Let's Play Fallout: New Vegas [The Servant]
- Thread starter AlternatePFG
- Start date
Recommended Videos
Now that I think of it, that totally makes sense. At least Liam Neeson didn't die 15 minutes into the game like Patrick Stewart did in Oblivion.DustyDrB said:
[HEADING=1]Chapter XXI - Freedom![/HEADING]
Last update, our dad had himself killed in the most pointless way possible and we had to escort a group of annoying NPC's through a sewer level.
If it's any comfort, things can't get much worse...
Thankfully, the sewer level lets us out right outside of the Citadel, the Brotherhoof of Steel's main base in the Capital Wasteland. I doubt they'll be much help though, I don't think they'll care much for our problems-
It's not going to work-
Okay, that was fast.
We leveled up again. We're almost halfway to the level cap, though I doubt we'll get to the level cap.
Max'd out lockpick, no need to worry about that anymore.
None of the current perks are that interesting, so another point in agility could help a lot for us.
We're greeted by Sarah Lyons (Who we met earlier at GNR) and her father.
You'd think they'd have an idea of what's going on right across the fucking street.
What's so bad about the Enclave holding onto the purifier right now? It's not like they intended to destroy it, and the people of the wasteland don't know anything about President Eden's FEV in the water scheme. (And Colonel Autumn doesn't want to do that anyway.)
So apparently the Brotherhood are giving the scientists shelter here for now. Don't know why, Rivet City is only a short walk away from here, I guess the Brotherhood is being nice. I already said my piece on the Brotherhood of this game in the GNR update, but I still have to point out how out character they are in this game.
If you don't trust them, why did you take us here?!
This whole courtyard area is one giant training ground.
We have to work in a quality push-up animation somehow!
Essentially, the Citadel is one huge bunker and base for the Brotherhood to operate.
Oh look, a giant robot.
What NPC in this game's main plot didn't know your dad at one point?
"The world has lost one its few remaining visionaries."
No let me correct you: The Capital Wasteland lost one of it's few remaining visionaries.
"Thanks for your sympathy."
"Think nothing of it. Now, Doctor Li has explained your predicament. You need to locate some Vault-Tec equipment?"
"My father was looking for something called a GECK. Do you have one?"
"A GECK? Goodness, no. Certainly not."
That would be really convinient if the Brotherhood had a spare GECK lying around. "You mean one of these things? We have hundreds of them!"
"I must say that there are some who doubt such a device really exists, let alone works. If, however, you share your father's determination, I may be able to assist you in locating one."
"So you know how to find one?"
"Possibly. I'm afraid I won't be able to assist you directly; the news Doctor Li has brought will require me to be elsewhere. I can, however, give you access to an old pre-war computer from Vault-Tec. It may have the information you need. You'll find the terminal in the archives in the A ring."
"Thanks for the help."
"You are welcome. If you require further assistance, I may be able to help."
This update is mostly dialogue, I aplogize for that. At least Operation Anchorage has very little dialogue.
Oh look, it's Star Paladin Cross.
"I am Star Paladin Cross. Keeper of the ARM, and Seneschal to Elder Lyons. And, I am honored to say, I was acquainted with your father."
Of course, everyone knows about James.
"Now, what may I do to help you?"
"You knew my father?"
"I did. And you as well! Long ago, I helped guard the water purifier against the Super Mutant horde. When your father left, I escorted the two of you to Megaton. He was... a noble man."
It's like dad is a celebrity in the wasteland or something. Everybody loves him.
"I was saddened to hear of his passing. But from what I've heard, he died with honor. He died for you."
No he didn't. It wasn't a heroic self sacrifice or anything, if anything he completely set us back now.
"I only pray that my own death has such meaning."
"Why does it matter how a man dies? Death is death."
"True. And in the end, death claims us all. But how we die can say just as much about our lives as how we lived. Your father died for what he knew to be right, and he died protecting those closest to him. This is a good man's death. But, I must ask you a difficult question, if I have your leave to do so."
"[Karma] By all means, ask."
"I escorted your father across the Wastes. It was the best I could contribute to his efforts to restore fresh water to the people. I would like the honor of escorting you in your journey to complete his work."
Yay, a companion. Not a a particularly interesting companion, but a companion nonethelesss.
"I would be honored, Star Paladin Cross."
"Then I shall follow your leave and submit to your command. As James' child, I know I don't need to explain, but I am not your servant. If I do not like the path your actions take, I will return here."
Oh, so our new companion is a Lawful Stupid paladin type, eh? This should be interesting.
Companions in Fallout 3 can die, unlike the normal mode in Fallout: New Vegas but they have huge amounts of health to offset that. Honestly, companions are pretty much cardboard cutouts with no other dialogue other than the dialogue that you get when meeting them. This was true of first two Fallout games too, to a lesser extent. They had more personality in the old games at least, and they had unique situations and quests at least. New Vegas had completely fleshed out the compnaions with their own personal sidequests though.
As it stands, Fallout 3 companions are completely inconsequential to the game.
We go back upstairs to get to another area in the Citadel. Also, that little ring could have been an unarmed arena fight sidequest.
Like the Mandalorian arena in Knights of the Old Republic 2 but ideally much less annoying.
So the Brotherhood has a decent amount of tech down here. We need to find a computer terminal that tells us about each of the Vaults, for some reason they have a terminal solely dedicated to information about the Vaults in the area. How many times would they have to use it?
Here is a link of the info, it's pretty pointless though. [http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Citadel_terminal_entries#Vault-Tec_terminal]
Now we head back upstairs.
"I need to find Vault 87 right now."
"I take it you were successful, then. As it happens, the Brotherhood has some information about Vault 87. Let me show you what we know. This map shows the locations of all known Vaults in the local area. Vault 87 has been highlighted for you, there. Entrance to Vault 87 will be particularly difficult for you, I'm afraid."
"Why, what's difficult about it?"
"The area is highly irradiated; lethal levels are all around the entrance. Gaining direct access will be quite impossible."
"There's got to be another way."
Unfortunately the alternative is much, much worse.
"You share your father's determination, it seems. And in this case, you are correct. There may well be another way. Vault 87 is located very close to the site of Lamplight Caverns. It is entirely probable that the Vault may be entered from within the caves."
OH GOD, NOT LITTLE LAMPLIGHT, ANYTHING BUT THAT!
"Well, I guess it's time to find out. I'll go there myself."
We have absolutely no choice but to go through Lamplight. I'd risk lethal radiation instead of Lamplight myself, personally.
"The Brotherhood simply cannot spare the resources necessary to investigate the area. Perhaps you may be more successful."
Translation: Fuck you. It's your dad and you need to fix his mistakes yourself.
"If you do find anything, please return here so that we may decide on how best to proceed."
"Thanks for your help."
"I wish we could do more, but the Brotherhood potentially faces a very pressing, very real threat in the Enclave.'
Come on, you've guys dealt with them before.
"All of my efforts must now be devoted to assessing the threat they may pose to us. I'm sure you understand."
I don't think the Enclave even cares about the Brotherhood at this point.
One more thing to do before leaving: Getting Power Armor Training.
"Would you grant me permission to receive Power Armor training?"
"Hmm... Considering the circumstances, I think it would be prudent if you recieved such training, yes. Speak to Gunny, in the Bailey. He will train you in the proper use of Power Armor. Fear not, I will send word that I have given my approval. You'll find him in the Bailey. I will send word that I have given my approval."
Awesome, power armor training! Now we can use that kickass tribal power armor we got from The Pitt.
Of course, it's pity power armor training, and we could have gotten that from Operation Anchorage (which we'll be doing right after this) but shut up and let me have my moment.
Finally, we're free of the main plot. Fuck Little Lamplight, I'm going to spend as much as time as possible trying to avoid Lamplight with sidequests. So, where are we off to next?
Operation Anchorage...
Fuck.
