• Format: PS3 (version reviewed) 360, PC
• Unleashed: Out Now
• Publisher: Bethesda
• Developer: Bethesda
• Players: 1
• Site: http://fallout.bethsoft.com/

The mother ship announces itself in proper alien fashion by sucking you up into its guts with an abduction beam. You are then poked, prodded and probed (read: violated!) proper alien style. Mmm, that’ll get your bowels moving!

Frank's dentist assured him the medication would wear off soon

After waking up in a cell, stripped of all your stuff (and we mean all your stuff) you are introduced to a fellow abductee who tells you what happened to you, not that you’ll need much more info than what you already know. It’s not long before you find yourself running around the ship, whacking little green men with a zappy stick and randomly prodding buttons that do god-knows-what! There’s a distinct Dr.Who-ish, B-movie feel to this place that’s very different to the world you’re used to. Things are clean, new and shiny rather than old, mouldy and broken. The corridors are confined and give you a sense of claustrophobia too, but this is due to the size of your captors which makes it all seem more tangible.

Space-fridge-raiders

It’s not long before you meet other captives, all of whom are from different times in Earth’s history. One particular individual is from Anchorage, and brings with him a continuity to the DLC that fits in nicely with what’s just happened to you. Not only this, there are also recordings of conversations between people who have been abducted and their captors for you to find and collect, giving you further insight into how long ‘they’ have been watching us. These range from comical to freaky, and flesh out the experience very well. As you traverse this massive ship you’ll no doubt feel lost at times because of everything looking so alien, and without an English signpost in sight, you’ll thank God they forgot to take off your Pip-Boy!

The weapons that can be found here have great names and are fun to use, things like the deadly Disintegrator or Atomiser can be found rather quickly and there’s even a cow-dispenser to test your new toys on. Mothership Zeta has its tongue firmly in its cheek all the way through, little touches will no doubt have you thinking how alien we are to them. Things like their fascination with robot ponies built on Earth for little girls can be found up here in large quantities, and much as they have collected these, you’ll be stuffing your pockets full of alien crystals that for all you know are alien nose products!

Regardless of what your style of play is, Zeta will be suspenseful and intense most of the time, due to the sheer amount of aliens and drones that inhabit the confined ship. Getting into a fire-fight will give you little manoeuvrability for advantages and even less options for tactical retreat, while staying hidden can prove very difficult most of the time because of lighting and streamlined corridors. Much like Point Lookout, there is no chance to fix or find bodily protection either, however, there are handy ‘health tubes’ to walk through now and again that can restore you fully (if you have the skill to modify them).

Wait, this isn't NASA!

For the final DLC pack on PSN, this is a fun romp around and those into sci-fi will see quite a few inspirations from 50′s cinema here. The joy of being in such an environment has its own merits, but Bethesda has brought the abduction experience to a fun new level that should have sci-fi fans grinning all the way.

4/5

• Format: PS3 (version reviewed), PC, 360
• Unleashed: Out Now
• Publisher: Bethesda
• Developer: Bethesda
• Players: 1
• Site: http://fallout.bethsoft.com/

A boat has docked down near The Citadel. The boatman’s keen for you to take a trip, will you? Of course you will! Row, row, row your boat, gently down the streeeam…

Centre Parks have gone downhill

As you arrive at Point Lookout the first thing to hit you is the ominous looking weather, and when you get off it all seems a bit too quiet. A little jaunt around, regardless of which direction you head in, will instantly make you uneasy; the whole place has a very strong Chainsaw Massacre/Silent Hill feel to it and for the first time in a long time you’ll no doubt become very jumpy. In amongst the noises of the insects are odd splooping noises (yes, we can make words up at CG!) from surfacing gases in the swamplands and will give you good reason to keep your weapon out and at the ready. It’s also apparent that Bethesda have pulled a lot of their inspiration for Point Lookout’s landscape from The Shivering Isles (part of the Oblivion universe) and this is no bad thing. Some of the swamps are deep, and this makes sneaking around a lot more difficult which increases the fear factor somewhat.

The enemies you will encounter here are varied and interesting, the silhouette of large lumbering Trackers in the distance is enough to remind anybody of Leather Face’s gait. The pot-bellied locals are not very fond of tourists around here either and getting in the way of them will result in you looking down the nasty end of a double barrel shot gun, which as it turns out, is a very powerful gun. You would do well to find yourself some decent armour for your time spent here as there is very little in the way of extras to keep yourself protected.

