Fallout: New Vegas (2010)

Fallout: New Vegas is a deeply unique and immersive post-apocalyptic RPG, set in the Mojave Wasteland, it expands on Fallout 3's gameplay with improved faction dynamics, branching storylines, and a strong emphasis on player choice. The writing is sharp, which was, and still is, one of the most memorable aspects of this title, still praised to this day by the community as one of the best worlds, story-lines, and especially, the best characters of any RPG videogame.

The world-building rich, and the atmosphere unmistakably Fallout, dark, quirky, and full of moral ambiguity, which, similarly to the previous entry, every decision matters from the very start of the game. While it launched with technical bugs, many were later patched or fixed by the modding community, which is still going strong even to this day, sometimes even creating whole new games, with new worlds, characters and stories, developed upon the base of this amazing title.

New Vegas remains a cult classic thanks to its narrative depth, memorable characters, and freedom to shape the world around you. This is a flawed gem that offers one of the most engaging role-playing experiences in the Fallout series. This is truly one of the best videogames ever made, immensely recognized by the gaming industry, the community, and by all games which were inspired by it, and I highly recommend playing this any way possible, don't skip it if you like RPGs to any extent.

• Platform: XBOX 360
• Playthrough: First Time
• Language: French
• Finish Status: Not For Me
• Playtime: 5-6h

Ok So hear me out, Im not a Bethesda guy. I never finished skyrim nor was it particaulary fun. These kind of things are just not for me, too complex, too much work. I’ve heard many good things about this game, so i picked it up on sale at Replubique.

First things that hit me: Damn its brown. The game is ugly as sin and it wasnt a great start for me. Next it starts off kinda fun, and the characters are pretty funny. I just hate the vibes. The insect enemies give me some kind of anxiety and the post apocalyptic pallete smeared over everything is just not something i nethier want or appreciates.

Atop of that there’s way too much happening and going on, and it stresses me out. My rule is if a game stresses me out I stop playing. There’s enough of that in real life. So yeah, whatever, not for me!

I sunk well over 100 hours into this game (including DLCs), 200 if you count my first save file that got corrupted 70 hours in. It speaks volumes that after all that time the first thing I wanted to do was start from the beginning all over again. Many people have described why this game is so great way better than I ever could, but I thought I’d describe my journey with it anyway, as the brilliance of this game cannot be understated.

I want to start by saying that as a newcomer to the series and indeed the genre – I found Fallout 3 much more accessible. A lot of people shit on 3 – and honestly for good reason – but the first time I tried New Vegas I was overwhelmed by the mechanics, I felt like the game kind of rushed into the action, and in the end, I had to just stop as I couldn’t get my head around it. Now this may just be a me issue, and honestly, I’m finding a similar problem going back to play the Original Fallout now. But one thing Fallout 3 is good for, is explaining the mechanics and gameplay to newcomers.

Many people complain about the tutorial being tedious and too long in 3, but I found it was a perfect pace to lean me into the lore, stat system, combat, dialogue etc. Admittedly if you’re already used to Bethesda RPGs, I can see how it might drag, and an option to skip/fast forward it would be preferable.

Once I mastered Fallout 3 however, moving onto New Vegas was bliss. New Vegas took everything that was great about 3 – the combat, the world design etc and built upon it – as well as improving many of the more critical aspects such as the impact of randomness on the game – making speech checks less luck based and more stat based, removing random encounters for a much more structured experience and consistent world.

They also massively overhauled weapons – adding modifications, different ammo types – things which are overwhelming to a newcomer adding multiple new dimensions to an already complicated RPG – but to those familiar with the predecessor a welcome way to mix up combat and keep it from being as monotonous.

They also really expanded on crafting – possibly a bit too much. There are work benches, re-loading benches, campfires, all with their own set of recipes. I’d argue that 2 different type of work benches wasn’t needed, but it was certainly nice that you can make more than the like 4 weapons you could craft in fallout 3.

Despite what I said earlier, New Vegas does actually handle its tutorial pretty well – firstly it’s skippable, so if you really don’t want it you don’t have to. (Although it’s so short that you might as well do it for the XP and loot). And the first area Goodsprings is a much more interesting place to start than Vault 101. Vault 101 serves its purpose in the narrative for sure, but waking up in Goodsprings, getting to explore a small settlement that prepares you for the faction dynamics in the rest of the game, teaches you about skill checks, basic gameplay elements, and gives you a good quest with a binary choice to ease you into how your actions can impact the different factions, and the ways they treat you.

