Unfortunately, the same thing happened with The Pitt. Granted, my expectations may have been unusually high for this expansion module. The gossip and rumors I’d been hearing were equating it with the Shivering Isles expansion for Bethesda’s other hit, Oblivion. Sadly, the reality was far different.

I powered up the old Xbox 360 and loaded the game. I used a previously created character, one who had topped out at 20^th level. After a few moments of wandering the wastes, I received the radio call and headed towards the map marker. I met a man named Wehrner who led me to the ruins of Pittsburg.

The morally ambiguous plotline was frustrating, actually. By committing a kidnapping to secure a cure for intense radiation sickness, you begin a brutal revolution that ultimately forces you to blast the child’s parents. In this case, I chose a recently liberated flamer, as I was desperately low on regular ammo, charred “the Cure’s” Ma and Pa. However, first time through, I chose to not kidnap the child, as I realized it would result in a conflagration of serious proportion. The slaves wouldn’t budge and end up attacking your character. Blasting a few slaves, I quickly noticed my Karma was disappearing faster than my ammo.

I reloaded the game, and against my better judgment, I took the baby/cure. So, as it all unravels the slaves get freed and the child/cure has a foster mother who, though worn out and obviously regretting her decision, attempts to take care of the child as best she can.

Before the climax of the plot, you are asked to fiddle around with the usual gather/investigate quests. Most irritating is the much-lauded and greatly anticipated Arena. Three matches and you’ve earned your freedom, are Arena champion, and the plot climax is only moments away. The arena itself is a tiny little room, baked with radiation, and the opponents were one V.A.T.S. click away from being splattered all over the radioactive rocks.

The exploration of the Pitt took longer than the actual quests, of which there were like three.

Of the new weapons available, none are remarkable. The Auto-Axe or Man Opener is cute, but frankly, if I wanted a melee weapon game, I’d play Oblivion. The new rifle, called the Infiltrator, is an automatic assault rifle with a sound suppressor and scope. At full zoom, its accuracy is about as good as a drunk trying to make it into the toilet bowl so his wife doesn’t bitch him out the next morning. That is to say, the rifle has some serious drift and does significantly less damage than the Chinese Assault rifle. It’s basically dead weight.

After some hours scraping through the Pitt, I found an abandoned apartment complex. Suddenly excited for a little of that magic that made Fallout 3 so great, I sat up straight and dove into the Trog infested building. Two floors later, I’d scoured it clean and was once again bored. The ongoing quests of bringing teddy bears to the baby-cure is a little more depressing (if possible) than the rest of The Pitt, and as the residents had not yet chosen to police the corpses from their revolution, I don’t think I’ll be taking my character back there any time soon.

Technically, it was a very nice expansion. The environments were convoluted and messy, true Fallout 3 style. But spending most of your time in a steel mill and surrounding areas felt rather… blah.

Overall, it’s a beautiful expansion, but with not much real game play. Diehard Fallout 3 fans will enjoy, as always, but find themselves craving more.