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Fallout 3: Mothership Zeta

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4.7 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 24 critic reviews
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Based on 18 votes
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Game Info

Publisher: Bethesda Softworks

Developer: Bethesda Softworks

Genre(s): Role-Playing Game

Players: 1

ESRB Rating: M (Mature)

Release Date: August 3, 2009

Summary

Defy hostile alien abductors and fight your way off of the massive Mothership Zeta, orbiting Earth miles above the Capital Wasteland. Mothership Zeta takes Fallout 3 in an entirely new direction - outer space. Meet new characters and join with them in a desperate bid to escape the Aliens' clutches. To do so, you'll wield powerful new weapons, like the Alien Atomizer, Alien Disintegrator, and Drone Cannon, and deck yourself out in brand new outfits, like the Gemini-Era Spacesuit and even Samurai Armor. A strange Alien signal is being broadcast throughout the Capital Wasteland, originating from a crashed UFO. Is it a distress call, or something far more sinister? That question is answered when you find yourself beamed aboard an enormous Alien spacecraft, with only one alternative - to fight your way to the bridge of the ship and secure your escape. [Bethesda Softworks]

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GAMES: Fallout 3

Also On The Web: Official Website

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Game Revolution

A great way to end the downloadable content run for Fallout 3. If it's indeed the final DLC we're to see for the game, it's surely an out-of-this-world way to close off our explorations of the Capital Wasteland, providing a thoroughly enjoyable ride that is likely to last almost as much as the longest of the packs that's come out so far - Broken Steel.

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AtomicGamer

Aliens, cowboys, robots, zombies (sorta), and samurais are included and do spice up the experience, but if you really want to crank up the craziness, Bethesda, we'll need some pirates and vikings, too.

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GamingXP

At the beginning the new setting is quite good, but the dlc is too linear and the story is quite boring. Just for Fallout fans.

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GameStar

Mothership Zeta offers new opponents, weapons and areas. Whether the expansion pays homage to Mars Attacks, Aliens and Star Wars or most of the important elements have been copied from them, it's fun nonetheless.

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GameDaily

The result is a game that looks great, ends well, but at times, leans too heavily on formulaic game mechanics.

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Cheat Code Central

Hefty chunks of Mothership Zeta feel formulaic and repetitive, yet the sting of the expansion's low points is countered somewhat by the impeccable presentation, smartly-implemented sci-fi vibe, and a few entertaining twists.

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Meristation

Quotation forthcoming.

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Gaming Age

We have found ourselves in a situation of victory after abduction by a strange alien species.

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PC Zone UK

Dramatic, entertaining and charming in the way that every Fallout expansion should be from now on. [Nov 2009, p.72]

GamePro

While not without value, instead of wrapping up my time in the Capital Wastelands in a nice big irradiated bow, Mothership Zeta just left me wondering how much fun being in space could’ve been.

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GameZone

Mothership Zeta is a decent distraction that many Fallout fans won’t mind paying extra coin for. If money is tight, however, I would suggest first looking into some of the better content available.

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Gamer 2.0

Despite the addition of some interesting characters, it really is a shame that Fallout 3’s steady addition of downloadable content had to end on this sour note because there was plenty of room for interesting ideas.

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IGN

It's short, focused too heavily on combat through bland corridors, and feels like a missed opportunity. I still had fun while wandering the alien ship, but that is more of a testament to the strengths of Fallout 3 than the strengths of this expansion.

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3DJuegos

Mothership Zeta is the worst download content released for Fallout 3. Boring, repetitive and uninspired.

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Game Over Online

The bottom line here is that Mothership Zeta is about as much of a miss as Bethesda has ever been responsible for. A few hours of linear romp through boring corridors fighting boring enemies is frankly a shocking disappointment from such a successful development group.

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PC Gamer UK

Even with the silly-alien theme, Zeta is utterly humourless. [Oct 2009, p.79]

PC Format

An opportunity wasted. [Oct 2009, p.98]

Gamer.nl

Mothership Zeta has some big pros and cons. The content it delivers is meager and gives the idea that they could have done a lot more with the variation in locations. The atmosphere and humor partly make up for this. Overall this mothership has become a place where you can enjoy yourself for a couple of hours, but because of its linear nature Mothership Zeta never comes close to the qualities of the main game.

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VideoGamer

Mothership Zeta is a let down. It's nowhere near as good as Point Lookout or The Pitt. It's slightly better than Operation Anchorage, but only slightly. It's a linear, repetitive slog through an alien space ship and nothing else. Is it a fitting finale? No. Is it worth 800MS Points? Just. If only for the Samurai Armour. Sniff.

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Edge Magazine

Design flaws include a bizarre decision to cordon off most of the ship after completion, locking away any unique items you previously overlooked. Much of the game commendably favours stealth players but the rest can feel shambolic.

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Giant Bomb

There's something so audacious to me about stacking aliens on top of the apocalypse, and Mothership Zeta does it well enough that I'm willing to excuse some of its structural bluntness and over-reliance on combat. It's not the best Fallout 3 DLC, but it's still pretty interesting, and not a bad way to spend four or five hours.

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Worth Playing

Fallout 3: Mothership Zeta is one side story that Wasteland warriors can afford to survive without.

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PC PowerPlay

An unfortunate step backwards for Bethesda. [Nov 2009, p.58]

Absolute Games

Mothership Zeta is not as shabby as Operation: Anchorage, but it still not worth neither money, nor time.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 4.7 (out of 10) based on 18 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Tom M. gave it a4:
Pretty weak, especially compared to Broken Steel and Point Lookout. As others have said, very linear, and after about 20 minutes of play the spaceship interior gets very boring to look at. Clunky dialogue and encounters with NPC's. Just not a very fun or engaging DLC. My advice - save your $10 for Fallout: Las Vegas.

Alex V gave it a6:
There are some good bits like the alien weirdness (often funny), but mostly it's one long dungeon crawl experience. Wish they wouldn't do these combat orientated DLCs.

Andrew T gave it a4:
Point Lookout set the mark high and Mothership Zeta didn't even try to compete. MZ is almost all combat, but the varying enemy types are almost indistinguishable despite their massive power differences (a shimmering energy field often means the difference between 2 shots and 3 magazines for a kill). Bugs abound (I crashed to desktop twice before I was halfway through, and one of the unique items has the wrong skin), and the story is nonexistent for more than half the main quest. If you only get one DLC for Fallout 3, don't get MZ.

Jan K gave it a10:
One of the best DLC for F3. Nice Graphics and a cool Story.

Rick Z gave it a6:
Boring environment, a so so story and the authentic Fallout 3 ambiance is missing. I enjoyed the three predecessor DLCs. Compared to them, this one does not have very much to it.

Daniel V. gave it a3:
I looked forward to this addon for such a long time, and I am quite disappointed. Very linear, the new weapons are certainly nothing to be excited about, and there is absolutely no Good/Evil pathways in Zeta. All the other addons are terrific, but I really can't say that about this one.

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Fallout 3: Mothership Zeta

Game Info

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