If it's any comfort, things can't get much worse...
Thankfully, the sewer level lets us out right outside of the Citadel, the Brotherhoof of Steel's main base in the Capital Wasteland. I doubt they'll be much help though, I don't think they'll care much for our problems-
It's not going to work-
Okay, that was fast.
We leveled up again. We're almost halfway to the level cap, though I doubt we'll get to the level cap.
Max'd out lockpick, no need to worry about that anymore.
None of the current perks are that interesting, so another point in agility could help a lot for us.
We're greeted by Sarah Lyons (Who we met earlier at GNR) and her father.
You'd think they'd have an idea of what's going on right across the fucking street.
What's so bad about the Enclave holding onto the purifier right now? It's not like they intended to destroy it, and the people of the wasteland don't know anything about President Eden's FEV in the water scheme. (And Colonel Autumn doesn't want to do that anyway.)
So apparently the Brotherhood are giving the scientists shelter here for now. Don't know why, Rivet City is only a short walk away from here, I guess the Brotherhood is being nice. I already said my piece on the Brotherhood of this game in the GNR update, but I still have to point out how out character they are in this game.
If you don't trust them, why did you take us here?!
This whole courtyard area is one giant training ground.
We have to work in a quality push-up animation somehow!
Essentially, the Citadel is one huge bunker and base for the Brotherhood to operate.
Oh look, a giant robot.
What NPC in this game's main plot didn't know your dad at one point?
"The world has lost one its few remaining visionaries."
No let me correct you: The Capital Wasteland lost one of it's few remaining visionaries.
"Thanks for your sympathy."
"Think nothing of it. Now, Doctor Li has explained your predicament. You need to locate some Vault-Tec equipment?"
"My father was looking for something called a GECK. Do you have one?"
"A GECK? Goodness, no. Certainly not."
That would be really convinient if the Brotherhood had a spare GECK lying around. "You mean one of these things? We have hundreds of them!"
"I must say that there are some who doubt such a device really exists, let alone works. If, however, you share your father's determination, I may be able to assist you in locating one."
"So you know how to find one?"
"Possibly. I'm afraid I won't be able to assist you directly; the news Doctor Li has brought will require me to be elsewhere. I can, however, give you access to an old pre-war computer from Vault-Tec. It may have the information you need. You'll find the terminal in the archives in the A ring."
"Thanks for the help."
"You are welcome. If you require further assistance, I may be able to help."
This update is mostly dialogue, I aplogize for that. At least Operation Anchorage has very little dialogue.
Oh look, it's Star Paladin Cross.
"I am Star Paladin Cross. Keeper of the ARM, and Seneschal to Elder Lyons. And, I am honored to say, I was acquainted with your father."
Of course, everyone knows about James.
"Now, what may I do to help you?"
"You knew my father?"
"I did. And you as well! Long ago, I helped guard the water purifier against the Super Mutant horde. When your father left, I escorted the two of you to Megaton. He was... a noble man."
It's like dad is a celebrity in the wasteland or something. Everybody loves him.
"I was saddened to hear of his passing. But from what I've heard, he died with honor. He died for you."
No he didn't. It wasn't a heroic self sacrifice or anything, if anything he completely set us back now.
"I only pray that my own death has such meaning."
"Why does it matter how a man dies? Death is death."
"True. And in the end, death claims us all. But how we die can say just as much about our lives as how we lived. Your father died for what he knew to be right, and he died protecting those closest to him. This is a good man's death. But, I must ask you a difficult question, if I have your leave to do so."
"[Karma] By all means, ask."
"I escorted your father across the Wastes. It was the best I could contribute to his efforts to restore fresh water to the people. I would like the honor of escorting you in your journey to complete his work."
Yay, a companion. Not a a particularly interesting companion, but a companion nonethelesss.
"I would be honored, Star Paladin Cross."
"Then I shall follow your leave and submit to your command. As James' child, I know I don't need to explain, but I am not your servant. If I do not like the path your actions take, I will return here."
Oh, so our new companion is a Lawful Stupid paladin type, eh? This should be interesting.
Companions in Fallout 3 can die, unlike the normal mode in Fallout: New Vegas but they have huge amounts of health to offset that. Honestly, companions are pretty much cardboard cutouts with no other dialogue other than the dialogue that you get when meeting them. This was true of first two Fallout games too, to a lesser extent. They had more personality in the old games at least, and they had unique situations and quests at least. New Vegas had completely fleshed out the compnaions with their own personal sidequests though.
As it stands, Fallout 3 companions are completely inconsequential to the game.
We go back upstairs to get to another area in the Citadel. Also, that little ring could have been an unarmed arena fight sidequest.
Like the Mandalorian arena in Knights of the Old Republic 2 but ideally much less annoying.
So the Brotherhood has a decent amount of tech down here. We need to find a computer terminal that tells us about each of the Vaults, for some reason they have a terminal solely dedicated to information about the Vaults in the area. How many times would they have to use it?
Here is a link of the info, it's pretty pointless though. [http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Citadel_terminal_entries#Vault-Tec_terminal]
Now we head back upstairs.
"I need to find Vault 87 right now."
"I take it you were successful, then. As it happens, the Brotherhood has some information about Vault 87. Let me show you what we know. This map shows the locations of all known Vaults in the local area. Vault 87 has been highlighted for you, there. Entrance to Vault 87 will be particularly difficult for you, I'm afraid."
"Why, what's difficult about it?"
"The area is highly irradiated; lethal levels are all around the entrance. Gaining direct access will be quite impossible."
"There's got to be another way."
Unfortunately the alternative is much, much worse.
"You share your father's determination, it seems. And in this case, you are correct. There may well be another way. Vault 87 is located very close to the site of Lamplight Caverns. It is entirely probable that the Vault may be entered from within the caves."
OH GOD, NOT LITTLE LAMPLIGHT, ANYTHING BUT THAT!
"Well, I guess it's time to find out. I'll go there myself."
We have absolutely no choice but to go through Lamplight. I'd risk lethal radiation instead of Lamplight myself, personally.
"The Brotherhood simply cannot spare the resources necessary to investigate the area. Perhaps you may be more successful."
Translation: Fuck you. It's your dad and you need to fix his mistakes yourself.
"If you do find anything, please return here so that we may decide on how best to proceed."
"Thanks for your help."
"I wish we could do more, but the Brotherhood potentially faces a very pressing, very real threat in the Enclave.'
Come on, you've guys dealt with them before.
"All of my efforts must now be devoted to assessing the threat they may pose to us. I'm sure you understand."
I don't think the Enclave even cares about the Brotherhood at this point.
I mean, they already have the ability to nuke them from orbit right now.
One more thing to do before leaving: Getting Power Armor Training.
"Would you grant me permission to receive Power Armor training?"
"Hmm... Considering the circumstances, I think it would be prudent if you recieved such training, yes. Speak to Gunny, in the Bailey. He will train you in the proper use of Power Armor. Fear not, I will send word that I have given my approval. You'll find him in the Bailey. I will send word that I have given my approval."
Awesome, power armor training! Now we can use that kickass tribal power armor we got from The Pitt.
Of course, it's pity power armor training, and we could have gotten that from Operation Anchorage (which we'll be doing right after this) but shut up and let me have my moment.
Finally, we're free of the main plot. Fuck Little Lamplight, I'm going to spend as much as time as possible trying to avoid Lamplight with sidequests. So, where are we off to next?
Operation Anchorage...
Fuck.
Fallout 3 question: Does the layout of the Citadel annoy anyone else, or is it just me?
It does for me.AlternatePFG said:
It was so hard to find things. And when the people move? Feck. May as well move at random.
Hello everyone, this is Dr. Horrible with another episode of our Fallout 3 Let's Play.
The Doctor plays: Fallout 3 - episode 9, "I suck at combat..."
Wherein young Liam is terrible at combat today for some reason.
