Fallout 3: Operation Anchorage

The way the expansions work for Fallout 3 is by radio signals. After downloading each expansion and starting up the game you will be treated to a new radio signal on your Pip-Boy 3000 and a new quest to follow. For this expansion the Outcasts from the Brotherhood of Steel are seeking your help. Not really because of how badass your character is, but because your little arm computer is the only thing that will interact with the equipment they found.After heeding their call you fight off some super mutants and head underground to where they found a mysterious device. It turns out the device is a military simulator that drops you behind enemy lines to sabotage cannons that are bombarding the U.S. encampment and upon completion it unlocks a room full of goodies you find while in Anchorage. The simulator also throws your character into cardiac arrest if he or she dies during it, but since you have your Pip Boy you’re the only one who can interact with the simulator. Lucky you!After sabotaging the guns and meeting up with the commanding officer the mission is pretty straightforward. All it boils down to is killing people and blowing stuff up until the Chinese are repelled from Anchorage. This overall mission is broken down into a few smaller ones taking you to different locations, but the objective is always the same.The look of Anchorage is pretty standard for Alaska. It is very snowy and white. Everything on the outside, from the landscapes to the pipes and buildings, looks great. My favorite thing to look at is the sky. Unlike the polluted atmosphere of the Capital Wasteland, Alaska’s skies are very blue and the clouds are white instead of mostly gray. Along with the landscapes, the new equipment Bethesda added to Fallout 3 with this expansion also looks unique and different from the other items already in the game.While the outside looks great, the inside suffers from some similarity issues. The handful of times you enter a building in Anchorage it looks just about the same as every other interior in the expansion. It makes sense since they are military outposts and are probably designed to look similar, but a little more variety indoors would have been more engaging for players. Fortunately, you only have to go inside buildings a couple of times. The rest of your time in Anchorage is spent in the great outdoors.The sound is very similar to that of the rest of Fallout 3. In addition to the ambient music and the additional voice acting, you have the fierce winds of Alaska blowing and the Chinese soldiers speaking their native language to each other (to the best of my knowledge) during battles. And since you are in the middle of a war, the constant background gunshots and explosions make the environment sound like it. Overall, Bethesda added choice sound effects to make Anchorage an entirely separate entity from the Capital Wasteland.