The latest DLC released for Fallout 3 and the finale to the Fallout 3 game. Mothership Zeta is all based around the tantalizing aspect of little green men from Mars populated by the space race in the 1950’s-60’s. How can this not be a winner?

If you found it, there is a crashed alien spaceship in the main fallout game and grants you a smart, little alien blaster that makes puddles out of Deathclaws. With the DLC, a radio signal is broadcast across the Wasteland originating from the downed alien craft.

I had been to the craft before and pillaged it’s out of this world weapon but a new radio signal is too tempting to take up (that and I know what’s going to happen if I already downloaded the DLC). So you get to the alien crash site and then you are bathed in a strange green light and the ground is suddenly getting further away from you. If you hadn’t guess you’ve gone all Fox Mulder and been abducted by little green men.

Once again, I won’t talk of the tech issues I had with this DLC here but you can read it on this site. Suffice to say I have dropped the score by 30 points just for these awful issues. If this wasn’t (and all the Fallout 3 DLC’s) a DLC so well thought out and for such a fantastic game, they would be near zero. But because they are so good they need to be reviewed fairly but still the issues cannot be ignored.

Anyway. After a nice probing, you are trapped away in an alien holding cell with another Wastelander who is only slightly more clued up then yourself. Of course you get out otherwise it would be a short game. You soon get introduced to the main enemy of the game, little GREY men (green is politically incorrect these days) and they are nasty little buggers, too.

The enemies don’t divert much from the normal aliens. Some you come up against are wearing mirror shields or something and are a tougher sort to deal with. The aliens have several robotic drone types at their disposal and turrets too.

Mothership Zeta is full of new guns and items and had me rubbing my hands with devious excitement. After a while they do all feel the same and I mostly defaulted towards my own earth based guns to get the job done. Not so tough now with a Super Sledge smashing your face in, are ya?

Generally, this game is the most linear of all the DLC’s even up against Operation: Anchorage and felt like a story rather than an open adventure like the other DLC’s (Even Anchorage had a little room to manoeuvre in the beginning). I can see what Bethesda where trying to do, tell a story and have a defined end to the Fallout 3 game. For that, it’s forgivable as its more like a large quest then say, what Point Lookout did with an expansive area and loose mission structure.

The environment does feel somewhat the same after a while. Corridors merge into one; rooms are decorated in all the same ways. Lighting helps change effect and mood but what do you expect? After all if you buy into the illusion, an alien ship would be made in the same pattern all over the ship, that and there is only so much Bethesda can do for one DLC, give them a break.

Nice set pieces and scripted events break up the levels and real thought has gone into what areas the player can access. One of my favourite was the cryogenic stasis areas and had some real flavour to it and played nicely to the alien abductees myth. Oh, and the Samurai is talking about his sword by the way for those who can’t speak Japanese. You can find it and get it back to him in reward for a nice feeling.

The ending (which I won’t ruin) doesn’t do the game justice. You would have expected more of a epic , cinematic ending to it all but then I guess it has to remain open ended. I have always hoped that Fallout 3 wouldn’t end, but it has to some time and I do have a life to go back to (I think my girlfriend is still around here, somewhere). As a finale to Fallout 3 it is paltry, but it won’t get the hardened Wastelander down and there is always something else to do in the game.

Final words go to Bethesda. Thank you for everything you gave us with Fallout 3 even if sometimes I wanted to throw the game out of the window due to technical issues. I do await Fallout: New Vegas and hope that it’s anywhere as good as Fallout 3 is. Hats off. Reviewed on the PS3. It wouldn’t be an alien space ship without a Death Ray…About that… Sorry Canada….

53/100