Just bought GOTY edition for under ￡10 at Amazon - great value I thought. Wondering which order/level to play each one at. It seems I should have played Mothership Zeta a few levels ago (I am at 20) but there's no going back. Also I've just installed the unofficial update, hoping this would help avoiding problems - is this a good idea?

I like to go to Point Lookout by level 5 because it's my favorite one and I can't wait to go there but most people would advise staying away until at least level 15.

Anchorage and the Pitt are both easy enough to do at very early levels but they don't punish you for waiting until later in your game either.

Zeta is best played in the early-mid teens. The aliens get stronger as you level up and by level 20, it's very frustrating. If you're a very sneaky character, it won't be that bad but it's murder on melee and non-sneaky characters.

the spaceship and point lookout are the hardest. i usually do the spaceship one first of these two. get the alien blaster, one of the strongest weapons in the game.

metal blaster is good weapon if you are into energy weapons. doing OA will give up the chinese stealth armor, one of the best equipment in the game.

i do broken steel right after winning the the vanilla games because it seems to fit right in the vanilla storyline.