The second of five planned Fallout 3 expansions, Operation: Anchorages sees players helping the Brotherhood Outcasts to access a U.S government weapons vault. The problem is, none of the Outcasts have a Pip-boy, meaning they can’t access the training simulation that, upon completion, unlocks the vault. Naturally, you are forced into the job.

The one big change that Operation Anchorage brings with is the complete absence of morality. Yes there are still speech choices, but none affect the morality of your character as the simulation is based during a vital the part of Fallout history, and thus cannot be changed. Anchorage, a settlement in Alaska, was invaded and captured by the Chinese communists during the Great War. It is your job to help take back Anchorage.

Considering the setting, one would expect some useless old tech to be involved. This is far from the truth. Of course none of the Anchorage equipment can be taken out of the simulation. This is not to say that these new items cannot be acquired outside the simulation.

There is also the opportunity to form your own squad to help in the simulation. These companions include different types of soldiers, a sentry bot and a mister gutsy. You can’t have all the companions at once as you only have five tokens for use when forming your team. The sentry bot will take up four tokens and a lowly soldier one. This allows some strategic depth when making your team. Do you want to run in all guns blazing or try to take out the invaders sneakily?

Operation: Anchorage is a worthwhile expansion that focuses only on action and manages to succeed because of that.

I will be writing reviews of Broken Steel and Point Lookout as soon as possible.