First things first. The DLC is completely and 100% unrelated to
anything you’ve done in the game. Don’t expect to use your combat armor
and 45 frags you had saved up, because the instant you start this
mission, they’re gone til you return. Don’t fret, you do get armor, but
you also get a stock gun (to start, you will upgrade) and no aid.
Weird, I know, just read on.

Secondly, my biggest complaint. The
“operation” is almost completely linear. There’s no exploring, (well,
save for some briefcases and a couple holotapes you can find) no
opening of desks, boxes, cabinets, no looting dead bodies, no nothing.
The game is completely stripped of 80% of what makes Fallout fun. You
basically kill Chinese bad guys for 3 hours, and that’s it. Admittedly
the new “Dragoon” enemy is pretty slick, but it just doesn’t save it.
Graphically it’s just more of the same ruins with a snow paint job. It
looks great though.

Well then you ask, how do I heal up or get
ammo if I can’t pick anything up? Ugh, this is where it gets even
worse. About every 10 feet (slight exaggeration) or so, you’re
basically handed full health and ammo, via tanks and dispensers, along
with endless frags, missiles, mines and more. Not only is this just
plain weird, it makes the “operation” completely unchallenging.

The
one bright spot? After you finish the “operation” you are rewarded with
some pretty sweet goodies than can be used in DC. But be warned, you’re
basically paying $10 just for this. Also too is a slight twist at the
end to at least the make the story part somewhat interesting. All of
which came far too late, and very abruptly.

So, if
straightforward gameplay consisting of basically a shoot-em up with
some new toys to play with as a reward sounds ok with you, by all means
pick this up. But if you’re like me and preferred the exploring,
looting, scrounging for caps, etc part of Fallout, pass. It’s a shame
too, because odds are the next one is going to be more of the same.
Here’s to hoping the “level uncapper” in March is back to the real
Fallout.

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