For Starters...
I'll skip a proper foreword for now. You know that there will be spoilers, etc. etc... I love how I take most of my images - in my reviews - from IGN. I'm also switching back to using the name JASON due to a variety of reasons, one of them being that some of my viewers from previous reviews became confused when I made the switch. So, for now, Jason is back. Still me, though. Obviously...
Jason Travels To Sunny Pennsylvania For A Go At...
"I have nothin' to say to you, scab. Scram."
I'll get right to the point: The Pitt is the second downloadable content pack for the critically acclaimed "Fallout 3", made by Bethesda, the guys who brought us The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. The game was [originally] released about a week ago, but was absolutely cluttered with bugs and errors, like missing textures, explorable portions of the "out-of-bounds" areas and a few character glitches. Bethesda, sympathetic to the fact that they released something that was seemingly unfinished, withdrew the game from Xbox Marketplace, fixed it up a bit, and re-released it. The game still has a few bugs, and a tad bit of lag in places, but for a "fixed" finished product, it's actually not that bad.
After a relaxing stroll through [the remains of a] park, you receive a distress signal, similar to the one you would have received if you downloaded Operation: Anchorage (the previous DLC). It would seem that a mysterious man named Wherner requires some assistance. Upon finding him, and dispatching the raiders perforating him with lead, Wherner tells you of, essentially, "hell on Earth": The Pitt. The remains of Pittsburgh has been transformed into a massive construction site, one where most slaves are sent off to - which is why, Wherner adds, you see so many slavers in The Capital Wasteland and so few slaves - to work endless days, and become tormented by a rag-tag group of raiders. All Wherner wants is something the raiders have, a form of a "cure". After a bit of talking, you agree to help Wherner, and the two of you head to The Pitt to put an end to the fabled "Ashur", the ruler of The Pitt. If you've ever wanted to become a slave, now's your chance.
Sort-of...
Now, I realize that those Auto Axes may help in the process of working, but... Would you *really* allow a load of oppressed slaves to wield them? Really?
You arrive, you submit, your gear is taken, and you become a slave, in the most non-literal sense of the word. At no point in your entire stay in The Pitt as a slave are you *forced* to do manual labor, beaten, shot at or any other form of torture or punishment you can think of. It's actually like a little democracy among the slaves, seeing as they get to pick themselves who does what. Regardless, to finish off this story, you fight in a make-shift arena, get a chance to meet Ashur, steal the "cure" from him - oddly enough, his own baby - kill a bunch of raiders, escape, give baby to slaves, and... You're done. Of course, you could go the evil route and flat-out kill Wherner when Ashur asks you to, but... Wherner is a pretty cool guy. He has an eye-patch, for God's sake! All-in-all, The Pitt DLC is very short, and I managed to finish it in one sitting. I think I have a problem, though... Anywho.
First off, right out of the gate, do not fall under the pretenses that "The Pitt" is focused on charisma, stealth, hacking, lockpicking and other non-combat related activities, as first assumed. While I'm sure someone with enough patience could sneak around the entire game and not fight a single person - save the killing of Ashur or Wherner - The Pitt gives the player a few new weapons and armor to toy around with, along with a few new enemies. One, the Trog (pictured below), are diseased humans who have slowly turned into mutants. They have extended fingers and muscle-clad outer carapace, giving off an inhuman "shiny" glow to them. What's creepier is that they actually talk to you in-combat, forming actual sentences. The next enemy - and this is where Bethesda became lazy - are the Wildmen. You know who the Wildmen are? Humans who went insane. You know what that description also applies to? You guessed it: The Raiders in The Capital Wasteland. Bravo, they tried to pull a fast one on us, but I see through their clever disguise.
Next to children and ghosts, these suckers are high up on the Heirarchy of Creepiness in video games. Anything that looks remotely human and moves on all-fours is just... Disturbing.
The Pitt is actually a very urban environment. Buildings are still standing, streets can still be made out and refineries underground are still running. From the constant billowing smoke stacks, and raging fires, The Pitt takes on a darker pallet of colors than The Wasteland. Darker browns, lighter blacks / lighter grays, bright whites and maroon-fires tie everything together nicely. While, seeing the screenshots, the DLC looks a bit monotonous, it's refreshing after wandering The Wasteland for so many hours. It accurately portrays the feel of an urban city in the midst of destruction, in my opinion, so it works.
For the most part, all characters look the same, with the appearance of new armor / clothes. Nothing special to mention, really, except Wherner's eyepatch. I never killed him, but... I wonder, if you did, could you take the eyepatch? If so... REPLAY!
