RandomNPC – Video Game RPG Reviews, Editorials, and Features

It takes a certain kind of person to look at Fallout 3‘s Capitol Wasteland and say “Well, that’s pretty desolate and inhospitable, but I think we could do better. Get the guys together, we’re making another add-on.” How Bethesda wound up at Point Lookout, Maryland, is anybody’s guess, but what matters is Point Lookout is easily the biggest and arguably the best downloadable content for Fallout 3 to date. It’s not perfect by any measure, but it gets within shouting distance at times and comes as an easy recommendation to anyone who liked the original game.

Although this DLC adds considerable content and the largest stand-alone game world outside the Wasteland, it does not expand on the plot or game mechanics in any way. Thus, it will not be scored independent of Fallout 3.

Starting at a pier along the southern edge of the Potomac, Point Lookout starts slow enough: a woman approaches you for help, claiming her daughter went missing after hitching a ride on a rickety old riverboat. The boat’s captain, Tobar, offers you a ride to the titular former state park. Mystery, adventure, and riches await, or so he claims. A short ride later, he brings you to the derelict Pilgrim’s Landing, an old boardwalk that has definitely seen better times. While Tobar gives you a few leads – the smoke coming from that mansion in the distance looks conspicuous – you’re pretty much on your own once you set foot on the dock. Followers, unfortunately, cannot join you here.

If the skee-ball machine isn’t working, I’m gonna be mad. I’m talking mini-nukes EVERYWHERE. In fact, I think I’ll do that anyway.

Main and secondary quests take you to several of the island’s more interesting locales. The mansion is occupied by a curiously well-to-do ghoul named Desmond, who’s run into a spot of trouble with the natives. After helping him repel a band of invading tribals, you are tasked with infiltrating their church stronghold and finding out what they want. On top of this seemingly straightforward quest, however, you still have a missing girl to find. There’s also prewar intrigue in following the trail of a Communist spy through the abandoned town and internment camp, and another well-off local is holed up deep in the woods in search of a book on the occult. A sportsman of sorts even arranges pit fights against the most dangerous prey of all: an insane amount of feral ghouls.

Of course, there’s more to this land than just quests, a fact which is evident as soon as you disembark. Moreso than any other DLC to date, Point Lookout is effectively its own little Capitol Wasteland. There are landmarks, abandoned buildings, research dig sites, rusting cargo ships, the above-mentioned town and prison camp, and dozens of other locations just waiting to be explored and looted. The swamplands are dangerous, and look every bit the part; aside from being radioactive, the swamps emit flammable gas which sometimes boils up in explosive bubbles. Both indoor and outdoor locations are unique and well designed, and few places come off feeling prefabricated or built from an existing template.

The swamp hides an assortment of hostiles that the bombs, and time, forgot. Apart from marshland variants of ghouls and mirelurks, you will have to contend with the hideously deformed and fiercely territorial locals. These “people” lay into the player with axes, shovels, lever rifles (common variants of Lincoln’s Repeater) and the new long-barreled shotgun, all while shouting “git off mah land!” and such. Although the difficulty scales moderately well for lower-level characters, Point Lookout is not for greenhorns taking their first steps out of Vault 101. The locals do a set chunk of damage that ignores your defense, and they are hardy opponents by any measure. Suffice it to say you’ll want to bring along those mini-nukes and bottlecap mines you’ve been saving.

I like to keep this handy for close encounters.

Speaking of hardware, Point Lookout tosses a few new toys your way. Melee specialists get shovels and axes in both common and unique flavors, and the tools do prove deadly, albeit less impressive compared to earlier DLC offerings. The popular double-barrel shotgun debuts here, and as it fires both barrels with each shot, it does substantially more damage than its sawed-off or drum-fed brothers; a single blast at point-blank range can tear most common enemies apart. Regular lever rifles show up now and then, along with a quest-earned special rifle that fires 10mm ammo (as opposed to the rarer .44 magnum rounds fired by Lincoln’s Repeater). A new type of grenade dispenses flammable gas clouds which can be used as traps, though the small number of these grenades limits their use. And lastly, a super-powered variant of the Mesmetron can be found at the end of the main quest, which fires the common micro fusion cell and is especially useful against robots.

Not everyone in Point Lookout is a degenerate killing machine, however. Apart from Tobar the ferryman, there are a handful of relatively sane folk scattered around: an amnesiac handyman runs an old hardware store deep in the woods; a mysterious gypsy runs guns along the boardwalk; a Christian missionary is holed up in an old disaster relief tent near the beach, and is more than happy to share information with a fellow traveler; an old lady makes moonshine from her shack far from the boardwalk; and a runaway youngster has set up a trap-filled hideout in a mine. The old park admirably carries the Fallout 3 atmosphere of isolating you in a harsh environment, and these few but memorable encounters do a good job of punctuating just how alone you are.

Nobody pulls out the stops in terms of acting, but Point Lookout gets points for largely avoiding recycled actors. You won’t hear many holdovers from the Capitol Wasteland (or Cyrodiil, if you go back far enough) and generally each character does a good job of standing apart. Desmond is suspicious, condescending, and thoroughly convinced of his own superiority. Tobar’s a used car salesman through and through. Marcella, the missionary, is polite and reasonable, and stands as an odd attachment to contemporary religion as opposed to the Fallout universe’s myriad postwar churches. Nobody quite adds to the game in the way that, say, Malcolm McDowell does as President Eden, but the use of fairly unique actors for Point Lookout‘s inhabitants is a welcome touch.

Silent Hill called. It wants its ambiance back.

The quests are generally a step above your average FedEx/assassin fare, and often interesting in their own right. Desmond’s task gets more complicated as you go, reaching an early high point with a linear but nightmarish slog through a sealed-off section of swamp. The main quest does branch, and while choosing one way or another isn’t quite so morally muddled as it was in, say, The Pitt, the dialogue is well written and accommodates a few different approaches. It’s surprisingly refreshing to tell a quest giver, in no uncertain terms, that you’re killing them specifically because they’ve been rude and ungrateful. Another noteworthy quest starts in Point Lookout but may carry you back to the Capitol Wasteland; namely, to the infamous Dunwich Building, although the reward for doing so is somewhat underwhelming. And without spoiling too much, with as much as you take home from the swamp, expect it to take something from you as well.

Big as it is, Point Lookout is not without its flaws. Apart from quest-related spots, the area’s landmarks generally don’t contain much of interest. Some of the new weapons, like the standard lever rifles, can only be repaired by the exact same type of weapon, a problem considering they don’t show up in the rest of the game; you can always return, but this doesn’t really mitigate the problem. A creepy dream sequence is, at times, too dark to see even what the developers wanted you to see. Bethesda’s answer to making challenging opponents is, once again, to just give them gobs of hit points, make a certain percentage of their attacks ignore your defenses, and let you deal with it. And while a few new perks can be earned for completing quests, there are no new perks for leveling up.

But these are ultimately minor issues, and they don’t detract from the overall package. From trading shots with the locals to uncovering a non-laundry-related ancient Chinese secret, Point Lookout has enough content to part even the most frugal wastelander from their 800 MS funbucks. It’s a bite-sized chunk of the original game in the best way: it’s big, it’s deep, and there’s a lot to see and do. No Fallout 3 fan should be without it.