ChetChesterson
Shared on Tue, 08/04/2009 - 12:46Anal probes, cattle mutilation, alien plans for domination and being abducted from the sticks. Such is the story of Mothership Zeta, the Latest Download for Fallout 3. Chock full of new enemies, easily gained XP, awesome weapons, and a vast interstellar starship to explore, Mothership Zeta seems to be worth the 800 MP that it costs. Be forewarned though, the below tells you what you will find and does contain a few SPOILERS toward the end.
Although, the Aliens get a little annoying with the ticking and chirping, you'll rarely hear them except in the slow motion "arrrrgggggggs" during VATS. There are some new weapons of the energy based variety, and a fun but difficult to use energy grenade cannon. You get to meet some new folks and you get a few new costumes. As I have only played through it once I haven't found another way to get them other than killing their owner. There could be another way, but I didn't see one. Had to shoot poor Toshiro in the head to get my Samurai Armor...didn't loose any karma for doing so either and he seemed like a useless character. Another run though should allow me to fully understand the uses for everything I found.
So IF Anchorage was their test run and a gift of new equipment, The Pitt was a test in level design, Broken Steel was a level cap increase and the opening of the sandbox, Point Lookout was a ticket to a new world and a tongue in cheek venture into the Horror genre, then Mothership Zeta is a leveling farm. I played though it last night and leveled up from 23 to 28. Five levels, one place, nice. Not to mention, these five levels were high up too, one could easily run up 10 or more at lower levels. There are lots of Robots to kill, quite easily I might add as some of them are locked up in cages and powered down, a few shots and the XP comes rolling in. For the most part, the Aliens are an easy splatter but there are a few that sport force fields and are a pain in the ass and don't go down easily. As with my experience in Point Lookout, this DLC is bit more challenging in some areas than the normal trials and tribulations found in the D.C. Wasteland. These little green bastards WILL kill you if you aren't paying attention. So prior to taking this task, get your hands on as many Stimpaks as you possibly can. Seriously...get a lot of them.
Mothership Zeta is much more linear than any of the Fallout DLCs(except Operation Anchorage) or in-game missions. The ship is expansive and it is easy to get turned around. That said, pay attention to your map markers. I probably only saw about 60% of the ship... I think. But, the upside is that I can go back. I won't spoil the details of this, but you'll see if you pony up the dough. You are treated to some fantastic scenery and a beautiful view of Earth. In fact, it's so detailed that at one point I think I saw a Hurricane forming off the Gulf of Mexico, go figure.
As for the weapons and items...There are some NICE energy weapons you can get during your jaunt here. A cross between Plasma and Laser technology yields two very powerful (and common) weapons aboard the ship the atomizer pistol and the disintegrator rifle. Both are ALL OVER the place, carried by everyone, and will not run short of ammo or fall into disrepair while you are aboard the ship...which is nice. Be observant while you are exploring, I found one special weapon, the Atomic Pulverizer, which will replace my Blackhawk as the most commonly used weapon in my arsenal. 52 dmg at Full repair and allows me 7 shots in the VATS...in other words, fucking awesome. There are a few odds and ends you will find that, unfortunately, I am unable to fully describe their uses. I do know that if you use the items you find, mainly the Biogels and Alien Epoxy you get some effects listed as Biochemical Anomaly...which certainly has some benefits. There are a few other things that I found, that so far, I only see useful for trading in for caps. More to come on this subject.
I have a few disappointments with this DLC but they are very limited and at the risk of being a SPOILER I will say that....SPOILER ALERT...
There is no targeting system on the Death Ray. This could have been neater if you could select a specific location to turn into a mile wide sheet of glass. There is no "Boss" to speak of. The ship's Captain was shot in the back of the head, while sitting in his chair, and was splattered all over the window of the ship. In fact I managed to clear the bridge in one run of the VATS. I only found one "perk" which comes from shooting the weapons enough times. This is not to say there aren't more; it's just the only one I found. One of the characters has the ability to repair your items to 100% but she seems to have disappeared now that I have left the ship...Lame...I have a handful of Scoped .44's I needed her to fix. There are no beds aboard the ship to get a good night's rest in, that I was able to find, therefore being unable to get my 10% XP bonus. There is a visually Rewarding final battle, but it seemed to be lacking something in way of difficulty. There only seemed to be one story line, no sides to choose, no karmic decisions to be made. I feel there could have been something else done along that line. As I said, while I do have some complaints, they pale in comparison to what I did enjoy about the download.
All in all, I am happy with this purchase. As I have played through the game roughly 6 times with 5 different characters, I will enjoy visiting the ship again to gain some easy leveling prior to embarking on the usual wasteland quests. Also, the weapons will come in very handy when I venture back to Old Olney and delve into the Yao Guai caves. If you haven't purchased any of the DLCs for Fallout, I recommend spending the dough on this one. Anchorage is great because you get the Gauss Rifle and the Chinese Stealth Armor, but if you are looking for firepower and use Energy based weapons, Mothership Zeta has just what the doctor ordered. If you are having trouble deciding which one's to get, Broken Steel is a must as it opens the level cap and allows you to continue playing after the final quest, Anchorage is nice for the items, Point Lookout is a new place to go and has some unique characters and enemies, the Pitt gives you unlimited Ammo...at a cost...but it's nice being able to make your own .44 ammo, and Mothership Zeta is a great place to do some easy leveling. Whichever you decide, for which ever reason you like, they have all been a win for me, and Mothership Zeta is a lot of fun.
Cheers, and have a great fucking day,
Chet Chesterson
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Comments
Submitted by H2Daddy on Tue, 08/04/2009 - 12:53
Submitted by ChetChesterson on Tue, 08/04/2009 - 13:00