I know it is odd since Fallout 3 came out in 2008. Well, most of it did anyways. To pick up this story from the start I have to go back to a year ago at this time when I declared that Fable II was my Game of the Year. I loved its story, its light RPG elements, its dog, even its multiplayer component. At the tail end of 2008 I had to make a choice, I had two killer RPG’s to play that hit the shelves at nearly the same time and I already had experience with a Bethesda’s other amazing RPG, Oblivion. Knowing that the time investment in Fable II would be less I decided to jump feet first into it, picking up Fallout 3 once I finished the game. Shortly after Christmas of 2008 I was able to delve into the world of post-apocalyptic Washington D.C., and I was quickly sucked in to an adventure that I have been playing even one year later.
An almost unheard amount of downloadable content was available for Fallout 3 in 2009. Just when you thought Bethesda was finished with the game, they surprised you with even more content. A total of five expansions became available. First, Operation Anchorage arrived allowing players to explore the Chinese-American conflict as a soldier on the front lines. Some of the games best loot would be made available with this content pack. Next, The Pitt arrived, again expanding the game’s lore by exploring the neighbouring city of Pittsburgh. Here you will learn more about the world that is outside of the D.C. wasteland. After The Pitt we were treated to Broken Steel which offered a huge fix to the game by doing a number of things including increasing the level cap, fixing and adding to the ending, and allowing gamers to continue exploring the wasteland beyond the game’s completion.
After these DLC packs arrived I was more than impressed by Bethesda’s offerings to expand this already gigantic role-playing game. It was not long thereafter that I discovered that not one, but two more expansions were on there way. Point Lookout takes you a little down the river from D.C. the a coastal community that is reminiscent of an abandoned town from some sort of horror/zombie movie where mutated hillbillies mingle with other post-apocalyptic creatures. Point Lookout has so full of content it could have almost been a game to itself, and was my personal favourite of all the content. Finally Bethesda had no more Earthly places to explore so they took your character up into space to explore an alien spacecraft in the pack entitled Mothership Zeta.
This year of 2009 for me was significantly filled up by this game. No other game had I played or enjoyed as much as Fallout 3. One could argue that with the addition of Broken Steel, with its level cap and corrected ending, that Fallout 3 never truly arrived until this year. So be it ever so controversial, and in the face of tremendous competition, I am going to stand by my decision that Fallout 3 is my 2009 Game of the Year. Please comment and let me know if you think I am on the money…or out to lunch. Also, I would like to know what your 2009 game of the year is and why, I am interested to know what the readership thinks should be 2009’s Game of the Year.
Source: SUPERGHOST's Haunted House of Xbox
twitter: @superghost
