Speaking to Bethesda’s Jeff Gardiner MTV Multiplayer was curious as to whether or not the level cap in the upcoming Fallout 3 DLC ‘Mothership Zeta’ would again be raised. ‘Broken Steel’, one of the previous DLC releases, raised the level cap from 20 to 30 due to player demand; but would this be happening again, or is there no actual need for it?

“I know from the outside this seems like a fairly simple proposition, but doing this could unbalance the game in a variety of ways.” - MTV Multiplayer

Gardiner says that the game was meant to be played with a variety of different character set-ups, so if someone really wanted to continue their Fallout 3 experience they should think about starting from scratch and creating a new character. However, he does say that future games may change their approach.

When I hit level 20 I immediately downloaded ‘Broken Steel’ (I had periods where I wouldn’t play Fallout 3 for a long while, which explains why I was only reaching level 20 after ‘Broken Steel’ was released) so I would continue gaining experience from the tonnes of things I still had to do in the Capital Wasteland. When you reach 30, however, there’s no real need to continue gaining experience because you’re pretty much set to overcome any challenge the game throws at you. I don’t believe another increased cap would add anything to the game, because it’s all about the experience of new content than being allocated a two number level that has ceased to mean anything. I’d rather just enjoy the new quests, stories and characters than worry about where my experience is going. It just doesn’t really matter like it did when I first stepped out of Vault 101 as a relative n00b.

Fallout 3 is more than a level cap, it is one of the best experiences I’ve had in a video game. I loved the setting and the stories, so ‘Mothership Zeta’ just means more of what I love regardless of whether or not I gain another level

‘Mothership Zeta’ is set for release 3 August on PC and Xbox 360.

The world of Fallout 3 can be a very depressing place; all that barren brown and grey with not a tree in sight (or at least one with leaves). To rectify the lack of ability to flex your green hands Khyrin of Fallout 3 Nexus (a modification site for the game) has created GreenWorld.

GreenWorld does exactly what it says on the tin and covers the post-apocalyptic Capital Wasteland in natural plant life. The soil may be charred, full of radiation and covered in debris; but when you look up and see a tree you’ll breathe a sigh of relief and hug it with all your might.

Ok, so maybe plant life would one day return to a nuclear scarred wasteland, but do we really need a mod that makes the game look like Oblivion? I loved the landscape of Fallout 3 because, as bleak as it may be, plenty of games have a landscape covered in green and it was something different. Of course, you don’t have to download the mod if you don’t want to but if it takes your fancy you can grab it from the link below.

GreenWorld - Fallout 3 Nexus (Via)

The downside to being a videogame blogger is that you have to play as many games as you possibly can if you want to keep on top of your niche. Now, you may be wondering why I’m complaining about being able to play so many games, but bear with me here. The problem is that you can’t really spend as long as you would want to on a single game, and sometimes this means that you can’t fully appreciate just what that game has to offer. There’s just not enough time in the day, and as much as I’d like to I can’t spend all my time playing video games. Sure, you can spread the love equally between games but every once in a while a game comes along that you just have to dedicate all your spare time too, even if it means falling behind on the stacks of other games that have recently been released. Do I care? Not a bit, as Fallout 3 is totally worth spending all my time with.

This post was partly inspired by an entry over at Girls & Gaming. Elysium wrote a love letter to Fallout 3 - which finally made me break down and go out and buy the game - but I’m going to go one step further and slip a ring on to the meaty finger of Fallout 3. Now ‘meaty’ may seem like a strange word to use when describing a loved one, but Fallout 3 has so much to offer that I can’t honestly think of another word that could apply to it. Fallout 3 has so much to give, and puts so much passion into its splendid offerings, that I’m going to be terribly upset when it all comes to an end. Right now I will not allow my mind to dwell on such a prospect as I seemed to have barely scratched the surface of what is possible in the post-apocalyptic wasteland of Washington D.C. When you first escape from Vault 101 - and after your eyes have adjusted to the sudden glare on irises that have been subjected to years of artificial lighting- you may wonder how such a devastated and morbid landscape can offer much in the way of excitement. You’d be wrong; however, as such a devastated landscape has never before placed such opportunity into the player’s hands.

From the moment you step of Vault 101 you are presented with a choice. There is nothing forcing you to follow the main storyline right there and then, but the burden of sudden choice on the player made me do as I was told and head to the nearby settlement of Megaton. Don’t like the sound of that? Well, do what you want and ignore the main storyline altogether for the moment. The world of Fallout 3 is an absolute delight to explore, with every nook and cranny holding something of interest or an insight into what the world was like before the bombs dropped.  Posters are strewn across half-collapsed walls, advertising underground vaults to protect against the threat of nuclear war. Checking in the mail box of what used to be someone’s home may present you with a letter from Vault-Tec saying that the householders application to join one of the vault’s has been rejected. It is only when you look in a nearby bathtub that you discover what really happened to the occupants. Computer terminals may have a diary from someone who is desperately holding out against a mob of fire breathing ants, while another will tell of upcoming museum exhibitions that were never held, and never will be. All this paints a very vivid picture of the background to the Fallout 3 universe, and the society that the player will never see but will have nevertheless partly experienced. Of course, it may look it but this bleak landscape isn’t entirely dead and it is the Capital Wasteland’s occupants that really bring the world to life. Whether they be hopeless wastelanders, psycho raiders, gigantic super mutants or ghastly ghouls; there’s still plenty of life remaining in what was once the beating heart of US democracy, even if it isn’t all friendly.

So, what do you do? Do you go to Megaton and try to disarm the bomb sitting in the middle of the settlement? Or do you activate the bomb instead and watch the settlement wink out of existence? Do you ignore the settlement altogether and visit an old hotel where people are trying to live in luxury, their only complaint about the outside ghouls whose only threat is their unfortunate zombie-like appearance? (This quest reminds me a bit of the plot to Land of the Dead) Or do you help out a town that is being plagued by daily attacks of a gang that act like vampires? I do not wish to spoil the game for you, but this is just a slice of what you can expect from Fallout 3. What you do is entirely up to you, but make it last as long as possible. Once you finish the game you will only begin to miss what is one of the most detailed, varied - and certainly excellent value for money - video games ever created.

Oh, plus there’s always V.A.T.S; and you don’t want to miss the ability to blow every limb off an enemy with the push of a single button. Let’s not also forget that once you’re done with hours of your life being taken up by Fallout 3’s post-apocalyptic wasteland you’ll be pulled right back in with the advent of the game’s DLC.

If you call yourself a gamer then you cannot afford to miss this. While you go and put down the cash I will be continuing to carry Fallout 3 over the threshold of the new home in my heart.

Fallout 3 has so many hours of playtime that you would be forgiven for thinking that it really didn’t need any extra content. However, if a game makes you play for over 60 hours then it’s probably good enough for players to drool over totally new content; which is why Operation: Anchorage is setting out to continue that drooling. Plus, if that’s a ninja up there then Fallout 3 literally just became the best game ever made, as it’s a well known fact that adding ninjas to anything makes it ten thousand times more awesome. Unfortunately players will have to wait until later this month to have more adventures in Fallout 3’s post-apocalyptic world, but at least you have these three new screenshots to tide you over until then (remember that you can click on the pictures to see the full size versions).

For those of you not in the know Operation: Anchorage is a simulation of the fictional liberation of the Alaskan city of Anchorage from Chinese communists (that’s a whole lot of ‘of’s’ right there). The content will reportedly add a further four hours of play, and will be available on the Xbox 360 for 800 MS points. It’s also coming out for the PC, and will probably be free. That’s not exactly fair, but I guess we’ve just come to accept it.