Fallout 3: The Pitt

Operation: Anchorage was an enjoyable few hours of downloadable content but its linearity meant that it felt slightly out of place in the Fallout 3 universe. Thankfully, the latest pack suffers no such issues and The Pitt offers a great new area to explore as well as some new quests.

Once the pack has been downloaded and installed the player receives a new radio broadcast requesting help. After making your way to a distant edge of the game world you discover an escaped slave from the remains of Pittsburgh, a place now known simply as The Pitt. He explains that there is a serious problem and as usual you are the only person who can help.

The first section of this expansion largely deals with getting to The Pitt and after a couple of short errands you soon find yourself at the atmospheric entrance to this new location. This is a grimy and downtrodden settlement run by slavers who use humans to manufacture weaponry and to turn over a large profit. Thankfully, the storyline is engaging and has a few nice twists and turns along the way.

There are a number of distinct aspects to this pack and whilst there are only a handful of quests there is a nice level of variety, especially when compared with Operation: Anchorage. Firstly, you can simply explore the hazardous environment meeting people and uncovering some of the many new weapons and items available. These are plentiful in number and range from different pieces of armour and helmets to some seriously nasty weaponry. The Auto Axe does what it says on the tin combining a circular saw with a tin opener which results in some rather gory kills using V.A.T.S.

The main quest is broken down into numerous tasks which feature Fallout's trademarked decision making. There are a variety of different ways to approach the situations you find yourself in. Perhaps the most satisfying is the difficult decision you find yourself faced with towards the end of the story, which took me by surprise.

Before you get to that decision though, there is plenty to keep you busy. There are a few side quests which can be tackled early on and provide you with some handy bonuses. These are especially useful to complete as typically at the start of the downloadable content pack you end up having your items confiscated. Whilst this proves to be fairly annoying it gives you a good incentive to try out the new gear which really packs a punch.

The main distraction from either helping or removing the slaves is The Steelyard. This is a huge open area infested with both valuable items and dangerous enemies. The rewards take the form of 100 steel ingots which can be collected and traded with a character. Upon handing over 10 you are given a new item and there are some very nice one-of-a-kind rewards to be gained.

However, while you go searching you run the risk of encountering Trogs. These are a type of even more vicious feral ghoul who move on all fours and have a nasty habit of jumping out on you when you least expect it. More good news comes in the form of Wildmen who are a group of deranged ex-Pitt inhabitants who attack anything on site. I found The Steelyard a very satisfying element of The Pitt as not only did it provide some good stealth and combat but also fed my need to collect. This element alone will take a good few hours to scour thoroughly and finding all 100 ingots is both satisfying and difficult.

The other main addition is the inclusion of some good old fashioned gladiatorial combat, very much like that found in the arena in Oblivion. Whilst this relatively small element of The Pitt is enjoyable, it would have been nice to see it developed a little more. I blitzed through the entire section in a little over 5 minutes with a high level character. It would have been more satisfying to have the option for more bouts with the possibility of extra rewards.

Overall this content pack still feels a little lacking. I encountered a handful of problems which required me to reload saves, one of which occurred after a good while spent hunting for the ingots. In the past Bethesda has been very good at releasing patches and I am sure they will do the same here. The final quest degenerates slightly and the last section does take a fair amount of time which can feel repetitive especially as the console started to experience slowdown thanks to the mass of enemies on screen.

The Pitt will take a high level character around 4 hours to complete with an extra hour or two needed to get all of the ingots. This downloadable content pack feels much more like a Fallout 3 expansion than the previous one and that makes it all the better. The dingy and oppressive alleyways feel right and the story of enslavement fits in well with the future concept. For 800 Microsoft Points The Pitt is well worth downloading and offers some great new items and quests. This is a good example of what downloadable content should be and is definitely an expansion to be considered by Fallout owners.