I won’t talk for hours about the quests here, as I don’t want this to be 7000 words long – but all I’ll say is it’s incredibly impressive how quickly this game was developed and how content rich it is. With 3 times as many quests with Fallout 3, and very few of them could be described as filler or uninteresting. In fact most New Vegas Quests are very intricately designed, explore interesting narrative themes and/or gameplay variations – crossover with multiple factions and quest lines, and often have varying solutions with huge implications on the endgame. You know, everything Fallout 3 pretended to have but ultimately didn’t.

I don’t want to spend all this review shitting on Fallout 3 – I do genuinely like it, but I think it’s important to see where New Vegas Improved upon the formula. New Vegas retains the Karma system of 3 – but it has less of an impact than the factional relationships – which generally makes choices in the game feel less binary and more nuanced. Sometime there’s no objectively good answer – or even if there is, there’s still an interesting thought experiment you have to go through to get to it.

On top of that, character builds feel substantial in this game. They were handled okay in 3 – although a lot of stats were either overpowered or ultimately inconsequential. New Vegas handles attributes in a much more balanced way – meaning you need high stats in all fields to pass all “Speech” checks in the game – so depending on your build, the same quest can play out very differently. And short of loading an earlier save and grinding to level up, you can’t brute force these. The type of character you build will change your gameplay experience – which is one of the many factors that makes this game so replayable.

Growth feels more satisfying in New Vegas too. The level cap is higher, which means if you’re a completionist like me, you’ll still only just reach max level by the end of the game (unless you’re deliberately grinding) – Perks only get given to you every other level – but they’re also a lot more varied and worthwhile – meaning you put actual thought in which ones to choose, as it’ll be even longer until your next one – and they’re not just extra boosters to stats.

I’m racing through a lot of this as describing the systems in full will be incredibly boring. I won’t go into too much detail about the story – but the biggest distinction from 3 is that you feel like your impact to the story is tangible, and not just consequential. You don’t have a pre-written destiny with a tacked on arbitrary choice at the end. The game will always end in the same location – but everything in-between and even during the final battle is up to you. There are 3 main factions, plus a 4th Anarchy option where you can fight for yourself, meaning that no matter who you piss off and who you ally with, the story will come to its completion, and your decisions reflected in the ending.

Also the game incentivises you to follow the main quest by having a genuine mystery to solve. Fallout 3 tried this, but by the time you find your Dad – the rest of the pathway is locked to you fulfilling his wishes – not your own. New Vegas’ main quest has 3 main acts – track down the man who shot and robbed you, unlock the mystery of the platinum chip, fight in the battle of hoover dam. The end of each act incentivises you to do the next by sheer intrigue – but also allows for a huge amount of exploration and side questing along the way – many of which with equal if less personal interest when you stumble across them.

Companions no longer feel like an afterthought. They all have dedicated side quests to unlock their past and help them with their own battle and struggles. They have multiple endings, and are their own distinct characters. Some of the fallout 3 characters are okay – Fawkes is great, and Charon is interesting too. But with the possible exception for Raul who was the victim of cut content – every single New Vegas Companion, human or otherwise is worth engaging with.

My only criticism is that if you’re doing a Legion playthrough, you can’t recruit the majority of companions, at least not past a point. I’m not sure if this was deliberate as the majority of people will side with the NCR or independent and they didn’t want to lock off any of the characters – or whether it’s just a side effect of the Legion’s ideology that generally turns off most citizens of the Mojave – either way it’s only a nit-pick.

The game also does a very good way of contextualizing the different factions – meaning that there’s no 100% good faction to side with, and even the evil factions have an internal and consistent logic to them other than just “Be the antagonists”. I’m trying not to go into too much detail for the sake of spoilers, but suffice to say that all the primary factions in this game are incredibly well constructed, to the point that nothing feels binary.

I’ve barely touched upon the ambience yet – as this is largely the same quality of 3 (which is high) although distinct in aesthetic. Rather than the rubble of DC and a dead industrial wasteland – New Vegas has those areas – but also a breath-taking desert, creative set pieces, not to mention Vegas itself, which was protected from the bombs, only slightly damaged, and a very convincing scaled down version of the real setting – with each casino having a distinct personality and unique questlines.

The DLC’s are mostly hits as well – Dead Money is a truly unsettling experience, which expands on the main game’s lore in its own self contained story – Honest Hearts is also great, with a stunning setting far away from the typical wasteland, weather effects, and detailed if mildly problematic characters. Old World Blues is the funniest DLC by far – taking a sci fi horror b-movie aesthetic. My one criticism is it doesn’t integrate action and dialogue as well as the main game, but it’s still a fun time – and Lonesome road is a spectacular climax to the character of the courier.

This game does have issues – although largely as a result of the Bethesda engine and rushed development. I mentioned before I lost my original save game – this is not an uncommon occurrence – the game is full of bugs, ranging from quirky and exploitable for speed running, to game breaking and save file destroying.

