Guide Written by: Brandon "Giddyup Buttercup" Cackowski-Schnell
Before we get into the guide proper -- check out Brandon's GameShark Extra Time video on Mothership Zeta:
Well, here we are, the last of the Fallout 3 DLC. I wish I could tell you that this is the best piece of Fallout 3 DLC yet, but sadly my mother told me never to lie. While we're at it those pants do make you look fat. Oh sure, this piece of DLC starts out promisingly enough with a trip via teleporter to an alien spacecraft teeming with hostile, bulbous headed aliens, but it doesn't take long for a distinct sense of sameness to seep in.
There's not a lot of variety to the enemies with only aliens, robot drones and some sort of super alien to fight with changes to the clothing and/or weaponry providing the only variety. The ship's corridors and rooms all look the same too. Well, that's not entirely correct as there are some small pockets of strangeness to mix things up, such as the robotic horses room, but many of these places are off the beaten path and only necessary if you're looking to nab the collection achievement. You do get some shiny, new alien weapons to use, but most of these are available very early into the content leaving you to wander similar looking hallways shooting similar looking aliens with a gun you've been using since being sprung from your cell. Plus, the weapons can't hold a candle to the Alien Blaster a weapon you could conceivably had since shortly after climbing out of the Vault had you gone off and found it.
The boss fight of this DLC is unlike anything you've done in Fallout so far, so that provides a welcome diversion to the usual running and gunning, but unfortunately by then you're just looking to get off this crazy thing and head back to the Wastelands. I think that this DLC would have worked better had it not been the last one for Fallout 3, or if I could have played it nestled among all of the other missions. As it stands though, as the last piece of Fallout 3 content, it was a disappointment. Still though, all DLC considered it's been one hell of a ride.
Achievements and Walkthrough Not of This Earth - 20 pts
If you've done all of the other DLC, by now this is old hat. Once you load the content and load up a save game, simply wait a little while and do some traveling to areas that bring up the loading screen when transitioning between the areas. Eventually you'll receive a message about an alien signal and your map will update with the location and the quest will automatically start. You don't need to bring anything special on top of your usual inventory items as you'll find plenty of alien weapons to use and tons of ammo for it. In fact, the only reason to bring any of your normal weapons is if your Energy Weapons skill is in the toilet. If that's the case, bring whatever you are skilled in, and lots of it as you won't find much Earth ammo on Mothership Zeta.
When you have all of your gear squared away fast travel to either the Clifftop Shacks and head SE or fast travel to Greener Pastures Disposal Site and head NW. Be on the lookout for Raiders and Yaou Gai in this area. We wouldn't want you to die before the aliens try and kill you. Approach the crashed ship and prepare to be beamed up. Talk to Somah after being, er, probed and after asking a few questions she'll tell you to back up against the wall in case the giant metal claw is coming for you. Luckily it isn't, so after some unpleasant sounds feel free to continue your conversation. Somah's grand plan is to beat on each other until the guards come and then, when they try and break up the tussle you turn the tables on them and crack some little green skulls. Agree to her plan and start punching her. For someone who came up with the plan to stage a fight, she sure is whiny about getting punched. Beat on her a while and eventually two guards will come in. Lay 'em out and loot their bodies for a Shock Baton.
When you get out you can open the nearby cells and take a look around. As you don't have any clothing on, feel free to loot the dead Enclave officer for his clothes, or you can kill the captured, seemingly catatonic Rivet City Security officer and take her outfit. Your choice. If you head all the way to the East on your map (left as you come out of your cell), you'll come to a room with three control panels that you can activate. Do so to obtain Alien Captive Recorded Logs 14, 15 and 22. For more information on the Alien Captive Recorded Logs, please see the "Alien Archivist" section of this guide.
