Whilst beautiful to see, I was glad to come back to the wastelands, as strange it may seems.
So welcome to the first Fallout 3 DLC titled Operation Anchorage. It 'simulates' one of the most famous war of the Fallout history, the recapture of Anchorage (Alaska) from the communist Chinese. Yes, it's a 'simulation' of sorts however, as a gaming perspective, it does introduce some new weapons, gear, locals and you get to command a squad for the glory of new technology…umm rescuing Anchorage from the Chinese invaders.
The first thing you'll notice is that the vistas changed dramatically. It's no more of that 'ugly sea of brown' that Three Dogs keep saying on the radio. It's a sea of blue instead. Seriously though, yes it is blue however being in Anchorage, you will be among massive mountain ranges and it's snowing! Yes, you get to see snowflakes fall softly to the ground with water abound! This will naturally give my character shellshock of her life (considering the main quest in Fallout 3 was the 'waters of life') however, and strangely though, wasn't fazed at all. But I guess because it was a simulation, as in nothing is 'real'.
So the vistas are nothing short of dramatic and a refreshing change from the Capital Wastelands. I feel that maybe developers Bethesda wanted to show off the engine as it can produce more than just wastes. And I have to admit, it is quite beautiful indeed as you get the opportunity to scale mountains, witnessing the snow whisking into a mini typhoons and so forth. Also you get to sport new gear to protect yourself from the elements and naturally enemy fire.
New features have been added to ensure this unique authenticity. The first thing you will notice that your weapons and armour won't deteriorate over time. Well after all, we are in the land of 'high tech'. Also there are ammo / health crates lying about at regular intervals and you know you are nearing them by a slight 'tinning' sound. Actually, this tinning sound can represent any item that it interactive in some way like activating a computer, for instance.
Another thing you'll notice is that the game is linear. Yes, it plays like a 'typical' FPS however don't let that deter you as it is a DLC after all; and remember that your character's main goal is to obtain the code. Yet, as a saving grace, once you've completed the first part, the game then branches out to three areas yet the third area won't be unlocked until you knock off the other two. Yet you can choose wherever to go first. And thankfully, all three 'parts' plays differently.
This is where the next new feature arrives from as you get to command your squad. Given only 'five flags', you can select your team to assist you in the up and coming mission. For instance: an attack robot costs four flags and a typical grunt, just one. Also you can only bring a maximum of three chumps. Commanding them is very limited as they only understand 'kill anything that moves' or 'stay put' (so to speak). Other words go on a rampaging suicide attack or just sit there and smoke cigarettes (actually smoking is like a death warrant too…that's another story). And if any of your squad members dies, you can talk to the quartermaster to respawn another one.
I give credits to Bethesda to try out something different however I feel this squad feature is more of a hindrance than assistance. As mentioned before, there's no real 'follow me' command as the moment they see an enemy (which happens quite often), they all go on a massive rabid attack and rarely do they take cover. Probably that's one of the reasons why Anchorage was taking away from the Americans in the first place.
Because it's a DLC, don't expect lengthy game play time. I'm known to take my time, investigating every nook and cranny and use the 'always walk' option (it adds immersion in my opinion), it took me around 2 – 3hrs to complete. I think on 'average', it's around 1.5hrs. Besides the main mission, there are also side missions where if you locate all the suitcases (intel), the game grants you a perk for your character. And there are also four achievements to collect however they all are mission related, so you cannot miss them. So whilst Operation Anchorage is beautiful to see, at the end of the mission, I was glad coming back 'home' to the wastelands, as strange it may seems.