The FPS elements also suffer with the Bethesda Engine – precise shooting without VATS is difficult, although noticeably better than 3. The quest marker and maps are also a bit clunky – being very difficult to navigate dungeons with multiple floors. But apart from that, I have very little criticism. The world design is perfect – having the expanse of the best open world games, but a clear pathway for those who wish to play the game in a more linear fashion. There’s lots of places to go and secrets to discover, but it’s also hard to get lost. The new monsters are a welcome addition, and older enemies feel less interchangeable. There are much fewer just “generic raiders” or “generic super mutants” and there are specific tribes in different locations, and the majority of humanoid enemies aren’t essential to fight. And the writing is some of the best I’ve seen in any RPG ever.

I've not even scratched the service on this game; Fallout New Vegas might not be a perfect game – some aspects are dated, and you have to deal with some frustrating elements. But it is an experience I will not forget for as long as I live – even if I never play the game again after today.

I made the mistake of playing this after all of the other Fallout games since so many people said this was the best one. For me, this was my LEAST enjoyable Fallout game.

A convoluted story without any emotional connection. I kept asking why I should even care about any of the decisions/factions. Not that the other games had amazing stories, but at least there were (somewhat) clear motivations. The moral choices were still pretty much black and white.

This is all subjective, of course, but I didn't expect just how boring this game was. Most of it is dead desert. I legit fell asleep while holding down the run to get to a location. Nothing attacked me, didn't stumble upon a find, no NPCs to interact with, just desert. The game is definitely more "open" than "world."

Lastly, the quests were so bad. If they weren't fetch quests they were "deliver these messages back and forth" quests. Jill loves Tony, travel to Tony to tell him. Tony likes her too, travel back to Jill and tell her. Jill wants to go to him but can't until you talk to some other person. Other person lets Jill go, tell Jill she has permission. Jill is happy, go tell Tony that Jill is coming. Ugh!!! How is this a "game?!"

Maybe back in 2010 this was entertaining. And maybe I should not have played this after completing games like Mass Effect Trilogy and The Witcher 3 for the first time. I'm happy for all who found this game enjoyable, but I do feel that it is very overrated.

My Fave FPS, 27: Fallout: New Vegas

So, this is the first time an RPG makes an appearance. If I'm being honest, I'm not a Fallout guy. I dig the atmosphere, exploration, 50s vibe, humour. These games should be among my absolute favourites, but they're not. It's really just a matter of one mechanic souring the experience enough to prevent that. The mechanic I'm talking about is V.A.T.S. I know, you don't have to use V.A.T.S., but I've always felt it was a band-aid for how crappy the shooting feels, so it calls attention to itself. Maybe this is a case of me being too hard on it, but a single mechanic can absolutely dampen an experience. It's less serious than this, but it reminds me of something like Final Fantasy 8, where the junction system/how it deals with magic makes me not want to play an otherwise fantastic game.

With that said, I like New Vegas quite a bit. I know I've been negative. As I said in my original post, any game on this list is an 8/10. I'm more forgiving of New Vegas because from the moment it begun, I was invested in the story. And that continued.

Went back after the show to finish up getting the achievements. I first played this in 2013 and in 2024, I went and finished the other endings I didn't do back then.

• Legion ending
• Yes man Ending
• House Ending

Works perfectly on Steam Deck with no mods which was a really fun way to play through this.

I now remember why slogging through Fallout: New Vegas felt so heavy.

The game's really barren. I've been through all the houses in Nipton, in Primm, spoke to every NPC and there's not notes, very few computers, very few POIs that make you go "oh what's that" that aren't the starts of the DLCs.

I can only pray I reach Level 15 fast enough so I can start Old World Blues.

3/5

Played this on PC, modded with the 'Viva Las Vegas' modding guide, using all mods including extended. Played for about 20 hours this time round. Second time attempting it.

Decided to give this one another shot after the hype of the fallout TV show and watching some video essays hyping it up.

I think the RPG elements of it are excellent. Character progression is fun and satisfying, roleplaying is catered for in really satisfying ways, even gearing up your character is fun. I played on hardcore mode which added a lot of fun survival aspects to it as well.

Combat was also great with the mods I installed. I liked that it wasn't fully VATS and I also had to manually shoot alot to get through encounters. The difficulty was perfect for my liking, really hard but gets better as you progress.

The story is decent, I don't think it's anything special. I think the characters and writing elevate it quite a bit, with some interesting factions. Having said that I didn't really get hooked into anything and the entire setup wasn't that compelling for me. I got to a point where I was clicking through a lot of dialogue which just told me I'm not in the right place to play this game right now.

I think that this is an excellent game, and I see why everyone loves it. I would love a new Fallout with the focus on RPG elements like this one has. However it's not what I'm looking for right now.

