'Course, the story behind Anchorage is that it’s a military training program designed for VR pods like those in Vault 112.
Favourite part so far:
Infiltrating big artillery emplacement to blow up some big guns in the first segment of the simulation thingy. Come up to a room with a couple big artillery shells, and Sgt Sidekick says “Looks like they’re almost out of ammo. Maybe we didn’t have to come up here after all.” Two rooms later there’s rack after rack after rack after rack of shells some on conveyors/elevators presumably on their way to the big guns. So I think to myself “almost out, huh?” and just at that moment Sgt Sidekick says, “Yeah, yeah, so I was wrong.” First time I’ve ever had a game respond so perfectly to what I was thinking.
However, I do have to pretty much agree with Freejooky’s assessment.
Two last notes:
Just about fed up with those Outcasts’ attitudes. Might just have to frag the jackasses when I’m done their simulation for them
You can play the DLC without having Live running - If you look in C:\Documents and Settings[user]\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\XLive\DLC hree layers of alphanumeric hash\Content you will find two .bsa files and one .esm. Just move them into the Fallout\Data folder and select Anchorage.esm like any other mod.
So, how does it handle you being suicided?
It doesn’t. It’s a side mission, not an extension of the main story. The third chunk of DLC is supposed to modify the story ending, but isn’t out yet.
That’s crazy talk. Charon’s awesome. Also, they increase the amount of stuff you can take with you, which is all sorts of awesome if your character isn’t the strongest there is.
This game is all kinds of awesome.
I’m a female stealth assasin, but only at level 10 at the moment, in my first playthrough. I haven’t read most of this thread for fear of spoilers.
High stealth and perception, plus the Bloody Mess, Commando (isn’t that walking around with no underwear on?) and Gun Nut perks - you’ll never see me coming and the only sound you’ll hear is the sound of your own head exploding. Gruesome, I know, but hey, that’s life in the post apocalyptic future.
Sneaky sneak sneak. Pick some pockets here, steal some fruit off the table there. And I roam around the countryside at night, hidden in the shadows. My only friend is my trusty hunting rifle, which I maintain with fastidious care.
Sneaking through the rubble, every sense highly tuned and on the lookout for mutants or raiders, I approach the museum. Once inside I take stock of my surroundings. Wait a minute, what’s that over there behind the barricade. Looks like a woman hiding over there. Well, too bad for her. I hope she’s not overly attached to things like having a head on her shoulders. I take aim. No VATS for me, I never need it. Steady. Sqeeze the trigger and BAM! Critical hit and head is assploded all over her computer terminal.
Now, where’s that declaration of independence hiding at? Check the walkthrough (I know, I know, gimme a break). Oh, I think I just killed that woman who could have helped me. Lol. I didn’t notice that little thing that HER NAME COLOR INDICATED SHE WAS NOT AN ENEMY. Sorry ‘bout that babe. Should I re-load and start again? Nah, I’m playing this like I would in real life. Ha ha.
Level 10 assassin with a hunting rifle? I think you should’ve come across a scoped .44 or a sniper rifle by now. You ain’t seen awesome yet 
In the next week or so I’m going to have to power through the rest of this game so that I can move on to the expansion pack. I’ve heard pretty good things and so far I love the game, so this is a no brainer.
:grumble: I ordered a new graphics card Monday and it still hasn’t arrived.
Since I rarely play games on PC anymore, I suddenly realized that my 5yo 128 nVidea card was kinda obsolete.
I need to play this w/ a better card.
It’s a long read, but for anyone interested, here is IGN’s history of Fallout. It’s pretty interesting. I really wish the original isometric Fallout 3 had shipped…it really sounded like it would be cool.
I haven’t gotten the DLC yet…I just feel a bit hinky about having to buy credits through Microsoft and use their Live product to get this thing. reading the reviews it sounds pretty linear too…not sure if it’s worth getting.
-XT
That was a good read, and Van Buren does indeed sound like it would have been a great game. As much as I am entertained by PS3 owners’ complaints about not being able to get the DLCs because they don’t own PCs or XBox 360s, I do hope they can eventually get those released for their systems.
oooh, or the silenced 10mm 
That reminds me…
I had a silenced 10mm prior to having to start the game over because I had to warranty-swap my PS3, but I had already lost it because I wasn’t paying attention and repaired a standard 10mm with the silenced one and didn’t realize it. I don’t think the inventory/repair should let you do a questionable repair like that without prompting you.
“Do you really want to use the bad-ass awesome item and lose it forever just to repair this piece of crap?”
There are boat loads of silenced 10mm pistols out there. I think you can buy them in fact from several of the vendors. What I was always having problems with was finding and repairing sniper rifles, especially the 2 named one’s I have (this was before I broke down and got the repair mod that allows you to use scrap metal to repair stuff).
-XT
yeah the gun isn’t that great, but I almost made the same mistake with my ranger armor while repairing it with talon armor. Maybe my memory is fuzzy and there isn’t much difference between the two kinds of armor, but I think the ranger armor is superior, and I shouldn’t be able to easily make it go away on accident, imho.
It’s very linear. In many ways it is Not Fallout. The beginning and end bits that occur in the “real world” are Fallout enough - Outcasts begging for your help while being complete condescending jackasses about it, and then there’s a bit of a twist at the conclusion. But the sim part is really not anything like Fallout. What follows is somewhat spoilerish though I won’t reveal much that wasn’t in press release announcing the DLC.
There are 4 segments - you have an initial mission, then you meet one General Chase who gives you 3 more. You can do the first two of these in either order, and get a strike team of soldiers & robots whose makeup you can determine. There’s only one route through each mission, though there are a couple semi-hidden side rooms here and there. Mostly though you run down one hall, clear a room, take the only available exit, run along a canyon wall a way, up some stairs, down a hall, etc. There isn’t even any very interesting tactical stuff you can do. Commanding the team is essentially telling them to attack or to wait while you scout ahead. They’re about as sophisticated followers as your Wasteland companions.
The atmosphere is of course completely different. No post-apocalyptic fun. It’s all just gung ho soldier dedicated to wiping out the commie bastards. Which is reasonable enough, but isn’t really Fallout. It really is like a completely different game embedded in the larger one, and the embedded game frankly isn’t as good as the larger one.
That said, it’s fun and you get a gauss rifle and T-51b that doesn’t seem to require training (or did I get the power armor training perk in the sim? not sure) out of the deal. Just don’t take the T-51b if you have You Gotta Shoot 'Em in the Head active, as doing so will complete the quest. How the hell did that get past QC? Ultimately the reason to buy it might be to have the data assets for mods that are based on them.
Doesn’t the Ranger armor improve your luck score? I don’t think the Talon company armor does that.
The other DLC, The Pitt and Broken Steel, have been pushed back - The Pitt which was due out in Feb is now due a March release.
What happened to you Bethesda, you used to be cool. Now you’re hanging out with Microsoft. 
It improves your luck score, and has far better damage reduction. My favourite armour, overall.