It annoys me too. Every time I go there, I somehow get lost. I've said it before, Bethesda is terrible at interior design.AlternatePFG said:
The Citadel didn't annoy me so much. I remember looting crap out of that place. I did get a little scared when I saw the huge robot. I acted like a timid dog around a stranger...just kind of keeping an eye on it as I take a circuitous route around it. Then I shot it for a while until I was satisfied that it was no threat.
I can be irrational in games sometimes.
I can be irrational in games sometimes.
Sounds like the best reaction to Liberty Prime I've ever heard. I (somehow) barely noticed the robot my first time in the citadel. Don't ask me how.DustyDrB said:
Fuck, this is long. I apologize once again for the extremely long wall of text in this update. Next update will come later today, I promise. It's almost already done, I just need a bit more time and I like to space things out a bit.
[HEADING=1]Lily's Log - Project Purity[/HEADING]
I made it back to Rivet City in a reasonable amount of time after my trip to The Pitt. It's been a while since I was in the Capital Wasteland but apparently nothing has changed. Just as well.
After taking a short trip to the market in Rivet City to resupply, I headed over to the Jefferson Memorial, to find dad. Of course, I had to fight my way through a legion of Super Mutants to get there, but I assumed he would be there.
He was not. After all this, he left a note saying he was going towards Vault 112. I was questioning if it was even worth following him at this point, but I had to. I've came too far not too.
I walked back to Megaton and after packing up some supplies from my home in Megaton, I began the long journey to Vault 112. It wasn't quite as long as the trip to the tunnel to get to The Pitt however.
I finally came upon that old garage, sitting in the middle of nowhere. I entered the building, and flipped a dusty switch on the wall. A passageway opened up, and followed it downwards. Eventually I found the vault door for Vault 112, still completely intact.
Vault 112 looked remarkably like Vault 101. One would have to assume that this is how all the Vaults were built, but Vault 112 has been completely untouched by the passing centuries. Vault 101 was in decent shape, but that had people to maintain it. Vault 112 was completely empty, or so I thought...
It didn't take me long to stumble upon a giant room with a giant computer in the center. I dropped down from above, and I found the inhabitants in the Vault, living in these pods connected to the computer. As far as I could tell, these pods were the only things keeping the 200 year old inhabitants alive. One of the pods held my dad, apparently he was in the VR simulation that the other inhabitants were in as well.
In hindsight getting into one of those pods just to get to my dad was probably not the optimal solution but at the time I just finally wanted answers.
Saying that the Virtual Reality Simulation was strange would be an understatement. These people, they were being tormented by their psychopathic overseer, by the name of Braun. Braun offered me freedom if I helped him torment the people of the Vault but I refused. Instead, I managed to activate the failsafe, which killed all of the people in the VR simulation, excluding me and dad of course. At the very least they won't suffer anymore...
I left the pod, and was greeted by my father. It was a strange moment. I have been jumping through hoops just to get to him, and now that he's here, it seems a bit unreal. I was resisting the urge to punch him, the first thing I planned to do when meeting him.
He seemed surprised that I left the Vault, I tried to explain that it was because of him that Overseer chased me out, but he just ignored it. It was nice seeing him, but his reaction infuriated me. He kept on claiming it was for "the good of the wasteland". He wanted to convince Doctor Li to start Project Purity back up again, which means we had to go all the way back to Rivet City.
At any rate, I wasn't going to lose him again. I travelled with him all the way to Rivet City, and we bought got through unscathed, despite multiple encounters with raiders and super mutants.
He somehow convinced Doctor Li to start the project up again, and he had me clear out the monument of super mutants. Even though I can handle more than a few super mutants, the blatant disregard for my safety pissed me off.
It only took them a short time to get the project nearly operational again. We still needed a GECK to make it work properly, but everything else was set. He had me doing menial tasks, such as pushing buttons. He kept on telling me about how proud he was of me defusing the bomb in Megaton. I found that ridiculous, if I had the ability to defuse that bomb, then the only logical thing to do would be to fix it. There's nothing heroic about that.
I only realize now that that's the last conversation that I ever would have with him. While I fixed something blocking the pipes, some men in power armor attacked the monument. I hardly knew what to do, so I continued further into the pipe. I exited the pipes, and ended up back in the basement of Project Purity. I was attacked by one of the soldiers in power armor. They certainly weren't the Brotherhood, as their armor looked completely different. I had no time to think these things over of course, and I ran upstairs.
I did not know what went through my fathers mind or what he intended on doing. He was trapped in the purifier room with the leader of the attackers, they apparently go by the name of the Enclave. He could clearly see me through the glass window, he knew I could take out of those soldiers. Yet, after all that, he still blew it up...
He blew up the purifier, his entire lifes work, along with himself. Obviously he was doing it to save me and Doctor Li, but he didn't have to. We didn't even know what the Enclave wanted with the purifier, it's not like they wanted to destroy it. I can't fathom what was going through his head.
Still, he's dead now. And I spent the short time I had to talk to him being an asshole to him...
Everything I've done since I exited the Vault has been rendered pointless. If it wasn't for Doctor Li yelling at me to get moving, I probably would have just stood there, dumbfounded. We snuck out through the sewer system underneath Project Purity, I managed to hold off the Enclave and the ghouls from hurting the scientists. None of them were hurt, but one of the scientists, Ana Holt, was unaccounted for...
Doctor Li got us into the citadel, where the Brotherhood was based. At first they wouldn't let us in, but Doctor Li convinced them to let us through. They were surprisingly hospitable towards us. Before I could even get some time to think about what had happened, they discussed plans about retrieving a GECK to reactivate the purifier. They wanted me to go all the way to Vault 87 to retrieve the GECK for them. I thought it was a use of my time than sitting around in the Citadel doing nothing. Maybe we could get Project Purity up and running, finish what my dad started. I owed him that at least.
So, I'm off again. Not alone this time, one of the paladins of the Brotherhood of Steel offered to accompany. I wasn't in a position to turn her down, so I agreed that it would be wise not to go alone.
I don't think I'm going straight to Vault 87 though, I feel strangely compelled to the explore the wasteland. People seem to be in dire straits here, and I feel obligated to do something about it. There won't be a point in cleaning the water if the wasteland is torn apart by smaller conflicts before then.
After taking a short trip to the market in Rivet City to resupply, I headed over to the Jefferson Memorial, to find dad. Of course, I had to fight my way through a legion of Super Mutants to get there, but I assumed he would be there.
He was not. After all this, he left a note saying he was going towards Vault 112. I was questioning if it was even worth following him at this point, but I had to. I've came too far not too.
I walked back to Megaton and after packing up some supplies from my home in Megaton, I began the long journey to Vault 112. It wasn't quite as long as the trip to the tunnel to get to The Pitt however.
I finally came upon that old garage, sitting in the middle of nowhere. I entered the building, and flipped a dusty switch on the wall. A passageway opened up, and followed it downwards. Eventually I found the vault door for Vault 112, still completely intact.
Vault 112 looked remarkably like Vault 101. One would have to assume that this is how all the Vaults were built, but Vault 112 has been completely untouched by the passing centuries. Vault 101 was in decent shape, but that had people to maintain it. Vault 112 was completely empty, or so I thought...
It didn't take me long to stumble upon a giant room with a giant computer in the center. I dropped down from above, and I found the inhabitants in the Vault, living in these pods connected to the computer. As far as I could tell, these pods were the only things keeping the 200 year old inhabitants alive. One of the pods held my dad, apparently he was in the VR simulation that the other inhabitants were in as well.
In hindsight getting into one of those pods just to get to my dad was probably not the optimal solution but at the time I just finally wanted answers.
Saying that the Virtual Reality Simulation was strange would be an understatement. These people, they were being tormented by their psychopathic overseer, by the name of Braun. Braun offered me freedom if I helped him torment the people of the Vault but I refused. Instead, I managed to activate the failsafe, which killed all of the people in the VR simulation, excluding me and dad of course. At the very least they won't suffer anymore...
