Fallout falls to Fight Night 4!

Well, it was bound to happen eventually, Fallout 3 has been knocked off the top of my playlist.

What could topple the huge and addictive RPG? Well, partly it’s the arrival of EA’s excellent Fight Night Round 4, but mainly, it’s the presence of a really ill judged piece of DLC.

Now to be fair to Bethesda, they’ve come a long way since cheekily trying to get gamers to part with their money for horse armour in Oblivion. In general, the Fallout 3 DLC has been well worth the money, with the Pitt offering new weapons and a compelling story, Brokent Steel offering new weapons and an increased level cap, and Point Lookout offering new weapons and new environments. But Operation Anchorage? Well, it offers new weapons. Alas, it also offers an incredibly dull gameplay that feels at odds with the general Fallout 3 experience.

Heavily combat oriented and almost entirely linear, Operation Anchorage has you playing what is essentially an FPS with Fallout’s VATS system, placing you in a virtual reality historical simulation of the war that led to the devastation you see everywhere in the main game. Alas, the snowy wastelands, prescribed paths and lack of any real exploration or gameplay choices are completely at odds with the rest of Fallout, and even the addition of the excellent Gauss Gun can’t compensate for the way Operation Anchorage wrenches you out of the Fallout experience.

To be honest, much had been made of the Operation Anchorage’s weknesses before now, which is why I’d gone for all the other DLC first, but when Anchorage appeared with a 35% reduction, I assumed it would be worth it. Don’t make the same mistake-get the later DLC, but steer clear of Operation Anchorage.

The other part of Fallout 3’s temporary removal from my must play list? Fight Night Round 4. It’s a wonderfully nuanced and speedy simulation of the sweet science, one that uses authentic physics, realistic fighting styles and varied fighter to produce an utterly addictive gaming experience, and that’s before you’ve even taken it online, where it really starts to excel. Check out my full Fight NightRound 4 review here.