Machienzo's NeoDomain

Fallout 3 is a game known to be nothing short of spectacular. It's amazingly open-ended gameplay and almost limitless replayability, plus the vast amount of exploration and combat which the player can partake in, is something of which other leading developers should take note of. Building up further on their reputation, a number of high-quality Downloadable Content Packages have been made available to the public, all of which have been released on-time as promised, and also with the addition of quick amendments of 'some' problems by the Bethesda Development Team. There are now 5 different DLCs for Fallout 3. Operation: Anchorage, which lets the Lone Wanderer experience the amazing battle simulation of the Anchorage Reclamation in Alaska, 2077. The Pitt, where the Lone Wandered travels all the way to Pittsburgh to save a city full of slaves from disease and (of course) slavery. Broken Steel, where the Brotherhood of Steel manage to resurrect the Jefferson Water Purifier and begin to restore order to the Capital Wasteland. Point Lookout, where the Lone Wanderer travels to a swamp-folk infested place full of weird cults and a creepy swamps in the midst of Maryland. And now finally, Mothership Zeta, where they'll be onboard an Alien Mothership vessel after receiving an ominous radio signal from the vicinity of a crashed Alien spaceship called Recon Craft Theta.

"Defy hostile alien abductors and fight your way off of the massive Mothership Zeta, orbiting Earth miles above the Capital Wasteland. Mothership Zeta takes Fallout 3 in an entirely new direction – outer space. Meet new characters and join with them in a desperate bid to escape the Aliens’ clutches. To do so, you’ll wield powerful new weapons, like the Alien Atomizer, Alien Disintegrator, and Drone Cannon, and deck yourself out in brand new outfits, like the Gemini-Era Spacesuit and even Samurai Armour." - Bethesda Studios Official Description of Mothership Zeta

The game starts off where the Lone Wandered intercepts an eerie broadcast signal from the Mothership. Investigating it leads them to the crash site for Recon Craft Theta. Upon approaching this site, the Lone Wanderer is suddenly captured by the Mothership above and transported into the bowels of the ship, captured by hostile aliens and subject to strange sorts of experiments. Thus, the adventure begins with the Lone Wanderer attempting to escape from the ship, meeting different people along the way, some even from Earth's past, having been cryogenically frozen for years, that is until the Lone Wanderer frees them.

Upon the ship, aside from the main objective of escaping from the clutches of the Extra-terrestrials, you'll be able to collect a number of 'Alien Captive Recording Logs' and discover the reasons behind the capturing of yourself and so many others over the past thousand years. These collections will provide numerous moments of satirical and dark humour, such as when the aliens try to pump information out of an innocent Brahmin, only being met with primitive responses, or the disturbing log of a captive pleading for his arms to be re-attached.

The characters which the Lone Wanderer encounters within the ship are really just a bunch of misfits, unlike what was expected from what Bethesda stated. There's a woman named Somah (from the present), a young girl called Sally who was abducted from when the bombs first were dropped over 200 years ago, a soldier from the Anchorage war, a Cowboy Sheriff from the Midwest, a Japanese Samurai and a Astronaut from the Gemini Space-Era. There are no signs of a past US President or even Elvis as some people had hoped, and the mood is slightly different from what had been initially imagined after the prospect of 'meeting people from the past'. Overall, this cast of characters, while slightly restrictive in it's own sense, is a lovable bunch who you’ll definitely learn to love and enjoy the company of, as well as provide more than ample enjoyment (and backup) throughout MZ.

The entire DLC is basically much like the Anchorage simulation, just as Bethesda stated. There is really only one large branching quests and no side-quests outside of the ship, which is much of a let-down since the release of Point Lookout and Broken Steel. The main focus of the DLC is action based, not exploring as was encouraged within Point Lookout, although a certain amount of exploration anyway is employed within the ship (it’s simply massive in size!). Enemy Aliens and Abominations within the ship are plentiful and are especially tough at times, what with their advanced technology which allows them to carry strong personal shields against weapons fire. Low-level players will definitely feel overwhelmed by the difficulty of the combat.

