Fallout 3 is an excellent game, deserving of some of the best awards given to games. It received those awards, with several publications naming it the Game of the Year, hence the release of Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition. This version of the game included, in addition to the base game of Fallout 3, all the down-loadable content that has been released for the game. The DLC includes Operation: Anchorage, The Pitt, Broken Steal, Point Lookout, and Mothership Zeta. Though this review will briefly discuss the vanilla game, it will mainly be focused on the DLC.

Fallout 3

This game was the long anticipated sequel to 1998's Fallout 2. Though not a chronological sequel, it is set in the same post-apocalyptic world that the previous two games took place in. The first two games took place in southern California, and this one takes the setting back east to the Washington D.C. area, in what is known as the Capital Wasteland. Fallout 3 is true to the original games, with a dark sense of humor, and extreme violence and gore. The combat system is a throwback to the first two games, but updated for a modern experience. The game is excellent, and most RPG fans will love it. Those that have never played an RPG will probably enjoy this as well.

Rating: 9/10

Operation: Anchorage

This was the first piece of DLC released for the game, and in many ways the most disappointing. Rather than adding new content to the Capital Wasteland, it adds a simulation device, that allows the player to visit a simulation of the war between China and the US. That war has been part of the Fallout lore since the first game, and was part of the cause of the nuclear holocaust. The simulator allows the player to experience one of the battles from that war. This DLC was mostly focused on shooting, presenting the player with a lot of enemies, and fairly linear level design. It adds plenty more game hours, but it isn't that fun, and it doesn't really fit in with the rest of the game. The main thing that it offers, is that it allows the player to receive Power Armor Training perk without having to complete significant portions of the main quest. It's not horrible, just disappointing.

Rating: 6/10

The Pitt

This DLC could possibly be the best of the Fallout 3 DLC, though some will argue that Broken Steel is the best. This expansion adds a new quest line involving slave labor in Pittsburgh, PA. It expands the Fallout lore by adding more details about why the slave trade is so prominent, and involves a plot-line about curing certain forms of radiation sickness. The game-play is consistent with the original game, and overall blends in nicely with the rest of the game.

Rating: 9/10

Broken Steel

This was perhaps the most anticipated DLC, mainly because it raises the level cap from 20 to 30, and allows the player to continue playing after completing the main quest. It adds on a new quest-line that takes place after the main quest, which is an aftermath quest that allows players to participate in some of the events that they would expect to occur after the story of the main quest. This DLC does have one problem though, and a pretty serious one at that. With the new level cap it also introduced three new "tough" enemies. The Super Mutant Overlord, the Albino Radscorpion, and the Feral Ghoul Reaver.

These new enemies, especially the Super Mutant Overlord, are ridiculously difficult to kill. They aren't fun to fight, players are guaranteed to run out of Action Points while fighting them, they are annoying, and encountering them is likely to cause some lost tempers. These enemies don't show up until the player character reaches levels near and above 20, but once they do they are the ultimate frustration. If a player delays the main quest, then by the time they get to Vault 87 it could be literally filled with Super Mutant Overlords. Super Mutant Overlords are about as tough as Behemoths, except that there are a lot more of them. Part of the fun of reaching level 20 in the base game was that a character was so tough that they could kill almost everything in a single shot, with a satisfying slow motion sequence of the enemy being blown to bits. With these tougher enemies, slow motion shots that would normally mean a lot of damage is about to be dealt, mean that maybe 10% of the enemies health will be reduced. It simply isn't fun to fight these guys.

The actual quest introduced at the end of the game is quite fun. It takes the player to Adams Air Force base. Perhaps the best thing about the air force base is that it is wide open and flat, unlike the Capital Wasteland, and it provides a good opportunity for players to use the signature Fat Man mini-nuke launcher. For once, players will find themselves able to light up an open area with nuclear explosions, and without having to worry about damaging themselves. The whole mission is excellent, and adds a really great finale to an already excellent game.

