Fallout 3: Broken Steel Game Review - Xbox 360

OUR RATING:

8.8

GREAT

TANGIBLES:

Gameplay:		9
Visuals:		8
Audio:		8
Value:		9
Quality:		9

Why you should buy it: Great value for the price; New Weapons and Perks; Level cap raised to 30.

Why you should rent it: You never found Fallout 3 interesting to begin with; Some might be turned off by the increased difficulty.

UNIQUE RATING:

8.8

SUGGESTION:

Buy It

Fallout 3: Broken Steel

Written by: Joshua Schwartzman | Tags: Fallout 3: Broken Steel, Xbox 360

May 13,2009 - Fresh off the success of their previous downloadable additions, Bethesda recently released the third set of content for Fallout 3, titled Broken Steel. While the previous contents contained only several missions and only a handful of hours of gameplay, Broken Steel ups the ante by raising the level cap to 30, offering a thrilling trek of missions, and letting players spend even more time in the barren wasteland earning experience, gathering new weapons and deciding which of the countless new perks to use. This is exactly the type of content that will please fans and offer them plenty of enjoyable action for the price.

Broken Steel is brilliant in the fact that is let's players continue the campaign after the events of Project Purity (the game's last mission), but it also effectively let's newcomers and beginners alike experience the new features Broken Steel has to offer as well. For example, players who finished the main quest will wake up two weeks later in the Citadel, joined by the Brotherhood of Steel, to take down the remaining Enclave members and distribute purified water all around the Wasteland. The ending you decide to take really has no bearing at all on events in Broken Steel minus a few dialogue changes, which really slumps the effects of Broken Steel considering you have no outcome at all to what happens. But in retrospect, the need for everyone to play the same story makes perfect sense as you play through Broken Steel.

The main purpose of Broken Steel is to deliver purified water to various cities in the Wasteland. This is no easy task and you will constantly be fending off Enclave soldiers, giant bugs and the typical raiders. Because the level cap now extends to 30, enemies have also been upgraded to pose more of a challenge. New enemies have also been included to further hinder your progress, and with grueling fights against Feral Ghoul Reavers (who have the ability to throw radioactive waste at you) and Super Mutant Overlords (who are tougher than your ordinary Super Mutants and can be armed with Tri-Beam Laser Rifles), this new adventure is anything but a walk in the park.

Thankfully there are plenty of new weapons available for you to use to tackle these intimidating foes, and some of them are simply awesome to use. The new Tesla Cannon, probably the most popular of all the new weapons, allows you to fire devastating blasts of electricity at enemies and even has the ability to down aircraft. Other weapons, such as the Tri-Beam Laser Rifle, Rapid-Torch Flamer, and Precision Gatling Laser are enjoyable as well, adding tons of fun, brutal mayhem to the endless bouts of fighting. There are also plenty of new perks to help you along the way and many of them offer unique and surprising results. One of our favorites, called Nuclear Anomaly, unleashes a powerful radioactive blast that kills all enemies when your health reaches below 20%. Other perks, such as the ability to get a new dog if your canine companion dies or instantly set karma stats to opposite ends of the spectrum should be reason enough to spend time reaching level 30.

Players who have not finished the game yet do not have to worry about approaching these nasty foes right off the bat, but once you hit level 18 respectively, expect to start becoming wary of all enemies being potential threats. Because the level cap got raised, players can now start a new game and still gain experience and achieve level 30 before the end of the campaign. Visiting many of the new places, such as Adams' Air Force Base and Holy Light Monastery also open up new side quests that net you caps and experience for as long as you find items and bring them back.

With a solid new campaign, an improved level cap, dozens of new perks and tons of powerful weapons at your disposal, Broken Steel is hands down some of the best content Fallout 3 has to offer. With two previous add-ons already giving fans plenty to explore, Broken Steel really pushes the boundaries of what you can come to expect from future downloadable additions. This is the most complete and well-rounded addition to Fallout 3 yet, and anyone can expect to spend hours relishing in what it has to offer.

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