Today, we got a chance to get a tour through Point Lookout, the new DLC from Bethesda for their post apocalyptic wasteland, Fallout 3.  The presentation was given to Aeropause by Jeffery Gardiner, one of the producers of Fallout, and he showed off the new environments and enemies that you will get to meet, see, and most likely, kill in Point Lookout.

The premise for Point Lookout is that someone tells you about someone that is distributing fruit throughout the wasteland.  There is some interest in what the fruit is all about, so of course, being the savior of the wasteland, it is tasked upon you to get to the bottom of the mystery.

The Point Lookout DLC is an instanced area that is outside of the normal Capital Wasteland area.  While you will have to use a means of travel to get to Point Lookout, it is an area that you can come and go from as you please.  You will not get locked into the area as you were with Operation Anchorage and The Pitt.  As you arrive, you will notice an area that looks very different than what has come before in Fallout.  The area is misty, dark and a bit spooky.  Jeff mention that the development team was going for a Silent Hill/Resident Evil vibe, and the area does look the part.  When asked why they did not build the area into the Capital Wasteland map itself, a la Broken Steel, he stated that when you make changes like that, they are hard-wired into the world’s existence, and then need to be accounted for in regular Fallout continuity.

The new content is a bit larger than The Pitt and Operation Anchorage, and it includes a large, abandoned mansion, a derelict amusement park (think Coney Island or the Santa Monica Pier), along with other surrounding wilderness areas.  Going through the area, it is immediately apparent that Bethesda has added new textures to the Fallout engine.  There are trees and grassy areas, as the bombs do not seem to have affected this area.

Your main contact in Point Lookout seems to be a shady ghoul by the name of Desmond.  It seems that Desmond was a government agent before the nuclear war, but is now trapped in a mansion by the locals that seem to be intent on killing him.  As with most Fallout missions, there will be choices to make with Desmond, including whether you decide to work with him or against him and his agenda.

Since we mentioned the locals above, you will see that the new bad guys are, for lack of a better description, deformed mutant inbreds.  Our first contact with one of these guys showed off a character that reminded me so much of Sloth from The Goonies.  They seemed to have uneven eyes patchs of hair on their head and missing and deformed teeth.  They will bring out a laugh the first time you see them, but make no mistake, they aer dangerous and deadly opponents.    Also added to the mix are new breeds of Mirekurks and Ghouls, due to the mutations that have occured in the Point Lookout area.

Some miscellaneous info during the presentation included the revelation that there is not level cap increase with this DLC pack, but there are new perks and skills that can be learned.  There will also be a new patch that will come out near the release of the DLC on the PC side that will add a few fixes and ready the game for the DLC.

After destroying a lot of the locals and trapsing through the local environment, we finally came to the conclusion of the presentation, and I have to say that I was impressed with what I saw.  I have noticed that as time has gone on, Bethesda has gotten better at putting together DLC that is worth the 800 points you will drop on it.  I also wanted to say thank you to Jeffery Gardiner for taking the time for giving us the tour of Point Lookout.  Look for the Point Lookout DLC on June 23th for both the PC and the 360.