Wednesday 19 August 2009

Fallout 3 DLC - the way forward or just a money spinner?


The last part of the downloadable content for Fallout 3 seems to be getting relatively good reviews and Bethesda has confirmed this was the last one of the batch they were working on. I assume this means Fallout: New Vegas is well into development and other games based around the Fallout universe are also coming together, perhaps even an MMO if the rights have passed from Interplay to Bethesda.

The first of the DLC was a bit hit and miss, “Operation Anchorage” was nothing more than a prolonged run and gun segment which lasted an evening and the only memorable thing about it is at the end it gives you access to power armour much earlier in the game than usual.

I enjoyed “The Pitt” and it’s imagining of Pittsburgh as an industrial nightmare you must navigate through some profound moral choices about slavery and order in the wastelands, playing through as an evil character after being a goody two shoes when I first completed the game I spent most of it being a complete and utter bastard but still it was complex.

I must admit “Mothership Zeta” is a weird end to the DLC and Fallout 3. I would have thought a climatic ending to the adventures in the capital wastelands would have been in order and requiring a few visits to old haunts rather than spending the entire time away from one of the stars of Fallout 3 – the haunting post nuclear image of Washington DC which was so well done. Still along with Broken Steel and Point Lookout it has certainly kept players occupied over a year after its release.

My real interest outside of the gaming side and the fact it prolongs such a great RPG is the whole idea of DLC, for sports games it normally is nothing more than updating teams and adding more aesthetic things. With First Person Shooters it is multiplayer map packs and Real Time Strategies have extra unit and maps for DLC.

With RPG’s adding in extra storylines is normally reserved for an expansion pack or two, I remember eagerly awaiting expansions to Baldur’s gate and Oblivion to stretch out the experience. DLC also gives developers to go in different directions from the main game, while “Operation Anchorage” was not my cup of tea it did introduce new areas and storylines to Fallout 3.

With DLC becoming more and more common I enjoy the fact that now gamers can receive extra storylines for a small fee. As well as this future DLC has now become a major selling point for gamers, Microsoft seems to have taken the lead on this by securing DLC to games such as GTA IV and Fallout 3 while the PS3 the DLC is only just rolling out for Fallout 3. I must admit if a game is exactly the same on both consoles then things like the option of DLC would swing my purchase. I guess with Microsoft putting a low price and Xbox live/DLC spin on the Xbox 360 the PS3 superior graphics and Blu-Ray is not making the impact Sony expected.

It’s a moot point however for me as I am predominately a PC gamer and we thankfully get most DLC for free or at least at the same time as the consoles.

But what about the dangers, of course it is the problem of what the developers cut out of a game to save for DLC, do they detract from the main game to make sure they have enough to fill a few bits of DLC to make some extra money. I am happy if a DLC fleshes out quests and areas beyond the main storyline or carries it on like an expansion but if I pay £40 for a game I expect it to be enjoyable and not requiring buying another £20+ worth of DLC to make the game what it should have been to begin with. Developers could also be tempted to throw in all the cuts they made to the original game to maximise profit, after all they are businesses and if you have worked on something I guess slapping a price tag on it some people will download it.

On the whole I felt that Bethesda got the number and quality of DLC right in the end, it was a little ropey to begin with and the fact all my old save games got deleted was a major cluster F***up I have enjoyed each one and can see the two RPG’s on my radar - Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age Origins – making good use of DLC to flesh out the experience and I hope not cash in to much.

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