, however, a quiet indictment of corrupt politics, unscrupulous foreign policy and an increasingly insular American populace.

Blast tested the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game. Joe Sinicki and Terri Schwartz of the Blast Magazine staff contributed to this report.

“Fallout 3 has been the biggest project we’ve ever undertaken,” said Todd Howard, game director for Fallout 3. “It’s been a long journey and we’re really happy with how it turned out. We can’t wait for everyone to get a chance to play it.”

Fallout 3 was Blast’s Best Game of E3 2008.

Rated M by the ESRB, Fallout 3 tells the story of a post apocalyptic United States, with the player assuming the role of a member of Vault 101 — a Washington DC based shelter in search of his father. The game features open-ended and customizable gameplay — including an estimated 200 versions of the end cutscene.

For more information on Fallout 3, visit the game’s official sites at http://fallout.bethsoft.com and http://www.prepareforthefuture.com. Stay with Blast as the game release comes closer for more coverage.

Jimmy and The Fatman

VATS

That’s Right Abe

“We are very excited to let gamers get their hands on Fallout 3, the latest chapter in this beloved and highly acclaimed franchise,” said Vlatko Andonov, president of Bethesda Softworks, in a statement. “To meet the huge demand for this title by our fans worldwide, we are planning one of the biggest launches of any game released this year.”

Bethesda is the powerhouse behind the mega-award-winning Elder Scrolls franchise.

We witnessed a revitalized Atari, a ballsy Electronic Arts and the peak of the music game fad.

Here’s what we took away from the conference:

BEST GAME
Fallout 3
Bethesda Softworks
Xbox 360/PlayStation 3
September

Bethesda built a winner from scratch with an amazing looking Fallout 3. Blast played this game, Blast loved this game. You won’t see a more visually and audibly appealing video game this year. This game is a massive project for any developer, but Bethesda, who saw huge success with “The Elder Scrolls” role playing game series, seems poised to release a game of the year candidate in the fall.

BEST ONLINE GAME
DC Universe Online
Sony Online Entertainment
PlayStation 3, PC
TBA

Comic book legend Jim Lee was the Executive Creative Director of the game and created the visual world DC Universe would be set in based on art from the entire history of DC comics. You get to team up with or fight against Superman and Batman. How cool is that?

BEST HANDHELD GAME
N+
Atari
Nintendo DS and Sony PSP
August 12

With 300 puzzling levels to explore, plus many hidden unlockable ones, N+, based on the hit Flash game, was the best handheld game at E3, and E3 agreed by giving it best in show in the DS and PSP categories. N+ led the charge for a revitalized Atari Inc.

GUARANTEED BEST SELLER/BEST PC GAME
Spore
Electronic Arts
PC
September 7

Within 18 days of the release of Spore Creature Creator, there were over 1.7 million “Spores” created. That’s more than the 1.589 million actual species known to exist on earth, Will Wright pointed out at the EA press conference Tuesday. And that says something about the anticipated impact “Spore” will have when it’s released in September.

BEST WII GAME
Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party
Ubisoft
November

First game you can play with your ass.

BEST MUSIC GAME
Rock Band 2
Harmonix/MTV Games
Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii
Fall

No real competition at E3. Guitar Hero: World Tour will be awesome too, but Activision wasn’t there this year.

GUTSIEST PROJECTS

Dead Space
Electronic Arts
Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC
October 21

Mirror’s Edge
Electronic Arts
Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC
Holiday season

Good work, EA. You managed to stretch your legs and come up with both a bloody horror flick and a FPS where you don’t have ever fire a gun. Both games will either be home runs or total flops (leaning toward an extra base hit) but they’re ballsy! Nice!

M.A.G. Massive Action Game, 256 player online multiplayer
Zipper Interactive/Sony
PlayStation 3
TBA

Another crap shoot. If Zipper does this game right, and we mean JUST RIGHT, M.A.G. could be one of the good ones.

MOST IMPROVED: Atari

BIGGEST LETDOWN: Nintendo

After years of development, Bethesda Softworks, makers of the hugely successful “Elder Scrolls” series, is at the E3 Media and Business Summit at the Los Angeles Convention Center this week to show off “Fallout 3,” the latest chapter in the post-Nuclear apocalypse role playing franchise, due on shelves in the fall.

Interplay’s release of “Fallout” in 1997 was a breath of fresh air to an otherwise depleted RPG game gene pool during a lackluster several years for RPG’s. Then, in came this real world, guns and rockets departure from dungeons, dragons, wizards, and elves.

