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This thread has been linked to the game 'Fallout 3: Operation Anchorage'.
'Operation Anchorage' is the first piece of downloadable content for Bethesda's Fallout 3, and takes place in the frosty land of Alaska. 'Hang on a mo', you might think, 'didn't Fallout 3 take place after a nuclear holocaust? How can Alaska still be standing?' The answer is that Operation Anchorage takes the form of a virtual reality simulation that has you fighting the Chinese military forces. The Chinese invasion was supposedly one of the events that lead to the nuclear apocalypse although the simulation itself hints that the evens featured in it aren't what really happed in the Fallout 3 universe. Confused? Don't worry - when you get out there and start shooting, it won't really matter.
Unlike the rest of Fallout 3, Operation Anchorage behaves like a video game, with health dispensers and ammo dispenses for you to replenish your life and ammo. The bodies of enemies also disappear and while you can try and convince your fellow virtual characters that the sim isn't real, they generally don't listen. Instead, they're quite happy to accompany you as you complete the four objectives that will let you out of the simulation. There's plenty of shooting going on, so if you're a fan of FPSs you'll be catered for here. If you took the stealth approach in Fallout 3, however, you'll be a little disappointed as the game more or less forces you to go the gun and run route.
Your character's reason for entering the sim in the first place is to help the Outcasts, the game's techno-horders get their hands on some very non-virtual weaponry. Completing the sim gives you access to a few cool items which can be used in the rest of the game. These include an electric sword, a laser rifle and a Metal Gear Solid style stealth suit. The latter is a little overpowered and doesn't really fit with the fifties sci-fi feel of the game, but if you're into running around like a ghostly ninja, you might get a kick out of it.
So far, so good. But there are a couple of problems. Firstly, Operation Anchorage is a little crash prone. I had one or two crashes playing Fallout 3 - on the PS3, no less, having had no other game crash on the console - but I had far more playing Operation Anchorage. Secondly, it's damn expensive. Operation Anchorage is sort of fun while it lasts, but you'll only get a couple of hours or so of playtime out of it, and it's priced at a whopping £7.99! If you buy the Game of the Year edition of Fallout 3, you get Operation Anchorage included, but on its own, there's not enough here to justify the price tag. If it was three or four quid maybe, but at twice that price? Give it a miss.
Unlike the rest of Fallout 3, Operation Anchorage behaves like a video game, with health dispensers and ammo dispenses for you to replenish your life and ammo. The bodies of enemies also disappear and while you can try and convince your fellow virtual characters that the sim isn't real, they generally don't listen. Instead, they're quite happy to accompany you as you complete the four objectives that will let you out of the simulation. There's plenty of shooting going on, so if you're a fan of FPSs you'll be catered for here. If you took the stealth approach in Fallout 3, however, you'll be a little disappointed as the game more or less forces you to go the gun and run route.
Your character's reason for entering the sim in the first place is to help the Outcasts, the game's techno-horders get their hands on some very non-virtual weaponry. Completing the sim gives you access to a few cool items which can be used in the rest of the game. These include an electric sword, a laser rifle and a Metal Gear Solid style stealth suit. The latter is a little overpowered and doesn't really fit with the fifties sci-fi feel of the game, but if you're into running around like a ghostly ninja, you might get a kick out of it.
So far, so good. But there are a couple of problems. Firstly, Operation Anchorage is a little crash prone. I had one or two crashes playing Fallout 3 - on the PS3, no less, having had no other game crash on the console - but I had far more playing Operation Anchorage. Secondly, it's damn expensive. Operation Anchorage is sort of fun while it lasts, but you'll only get a couple of hours or so of playtime out of it, and it's priced at a whopping £7.99! If you buy the Game of the Year edition of Fallout 3, you get Operation Anchorage included, but on its own, there's not enough here to justify the price tag. If it was three or four quid maybe, but at twice that price? Give it a miss.
Operation Anchorage was a giant fail in my opinion. The VR thing was kind of an irritating literary device which meant that nothing you did had any effect on the actual world so you might as well not bother, but ignoring that, the content was rubbish. If there was one thing Fallout 3's engine was woefully incapable of, it was it was indoor first person combat, so quite why they decided to make the majority of Operation Anchorage a linear first person corridor shooter is quite beyond me. And the health/ammo dispensers and apparent invincibility of your compatriot (whatever his name was) didn't really help matters.
