Review: Fallout 3-Point Lookout (Xbox 360, PC)

Fresh off the success of the previous three expansions, Bethesda released Point Lookout last week and although quite short, it delivers plenty of fresh new excitement to the game.  Unlike the past three expansions which put you in different cities ravaged by the bombs, Point Lookout sends you to a marsh-filled land that wasn’t destroyed or devastated, just left to fend for itself since the bombs fell. What is discovered is a land filled with excitement, sadness, and a whole lot of fear.

Point Lookout resembles the actual Point Lookout Park situated in Maryland near the Chesapeake Bay, so naturally there are plenty of marsh lands and water sources to traverse through throughout the adventure.  Like Broken Steel, Point Lookout lets you accept this quest after the main storyline is finished, and all of the new additions, such as perks and levels are available as well.  Point Lookout sets the bar for creating a truly creepy atmosphere and most of the characters you meet in the area will leave the wasteland’s ghouls looking like beauty queens.

Because Point Lookout is set in a marshland type of area, all of the characters have updated, or are forced to update, to the surroundings and unforgiving conditions.   Many of the locals bare a strange resemblance to the characters from the movie Deliverance, complete with the creepy inbred family vibe.  The characters also speak in ghoulish southern accents, making your dialogue with these inhabitants definitely more interesting and foreboding than any person in the Capital Wastes.   Right off the bat, you board a ferry to get to Point Lookout and the ambience aboard the boat (or even the characters waiting for you there) is one to set the mood and lets you know what is waiting for you in Point Lookout.

Point Lookout is relatively short and can be completed in one sit-down, but there are still a wide variety of missions that will keep you entertained.  Such quests that have you retrieving giant seeds from a plant said to possess strange powers or tracking secret underground locations possessed by local tribes, the exploration factor in Point Lookout is definitely the biggest yet of all of the expansions.  By size alone Point Lookout is about 1/5 the size of the Capital Wasteland, so that gives you a good representation of how much there truly is to explore in Point Lookout.

While there are new perks, Point Lookout really brings nothing new when it comes to combat or weapons.  While there are plenty of weapons to find along the way, many of them are just upgraded shotguns, knives, or standard guns and you never really get to try anything new like the way Broken Steel gave us the Tesla Cannon.  In any case finding these weapons will help in the long run since all of the enemies are really hard to take down.  It seems that some of them are harder than most Super Mutant Behemoths or bosses, which is saying a lot to the amount of tenacity and will it will take to bring them down.  Because the level 30 cap is still active, it will take a lot of strategy and will to fall some of the enemies, but the fun factor never slips despite this arching difficulty.

Whether you just want to roam the muck or help locals in need, Point Lookout offers an excellent change away from the bomb-ravaged lands of the Capital Wastes to a world that was left to fend for itself.  Point Lookout offers nearly a dozen of story and side quests to keep you entertained, and the ability to bring characters back with you to the Wasteland to continue your adventure is even more reason to give Point Lookout a try.  Point Lookout might offer a challenge with its tough enemies and unsettling atmosphere, but it’s probably the best challenge yet for the Fallout 3 expansions.

Final Score – 8.6 | Suggestion: Buy It

About This Author: Josh Schwartzman

Been into gaming for as long as I can remember and have enjoyed every minute of it. I enjoy playing with everyone and anyone online and I am an avid PS3 and Xbox 360 player.