It has taken some time to arrive, but the PS3 DLC for Fallout 3 is finally here! Containing five new chapters filled with new weapons, creatures, areas, and quests, this is a massive package, but is the content truly worth the price of admission?

                                                  Operation Anchorage

Bethesda opens the new DLC up with Operation Anchorage: a holographic encounter detailing the Chinese occupation of Alaska. You'll start off by simply wandering through the wasteland, which will lead to you picking up a distress call from a group of Brotherhood of Steel outcasts (those chaps with the rusty armor). They're calling for reinforcements in an area South West of DC, just near the Red Racer factory, but return your favor by pumping you full of lead.

In the aftermath of this battle, they decide to play nice and actually thank you… well, sort of—they ask you to open an installation’s loot container because you have the necessary gadget, but the only way to get into this container is to complete a variety of missions in the virtual snowy tundra and defeat the Chinese invaders, thereby unlocking the wasteland installation's loot container. Oh, and the safety parameters are switched off meaning the holographic machine is as lethal as real life.

As soon as you enter virtua-Alaska, it is evident that this is an action-heavy piece of content—and due to the nature of the simulation it's very much light on RPG elements. Holographic corpses flicker and disappear before they can be looted, health and ammo are administered through abundant terminals placed along your firmly linear path, and the multi-layered decision making so brilliantly executed in the full game is thrown out the window in place of sniping, grenade tossing, and Chinese Assault Rifle shots to the head. Subtle this is not.

You and a friendly commando plow your way along icy cliff paths and through occupied military installations, your objective being to knock out the three giant cannons that are being a nuisance to the U.S. troops. It is in this section that you're introduced to Operation Anchorage's best addition: enemies wearing a slinky Chinese brand of stealth armor, ranging from the crack Chinese commandos called Crimson Dragoons that run at you with swords to snipers that hide in the least convenient corners possible trying to make your life miserable. They're presented and introduced a lot like the lady assassins in the original Half-Life, and undoubtedly add an extra slice of tension and surprise to the accustomed Fallout gunplay template.

Overall, the number of enemies on-screen at any time is probably higher than the norm, but you nearly always have an ally or two, and health recharge points pepper the level to a degree that goes beyond Bethesda's usual hand-holding and moves into full-blown spooning, which is a bit of a shame as this DLC had the promise of being an espionage-like level.

It’s a solid bit of DLC, but just too easy for those who already have Fallout 3. However, if you’ve just picked up the GOTY Edition, it’s worth playing once you’re a good level 15. 

Score: 5/10