I think you're being quite generous giving it 3 stars.
Of course I'm one of those insane fundamentalists who insist Fallout 3 isn't proper Fallout, so you're free to ignore my opinion ;)
I think you're being quite generous giving it 3 stars.
Of course I'm one of those insane fundamentalists who insist Fallout 3 isn't proper Fallout, so you're free to ignore my opinion ;)
'Operation Anchorage' is the first piece of downloadable content for Bethesda's Fallout 3, and takes place in the frosty land of Alaska. 'Hang on a mo', you might think, 'didn't Fallout 3 take place after a nuclear holocaust? How can Alaska still be standing?' The answer is that Operation Anchorage takes the form of a virtual reality simulation that has you fighting the Chinese military forces. The Chinese invasion was supposedly one of the events that lead to the nuclear apocalypse although the simulation itself hints that the evens featured in it aren't what really happed in the Fallout 3 universe. Confused? Don't worry - when you get out there and start shooting, it won't really matter.
Unlike the rest of Fallout 3, Operation Anchorage behaves like a video game, with health dispensers and ammo dispenses for you to replenish your life and ammo. The bodies of enemies also disappear and while you can try and convince your fellow virtual characters that the sim isn't real, they generally don't listen. Instead, they're quite happy to accompany you as you complete the four objectives that will let you out of the simulation. There's plenty of shooting going on, so if you're a fan of FPSs you'll be catered for here. If you took the stealth approach in Fallout 3, however, you'll be a little disappointed as the game more or less forces you to go the gun and run route.
Your character's reason for entering the sim in the first place is to help the Outcasts, the game's techno-horders get their hands on some very non-virtual weaponry. Completing the sim gives you access to a few cool items which can be used in the rest of the game. These include an electric sword, a laser rifle and a Metal Gear Solid style stealth suit. The latter is a little overpowered and doesn't really fit with the fifties sci-fi feel of the game, but if you're into running around like a ghostly ninja, you might get a kick out of it.
So far, so good. But there are a couple of problems. Firstly, Operation Anchorage is a little crash prone. I had one or two crashes playing Fallout 3 - on the PS3, no less, having had no other game crash on the console - but I had far more playing Operation Anchorage. Secondly, it's damn expensive. Operation Anchorage is sort of fun while it lasts, but you'll only get a couple of hours or so of playtime out of it, and it's priced at a whopping £7.99! If you buy the Game of the Year edition of Fallout 3, you get Operation Anchorage included, but on its own, there's not enough here to justify the price tag. If it was three or four quid maybe, but at twice that price? Give it a miss.
Unlike the rest of Fallout 3, Operation Anchorage behaves like a video game, with health dispensers and ammo dispenses for you to replenish your life and ammo. The bodies of enemies also disappear and while you can try and convince your fellow virtual characters that the sim isn't real, they generally don't listen. Instead, they're quite happy to accompany you as you complete the four objectives that will let you out of the simulation. There's plenty of shooting going on, so if you're a fan of FPSs you'll be catered for here. If you took the stealth approach in Fallout 3, however, you'll be a little disappointed as the game more or less forces you to go the gun and run route.
Your character's reason for entering the sim in the first place is to help the Outcasts, the game's techno-horders get their hands on some very non-virtual weaponry. Completing the sim gives you access to a few cool items which can be used in the rest of the game. These include an electric sword, a laser rifle and a Metal Gear Solid style stealth suit. The latter is a little overpowered and doesn't really fit with the fifties sci-fi feel of the game, but if you're into running around like a ghostly ninja, you might get a kick out of it.
So far, so good. But there are a couple of problems. Firstly, Operation Anchorage is a little crash prone. I had one or two crashes playing Fallout 3 - on the PS3, no less, having had no other game crash on the console - but I had far more playing Operation Anchorage. Secondly, it's damn expensive. Operation Anchorage is sort of fun while it lasts, but you'll only get a couple of hours or so of playtime out of it, and it's priced at a whopping £7.99! If you buy the Game of the Year edition of Fallout 3, you get Operation Anchorage included, but on its own, there's not enough here to justify the price tag. If it was three or four quid maybe, but at twice that price? Give it a miss.