I left the pod, and was greeted by my father. It was a strange moment. I have been jumping through hoops just to get to him, and now that he's here, it seems a bit unreal. I was resisting the urge to punch him, the first thing I planned to do when meeting him.
He seemed surprised that I left the Vault, I tried to explain that it was because of him that Overseer chased me out, but he just ignored it. It was nice seeing him, but his reaction infuriated me. He kept on claiming it was for "the good of the wasteland". He wanted to convince Doctor Li to start Project Purity back up again, which means we had to go all the way back to Rivet City.
At any rate, I wasn't going to lose him again. I travelled with him all the way to Rivet City, and we bought got through unscathed, despite multiple encounters with raiders and super mutants.
He somehow convinced Doctor Li to start the project up again, and he had me clear out the monument of super mutants. Even though I can handle more than a few super mutants, the blatant disregard for my safety pissed me off.
It only took them a short time to get the project nearly operational again. We still needed a GECK to make it work properly, but everything else was set. He had me doing menial tasks, such as pushing buttons. He kept on telling me about how proud he was of me defusing the bomb in Megaton. I found that ridiculous, if I had the ability to defuse that bomb, then the only logical thing to do would be to fix it. There's nothing heroic about that.
I only realize now that that's the last conversation that I ever would have with him. While I fixed something blocking the pipes, some men in power armor attacked the monument. I hardly knew what to do, so I continued further into the pipe. I exited the pipes, and ended up back in the basement of Project Purity. I was attacked by one of the soldiers in power armor. They certainly weren't the Brotherhood, as their armor looked completely different. I had no time to think these things over of course, and I ran upstairs.
I did not know what went through my fathers mind or what he intended on doing. He was trapped in the purifier room with the leader of the attackers, they apparently go by the name of the Enclave. He could clearly see me through the glass window, he knew I could take out of those soldiers. Yet, after all that, he still blew it up...
He blew up the purifier, his entire lifes work, along with himself. Obviously he was doing it to save me and Doctor Li, but he didn't have to. We didn't even know what the Enclave wanted with the purifier, it's not like they wanted to destroy it. I can't fathom what was going through his head.
Still, he's dead now. And I spent the short time I had to talk to him being an asshole to him...
Everything I've done since I exited the Vault has been rendered pointless. If it wasn't for Doctor Li yelling at me to get moving, I probably would have just stood there, dumbfounded. We snuck out through the sewer system underneath Project Purity, I managed to hold off the Enclave and the ghouls from hurting the scientists. None of them were hurt, but one of the scientists, Ana Holt, was unaccounted for...
Doctor Li got us into the citadel, where the Brotherhood was based. At first they wouldn't let us in, but Doctor Li convinced them to let us through. They were surprisingly hospitable towards us. Before I could even get some time to think about what had happened, they discussed plans about retrieving a GECK to reactivate the purifier. They wanted me to go all the way to Vault 87 to retrieve the GECK for them. I thought it was a use of my time than sitting around in the Citadel doing nothing. Maybe we could get Project Purity up and running, finish what my dad started. I owed him that at least.
So, I'm off again. Not alone this time, one of the paladins of the Brotherhood of Steel offered to accompany. I wasn't in a position to turn her down, so I agreed that it would be wise not to go alone.
I don't think I'm going straight to Vault 87 though, I feel strangely compelled to the explore the wasteland. People seem to be in dire straits here, and I feel obligated to do something about it. There won't be a point in cleaning the water if the wasteland is torn apart by smaller conflicts before then.
[HEADING=1]Chapter XXII - More Virtual Reality Nonsense[/HEADING]
Last update, we spent a bit of time at the Citadel talking with the members of the Brotherhood of Steel. We got a couple of things accomplished, namely getting Power Armor training and our first companion, Star Paladin Cross. Other than that, we were sent off in the direction of Vault 87, but in order to retrieve the GECK from the Vault, we have to go through Little Lamplight.
Fuck that, I thought, so let's do some sidequesting instead. First though, we must brave the awfulness that is Operation Anchorage.
It's still a better alternative to Little Lamplight though.
Notice how every single screenshot of the DC Ruins has an extremely overcast sky, no exceptions. It's like there's just a giant mass of clouds over the city, and nowhere else.
Like The Pitt and pretty much every DLC, you get a radio signal that would logically lead oyu into the DLC. This is Bethesda's way of making your random DLC trips somewhat sensical instead of just following a marker, but it's still a little silly.
Our closest fast travel point is Arlington Library. Operation Anchorage is rather weird, because unlike every other DLC in the game, Anchorage is sort of fitted inside into the main map. (Except for Broken Steel of course.) While only a small part of the DLC is outside the simulation, unlike The Pitt or Point Lookout, you don't travel outside the Capital Wasteland. (As for Zeta, you don't willingly travel there, but you're still pulled out of the wasteland.)
Out of nowhere a vertibird appears. You know, usually by the time I finish the Waters of Life quest, I just go straight through the game to get to Broken Steel. So I don't remembering encountering something like this before.
It lands right near a raiders hideout across the street. This should be interesting.
Holy shit, they have Tesla Armor. This might be a bit out of our league... Ah, why not?
They are much sturdier than the Enclave soldiers we fought in Project Purity. They still would be trivial, if it weren't for the fact that I ditched the metal blaster and all the other good loot back at my house in Megaton, in order to make room for the loot from Operation Anchorage.
Star Paladin Cross was extremely helpful here, as she wore them down with her Super Sledge.
At the time, I only had a 10mm pistol, a hunting rifle and a nearly broken combat shotgun. They still were pretty trivial though.
We got an awesome set of Tesla Armor now. It's got a high DR, and it's possibly one of the best armors in the game.
The raiders that the Enclave soldiers were fighting were wiped out almost instantly. There's some nice loot in the building nearby.
There's like 4 safes in this building, filled with bottlecaps, ammo and various chems.
After that short sidetrip, we're back on track towards the outcast base.
Paladin Cross yells this every time she sees an enemy. In this case, a couple of raiders we run into.
I was too busy fighting the raiders to notice multiple cars behind me on fire.
And the whole highway goes up in flames. Thankfully, it didn't kill us or Star Paladin Cross.
Seriously, imagine how horrific a normal accident would be with these nuclear cars.
There's a shelter, with a skeleton, some stimpaks and a stealth skillbook. We've been finding an awful lot of skillbooks.
A nice little touch, the Enclave has propaganda posters put up around the Capital Wasteland after the Waters of Life quest. However, why would they put these posters around here, in the middle of the city? No one lives here, aside from psychotic raiders and super mutants.
We already passed through this area with our dad when we came back from Vault 112.
Up there is where we need to go through in order to get the Operation Anchorage area. For those who do not know, Operation Anchorage is a virtual reality simulation, so the area that you visit during the DLC is not in the Capital Wasteland itself. However, the place that holds the simulator is kind of sneaked into the main game through some doors that would be locked/non-existant if you didn't own the DLC.
We're right next to the Red Racer factory, in fact I had to get the location of the place so I could go back to Megaton and drop off the Tesla Armor.
Of course we have to go through another metro tunnel. Lovely.
What's interesting about this location is that it's a tunnel, but it's almost completely collasped. In fact, I believe you're standing on the elevated platforms that are in the metros in this game.
Star Paladin Cross blends into the background of the rubble.
And now we're out of that short metro section. You can see shots being fired from the top of the escalator.
The Outcasts are fighting super mutants through the streets. The Outcasts are members of the Eastern Brotherhood of Steel who broke off when the Brotherhood started acting all nice to people and everything. These aren't the only Outcasts in the game, there is a group of them at Fort Independance. While the guys at Fort Independance are kind of stuck up towards you, at least they're nice to you if you help them enough. These guys are just dicks.
