Fallout 3‘s highly anticipated Broken Steel DLC came out last week, giving me the best reason yet to make a triumphant return to the Capital Wasteland. It’s the third downloadable add-on for Fallout 3, after Operation: Anchorage and The Pitt. The main differences with this content, and it’s biggest selling points, are the removal of Fallout 3‘s finite ending (which has been judged harshly in the court of public opinion) and the extension of the level cap from 20 to 30. Other additions include new weapons and gear, tougher enemies and new quest-related locales to explore.

Obviously, the increased level cap is huge incentive to buy the add-on, but one new weapon in particular is worth the 800 points (10 bucks) on it’s own: the Tesla Cannon. Not to be confused with Tesla’s canon, which includes such notable hits as “Signs,” “Love Song” and “What You Give,” it’s an energy-based heavy weapon that works best against mechanical enemies. Obliterating a low-flying, previously untouchable Enclave Vertibird with a blast from the Tesla Cannon makes for an extremely satisfying fireworks display. Maybe a little too easy to pull off, but still loads of fun.

That’s a nice segue into my biggest complaint about the new content: even with new, more powerful enemies (or versions of enemies) like Feral Ghoul Reavers and Super Mutant Overlords, the quests were not very challenging. The issue really is my own doing, since I could have upped the difficulty setting at any point or sent Fawkes and his Gatling laser packing. That big, yellow dude can absorb obscene amounts of punishment without so much as a flinch. Thing is, he seemed to be having such a good time mowing down Enclave soldiers, I just didn’t have the heart to tell him to get lost.

Also, I hoarded so many stimpaks and tons of ammo, fully repaired all my power weapons and armor, and long since bumped my head on the level 20 glass ceiling while playing the main quest, it seems even without the help there would have been very little challenge in proceeding through the new quests. Fortunately, as I mentioned before, the Tesla Cannon made dominating the Enclave a consistently enjoyable experience.

At this point, with all the new quests finished, all that’s left to do is roam the furthest reaches of the Wasteland killing Deathclaws and Super Mutant Overlords with my trusty sidekicks Fawkes and Dogmeat until I reach level 30. After that, hopefully the first two add-ons will come down in price (I bypassed those while waiting for the level cap to lift). Or, maybe I’ll play through the game again as an evil woman taking her daddy-abandonment issues out on what’s left of humanity… that’s the beauty Fallout – it never plays the same way twice.

The Verdict: Not Guilty… though I’m guilty of using Fawkes as a human, er, mutant shield on more than one occasion.

Spoiler Alert: If you want to experience joy of the Tesla Cannon on your own, don’t watch this video.