What are you doing in these part of the woods?
Fallout 3 has done wonders when it comes to downloadable content. Operation Anchorage was the only misfit of the bunch, while The Pitt and Broken Steel proved that the add-ons provided us with more things to love about the game. Broken Steel was meant to be the last of the DLC packs and I’m glad that it wasn’t, while I loved it…I still wanted more goodness for Fallout 3 and I got that in the form of Point Lookout.
A steamboat emerges on the Capital Wasteland to take you to Point Lookout. A woman asks you to look for her runaway daughter at the location. Upon arrival at the new area, you see a mansion with smoke coming out of it…seems as good a place as any to start your search. When you get there, you run into a ghoul who asks you to help him deal with some tribals who are attacking the mansion by blocking their entrances and holding up. After that’s done you have to find out exactly why the tribals want to kill this ghoul. You may wonder what this has to do with the missing daughter, but it does have some relevance when you find the tribals church.
To gain access to this cult you have to go on a spiritual journey of your own by hunting down a specific plant and eating some of its hallucinogenic seeds. The walk back to the entrance results in a great trippy moment full of giant bobbleheads, dead bodies of people you’ve met through the course of the game and even the odd appearance of the Megaton bomb. It was creepy and fun at the same time.
You will come across some new enemies in Point Lookout which will seriously put you to the test as a Fallout 3 player, even on the easiest setting. There are scavengers which essentially look like standard hillbillies cannibals, as well as new versions of the Mirelurk and of course, the tribals. The scavengers are almost cartoonish in their appearance and the way they animate to attack, it’s quite funny to look at.
Some new weapons appear like a double barrel shotgun, but they don’t have to same appeal as the lovely Tesla Cannon from Broken Steel. As with most of these DLC packs, they result in you making a choice towards the end which gives the game a bit of replay value to see what happens in both decisions. The choice isn’t as fun as choosing to blow up the Citadel or not, but it’s a worthy one and you can get some pretty good items regardless.
Besides the main quest for Point Lookout which will take about 2-3 hours, there are some side quests that can take the DLC to over 10 hours, as well as an achievement for hunting down each location on the area of the new map. I found it to be the best DLC so far and I’m sure that the next instalment is going to have to be damn special to top this.
The Verdict
Point Lookout is the best DLC for Fallout 3 to date. It has a great story, an amazing setting and you will love the moment after you take the hallucinogenic seeds. It’s comical and creepy, full of stereotypical hillbillies who live in caves, not log cabins…and all the things we love Bethesda for.
