RandomNPC – Video Game RPG Reviews, Editorials, and Features

Long part of the Fallout lore, the Chinese invasion of Alaska is the setting of the first official downloadable content for Fallout 3. Taking place in a virtual simulation, Operation Anchorage gives this bit of alternate history life of a sort, putting the player in the boots of a US army commando-in-training. The resulting package is an interesting, if somewhat shallow, questline that throws a few neat toys into the mix, but will likely do little more than whet players’ appetites for the meatier expansions to come.

As Anchorage is simply a new quest within the existing Fallout 3 game, the basic gameplay is unchanged, though there are some quirks of note. However, it will not be scored separately from Fallout 3.

With the content downloaded and active, entering and leaving Rivet City prompts a distress beacon to be added to the player’s Pipboy radio. Brotherhood Outcasts – separatists from the main Brotherhood of Steel regiment – have found a prewar armory and need help to secure and access it. Their commanding officer wants to make a deal: help them get in, and you get a cut of the high-tech loot inside. The catch, of course, is the door is sealed shut, and will not open to anyone without proper clearance – that clearance being available to Pipboy-equipped personnel who complete a training sim for the reclamation of Anchorage from the Chinese. Naturally, the safety mechanisms on the sim unit are disabled, meaning that death in virtual Alaska means death in the Capitol Wasteland.

A Chimera tank in action, complete with a smaller version of Liberty Prime’s laser. Shoe’s kinda on the other foot, isn’t it?

The meat of Anchorage takes place once you get inside the sim, which thrusts you behind enemy lines as part of a two-man strike team. You’re initially tasked with knocking out the artillery keeping the US marines at bay on the outskirts of the titular city, and you later get to assemble your own team to take the fight to the Chinese. Along the way you’ll clash with Chinese soldiers, stealth-suited Dragoon commandos, enemy tanks improvised from mining vehicles, and various other health hazards, culminating in a confrontation with the Chinese general directing the invasion. The quest is inescapably combat heavy and at times annoyingly linear, but Anchorage makes good use of both the game’s battle system and its own unique quirks.

This being a simulator, there are noteworthy differences between Anchorage and the rest of Fallout 3. Both gameplay and the visuals are bent to constantly remind you that you’re in a video game: slain enemies and allies disintegrate, and cannot be searched; periodic (intentional) graphical glitches keep you on the beaten path, funneling you where the sim needs you to go; you have no stimpacks and cannot rest, and can only heal or get more ammo at the (mercifully common) health and ammo dispensers; you can only interact with or pick up certain objects, usually designated by glowing red and emitting a faint chime. Along the way you’ll have the option to seek out and recover intel cases; recovering all ten grants a special bonus perk, Covert Ops, which increases your science, lockpick, and small guns skills. Captured American soldiers can also be rescued for a sizable XP bonus.

Perhaps most interesting is the ability to assemble a squad and equipment layout of your choosing, which becomes available after taking out the artillery. You’re transported to the US base camp and given the ability to add temporary followers; you are given a set number of points, and each unit has a cost – basic infantry are one point, heavy weapons troops are two, robots and armored support cost three or four, and so on. These men assist you in taking out two Chinese fortifications, softening up their defenses for a final push towards their command post. AI hasn’t improved any from vanilla Fallout 3, thus your troops tend to be a little less than self-reliant, though they can reliably engage and defeat like-sized groups of Chinese with little assistance.

Y’know, if Uncle Sam had instead invested in renewable energy, maybe we wouldn’t even be at war with China right now.

Unfortunately, you cannot directly heal your troops, though you can dismiss units at any time and call in reinforcements at checkpoints through your second-in-command; true to the VR theme, soldiers will simply disappear or fade into view when dismissed or summoned. The system doesn’t give you much room to play with the squad, since you can only issue basic orders through your officer (of the “attack” or “hold position” variety). Still, it works well given the setting, and lends to a variety of encounters. A sniper team with missile support is effective at clearing out the defenders from the tank depot, as well as routing the menacing Chimera tanks when they arrive. However, you’ll want close combat specialists to clear out the Chinese encampment just outside, where a Mr. Gutsy can do some serious damage.

The command post objective is where Bethesda flexed their more traditional scripting muscles a bit, and while you lose your squad at that point, the final encounter is suitably intense. Suffice it to say if you don’t pass one of the quest’s few speech checks, be ready for easily one of the most dangerous enemies in the entirety of Fallout 3. And it’s worth mentioning that your job isn’t exactly over once you complete the simulation.

You get a chance to play with some of the new hardware in the VR mission, and unlocking the armory gives you access to the entire set for the rest of the game. These items range from simple unique knives and powered armor to the more exotic shock sword and Chinese stealth suit, the last of which generates a constant Stealth Boy effect while the user is crouched. The mighty Gauss Rifle makes a triumphant return as an extremely powerful and accurate sniper rifle, though longtime series fans should note that the rifle is now classified under energy weapons.

SNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE!

Anchorage does have a handful of problems. While voice acting wasn’t the strongest aspect of Fallout 3, most of the quest-specific NPCs come off as lifeless or forced. The conversations of your virtual squadmates repeat fairly often, to the point where Oblivion fans will have flashbacks about mudcrabs. Chinese Dragoons that start off cloaked can be detected and targeted in VATS, but A) will appear neutral until you get to a trigger point, and B) are impossible to hit with guns in VATS before turning hostile (splash damage from explosives will still hurt them, as will shooting them in real time). The Gauss Rifle does not currently have a weapon with which it can be repaired, meaning it can only be fixed at shops and traders, most of whom have meager repair skills. While dangerous, Chimera tanks have a habit of getting stuck on the environment simply due to their size, not unlike super mutant behemoths.

The biggest problem with Anchorage is that there’s simply not much depth. The squad system is fun to play with and the intel cases provide a decent distraction from the main objectives, but the quest offers little in the way of branching plot points or multiple endings. You get in, kill some virtual Commies, get your reward, and are sent on your way. The real meat of the official DLC is likely to be later, with content that expands past the game’s original ending and, among other things, boosts the level cap. Anchorage, at the end of the day, is just another quest, and one not nearly as well written as some of the quests in the original game.

It’s a toss-up whether this is worth the 800 Microsoft funbucks, but it’s still a solid, action-packed romp through Fallout‘s history. It adds just enough flavor to keep the atmosphere engaging – observant players may spot a trio of soldiers photographed in a pose identical to that of the Anchorage Memorial in Fallout 3 – and provides a decent challenge for players looking to exercise their trigger fingers. For everyone else, consider it an appetizer for the content to come.