I mean, I'll go on record saying that I think the Brotherhood in New Vegas are kind of dicks to you at first (If you don't have Veronica with you) but at least they're nice to you after you help them. These Outcasts treat you worse after you finish the simulation. I think these guys drop fingers for the lawbringer perk.
Do note that this is only part in this entire DLC I like. This part, helping the Outcats fight the super mutants reminds me of the fight when you helped the Brotherhood fight their way through to GNR. That was a fun part of the game, and so is this. It's just that the rest of Operation Anchorage is terrible.
I'm trying to conserve some ammo, so I used the 10mm for much of the fight becaue I had a surplus of 10mm ammo.
Oh look, Outcast Power Armor. We already almost have every variant of power armor in this game. Remember when that stuff was hard to get? (Though you could get Power Armor pretty damn early in Fallout 2 if you knew were to go, if I remember correctly.)
It helps that the battle is set up like the one near GNR. The battle takes a bit, but eventually the Outcats overpower the super mutants and gun them all down.
We reach where the Outcasts are stationed. It's kind of weird, there's a bunker underneath what looks to be an unfinished building.
Saving your ass, that's what I'm doing here.
"Hey, I just wandered in here, and it looked like you guys needed help."
"Well, isn't that nice of you. Looks like things have calmed down now, so why don't you just run along...hey, what's that on your wrist? That's some kind of computer, isn't it?"
"This? It's my Pip-Boy 3000. Want to see?
"Isn't that fancy. Listen kid, maybe you could help us out. We've been looking for someone like you. Why don't you head inside and talk to Protector McGraw? I'll radio ahead and let him know you're coming."
I don't like where this is going.
So apparently, we're important to the Outcasts. Wonder why...
So, because this is a DLC, we have to dismiss Star Paladin Cross so that she'll return to the Citadel. First time I played Operation Anchorage, I had Dogmeat in my party and for some reason when I went down the lift, he died.
Why would I suddenly turn on your if I helped you fight off the super mutants? Whatever.
This location is rather cool, it has a few unique assets. Like I said, the only good things about this DLC are outside the simulation. (Even then though, the Outcasts are still dicks to you for no reason.)
Surprisingly clean considering how dirty the rest of the wasteland is.
One of the Outcasts has an idle animation that involves him fixing a terminal thing. Why am I pointing this out? This game has hardly any unique animations at all.
"I'll be perfectly honest - I'd trust a Wastelander to shine my Power Armor, and even that's pushing it. But... you do have that computer there on your wrist. Hmph. I can see now that Morrill made the right call. Maybe you can be useful after all..."
Of course I'm useful, I'm the protagonist.
"[Intelligence] So, my Pip-Boy makes me unique, and you need my help because of that..."
God the high intelligence options in this game are stupid.
"So you do have half a brain. That's good."
Yes, the Outcasts are incredibly insulting towards you, the only person that can help them, for no reason. And this is one of the nice ones...
"I'll keep it simple. I need you, and I need that computer of yours. You help me out, and I'll do what I can to help you. This isn't an offer the Outcasts extend to anyone, so you really should think carefully about it."
"Well, what do you want me to do?"
"Records indicate there's some high-value tech in this base, but we can't get to it. The armory is sealed by a blast door, and we can't get it open."
The door is just a recolored version of the normal "high-tech" doors in this game.
"We're pretty sure anyone who completes the facility's VR simulation program will gain access, but it requires a certain interface. Unfortunately, we don't have one. You do, right there on your wrist. I need you to go into the simulator and complete that program... which will unlock the armory. You'll get a share of the gear, of course."
"So it's a computer game, I get it. Sounds like fun!"
Wait, huh? There's computer games in the Fallout universe?
You know, I'm not even going to bother with that one.
"Well it's not. It's a hyper-realistic military training simulation of the liberation of Anchorage, Alaska from Chinese Communists. This is heavy combat - safety protocols off. That means you die in the sim... your body goes into massive cardiac arrest. Sim death... real death. You're still listening, so I'm going to assume you're interested. But time's wasting, Sibley can take you to the pod. Olin will get you briefed. If you want to walk away, you're free to leave. My men won't stop you."
Realisitc? It's about as realistic as Call of Duty and twice as linear.
If you have a decent lockpicking skill you can only a nearby door...
And find the body of one of the Gary clones from Vault 108. We may, or may go there depending on if anyone wants to visit it.
Apparently, they sawed off his arm to get his Pip-Boy. What?
This is the door stopping us from the awesome loot. It's not even a Vault door, you could easily get into that room with a little bit of effort.
Too bad it isn't a vault door, that would be pretty cool looking.
(It's so tempting just to no clip through that door and take all the loot. The only reason you'd ever play Operation Anchorage is for that loot, which completely breaks the game.)
We talk to one of the Outcast scribes so that we can enter the VR simulation.
Accidentally deleted the dialogue screenshot. Whoops.
"You're here to help? Fine, then put this on, get in the chair, and we'll run the simulation."
"Sorry, didn't mean to intrude."
"Look, if you're going to help out, then that's great. Just don't get in my way."
"What can you tell me about this simulation?"
"*Sigh* I find your level of ignorance disgusting... if not unexpected."
How the fuck am I supposed to know anything about this simulation if you haven't told me.
"This sim had to have been one of the most important of its time - it's the liberation of Anchorage, Alaska from the Chinese. Eventually, the Americans went in and liberated the city, but there were heavy losses. This simulation trained soldiers for that engagement. Really, you must brush up on your history."
Yes, because old world history is common knowledge in the wasteland.
"Why exactly do you need me?"
"Well, I suppose if you don't mind us hacking off your forearm, we don't really."
Wait, wait, wait. The Pip-Boy is stuck to your wrist? That makes absolutely no sense and it's never mentioned once in the entire game. This is the most contrived way to make the PC "important" so far in this game...
"The sim is looking for an external interface. I haven't quite figured out why, but there's no way to bypass it. Your Pip-Boy there is a match. So since you're the one wearing it, you're the one running through the simulation. Get it?"
What a nice recolored suit of the recon armor, apparently this lets us use the VR pod.
You know, the Virtual Reality pods here look actually pretty cool. I could buy this being a VR pod much more than the ones in Vault 112. This is probably the last good thing I'm going to say about the DLC.
This makes two times in this game that Lily has jumped into a virtual reality pod for questionable reasons, for solutions to problems that could probably be solved just as easily without putting ourselves in mortal danger.
I'm just saying there's more than 1 way to get past a door...
Ugh, we're already off to a great start.
Fuck that, I thought, so let's do some sidequesting instead. First though, we must brave the awfulness that is Operation Anchorage.
It's still a better alternative to Little Lamplight though.
Notice how every single screenshot of the DC Ruins has an extremely overcast sky, no exceptions. It's like there's just a giant mass of clouds over the city, and nowhere else.
Like The Pitt and pretty much every DLC, you get a radio signal that would logically lead oyu into the DLC. This is Bethesda's way of making your random DLC trips somewhat sensical instead of just following a marker, but it's still a little silly.
Our closest fast travel point is Arlington Library. Operation Anchorage is rather weird, because unlike every other DLC in the game, Anchorage is sort of fitted inside into the main map. (Except for Broken Steel of course.) While only a small part of the DLC is outside the simulation, unlike The Pitt or Point Lookout, you don't travel outside the Capital Wasteland. (As for Zeta, you don't willingly travel there, but you're still pulled out of the wasteland.)
Out of nowhere a vertibird appears. You know, usually by the time I finish the Waters of Life quest, I just go straight through the game to get to Broken Steel. So I don't remembering encountering something like this before.
It lands right near a raiders hideout across the street. This should be interesting.
Holy shit, they have Tesla Armor. This might be a bit out of our league... Ah, why not?
