Like The Pitt, Point Lookout is a small DLC set on an island separate from the main Wastelands. To get to it, you have to talk to Toby the Ferryman, a jovial guy who is more than happy to fetch you there. However, the trip is not free, so be sure to have sufficient bottlecaps on you for tickets there and back. The trip is single passenger only, meaning companions are prohibited aboard.
Toby's cheery mood ends with him however, as you get further away from the safety and comfort of the Wastelands, towards a very bleak swamp and bog infested island. It may be the only location that appears untouched by the nuclear holocaust, with its lush vegetation, but it is no walk in the park. Treasure hunters favor Point Lookout's marshes for special loot, but it is only there for the courageous, the ones who are brave enough to trek off the beaten path into terra incognito.
Point Lookout is a place unlike anything you will have come across before. If you are going to the island to meet locals, you will be sorely disappointed. Any of the "tribals" or "rednecks" you come across will shoot and attack you on sight. With hideous bloated faces and limbs, or emaciated from malnourishment, these hardened creatures are more animal than human. The tribals in particular worship a particular plant that is prominent on the island, known as the Punga Fruit. Caution is advised, eating this fruit will induce heavy hallucinations from false delusions of heightened power and grandeur, to nightmarish apparations of past experiences in the Wastelands.
Non-human encounters include mirelurks and ghouls, the former found in the swamps and the latter on the highlands by the rocky cliff edges overlooking the sea. Both creature types appear more resilient and hardy here than the kind in the Wastelands proper, and can easily kill even the most well-armored of explorers in a few swipes. A wide berth of these areas are advised, even at high levels. Point Lookout is a place so fraught with danger, you will be looking over your shoulder every few seconds in case something scary will jump out at you.
Sights worth visiting include the pier and its derelict fairgrounds, once a jovial attraction for tourists with its large ferris wheel. The only resident here is a friendly woman who will sell and repair your weapons and other items of necessity for your trip into the marshlands.
There is a mansion inhabited by a ghoul with a hidden motive for being on the island. He will employ your nifty skill for getting things done, to infiltrate the Punga tribe in order to learn the reason behind their unexpected assault on the mansion. There are rumors that a madman scientist hidden in a lab vault somewhere on the island is masterminding the operation against the ghoul.
Dabble in interesting Cold War era espionage when you stumble on mission briefing tapes for a Chinese spy on the island sent to destroy a captured submarine. Visit a prison facility armed to the teeth with automated turrets where it is rumored the Chinese spy was tortured, interrogated and imprisoned. Much wealth had been promised to the spy who obviously failed the mission, a mission which you can take up and finish.
Other interesting highlights include a lighthouse, and shipwreck. It is also certain that there are plenty more locales dotted across the island, but they were too dangerous to reach even for our intrepid travel writer. We hope that you may have better luck in discovering them for yourself.
Point Lookout is a worthy new DLC with a very different setting to what has come before. There is much to explore and two interesting quests to undertake that will take up a substantial amount of gameplay time. There are also new weapons that are significantly better than the ones you may currently carry, like the lever-action rifle and double-barrelled shotgun. These are a marked improvement over several pointless and weaker additions that can be found in previous DLCs.
However, the difficulty spike in Point Lookout is immense, which may be attributed to the fact that this DLC comes after Broken Steel, and assumes players will have levelled up to near max at the minimum before tackling the island. Be prepared for frequent deaths or very frustrating combat, with enemies taking too many shots before dying.
The only issues that may arise upon your trip to Point Lookout include an unavoidably tedious grind through the marshes and swamps which, although interestingly new to the eye at first, will soon grow weary, and tiresome with the hard combat. Also, there are far too few characters to interact with, that don't include shooting them in the face before they do you.
It is slowly dawning on me, that despite the profoundly massively positive experience that is Fallout 3, the interest in it is waning. What I mean is that, whilst Point Lookout is a new place, there isn't much incentive in the first place to travel there as the quests that can be found are just of the side-variety. The only thing I took away from the trip that was worth keeping would be the weapons (especially if you are a Small Guns specialist).
All in all, a great addition for those hungering for more of the Fallout 3 world to explore, live and breathe in. But for the rest of us with plenty other games to try, Point Lookout isn't so exciting as to require your immediate attention. Visit at your own leisure. And here's to hoping the next DLC Mothership Zeta and Fallout 3: New Vegas will pick up the pace again.
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