That kind of history will give “Fallout 3” momentum, but Bethesda has sometimes been looked at as a step-parent to Fallout since buying it for $5,750,000. They completely remade the game, throwing out the work Interplay had done on its own version of “Fallout 3” before selling it off.

The company’s other titles have been mixed. It’s “Elder Scrolls” games and expansion packs for those games have sold millions of copies, won countless awards, and enjoyed nearly unanimous critical approval. That success has carried them despite less successful titles like the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie games; semi-failures like their half dozen or so Star Trek titles; and miserable failures like the 2006 “IHRA Drag Racing” simulation game.

Still, Bethesda likes to gamble, and it usually pays off.

“We took a lot of risks with ‘[Elder Scrolls:] Oblivion’ and learned a lot doing such a massive game,” said Todd Howard, executive producer for Bethesda, during Microsoft’s E3 briefing Monday. “We’ve learned a lot.”

Bethesda hopes to market the game to hardcore and casual gamers – a very fashionable trend in the video game world today.

“Lots of people want an experience that is fun and well-executed. So that group is everyone from the most hardcore to casual gamers who buy 1 or 2 games a year,” said Pete Hines, vice president of public relations and marketing for Bethesda, in an interview Monday. “Our marketing strategy is to hit those consumers in a lot of different ways, at different times.”

Fallout 3 will be available for Windows, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 this fall.

Fallout 3:

Fallout 3 is an action/adventure role-playing game that takes place in post-apocayptic Washington, DC in the year 2277. The Enclave, the last remnant of the US government, controls the robots that patrol the wasteland and are the enemy that are meant to be destroyed. The game allows you to play in either first person or third person.

“On my wrist is the Pip Boy 3000,” said Todd Howard, Game Director from Bethesda Game Studios who demoed the game. The Pit Boy monitors the stats of the main character, controls its skills and do other various things.

“I happen to have the Bloody Vesper, which lets people die in ridiculously violent ways. I also have various weapons, so that I can kill people in ridiculously violent ways, and I also have radio, so that I can pick up broadcast that are happening out in the wasteland,” he said of the Pit Boy.

“This is where the content might be inappropriate for some audiences,” said Howard as he disembodied one of the radioactive humans in the game.

Fallout 3 contains over 100 hours game play. Its world is so massive that a player can go to the Washington Monument and take the elevator to its top floor.

“I think it’s the marching band music [from the radio] that really nails it,” said Howard.

Fallout 3 will be released in the fall of this year, and will feature substantial material downloadable exclusively for Microsoft in the XBox Marketplace.

Resident Evil 5:

Resident Evil 5 represents the first time a Resident Evil game has appeared on a Microsoft system.

Chris Redfield, the game’s main character, is in Kijuju, Tunisia to investigate the causes of some terrorist activity. He has joined a new organization called the BSAA based in Africa. His partner is a woman named Sheva.

The game features a multiplayer online cooperative system that is new to the series. The cooperative system allows players to complete missions that they would not have been able to alone.

Resident Evil 5 will be available in a simultaneous worldwide release on March 13, 2009.

“Please hold on just a little bit longer, and we’ll have it to you very shortly,” said game producer Jun Takeuchi.

Fable 2:

“Fable 2 is finished” is how Peter Molyneux, the founder of Lionhead Studios, introduced the game to the E3 audience.

Fable 2 takes place years after the first game. The player gets a choice to play as either a boy or girl, and is the story about how each player chooses to progress in their journey to become a hero.

The game seems to be just an update of 2004’s prequel, but Fable 2 offers an interesting multiplayer capability. Around the world are orbs which, when you press a button, is actually a different player in their own single player game. When the button is pressed, the other player has the ability to join that world to create a multiplayer experience.

Fable 2 will be released in October of this year.

Gears of War 2:

Most of the Gears of War 2 presentation was gameplay, but design director Cliff Bleszinski had several other goodies up his sleeve about the highly anticipated game.

“We are quickly building to the point where we have the most anticipated title, this holiday season, on any platform,” he said.

The Locust are back, and it is the job of Marcus and his affiliates to try to destroy them.

Returning weapons are the fan favorite flamethrower and chainsaw.

Bleszinski introduced the new “Forge” mode for Gears 2. “Forge” mode is a five player cooperative multiplayer mode where the team takes on wave after wave of increasingly difficult Locusts.

Gears of War 2 will release worldwide on November 7, exclusively for the XBox 360.