They are much sturdier than the Enclave soldiers we fought in Project Purity. They still would be trivial, if it weren't for the fact that I ditched the metal blaster and all the other good loot back at my house in Megaton, in order to make room for the loot from Operation Anchorage.
Star Paladin Cross was extremely helpful here, as she wore them down with her Super Sledge.
At the time, I only had a 10mm pistol, a hunting rifle and a nearly broken combat shotgun. They still were pretty trivial though.
We got an awesome set of Tesla Armor now. It's got a high DR, and it's possibly one of the best armors in the game.
The raiders that the Enclave soldiers were fighting were wiped out almost instantly. There's some nice loot in the building nearby.
There's like 4 safes in this building, filled with bottlecaps, ammo and various chems.
After that short sidetrip, we're back on track towards the outcast base.
Paladin Cross yells this every time she sees an enemy. In this case, a couple of raiders we run into.
I was too busy fighting the raiders to notice multiple cars behind me on fire.
And the whole highway goes up in flames. Thankfully, it didn't kill us or Star Paladin Cross.
Seriously, imagine how horrific a normal accident would be with these nuclear cars.
There's a shelter, with a skeleton, some stimpaks and a stealth skillbook. We've been finding an awful lot of skillbooks.
A nice little touch, the Enclave has propaganda posters put up around the Capital Wasteland after the Waters of Life quest. However, why would they put these posters around here, in the middle of the city? No one lives here, aside from psychotic raiders and super mutants.
We already passed through this area with our dad when we came back from Vault 112.
Up there is where we need to go through in order to get the Operation Anchorage area. For those who do not know, Operation Anchorage is a virtual reality simulation, so the area that you visit during the DLC is not in the Capital Wasteland itself. However, the place that holds the simulator is kind of sneaked into the main game through some doors that would be locked/non-existant if you didn't own the DLC.
We're right next to the Red Racer factory, in fact I had to get the location of the place so I could go back to Megaton and drop off the Tesla Armor.
Of course we have to go through another metro tunnel. Lovely.
What's interesting about this location is that it's a tunnel, but it's almost completely collasped. In fact, I believe you're standing on the elevated platforms that are in the metros in this game.
Star Paladin Cross blends into the background of the rubble.
And now we're out of that short metro section. You can see shots being fired from the top of the escalator.
The Outcasts are fighting super mutants through the streets. The Outcasts are members of the Eastern Brotherhood of Steel who broke off when the Brotherhood started acting all nice to people and everything. These aren't the only Outcasts in the game, there is a group of them at Fort Independance. While the guys at Fort Independance are kind of stuck up towards you, at least they're nice to you if you help them enough. These guys are just dicks.
I mean, I'll go on record saying that I think the Brotherhood in New Vegas are kind of dicks to you at first (If you don't have Veronica with you) but at least they're nice to you after you help them. These Outcasts treat you worse after you finish the simulation. I think these guys drop fingers for the lawbringer perk.
Do note that this is only part in this entire DLC I like. This part, helping the Outcats fight the super mutants reminds me of the fight when you helped the Brotherhood fight their way through to GNR. That was a fun part of the game, and so is this. It's just that the rest of Operation Anchorage is terrible.
I'm trying to conserve some ammo, so I used the 10mm for much of the fight becaue I had a surplus of 10mm ammo.
Oh look, Outcast Power Armor. We already almost have every variant of power armor in this game. Remember when that stuff was hard to get? (Though you could get Power Armor pretty damn early in Fallout 2 if you knew were to go, if I remember correctly.)
It helps that the battle is set up like the one near GNR. The battle takes a bit, but eventually the Outcats overpower the super mutants and gun them all down.
We reach where the Outcasts are stationed. It's kind of weird, there's a bunker underneath what looks to be an unfinished building.
Saving your ass, that's what I'm doing here.
"Hey, I just wandered in here, and it looked like you guys needed help."
"Well, isn't that nice of you. Looks like things have calmed down now, so why don't you just run along...hey, what's that on your wrist? That's some kind of computer, isn't it?"
"This? It's my Pip-Boy 3000. Want to see?
"Isn't that fancy. Listen kid, maybe you could help us out. We've been looking for someone like you. Why don't you head inside and talk to Protector McGraw? I'll radio ahead and let him know you're coming."
I don't like where this is going.
So apparently, we're important to the Outcasts. Wonder why...
So, because this is a DLC, we have to dismiss Star Paladin Cross so that she'll return to the Citadel. First time I played Operation Anchorage, I had Dogmeat in my party and for some reason when I went down the lift, he died.
Why would I suddenly turn on your if I helped you fight off the super mutants? Whatever.
This location is rather cool, it has a few unique assets. Like I said, the only good things about this DLC are outside the simulation. (Even then though, the Outcasts are still dicks to you for no reason.)
Surprisingly clean considering how dirty the rest of the wasteland is.
One of the Outcasts has an idle animation that involves him fixing a terminal thing. Why am I pointing this out? This game has hardly any unique animations at all.
"I'll be perfectly honest - I'd trust a Wastelander to shine my Power Armor, and even that's pushing it. But... you do have that computer there on your wrist. Hmph. I can see now that Morrill made the right call. Maybe you can be useful after all..."
Of course I'm useful, I'm the protagonist.
"[Intelligence] So, my Pip-Boy makes me unique, and you need my help because of that..."
God the high intelligence options in this game are stupid.
"So you do have half a brain. That's good."
Yes, the Outcasts are incredibly insulting towards you, the only person that can help them, for no reason. And this is one of the nice ones...
"I'll keep it simple. I need you, and I need that computer of yours. You help me out, and I'll do what I can to help you. This isn't an offer the Outcasts extend to anyone, so you really should think carefully about it."
"Well, what do you want me to do?"
"Records indicate there's some high-value tech in this base, but we can't get to it. The armory is sealed by a blast door, and we can't get it open."
The door is just a recolored version of the normal "high-tech" doors in this game.
"We're pretty sure anyone who completes the facility's VR simulation program will gain access, but it requires a certain interface. Unfortunately, we don't have one. You do, right there on your wrist. I need you to go into the simulator and complete that program... which will unlock the armory. You'll get a share of the gear, of course."
"So it's a computer game, I get it. Sounds like fun!"
Wait, huh? There's computer games in the Fallout universe?
You know, I'm not even going to bother with that one.
"Well it's not. It's a hyper-realistic military training simulation of the liberation of Anchorage, Alaska from Chinese Communists. This is heavy combat - safety protocols off. That means you die in the sim... your body goes into massive cardiac arrest. Sim death... real death. You're still listening, so I'm going to assume you're interested. But time's wasting, Sibley can take you to the pod. Olin will get you briefed. If you want to walk away, you're free to leave. My men won't stop you."
Realisitc? It's about as realistic as Call of Duty and twice as linear.
If you have a decent lockpicking skill you can only a nearby door...
And find the body of one of the Gary clones from Vault 108. We may, or may go there depending on if anyone wants to visit it.
Apparently, they sawed off his arm to get his Pip-Boy. What?
This is the door stopping us from the awesome loot. It's not even a Vault door, you could easily get into that room with a little bit of effort.
Too bad it isn't a vault door, that would be pretty cool looking.
(It's so tempting just to no clip through that door and take all the loot. The only reason you'd ever play Operation Anchorage is for that loot, which completely breaks the game.)
We talk to one of the Outcast scribes so that we can enter the VR simulation.
Accidentally deleted the dialogue screenshot. Whoops.
"You're here to help? Fine, then put this on, get in the chair, and we'll run the simulation."
"Sorry, didn't mean to intrude."
"Look, if you're going to help out, then that's great. Just don't get in my way."
"What can you tell me about this simulation?"
"*Sigh* I find your level of ignorance disgusting... if not unexpected."
How the fuck am I supposed to know anything about this simulation if you haven't told me.
"This sim had to have been one of the most important of its time - it's the liberation of Anchorage, Alaska from the Chinese. Eventually, the Americans went in and liberated the city, but there were heavy losses. This simulation trained soldiers for that engagement. Really, you must brush up on your history."