Sloth from the Goonies wants a hug

The more friendly faces of Point Lookout can be quite odd in their manner too, and doing a bit of detective work will soon give you reasons as to why. One of Fallout’s many talents is being able to tell stories without any narrative, and PL has these stories in spades! There are all kinds of clues laying around here that tell you about forgotten science teams doing research, or Chinese spies being hunted by the American government. All of which you can follow up, and find an ending to their stories. Speaking of which, if any of you have ventured to the Dunwich Building in the Capital Wastes you’ll know about the strange obelisk that lays beneath, and that a conclusion was never made. Well, within Point Lookout dwells the answer. This seems to be the point of PL, a sinister, dark place that tells you stories if you’re brave enough to delve deep into the murky swamps and huts that contain them.

There seems to be a very upset little girl somewhere

There are a few nice new weapons to find too, the aforementioned double barrel shotgun packs one hell of a punch and those of you who never found old Abe Lincoln’s rifle can pick up a Lever-Action Rifle of similar (though less powerful) effect. There’s also a gun known as the Backwater Rifle – a devastating gun – for those with the brawn, brains and stomach to track it down.

GET OFF MY PORCH DAMNIT!

A menacing DLC indeed, Point Lookout has a vast area to explore and will make you wish you had eyes in the back of your head. Running from swamp-things, dodging axe-wielding maniacs and getting full-on doses of hallucination inducing plants will make you wonder why you came here in the first place.

4/5

• Format: PS3 (version reviewed), 360, PC
• Unleashed: Out Now
• Publisher: Bethesda
• Developer: Bethesda
• Players: 1
• Site: http://fallout.bethsoft.com

Bodies hanging from the bridge lines, check. City sky-line steeped in red cloud and smog, check. Fire belching from buildings reaching far into the night sky, check. Mass slavery and depression, yup, you’ve found The Pitt mate! And isn’t it tantalising, don’t you just want to run across that bridge and see what trouble you can get into? Well go ahead, you’ll only get your legs blown off! This is not a friendly place, and you should have worked that out before you even got here!

Toll charges still apply

Like other DLC packs, your awareness about all this is brought about from a signal on your Pip-Boy, this time it’s a hard march across a huge stretch of Capital Waste to find the source and when you get there, your suspicions would not be paranoia. The signal has been coming from an escaped slave, when you find him he tells you that he’s been searching for somebody, anybody, to help him free his enslaved brethren. After a little chat you hatch a plan to get yourself into The Pitt, how you achieve this is up to you, but it all works out the same; all your stuff is confiscated and you become a slave.

Upon entry to The Pitt, you have to make contact with a woman who gives you the low-down on what’s been happening and gives you tasks to get yourself associated with the city. Here, the exploration of the city is generally a free affair, just don’t overstep your boundaries and you’ll be all right. The atmosphere of the place is done brilliantly, it has the feel of a city brought to its knees by the aftermath of the war and encapsulates the feeling of being in a massive prison. This will also be the first time you’ve been in a proper built-up area. Whereas almost all of the Capital Wastes are barren, The Pitt is a working, living city that’s teeming with life. However, nearly everyone you meet is either a slaver or a slave, and neither are very keen on chit-chat. The slaves don’t want to get shot and the slavers would shoot you for looking at them the wrong way. Suffice to say, it’s best to keep your head down and only speak when you’re spoken to.

Sure, I can give you a haircut!

As a DLC pack, The Pitt brings a mass of new gear to wear, and some fancy new weaponry too. One of our favourites is the Auto-Axe, kind of a whirring blade/chainsaw that’ll make proper mincemeat out of anything dumb enough to stand in front of you for too long. Then there’s the Infiltrator, a scoped semi-automatic sub-machine gun. The clothing ranges from a simple slave’s outfit that makes you look ready for a whipping from Mistress Pain, to things like the Gamma Shield Armour, Iconoclast Armour and the Raider Ordinance Armour. However, none of this will be available to you the first time you get shoved into The Pitt’s mining area, that happens to be full of things called Troggs. Sounds like a new pair of trainers? You wish! Troggs are people who have had a similar exposure to radiation to Ghouls, unlike Ghouls though they are able to climb vertical surfaces and attack you from every angle and happen to be very fast, think ‘Aliens’ minus the acid for blood. If you can survive your visits to the mining areas you’ll eventually get the chance to fight for your freedom in The Arena, survive this and the entire city’s fate will be in your hands.

WHAT! You say there are toilets around here?

This DLC pack is atmospheric, tense, and fills out the Fallout world perfectly.

4/5