Rating: 8/10

Point Lookout

This DLC adds a new area of wasteland to explore. While the other DLCs are very linear in game-play, this one is the most open. Player's are taken to the south of Maryland. This area has not experienced the nuclear holocaust of the Capital Wasteland, but it has been mostly abandoned, and many of the inhabitants have gone insane, making even worse enemies than the Feral Ghouls. The area is creepy, it is a horror setting, by which it should be understood that it is a horror-comedy. For example it parodies The Blair Witch Project in that there are little dolls hanging on trees, all over the place, but rather than being creepy looking stick figures, they are silly looking stuffed toys. It plays on other horror themes associated with the swamplands as well. There are references to Lovecraft mythology. It is quite funny in a dark way, and is fairly satisfying, but as with Broken Steel it introduces enemies that are simply "too tough", and that takes some of the fun out of the game.

Rating: 7/10

Mothership Zeta

This DLC is on par with Operation: Anchorage. It features a fairly strait-forward shooter style quest. The player is abducted by aliens, and from there goes on a killing spree, wiping out all the aliens in sight. It's not very fun, it doesn't add anything to the Fallout lore. It is merely a throwback to the random UFO encounter of the first two games. It introduces some new weapons, none of which are that impressive. It has the same problems as Broken Steel and Point Lookout in that the enemies are too tough to be fun. This is the worst DLC that has been released for the game.

Rating: 5/10

The bottom line with the DLC for the game is that if you got it with the Game of the Year Edition you may as well install it, unless you don't want tougher enemies, then avoid installing Broken Steel. If you just want more Fallout 3 game-play The Pitt and Broken Steel are highly recommended. Point Lookout is worth a look at. Operation: Anchorage can safely be skipped, and Mothership Zeta should be skipped.

The title of this post may confuse some of my readers. I don't expect 2010 to be a particularly bad year, and I'm not particularly sad that 2009 is over, but I do want to briefly comment on one unfortunate thing about this new year. That is the date.

Those that have been following me for a while know that I like to do things differently than most people. Writing dates down is one of those things. Whenever a document, such as a check, contract, or other item, needs a date I like to abbreviate the date as short as possible. When it comes to abbreviating years, most people would assume that there is only one way to do it, and that is to omit the century. For example 1998 becomes "98". Well for the past ten years the intuitive abbreviations have been 00, 01, 02, 03, and so on. Like I said, however, I like to do things differently, for the past several years I have abbreviated years using only one digit, i.e. 9, 8, 7, and so on. So last month I may have written a date down as 12/30/9.

I know I'm not the only one who does this, but I am in a minority. This is why I'm sad that it is now 2010. Now I'll have to write two digit years like everyone else. I'll still be writing one digit days and months when possible, so today is "1/1/10" none of this "01/01/2010" verbosity.

This game was released in 2005 as Fahrenheit in Europe and as Indigo Prophecy in North America. The game is essentially an interactive movie. The plot begins with the character Lucas Kane murdering a man in the bathroom of a New York diner while he is under the possession of some unknown force. Lucas flees the diner and then attempts to find out why he committed the murder, and what his brief possession has to do with his past. Meanwhile two detectives, Carla Valenti and Tyler Miles investigate the murder, and are constantly a step behind Lucas. The game is unique in that the player controls both Lucas and the detectives. Hence the player plays as both the hunter and the hunted. The plot is where this game really shines, but the game itself has some serious problems, including one almost unforgivable problem.

Carla Valenti, hot on the trail of Lucas Kane.

The plot is excellent. It is deep. It is dramatic. It is dark. It is full of suspense and mystery. With each passing day in the game the temperature is constantly dropping, hence the title of Fahrenheit, and this really gives the player the sense that something dark is going on, and adds an awe and curiosity to the drama. Also, since the player plays as both Lucas and the detectives it allows the game to present a fleshed out, multiple sided story. The main characters and several of the minor characters are well developed, and the player will be able to relate to all of them. Well written dialog and excellent voice acting contribute significantly to the story telling.