Yes, because old world history is common knowledge in the wasteland.
"Why exactly do you need me?"
"Well, I suppose if you don't mind us hacking off your forearm, we don't really."
Wait, wait, wait. The Pip-Boy is stuck to your wrist? That makes absolutely no sense and it's never mentioned once in the entire game. This is the most contrived way to make the PC "important" so far in this game...
"The sim is looking for an external interface. I haven't quite figured out why, but there's no way to bypass it. Your Pip-Boy there is a match. So since you're the one wearing it, you're the one running through the simulation. Get it?"
What a nice recolored suit of the recon armor, apparently this lets us use the VR pod.
You know, the Virtual Reality pods here look actually pretty cool. I could buy this being a VR pod much more than the ones in Vault 112. This is probably the last good thing I'm going to say about the DLC.
This makes two times in this game that Lily has jumped into a virtual reality pod for questionable reasons, for solutions to problems that could probably be solved just as easily without putting ourselves in mortal danger.
I'm just saying there's more than 1 way to get past a door...
Ugh, we're already off to a great start.
So, what do you guys think of the Outcasts in this game?
Not highly of them. As you said, they're rather dickish to you no matter what, even though you're putting your ass on the line to help them.AlternatePFG said:
Also, I found this on the wiki
So yeah. Not highly.
EDIT: What about you? Yea or nay?
Hello everyone, Dr. Horrible here with a mini-update of my Fallout 3 Let's Play. (full episode coming in a bit)
EDIT: whoops, video was set to private :facepalm: Sorry bout that, it's fixed.
The Doctor plays: Fallout 3 - episode 9.5, "Flee!"
In this mini-update, young Liam must flee like the coward he is.
I like them actually. I admit that they're assholes, but I like that they're somewhat closer to the other Fallouts' BoS.AlternatePFG said:
EDIT: whoops, video was set to private :facepalm: Sorry bout that, it's fixed.
Okay folks, here's a full-length update for you.
The Doctor plays: Fallout 3 - episode 10, "Fire ants suck!"
Wherein young Liam is justified in his hatred of ants that shoot fire.
Actually if I recall correctly, Stanley in Vault 101 mentions that you can't take the Pip-Boy off.AlternatePFG said:
Why? I have no idea.
At least Obsidian retconned that little "fact" in New Vegas.
Although they are assholes, I prefer them over the actual BoS in Fallout 3...but that's not saying much.
The Outcasts? I wasn't overly fond of them, but at least they acted like the Brotherhood is supposed to act. At least Fallout 3 has a flimsy excuse for the Brotherhood acting the way they do, apparently the ones you work with in the main game acted like the BoS typically acts, but decided to help out the people of the wastes while collecting old war tech. The outcasts were among the group but split off thinking their mission was more important.
The bastards tried to kill me after I helped them. Talk about ungrateful.
That seems to be the way many people feel. Not liking them, but liking their characterization more than the main FO3 Brotherhood.Luxatrum said:
Man...there's a lot of Fallout 3 bashing here. I hope this isn't turning into an anti-FO3 support group.
Anyway, welcome to the Escapist! Don't feed the trolls, enjoy the grilled cheese sandwiches, and stay out of the basement. Things happen down there...we don't like to speak of.
I do like Fallout 3 I really do. The setting is great, the mood and the music, and combat are all great. It's just the story that holds it back really. Hell I just made a new character because the two LP's here inspired me to do so. I'd LP my little play through, as well but I have no recording equipment so it's be more like a log.
And thanks! I've lurked for awhile but wanted to post here so...
I swear, once we get into the sidequests, exploring and Point Lookout, this LP will be much less negative. It's just that we have to get through the bad stuff first.
I apologize for the rather cut up nature of this update, but I really can't just comment on 90% of what happens at this part. It's really just slogging through the same 3 types of areas until you get to the artillery guns.
Alright, a question related to Operation Anchorage: Did the constant, unending combat annoy you?
I apologize for the rather cut up nature of this update, but I really can't just comment on 90% of what happens at this part. It's really just slogging through the same 3 types of areas until you get to the artillery guns.
[HEADING=1]Chapter XXIII - It's Not an RPG Anymore, It's an FPS[/HEADING]
So now we're stuck in another VR simulation. While Tranquility Lane did mess with the games tone a bit, there wasn't any combat and at least it was well designed.
Operation Anchorage messes with the games tone and is almost all combat. While combat in Fallout 3 isn't bad by any means, hours of nothing but combat and minimal exploration is incredibly grating. That is Operation Anchorage in a nutshell.
So apparently the sim had us parachute down behind enemy lines. And we have to take out their entire artillery. There's only two of us.
Hyper-realistic military simulation my ass.
We get a silenced 10mm pistol and a trench knife. (A redesigned combat knife.) That's it. If you're energy weapons or unarmed, you're out of luck.
Okay, one last good thing to say about Anchorage: It looks nice. In fact, all of the DLC look nice in this game and set themselves apart visually from the main game.
It's just that for all of the DLC (Except for Point Lookout) they focused on visuals at the expense of actual content. Point Lookout looked nice, and was quite lengthy.
We really can't sneak through here effectively because our sneak skill is crap.
No more stimpaks, these things heal your health completely.
Again "hyper-realistic military sim".
You do get a chinese assault rifle fairly early on, and it's probably one o the most useful weapons in the game, especially with a high guns skill, because the bullets don't spray wildly when you use it.
And enemy bodies disappear.
The range of the pistol isn't great, but at long range the chinese assault rifle is incredibly inaccurate.
I'm going to skim over this whole section of the game, as nothing really interesting happens. At all.
The game already had problems with variety.
If you can't tell from the screenshots, Operation Anchorage is incredibly linear, even moreso than The Pitt. At least some areas of The Pitt had interesting level design.
The Winterized Combat Armor looks pretty cool. I don't think you can get this particular version of the armor outside of the simulation, which is a shame.
One has to question why you would stand on top of the pipe with no cover, with a huge drop below you.
There are hardly any landmarks for me to comment on either, it's pretty samey the whole way.
Now we go inside the base.
At close range the Chinese Assault Rifle is like a shotgun. Outside of the simulation, the weapon breaks down pretty quickly.
I really don't get the layout of this place.
We see the body of a dead soldier drop down from a vent.
Woah!
It's that guy who we talked to earlier. Huh.
When I first played this, I really though he was a redshirt character.
"Let's cut the chatter... we've got some guns to destroy."
"Roger that. So what's the situation? We clear to blow the hell out of this place?"
"Hang on a second. Do you have any spare ammo?"
"Yeah, I can spare a few rounds."
"Yep. Let's go."
More pipes and cliffs, yay.
Just barely made it to the health dispenser because I was just about dead.
The NPC points out the huge amount of catwalks in this area. If Bethesda is aware of this, why the fuck did they design the level like this?
Oh, one thing in the DLC is a sidequest where you find 10 pieces of intel scattered through the DLC. This gives you a 3 points to Lockpick, Science, and Small Guns.
That's a pitiful amount of skill points.
There's a big bridge to easily get over to the other side, but you'll get ripped to shreds by enemies on the other side.
Oh god, is that supposed to be the sky? Maybe you can't tell from the screenshot, but it just looks so weird.
I'm sensing a pattern here. Catwalk fights, to these kinds of rooms, to repetitive indoor bunker areas.
Now we go around and take on those bunkers. It doesn't matter, we take a ton of damage right after walking outside.
Grenades a pretty helpful here.
Once again, I barely got to the health dispenser before dying.
The Trench Knife turns out to be absolutely useless, but I'd chalk that up to having a low melee skill more than anything else.
Now we go deeper behind enemy lines.
Inside there's just a ton of enemies. I don't get what this building is supposed to be, some sort of warehouse?
