Earlier last week Bethesda Softworks promised us a new direction for Fallout 3 with the release of their latest piece of DLC, titled The Pitt. Unfortunately it ran into many problems which seemed to curtail the gameplay experience at every turn; mapping errors, texture problems, and innocent looking doors which seemed to lead to the same empty zone in which Gordon Freeman was imprisoned by the G-Man all those years ago. He must be subletting. Anyway, The Pitt’s flaws seem to have been corrected, so now it’s time to talk about just how The Pitt measures up post patch.

First, a little history.

When the bombs fell during the extremely brief Great War of 2077, Pittsburgh was not on the list of direct targets, and so 200 years later the city remains more or less intact, as does all of the manufacturing technology that was left behind when the city was evacuated. Unfortunately for the city, the arm of radioactivity is a long one, and the nuclear fallout which had leaked into bodies of water further upstream finally made its way into the three rivers which come together at Pittsburgh. This led to an abnormally high level of background radiation which led to a wide variety of medical ailments; skin lesions, mental incapacity, impotency, and even mutation. It has been said, though, that a cure for these medical ailments has been found in The Pitt, and a man asks you to help him retrieve it for the good of his people.

That’s basically the setting. Once you install the DLC pack, you’ll receive an announcement about a new radio channel for you to listen in on; it’s being broadcast by a man named Wherner who promises rewards if you help him save his people from their servitude by stealing the cure from the wicked folks who are keeping it for themselves. It seems to be a simple thing, but what you soon learn that nothing in The Pitt is at all simple. Your first view of the city seems to bear out Wherner’s story, for the Pitt is undoubtedly a hellhole. Giant plumes of smoke drift out across the city, flames spurt out from exhaust vents, and the water is so radioactive that falling into it can kill you almost instantly. The city is divided between the workers, who are little more then slaves, who occupy the downtown area and the raiders and ex-slaves who occupy Pittsburgh’s Uptown, along with the leader of the city, Lord Ashur. Beyond that you have to figure out not which side is good or evil, but which one is the best for the city. You’ll see for yourself.