So, as for weapons go, there are a few more nice additions to the collection. The majority of raiders in The Pitt carry with them either a .32 Pistol, Assault Rifle or Sniper Rifle. A few have flamers and others have miniguns. But you don't care about that, do you? You want the *new* stuff. For starters, there's a new assault rifle to toy with, one with a silencer and a scope on it. Also, there's the "Metal Blaster", a new Laser Rifle you can use, which is described as a "laser combat shotgun". Lastly, we have the Auto Axe, with special Auto Axes you can collect, "The Mauler" and "The Man Opener". This beaut, made from the remains of car parts and [for some odd reason beyond my comprehension] is given to the slaves for their work. What looks to be a simple axe, or bladed weapon, is actually a homemade chainsaw. When holding down the trigger, you turn it on, and extend it in front of you. All you need to do now is run into an enemy, and the rotating sawblade chops them into a fine, bloody paste. This, again, brings up the question: Why would you give a tool which could decapitate a man to the slaves you're oppressing? I don't understand... I mean, I realize that they'd probably be too afraid to use it against them - or, possibly, too stupid? - and that the raiders have guns, but... I dunno. Maybe it's just me.
"Alright, three of us are here and one of us is leaving. Any takers? C'mon..."
So... That's really all I can say. "The Pitt", as DLC, is a pretty nice addition, enough to satisfy our hunger for the next DLC in which the ending of the game will be extended. All-in-all, the minor bugs and how short the DLC really is is overshadowed by a refreshing urban atmosphere, and of course, a continuation of Fallout 3.
Verdict: Hardcore Fans Only
If you love Fallout 3, you'll most likely find something to like in this DLC. The new weapon(s) are interesting, the story is short and sweet, and the atmosphere really draws you in to the plight of the slaves in The Pitt. If you take Fallout 3 for a casual game, and don't play it a great deal, then you probably won't like The Pitt. There's enough content here to whip up a delicious serving of carnage - and treasure hunting, as a small side quest - yet not enough new material to draw in any lost, or unconvinced, fans.
Anything I missed? Something I made a mistake on? Feel free to drop a comment. I always read them/respond to them, accordingly.
... One of my shortest "reviews", though with DLC, you can see why it was.
I'll skip a proper foreword for now. You know that there will be spoilers, etc. etc... I love how I take most of my images - in my reviews - from IGN. I'm also switching back to using the name JASON due to a variety of reasons, one of them being that some of my viewers from previous reviews became confused when I made the switch. So, for now, Jason is back. Still me, though. Obviously...
Jason Travels To Sunny Pennsylvania For A Go At...
"I have nothin' to say to you, scab. Scram."
I'll get right to the point: The Pitt is the second downloadable content pack for the critically acclaimed "Fallout 3", made by Bethesda, the guys who brought us The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. The game was [originally] released about a week ago, but was absolutely cluttered with bugs and errors, like missing textures, explorable portions of the "out-of-bounds" areas and a few character glitches. Bethesda, sympathetic to the fact that they released something that was seemingly unfinished, withdrew the game from Xbox Marketplace, fixed it up a bit, and re-released it. The game still has a few bugs, and a tad bit of lag in places, but for a "fixed" finished product, it's actually not that bad.
After a relaxing stroll through [the remains of a] park, you receive a distress signal, similar to the one you would have received if you downloaded Operation: Anchorage (the previous DLC). It would seem that a mysterious man named Wherner requires some assistance. Upon finding him, and dispatching the raiders perforating him with lead, Wherner tells you of, essentially, "hell on Earth": The Pitt. The remains of Pittsburgh has been transformed into a massive construction site, one where most slaves are sent off to - which is why, Wherner adds, you see so many slavers in The Capital Wasteland and so few slaves - to work endless days, and become tormented by a rag-tag group of raiders. All Wherner wants is something the raiders have, a form of a "cure". After a bit of talking, you agree to help Wherner, and the two of you head to The Pitt to put an end to the fabled "Ashur", the ruler of The Pitt. If you've ever wanted to become a slave, now's your chance.
Sort-of...
Now, I realize that those Auto Axes may help in the process of working, but... Would you *really* allow a load of oppressed slaves to wield them? Really?
