Fallout 3: Point Lookout

5 Responses to “Fallout 3: Point Lookout”

1. Benjamin S. Finch
   October 27, 2009 at 3:52 pm

   The idea of going to the South seemed kind of boring for a Fallout 3 location. But I was greatly surprised at how immediately fun it gets right off the bat. It doesn’t have the same crazy difficult decisions as in The Pitt but it does have some hard ones to make. The DLC doesn’t offer much with weapons, the only two I found were a microwave emitter and a more powerful shotgun. The DLC is one of the best in the series and the only one I recommend before this one is The Pitt.
   Rating: 5 / 5
2. Kernunnos13
   October 27, 2009 at 6:35 pm

   My son and I play the base game, Fallout 3, all of the time. He has gone onto complete the game 3 times.

   We got this, and he took off. It adds itself into the main game perfectly and flawlessly. The overall play is just the same as the game, but a whole new area. The fights are a bit more difficult, but that just adds to the gameplay challenge.

   If you have Fallout3, get this!
   Rating: 5 / 5
3. The Wizard
   October 27, 2009 at 8:36 pm

   I was excited about getting this add-on. Boy, was I dissapointed to find out its a download only. I do not have XBox Live… The Leading Buy Title should say ‘downloadable content only’, but it didnt. It wasnt until I went back and read the fine print under its description, that it wasnt a ‘disc’. So, buyer beware. Make sure you know what youre getting, before you buy.
   Rating: 3 / 5
4. W. Carney
   October 27, 2009 at 9:53 pm

   This addon is one of the best so far, it’s huge! Huge area, huge amount of quests! It got a story that makes you wish it did not have to end!
   Rating: 5 / 5
5. Scott Baboyian
   October 27, 2009 at 11:48 pm

   I purchased this as an online download. I played it with a level 20-30 character(after installing the Broken Steel download that raises the level cap), and earned about 4 levels while playing it through. I think this would still be an excellent experience even playing with a level-maxed character, because of the tight quests and very effectively staged battles.

   This add-on is so good–it not only adds an additional mini-world, Point Lookout, that you travel to from the Wasteland (at any point in your game, and you can go back and forth), **it adds another large building to the Wasteland itself in order to flesh out one of the quests originating in Point Lookout**(–I was incorrect about this, see comment). It also provides several new weapons, and a few new creature types. The new weapons can be added to your inventory and be used back in the original Wasteland setting.

   You can’t take Dogmeat or any other companions along on to this location- the computer has them automatically wait for you back at their home bases. Just as well, since the feeling of being all alone and far from your usual base of operations serves to increase the tension and jeopardy.

   The Point Lookout environment is a really welcome change of pace from the Wasteland. It combines white trash Maryland with some white trash Louisiana flavorings, and uses lots of new textures, graphic elements, and building designs to create a very unique look, in comparison to the endless slog through concrete rubble that you may be tired of back in DC. Atmospheric swamps, ramshackle inbred family farms, dilapidated mansions, a rural prison camp, and submerged caverns are a few of the settings.

   The new enemy types are really fierce- truly nauseating inbred locals that will remind you of mutated versions of the Appalachian rednecks from Deliverance or the inbred family from that infamous X-files episode(!), complete with some “I’m gonna make you squeal!”-type scripting. They employ the new weapons, such as a nastily accurate rifle, and a mule-kicking double-barreled shotgun. These muties and some other enemies in the module can be quite a challenge, as many fights will have so many enemies, coming at you so quickly, that they will really test your VATS point-management and free-targeting abilities, as well as your tactical skills in laying mines, using cover, and employing various weapons.

   In fact, the best aspect of the combat in this module is that many of the fights are incredibly staged set-pieces, with enemies coming at you in waves, employing the environment–they blow holes through ceilings and jump down, blast a hole in the wall and pour through, shoot at your from rooftops while their allies storm your position–in short, these foes come at YOU, in scripted and staged battles that will make your pulse pound. This lends a highly frenetic and tense pace to the action in many places–a sense of urgency that was lacking in many of the original campaign’s fights.

   Of note as well is the nice balance between tightly plotted quests with some choices to make in how to carry them out, a bit of exploration time to wander, and a good balance between indoor and outdoor locales. In short, I loved it–awesome combat, totally fresh change-of-pace from the original setting: all-in-all, well worth the money.
   Rating: 5 / 5