Published: September 30, 2009 10:42 am      

GAMETIME: Mothership Zeta

By Cody Webb

Mothership Zeta takes you out of this world and into the cold reaches of space. Well, into a cold and confining spaceship filled with little green aliens seeking to kill you! Bethesda’s fifth expansion to the world of Fallout 3 once again sends players to a strange location, filled with backstory and an oddball cast of characters. As with the rest of the DLC, as of writing this, the expansions are only available to PC and 360 owners!

Many Wastelanders may have already stumbled upon the crashed alien recon ship just north of the MPDL-13 station, but if you haven’t by now, this add-on will lead you to it. Upon discovery of the wrecked vehicle, you and the craft are caught in a tractor beam coming down from the sky and soon you are rising off the ground with no escape. After an introduction of this add-on’s chief enemies, the aliens, you are probed and then locked in a cell with another abductee.

I’d like to say that after you and your newfound friend escape from your cell, you are allowed to explore the ship to your heart’s content. This expansion is just as straightforward as Operation: Anchorage was, if not shorter and more closed in. That’s not to say you won’t get to see some interesting areas; there’s a point where you take a spacewalk on the outside of the ship. For a hilarious animation, try walking off the side of the ship, but be sure to save before you do this!

In my opinion, the high point of Mothership Zeta is the cast of characters that you join forces with in order to escape the ship. You start with a woman who may or may not be a Slaver, and you quickly meet other quirky characters. These include a very confused Japanese-speaking samurai to an eight-year-old girl who has been on the ship for nearly 200 years. You’ll learn to love these friends, however, since each of them will assist you in defeating your alien foes.

The second thing that Mothership Zeta has going for it is that it gives you access to a lot of alien weaponry. Granted, these will probably only be loved by those skilled in Energy Weapons or those sci-fi geeks among us; trust me, I’m one. My personal favorite: the drone cannon; definitely make sure to add one to your arsenal. Rest assured, you aren’t stuck with these weapons throughout the expansion; you’ll quickly find your items confiscated from you upon arrival on the ship.

Bethesda did try to add in a little backstory in the form of audio logs scattered throughout Mothership Zeta. Some of these are actually really interesting, but a few of them could’ve been expanded upon more. It’s a shame to see the amazing writing of Fallout falter here, which I hope won’t happen very often. I suppose in the end this is just another of the small flaws that could’ve been ironed out; like being unable to fight to your full potential inside of the cramped hallways and rooms.

In the end, I’d recommend this just because of the new location, new weapons and new Achievements, plus every Fallout fanboy absolutely has to use the Death Ray at least once. I’ll give Mothership Zeta a B. Now get up there and disintegrate some alien invaders!

Cody Webb, a 2008 graduate of Suwannee High School, lives in Live Oak.