The monotony is broken up by a level up.
We might want to put some points into energy weapons, it will make the metal blaster even more broken.
Again, only picking Fast Metabolism for the lack of choice. This is why giving you a perk every single level is a bad idea.
The sniper is pretty useful here, especially because of the ammo dispensers.
Also, you notice how all the weapons got a shiny new coat of paint, except for the sniper.
There's a few holotapes scattered across the DLC, but they're pretty standard and bland.
They have a Chimera tank down there. I don't think you can get their attention from up here by shooting them.
Another piece of intel. I'm sorry if I'm skipping through here but honestly nothing really interesting at this point in the DLC happens. After this, there are still is a ton of tedious combat but at least the areas are more diverse.
VATS with grenades is always fun.
This is where they store their artillery shells. I wonder, are they mini-nukes?
Too bad you can't shoot the shells to make them explode.
A nice touch, there's some propaganda posters on the wall.
This section of the DLC goes on for way, way too long.
Honestly, the endless blue is replacing the endless greenish/brown of the Capital Wasteland.
This is the most lazy design for a level, just repeating corridors filled with the same enemies who aren't even fun to fight.
You can see enemies disappear further back in the room.
These guys are called Crimson Dragoon's, the only really unique enemy in this DLC. They can go invisible and while they're invisible, you can't target them with VATS. Their invisibility is really obvious.
The guy who follows you is somewhat useful, like every other important NPC in this game he is immortal. Somewhat justified by the fact that this is a simulation but it's still annoying.
Now that we're outside, we're ready to take down the artillery guns.
The artillery guns are pretty impressive.
Now the idea is to put a bomb on the gun, and to get the hell out of here.
You have to get out of range pretty quickly.
Everything is highlighted red for some reason. Is it not obvious what you need to do.
And the gun goes up in flames and we complete our objective. Is the DLC over yet?
Damn it.
Operation Anchorage messes with the games tone and is almost all combat. While combat in Fallout 3 isn't bad by any means, hours of nothing but combat and minimal exploration is incredibly grating. That is Operation Anchorage in a nutshell.
So apparently the sim had us parachute down behind enemy lines. And we have to take out their entire artillery. There's only two of us.
Hyper-realistic military simulation my ass.
We get a silenced 10mm pistol and a trench knife. (A redesigned combat knife.) That's it. If you're energy weapons or unarmed, you're out of luck.
Okay, one last good thing to say about Anchorage: It looks nice. In fact, all of the DLC look nice in this game and set themselves apart visually from the main game.
It's just that for all of the DLC (Except for Point Lookout) they focused on visuals at the expense of actual content. Point Lookout looked nice, and was quite lengthy.
We really can't sneak through here effectively because our sneak skill is crap.
No more stimpaks, these things heal your health completely.
Again "hyper-realistic military sim".
You do get a chinese assault rifle fairly early on, and it's probably one o the most useful weapons in the game, especially with a high guns skill, because the bullets don't spray wildly when you use it.
And enemy bodies disappear.
The range of the pistol isn't great, but at long range the chinese assault rifle is incredibly inaccurate.
I'm going to skim over this whole section of the game, as nothing really interesting happens. At all.
The game already had problems with variety.
If you can't tell from the screenshots, Operation Anchorage is incredibly linear, even moreso than The Pitt. At least some areas of The Pitt had interesting level design.
The Winterized Combat Armor looks pretty cool. I don't think you can get this particular version of the armor outside of the simulation, which is a shame.
One has to question why you would stand on top of the pipe with no cover, with a huge drop below you.
There are hardly any landmarks for me to comment on either, it's pretty samey the whole way.
Now we go inside the base.
At close range the Chinese Assault Rifle is like a shotgun. Outside of the simulation, the weapon breaks down pretty quickly.
I really don't get the layout of this place.
We see the body of a dead soldier drop down from a vent.
Woah!
It's that guy who we talked to earlier. Huh.
When I first played this, I really though he was a redshirt character.
"Let's cut the chatter... we've got some guns to destroy."
"Roger that. So what's the situation? We clear to blow the hell out of this place?"
"Hang on a second. Do you have any spare ammo?"
"Yeah, I can spare a few rounds."
"Yep. Let's go."
More pipes and cliffs, yay.
Just barely made it to the health dispenser because I was just about dead.
The NPC points out the huge amount of catwalks in this area. If Bethesda is aware of this, why the fuck did they design the level like this?
Oh, one thing in the DLC is a sidequest where you find 10 pieces of intel scattered through the DLC. This gives you a 3 points to Lockpick, Science, and Small Guns.
That's a pitiful amount of skill points.
There's a big bridge to easily get over to the other side, but you'll get ripped to shreds by enemies on the other side.
Oh god, is that supposed to be the sky? Maybe you can't tell from the screenshot, but it just looks so weird.
I'm sensing a pattern here. Catwalk fights, to these kinds of rooms, to repetitive indoor bunker areas.
Now we go around and take on those bunkers. It doesn't matter, we take a ton of damage right after walking outside.
Grenades a pretty helpful here.
Once again, I barely got to the health dispenser before dying.
The Trench Knife turns out to be absolutely useless, but I'd chalk that up to having a low melee skill more than anything else.
Now we go deeper behind enemy lines.
Inside there's just a ton of enemies. I don't get what this building is supposed to be, some sort of warehouse?
The monotony is broken up by a level up.
We might want to put some points into energy weapons, it will make the metal blaster even more broken.
Again, only picking Fast Metabolism for the lack of choice. This is why giving you a perk every single level is a bad idea.
The sniper is pretty useful here, especially because of the ammo dispensers.
Also, you notice how all the weapons got a shiny new coat of paint, except for the sniper.
There's a few holotapes scattered across the DLC, but they're pretty standard and bland.
They have a Chimera tank down there. I don't think you can get their attention from up here by shooting them.
Another piece of intel. I'm sorry if I'm skipping through here but honestly nothing really interesting at this point in the DLC happens. After this, there are still is a ton of tedious combat but at least the areas are more diverse.
VATS with grenades is always fun.
This is where they store their artillery shells. I wonder, are they mini-nukes?
Too bad you can't shoot the shells to make them explode.
A nice touch, there's some propaganda posters on the wall.
This section of the DLC goes on for way, way too long.
Honestly, the endless blue is replacing the endless greenish/brown of the Capital Wasteland.
This is the most lazy design for a level, just repeating corridors filled with the same enemies who aren't even fun to fight.
You can see enemies disappear further back in the room.
These guys are called Crimson Dragoon's, the only really unique enemy in this DLC. They can go invisible and while they're invisible, you can't target them with VATS. Their invisibility is really obvious.
The guy who follows you is somewhat useful, like every other important NPC in this game he is immortal. Somewhat justified by the fact that this is a simulation but it's still annoying.
Now that we're outside, we're ready to take down the artillery guns.
The artillery guns are pretty impressive.
Now the idea is to put a bomb on the gun, and to get the hell out of here.
You have to get out of range pretty quickly.
Everything is highlighted red for some reason. Is it not obvious what you need to do.
And the gun goes up in flames and we complete our objective. Is the DLC over yet?
Damn it.
Well I played on an elmo mod so of course I named my character Elmokillu and specialised in melee weapons because even though I would see things from a normal height whenever I would go into 3rd person It would show a little red ball of fluff running around with a bloodstained knife, yes I did have a one liner Elmo hug you >=]
DEATHCLAW IS NOW MATCH FOR ELMO
DEATHCLAW IS NOW MATCH FOR ELMO
Everything about the DLC annoyed me.AlternatePFG said:
The only thing I liked about it was General Jingwei's uniform and the Chinese uniforms in general.
Also one little pet peeve that really annoys me;
Why are they called "Crimson Dragoons"?
1. No part of them is crimson coloured.
2. They never dismount from anything in combat and you never see them using any kind of vehicle for help.