Last time Bethesda released a batch of DLC for the critically and commercially acclaimed Fallout 3, we were treated to Operation: Anchorage, a very different type of game from what players had come to expect from the massive RPG. Still, the change of pace was refreshing in a way, and it seemed to show that Bethesda was willing to step outside the box and try some radically new things with their additional content. This means there was a very high bar for The Pitt, the second of three Microsoft-exclusive batches of DLC, to live up to, and unfortunately, this particular set of bonus content is exceptionally disappointing.

The Pitt starts out like so many other Fallout missions, with a random radio transmission sent by a man named Wehrner. Travelling to the extreme northern edge of the map, you meet the source of the distress call, a fellow who claims to be from the city formerly known as Pittsburg. Supposedly, Ashur, the boss of The Pitt, has discovered a cure for mutation and is keeping it to himself; while he lives the high life, all the slaves and forced laborers are dying in squalor. Wehrner asks you to infiltrate The Pitt by posing as an escaped slave and find a way to meet Ashur, wrestle away the cure and lead the slaves in a revolt against their captors.

Of course, Wehrner is only giving you one side of the story, and the only real success story in The Pitt is that the narrative is quite intriguing. Once you actually meet Ashur and learn the truth behind the cure, you'll be faced with one of the more difficult moral decisions yet posed in Fallout 3. Very little in life is black and white, and in this particular instance, no matter which group you choose to side with, you'll be left feeling guilty about the people you've turned your back on.

Beyond the story line, everything else in The Pitt lands with a resounding thud. First off, the game arbitrarily strips you of all your weapons and armor for the first half of the expansion, leaving you with little to defend yourself with, aside from some shoddy clothing and the auto ax. Granted, the auto ax (the bastard child of an ax and a chainsaw) is one of Fallout's coolest melee weapons, but the fact that you have nearly no armor to speak of means that getting close to fight can be a death sentence for even the most grizzled Wasteland survivors.

You need something to defend yourself, though, as The Pitt is not only inhabited by slaves and raiders, but also Trogs, deformed half-humans who have succumbed to the diseases and turned into feral beasts. As one NPC so eloquently puts it, the Trogs exist solely to "eat, sleep, f*** and kill," so you'll want to watch out for these monstrosities. Even worse, they travel in packs, so as soon as one is on your scent, expect several more to follow.

While the Trogs are a cool new enemy, they are sadly just about the only enemies you'll face. There are also a few "Wildmen" out in the abandoned steel yards, but they're no different than the Wastelanders or raiders you've been fighting all along, so they don't really count as a new enemy. Furthermore, the Trogs are extremely homogeneous, differing only in size and strength. They all attack by running up and slashing at you, so once you've devised a strategy (and once you've retrieved the gear you brought into The Pitt with you, they pose almost no threat whatsoever and go from being a fearsome foe to a simple nuisance. It's a wonder the denizens of The Pitt didn't wipe out these creatures years ago, since there's absolutely nothing intimidating about them as long as you have a gun.

In addition to uninspired enemies and a general lack of bringing anything new to the table, The Pitt is also an incredibly brief affair, with the main quest clocking in at right around two hours. There is also a solitary side-quest of picking up 100 steel ingots around the steel yard, but that only adds another hour or two to the proceedings, so for your money, you're getting a grand total of less than five hours of gameplay, and most of it is hide-and-seek filler. While Operation: Anchorage may have been a shorter experience, it packed action into nearly every moment and was so well-paced that you were exhausted by the end. In short, it felt like a full experience and didn't stay so long as to wear out its welcome. The Pitt, on the other hand, just kind of ends abruptly with no real closure or major emotional impact. One side wins, the other loses and that's the end of that. There's no follow-up on where things will go next, and there's no extra work to help rebuild this broken-down city. You don't even get a proper good-bye, just a "Thanks for stopping in" as you begin the long trudge back to the tunnel that will return you to the Capital Wasteland. The entire experience is brief, boring and stupendously underwhelming, and ultimately, it feels like you've been ripped off.

It's very clear that the negatives of The Pitt far outweigh the positives. While the game features a nifty new weapon in the auto ax and a morally complex story, everything else about it is left wanting. Even worse, the download is buggy as can be, with glitches and freezes being reported nonstop since launch. Even I experienced a game-killing bug at one point where the title refused to let me advance, meaning I had to start over from scratch and redo all the work I had already done once before. I've heard of game's artificially inflating their length, but this is ridiculous.

As much as it pains me to say it, if you buy The Pitt, then you are essentially giving Bethesda money for nothing. Sure, you get a few more hours of play time in a new city, but nothing here is more substantial or worthwhile than any of the dozens of side-quests included in the original game. Unless you've done absolutely everything else there is to do in the Fallout universe, then you've really got no need for this expansion. While Operation: Anchorage provided us with a gameplay curveball and Broken Steel is opting to supply not only an increase on the level cap but also the ability to continue playing the game past the final mission, The Pitt really gives us nothing but an auto ax. If you're willing to pay Bethesda's price for one new weapon (and don't be fooled, this thing is far from an uber-weapon), then by all means go right ahead, but The Pitt is just Fallout's version of horse armor.

Score: 6.0/10