The entire environment of the ship, while showcasing very convincing alien technology, still retains that 50's feeling that the world of Fallout tries to capture. You'll venture through numerous sections of the ship, each part very fun to explore through, as different things happen to the Lone Wanderer as he discovers different pathways out of the ship. A few notable places include the Waste Disposal, where the Lone Wanderer can find numerous pieces of junk of some value, but the events of which lead to that area are unpleasant. The Cryogenics Lab, where thousands of frozen 'specimens' can be seen, and even some defrosted to exact their revenge on their captors. There is a Maintenance area where alien robots are manufactured to protect parts of the ship on a neat conveyor belt that you’ll have to destroy to progress inside of. You'll also be able to walk outside the ship in the middle of space, but only if you have the right apparel. The entire site is rewarding with a different, yet quirky section to discover. And what Alien ship wouldn't be complete without a Death Ray? With the Death Ray (specifically in the Death Ray Hub), you can test out the Death Ray yourself and even aim it towards the Earth, experimenting with this dangerous technology can only be so much fun, yet there are surprisingly no adverse effects from shooting a large energy beam towards the face of the earth.

Towards the end of your journey upon the ship, you'll find yourself within the Bridge, possibly the most important section of any Alien Spaceship. Here, you'll be able to experience the game's climactic final battle, in which you are to defeat another Alien Spaceship in an attempt to save yourself from destruction. This particular part is definitely the most fun, despite it being rather simple. You have 3 controls for the power distribution for your ship and one for firing the Death Ray at the attacking ship. Power distribution is easy, you have Shields and the Death Ray, and the choices of Increasing your shields but lowering your Death Ray power, increasing your Death Ray power by lowering your shields, and balancing both out. This sequence it very action packed, and feels much like a sequence out of Star Trek. Each hit you take will see sparks flying and small explosions throughout the bridge, and even your companions (who are taking up posts to aid in your command of the bridge), will stumble and even succumb to the deadly force of the enemies death ray. You’ll get neat status reports (Shields down to 50%!) to also add to the effect. You can definitely be caught up in the entire moment. Your efforts will finally be rewarded with a spectacular explosion of the enemy ship, which you can admire as it breaks apart in an awesome fireworks display.

Overall, this DLC is a very action packed experience, with long and slightly tiring progression throughout the bowels of the ship. The entire sequence, while very enjoyable and playable, is a slight disappointment since what has been experienced within Point Lookout and Broken Steel. There are no side-quests, which mean that once you've finished the quest, that's it. You can't find any aliens throughout the Capital Wasteland, and you can't experience anything related to Mothership Zeta while on land (with the exception of being able to return back up to the ship). What’s more, a huge section of the ship suddenly become inaccessible after completing the DLC, which makes it extremely frustrating for those who have missed some Alien Captive Recording Logs (needed for an Achievement) or hoped to still have fun wandering throughout the ship. However, the ending battle is probably something which redeems this game and it's slightly lacking content. After all this time, you'd probably expect Bethesda to take another bold step forward and try packing even more content within these releases, but it seems technically that they’ve taken a step back. That they’ve gone smaller rather than larger. Certainly it could have been possible to add a few extra quests to spice up this DLC that much further, but seeing as how there is no sign of such; it is quite a let down.

Overall, this game would not be one of Bethesda’s best out of the content released to date. Although it is slightly better than the first two packs (Operation: Anchorage and The Pitt), it still had a bit of a reputation to live up to, which it did slightly fall short of. Whether or not this DLC is recommended, like any of the DLCs available, of course it would be recommended. However, it is in this reviewer’s personal opinion that Broken Steel and Point Lookout still maintain priority over others, in that given the choice between those and Mothership Zeta, it would generally be advised to choose the other two over this. With that being said, Mothership Zeta is still an immensely enjoyable segment which Bethesda should be proud of. They’ve certainly shown others of their ability to create top-notch content, readily available to gamers without delays or lapses in quality.