The second Fallout 3 DLC was released not too long after Operation Anchorage, and because of the flawed, if not very disappointing first expansion, there was a mixture of 'maybe this one will be better' and 'the first one sucked, this one will too'. I was actually thinking a bit of both; it would be nothing new for game developers to not learn from their mistakes. But, out of pure loyalty (if anything) to Fallout, I went ahead and bought it.
Firstly, YES, this one is NOT a linear, FPS styled 'go shoot enemies and blow stuff up' set of missions. Free roam is most certainly an option with this one, thank goodness. It is set in the devastated remains of Pittsburgh which wasn't nuked in the war, but instead has been plagued with radiation-related disease, slowly turning inhabitants who are exposed to the air and water for long enough into 'Trogs', a goblin-like type of Feral Ghoul. Unfortunately, those exposed are slaves, or 'workers' for a large band of raiders. So basically a fellow called Wernher comes along and tells you about the Pitt, you get to go there (sneaking in dressed as a slave) and take part in a revolt in order to get the cure from the raiders' grasp and save the slaves. I won't go further into the storyline, but it's been well put together without a large backstory, and it doesn't drag on or go by too quickly either. There are, like all Fallout DLCs, three missions, which are all in the style of normal quests and none of them really fall below standard, though they are fairly brief. A highlight for me - and most likely for Oblivion fans - was fighting in 'The Hole': an obvious remake of the Arena from Oblivion, with opening speech and all. The hardest challenge of the expansion is an optional mission which is collecting pieces of steel from the Trog-infested Steelyard, 100 in total. Finding all 100 will prove difficult but there is a reward for every 10 you find, these rewards include new armour and weapons, the best of these being the awesome Metal Blaster (a Laser Rifle which fires about 6 shots at a time with huge damage) and the Tribal Power armour, which is similar to the boss' armour with different effects. Even if you're not after the achievement for finding all the steel, these should be incentives alone. Where a majority of the DLC proves to be not much more than your ordinary playing of Fallout, I think the steel-searching and the Arena give it an extra something which Operation Anchorage didn't offer.
Once done you'll be able to return home with your new goodies, having chosen your Good or Evil ending. It's certainly improved upon the previous expansion, and has given just as good weps, but there's still some excitement missing. The new scenery is a nice change but, in all, the Capital Wasteland is real Fallout environment. I give 'The Pitt' 6/10 for an enjoyable experience, but I say again: Bethesda still haven't fully nailed it.
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