He might look like an Iron Giant reject, but Liberty Prime throws nukes like footballs

The sound you heard a few weeks back, that snorting, shuddering sigh, was the sound of a thousand Fallout geeks the world over (me included) having a geekgasm over Fallout 3: Broken Steel. Now I must prewarn, this review is going into spoilerish territory for people who have not finished the game yet, which I know is most people. But Broken Steel, the third expanded content download for Fallout 3, covers the events that happen after the games conclusion. As a result I may let slip some of the more general details about the end of the game. If you’d like a completely spoiler free experience it's probably best you avoid this review.

Okay, now the main reason for the aforementioned geekgasm is that in the original version of Fallout 3 the ending of the game was just that, you didn’t play anymore. This was a bit different from Bethesda’s previous game Oblivion and it’s open ended style of play. In Fallout 3 events happen that pretty much prevent you from playing any further. Broken Steel undoes this deal breaker; with a little deus ex machina they allow you to keep playing and after you complete the Broken Steel missions you can continue to wander the wasteland righting wrongs, or wronging rights, depending on your karma level.

So here’s the spoilerish stuff. Project Purity goes ahead, with the help of the giant robot Liberty Prime and the Brotherhood of Steel you push back the Enclave and retake the project and immediately start producing good clean water. This changes the game world quite a lot. There are now roaming caravans dropping water of to places like Rivet City and Megaton and the actual landscape is starting to return to life as clean water replaces the irradiated stuff. But it’s not all roses. Those dastardedly Enclave troops are still causing trouble, when will they learn?

Rather than sending you straight to some off the map location to play around in as the last two DLC packs did Broken Steel wants you to do a bit more exploration of the existing map. Of the many places you go to is Old Olney to recover some Enclave Tech to help you locate their new base. In case you aren’t aware Olney is infested with Deathclaws, just about the toughest, nastiest and scariest enemies you are likely to face in the Wasteland. In other words, you might want to make sure you’re a nice high level and have a lot of gear with you when you tackle that particular assignment. There are a few optional quests you can pick up that will also have you traipsing around the wasteland, protecting water caravans and dealing with religious maniacs and when you finish all the new quests there’s a few never ending gathering quests you can pick up.

The Tesla Cannon is a handy addition to your arsenal

When you reach the Enclave forces and their giant land tank/HQ at Adam’s Airforce Base, which you need to go through the presidential subway under the White House to get to, you will face opposition like you have never faced before. Dozens of Enclave troops, robot sentry’s, automatic gun emplacements. It’s insane the amount of resistance you face. I went through two suits of power armour when I tackled the mission.

As with the last DLC packs Broken Steel adds in a few new units, weapons and pieces of equipment. The difference here is that Broken Steel adds these things into the Wasteland and not just into the Adam’s Airforce base expansion. The most common of these is the Enclave Hellfire Troop whose distinctive armour and massive heavy Incinerator will become an object of dread for you. Unlike the Flamer, the Incinerator shoots lumps of napalm over great distances that explode into flames on impact. The other noteworthy unit, the Super Mutant Overlord, only appears in random encounters, but he is bigger and meaner than any Super Mutant you have encountered so far. You'll also get a device in Broken Steel that turns Deathclaws wearing the Enclave mind control helmets into your allies. It’s pretty satisfying watching a Deathclaw turn on a group of Enclave scientists and tear them into soggy pieces. Mind you, you never get used to them following you around like a puppy, stopping to pick their teeth with one massive clawed hand.

Of course the very best thing about Broken Steel is that the max level has been increased by ten. The first time I heard the familiar cha-ching of a new level I was startled for a moment and looked around for the source of the noise. It’s been that long since I went up a level in Fallout 3 I’d got used to killing Raiders for fun, but its very satisfying having my good work go towards something again. Each rank unlocks one of ten new perks as well, a few of these reset your karma level to neutral or swing it between bad and good, but there are a few interesting ones such as the Quantum Scientist that turns every ten Nuka Cola’s you collect into a Nuka Cola Quantum.

Of course the catch with Broken Steel is that to really enjoy it you have to finish the original story quest which can be pretty challenging. If you’re considering downloading Broken Steel chances are good you all ready have a save game right at the games conclusion or pretty close to it. If you’re still bumbling around the wasteland and haven’t yet (spoilers again) found the GECK or been captured by the Enclave, then you might want to hold of downloading Broken Steel yet. But for Fallout 3 freaks like me Broken Steel is an open ending to the game, an increased level cap, pet Deathclaws and the final battle with the Enclave. In other words, it’s the answer to all our prayers. Even if you don’t like Fallout 3 you can’t argue that Broken Steel is triple A content by any standard.