You arrive, you submit, your gear is taken, and you become a slave, in the most non-literal sense of the word. At no point in your entire stay in The Pitt as a slave are you *forced* to do manual labor, beaten, shot at or any other form of torture or punishment you can think of. It's actually like a little democracy among the slaves, seeing as they get to pick themselves who does what. Regardless, to finish off this story, you fight in a make-shift arena, get a chance to meet Ashur, steal the "cure" from him - oddly enough, his own baby - kill a bunch of raiders, escape, give baby to slaves, and... You're done. Of course, you could go the evil route and flat-out kill Wherner when Ashur asks you to, but... Wherner is a pretty cool guy. He has an eye-patch, for God's sake! All-in-all, The Pitt DLC is very short, and I managed to finish it in one sitting. I think I have a problem, though... Anywho.
First off, right out of the gate, do not fall under the pretenses that "The Pitt" is focused on charisma, stealth, hacking, lockpicking and other non-combat related activities, as first assumed. While I'm sure someone with enough patience could sneak around the entire game and not fight a single person - save the killing of Ashur or Wherner - The Pitt gives the player a few new weapons and armor to toy around with, along with a few new enemies. One, the Trog (pictured below), are diseased humans who have slowly turned into mutants. They have extended fingers and muscle-clad outer carapace, giving off an inhuman "shiny" glow to them. What's creepier is that they actually talk to you in-combat, forming actual sentences. The next enemy - and this is where Bethesda became lazy - are the Wildmen. You know who the Wildmen are? Humans who went insane. You know what that description also applies to? You guessed it: The Raiders in The Capital Wasteland. Bravo, they tried to pull a fast one on us, but I see through their clever disguise.
Next to children and ghosts, these suckers are high up on the Heirarchy of Creepiness in video games. Anything that looks remotely human and moves on all-fours is just... Disturbing.
The Pitt is actually a very urban environment. Buildings are still standing, streets can still be made out and refineries underground are still running. From the constant billowing smoke stacks, and raging fires, The Pitt takes on a darker pallet of colors than The Wasteland. Darker browns, lighter blacks / lighter grays, bright whites and maroon-fires tie everything together nicely. While, seeing the screenshots, the DLC looks a bit monotonous, it's refreshing after wandering The Wasteland for so many hours. It accurately portrays the feel of an urban city in the midst of destruction, in my opinion, so it works.
For the most part, all characters look the same, with the appearance of new armor / clothes. Nothing special to mention, really, except Wherner's eyepatch. I never killed him, but... I wonder, if you did, could you take the eyepatch? If so... REPLAY!
So, as for weapons go, there are a few more nice additions to the collection. The majority of raiders in The Pitt carry with them either a .32 Pistol, Assault Rifle or Sniper Rifle. A few have flamers and others have miniguns. But you don't care about that, do you? You want the *new* stuff. For starters, there's a new assault rifle to toy with, one with a silencer and a scope on it. Also, there's the "Metal Blaster", a new Laser Rifle you can use, which is described as a "laser combat shotgun". Lastly, we have the Auto Axe, with special Auto Axes you can collect, "The Mauler" and "The Man Opener". This beaut, made from the remains of car parts and [for some odd reason beyond my comprehension] is given to the slaves for their work. What looks to be a simple axe, or bladed weapon, is actually a homemade chainsaw. When holding down the trigger, you turn it on, and extend it in front of you. All you need to do now is run into an enemy, and the rotating sawblade chops them into a fine, bloody paste. This, again, brings up the question: Why would you give a tool which could decapitate a man to the slaves you're oppressing? I don't understand... I mean, I realize that they'd probably be too afraid to use it against them - or, possibly, too stupid? - and that the raiders have guns, but... I dunno. Maybe it's just me.
"Alright, three of us are here and one of us is leaving. Any takers? C'mon..."
So... That's really all I can say. "The Pitt", as DLC, is a pretty nice addition, enough to satisfy our hunger for the next DLC in which the ending of the game will be extended. All-in-all, the minor bugs and how short the DLC really is is overshadowed by a refreshing urban atmosphere, and of course, a continuation of Fallout 3.
Verdict: Hardcore Fans Only
If you love Fallout 3, you'll most likely find something to like in this DLC. The new weapon(s) are interesting, the story is short and sweet, and the atmosphere really draws you in to the plight of the slaves in The Pitt. If you take Fallout 3 for a casual game, and don't play it a great deal, then you probably won't like The Pitt. There's enough content here to whip up a delicious serving of carnage - and treasure hunting, as a small side quest - yet not enough new material to draw in any lost, or unconvinced, fans.
Anything I missed? Something I made a mistake on? Feel free to drop a comment. I always read them/respond to them, accordingly.
... One of my shortest "reviews", though with DLC, you can see why it was.