Many have complained that the ending is a little weak, and this is true. It isn't until the game is almost over that the Indigo Child is discovered (hence the name of the North American version). Also near the ending of the game a lot is revealed, but it isn't revealed in such a way that really seems all that revelatory. The gist of the story will be understood, but a lot of questions are answered in such a way as to confuse the player. Also near the end, Lucas develops a relationship with Carla, and it is hardly believable since they seem to have just met each other, although according to the timer in the game they do spend almost the entire month of February together, so who knows what happened in that time? Maybe the most bothersome part about the ending is a few Matrix-esque fight sequences, that feel very out of place.

Though the ending is weak, this doesn't hurt the story that much. It is still an excellent story, and one that will be well received by most. This is a game that shows that it is possible for video games to approach the level of storytelling of certain books, and most movies. Of course, a video game will never be as good as a well crafted novel, but they can still provide interesting stories, and are a method of storytelling that cannot be ignored. The bottom line is that this game is worth playing for the story alone.

One of the many "Simon says" sequences.

As mentioned, however, this game does have an almost unforgivable problem. The problem with this game is that it is not a game. It has been described as an interactive movie, and even that might be an inappropriate description. It is, essentially, a movie where the player is required to press buttons to keep it playing. The button pressing is the worst. During most action sequences the player is required to do a sort of "Simon says" game where they must press buttons that match colored circles on the screen. This isn't fun, it's annoying, and because the player is going to be watching the circles the whole time, they aren't going to see the action. So what is the point? There is also some sequences where the player must press left and right repeatedly. This isn't fun either. The fact is that nothing about this game is fun. It's annoying most of the time. Every time the player sees the words "Get Ready" they know they are about to be annoyed.

In addition to the button pressing, the player is allowed to make certain dialog choices. The choices have effects on the player's health, and may reveal certain things about the plot that otherwise wouldn't have been revealed, but they don't really change the story, and no matter what dialog options are chosen the entirety of the plot will be revealed to the player, only a few lines of dialog will be missed.

Speaking of the health system, in this game it is interesting in that rather than having a health bar measuring the amount of damage that the player can take, the character's have "mental health" that drops from neutral down through different stages of depression, until the player finally gets overwrought and loses the game. As mentioned health is lost and gained through dialog options. Depressing dialog options and events cause the character's mental health to go down, positive events cause it to go up. It's an interesting way to measure health, but playing this game will reveal how ridiculous it is. Adventure games should not have health meters at all, and this game is proof of that.

Lucas Kane also has "extra lives". During certain "Simon says" sequences, failing to press the buttons will cause Lucas to lose a life, so the more lives he has, the easier it will be to get through a sequence. This is somewhat inconsistent, as in some sequences Lucas will lose a life, and in others it's an automatic game over. Of course the game saves often enough that a game over isn't that big a deal.

Some differences between the North American version and European version should be mentioned. The European version featured two sex scenes, and a shower scene, with female frontal nudity. This was cut from the North American version to avoid an Adults Only rating. These scenes really have no effect on the game, and honestly Machinima sex always looks awkward, it looked awkward in Dragon Age and it looks even more awkward in this game with it's 2005 graphics. This was probably introduced into the game to sell copies, and it worked as the game sold quite well considering that it wasn't much of a game.

As said, this game is worth playing for the story alone, despite the fact that it is not a game. It would have been much better served a motion picture. The game describes itself as a movie, it can be stopped, played, and re-winded to the last save game. As much as this game isn't fun, the story is so interesting that it will keep you playing, just to find out what happens next. Honestly, if all the annoying game-play elements had been cut out, this would have been a film.

Rating: 7/10

Alternatives: Gabriel Knight 3, Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened.

