Operation: Anchorage

Operation: Anchorage is the first add-on for Fallout 3, developed and published by Bethesda Softworks.

Release and availability
Operation: Anchorage was initially released exclusively as downloadable content on Xbox Live and Games for Windows Live on January 27, 2009. It was made available for PlayStation Store on October 1, 2009. For Xbox 360, download codes for Xbox Live are also available in retail.

For PC and Xbox 360, Operation: Anchorage is available as a disc version as part of the first Fallout 3 Game Add-on Pack, released on May 26, 2009. The pack also includes The Pitt as well as a Vault Boy poster.

Like all add-ons, Operation: Anchorage is included in the Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition, released on October 13, 2009, for all platforms, along with a Vault Boy poster and a map of the Capital Wasteland.

For Steam users, Operation: Anchorage, along with all the other Fallout 3 add-ons, are available and were released on July 16, 2010.

Plot


The Brotherhood of Steel Outcasts have set up in the remains of the VSS Facility, a pre-War compound of Virtual Strategic Solutions, and are trying to unseal the door of the VSS Armory which they think contains advanced combat gear and weapons. The only way to unseal this door appears to be by surviving a military virtual reality simulation of Operation: Anchorage and the only way to enter this simulation is via a computer interface device, like the Pip-Boy 3000.

So it comes down to the Lone Wanderer to go inside and complete a simulation of perhaps the greatest battle of the Fallout universe: the liberation of Anchorage, Alaska from occupying Red Chinese troops. The simulation is set during the Anchorage campaign, which occurred between June 2076, when the T-51b power armor was first introduced, and January 2077, when Chinese forces were completely driven out of Alaska. Evidence locatable in the Outcast outpost makes it clear that the simulation is not an accurate recreation of the battle in many important ways; however, these ways are never detailed but are blamed on General Chase, who was the military correspondent for the simulation program.

Once the add-on is downloaded, the quest objective for Operation: Anchorage will be activated by a radio broadcast stating, "This is Defender Morrill. Any Outcasts listening on this frequency report to sector 7-B, Bailey's Crossroads. This is a high-priority message; backup is needed at our location. Any personnel listening on this frequency, please report at once." A marker will be shown on the world map near the Red Racer factory.

The add-on can be played at any time after the player character exits Vault 101 at the beginning of the game. After completing the simulation, they are free to unlock the armory via the terminal, and also receives Power Armor Training. Also, all of the equipment inside is free for the taking without a Karma penalty.

In the simulation, one is stripped of any equipment and weapons (excluding quest items) and forced to utilize the resources supplied throughout the simulation's environment. The Chinese Red Army is everywhere, and one must first secure the surrounding mountainside and then fight their way into the Chinese base by using standard combat skills along with several new tools that are only available in the add-on. These include interactive strike teams under the player character's command as well as unique armor, weapons, and other exotic gadgets. Throughout the simulation, various pieces of intel are also hidden that yield the Covert Ops perk when all are collected.

The player character is also introduced to a new healing system in the simulation: rather than stimpaks, there are health dispensers that will completely replenish your health. Ammo dispensers can also be found in many places. Corpses cannot be looted, however; all bodies disappear in a blue-static animation a few seconds after death. (If fast enough, they can be devoured with the Cannibal perk.) There is no need for looting, however: weapons and armor have extremely high HP values and do not degrade. One is unable to pick up clutter or open containers; they can only interact with objects that are blinking red and emitting a humming noise. After exiting the simulation, the Lone Wanderer is allowed into the armory to take any contents they wish to.

Opening the armory spurs a heated discussion between Defender Sibley and Protector McGraw, which culminates in Sibley and most of the other Outcasts starting a mutiny against McGraw and Olin. This is a battle that the Lone Wanderer can decide with no negative reputation to the Outcasts so long as they do not attack either McGraw or Specialist Olin. Killing Defender Sibley before entering the simulation will cause the mutiny not to trigger, and one is free to enter the armory without any of the Outcasts turning hostile.

Simulation-only items
Items which do not appear outside the simulation without the use of glitches or console commands:


 * ¹Made available in Mothership Zeta

Test cell content

 * Beta Gauss rifle
 * Smoke grenades
 * The Peepers
 * Signal flare

Locations

 * Bailey's Crossroads Metro
 * Bailey's Crossroads
 * Outcast outpost
 * Anchorage Reclamation simulation

Perks

 * If one does not already have it, they will receive the Power Armor Training perk upon finishing the simulation.