Will Vinton's Claymation Christmas Celebration premiered in 1987 on CBS. It is essentially a series of musical segments that are introduced by a couple of dinosaur hosts, Rex and Herb.

Each of the musical numbers is well done in their own right. While most of them feature traditional clay stop motion, some of them experiment with some different effects using clay and glass. Some of them are comical, some of them are emotional, some are peaceful, others are joyful. All of them are absolutely excellent.

I do want to comment briefly on my favorite musical number in the show. It is the segment featuring the song "O Christmas Tree". The segment starts with two children placing ornaments on a Christmas tree. One of the ornaments is a little house. The camera zooms in on the house, and into the window. Inside, some ginger bread men are dancing around a Christmas tree. The camera then zooms in on an ornament on their tree, into another little house. We are introduced to another Christmas scene centered around a Christmas tree. The camera continues to zoom in on ornaments, showing each of the characters inside, and then finally zooms in on the star of the innermost tree, then zooms out to reveal the original kids that placed the first ornament, and their tree is now fully trimmed. It's an absolutely amazing sequence, and really brings the joy of Christmas to me.

It brought me great joy as a child to watch this with my family on Christmas Eve night. I love it so much that I save it for Christmas Eve each year. In many ways for me Christmas ends as the final credit disappears off the screen. This film gives you that wonderful feeling of sitting in front of a live fireplace.

Well that ends my Holiday tradition for this year, and I just want to wish everyone a happy holiday. Now enough of this gooey show of emotion, I'll be back to my usual writings and rants right away.

Ernest Saves Christmas came out in 1988. Like all the Ernest films, it is on the edge of absurd. Though, many people who have seen more than one Ernest film will probably agree that this is the best one. The title implies that Christmas has to be saved, and as in with most Christmas movies, that means it is going to be about Santa. In this film Santa is retiring and has gone to Orlando, Florida to appoint a replacement. He ends up in Ernest's taxicab and from there faces all sorts of challenges in finding his replacement.

As I kid I remember watching this one on my mom's VHS tapes. The opening credits begin with a series of Norman Rockwell paintings, and as I'd see them I'd always expect to see some sentimental movie like Miracle on 34th Street or something, as those paintings suggested something emotional. Every year I found myself happy to be watching a comedy, although somewhat sentimental I admit, instead. Of course, eventually I remembered that the film that starts with the paintings is about Ernest.

One thing does kind of bother me, and that is that the character Harmony/Pamela spends an awful lot of time hanging around Ernest. In fact, she spends the night at his house. Considering that she is about sixteen and Ernest is approaching forty, that doesn't quite sit right. I may be saying this as someone who was young in the 90s, when accusations of child abuse were rampant and feared by everyone, maybe because of the Michael Jackson trial in 1993. Maybe in 1988 life wasn't like that, and it didn't seem so abnormal for a young girl to be hanging out with an older guy, but if this movie was made today it would be very different.

Watching it today I also thought it was kind of strange that the man chosen to replace Santa, Joe Carruthers, was clearly single, and didn't seem to have any children of his own. The reason this man is chosen as the replacement Santa is because he had a natural understanding of children. That makes me ask, if he had such a great understanding of children how come he didn't have his own kids? Why was he a fifty year old bachelor? I think there would be a lot more people qualified to become Santa, especially someone who had had their own kids, and had shown that as a father they could be patient with their children. Traditionally there is a Mrs. Claus, but not in this film.

I've criticized this film, and pointed out that there are a few things that, at least today, many people would consider creepy. I do really like this film, though. That's why I've saved it for Christmas Eve Eve. It is my favorite Christmas film. It is very entertaining, and really brings in that warm feeling that you want to have around Christmas.

There is only one day left in my holiday tradition. Tomorrow night I will watch the last of my Christmas shows, and then they will be put away for another year. The final show is my absolute favorite of all time, but I don't want to give anything away today.