I've got an interesting relationship going with the NCR military in this game. I've basically done a lot of helpful jobs for them all over the Mojave, typically because they are opposing the Legion (fascist slaver cosplay losers) or are at least trying to solve a local problem. Because the NCR can be a little authoritarian, I often don't resolve quests quite the way they want me to, but they generally seem grateful. Grateful enough to have granted me two special radios that will let me call in a squad of their soldiers to help me with a tough fight, even.

Despite that, I went and murdered one little corrupt officer, and now my reputation with them is bad, but not quite shoot-to-kill bad. But bad enough that they sent a death squad of rangers to show up and intimidate me, warning me I had 3 days to make amends or they'd come and whack me.

The hilarious bit about this is the death squad showed up to threaten as I was literally in the middle of a Legion occupied town that I had just liberated, having just saved a number of crucified NCR soldiers at the behest of one of their Rangers. I was just about to finish killing the last couple Legionaires, returning the captured town back to the NCR who had lost it to their enemy. Did the death squad help wipe out the rest of the Legion and reclaim their captured territory? No, they had more important things to do like threaten couriers who are actively assisting their army, lol.

It's kind of cool though, that even though this situation is a result of jank, it does fit in perfectly with the in-universe narrative description of the NCR. They're a corrupt, in-fighting, bloated, bureaucratic government that frequently sabotages their own goals through incompetence and pettiness. Well, I'm going to be kicking them out of the region with my army of robots once we're done defeating the Legion together anyway, so it all works out for me lol.

I find New Vegas to be a game I have to do a factory reset of every two or so years. My mod list gets so unwieldy. Some are important, some are one off things, but I'll forget what's dependant on what. So, I clean it all out and start fresh.

I think that time has come. I picked up the game again & I got something boogered up. It's all red exclamation points & purple graphics.

I legitimately doubt you'll be able to find someone who despises Bethesda rpgs as much as I do. Both the Elder Scrolls series and the Fallouts they've made, they make me angry thinking about them, lol. Somehow I've tricked myself into playing most of them to some extent anyway, which means I somehow have a lot of experience with this series that I hate. But I've always heard New Vegas was different. That it's made by staff that actually know how to make games, and that it utilizes Bethesda's awful engine and game design to make an actually enjoyable experience. And frankly, I've spent probably like 8 hours of my life rewatching/listening to Hbomberguy's New Vegas video, lol.

So I've always wanted to give New Vegas a try. It's never really been available to me on a system I felt I could enjoy it until now, when I found it on Xbox's Game Pass. So I sat down to give it a try and... I wound up playing for 5 hours straight.

Yeah, despite looking and feeling like a game series I cannot stand on the surface, New Vegas is actually good. Like, legitimately good. I'm really glad everyone shouting its praises out there were right.

I think I need to start over though, I made a really shit character.

I dunno, I got 4 hours in and all I found was insta-attacking enemies and tiny towns with one quest in each. After reaching a main quest icon in Nipton only to be rewarded with another one 15000 ft away I gave up.

I'm sure arriving in New Vegas itself is much more interesting but why put all this filler on the way there?

As always, the last paragraph serves as a TLDR.

Like with every older game I play these days, I’m always wary of how much it has aged, and how much of its praise singing is due to nostalgia or, at least, something that was impressive back then but has now lost its edge. My first experience with Fallout 3 this year was also my first with the Fallout universe, and to my surprise, the game still holds up in what it does best, namely a very well realised apocalyptic atmosphere and environmental design. Being touted as one of the best RPGs of all time and inarguably the best Fallout of the post-isometric era, New Vegas, I knew beforehand, had bigger shoes to fill. And after spending 48hrs with it on my first playthrough (console, no mods), I find myself doing something I never do (or rather did) these days, which is replaying a game right after I finished it. This is the biggest compliment I can give the outstanding RPG accomplishment that is New Vegas.

There’s no denying the game shows its age - and obvious issues - as you play it: it’s visually problematic, both lighting and texture wise, often making it easy for you to miss stuff because you simply ‘can’t’ see it; it’s buggy in a way that can sometimes detract from the experience (crashes, VATS, creatures getting ‘buried’ under the surface, etc etc); it’s underwhelming from a situational dialogue perspective, particularly by today’s standards; it’s nothing to write home about in terms of navigation clarity (the fact that it relies a bit too much on asset recycling doesn’t help); one could even say it’s visually less atmospheric than Fallout 3 in the wasteland vibe it tries to convey. In a lot of ways, this game would greatly benefit from a remake or, at least, a reworked version.

Every single one of these less positive aspects, however, pales in comparison with the masterclass that is New Vegas in most other areas, especially in the ones where it’s supposed to deliver. This game in one absolutely brilliant RPG, even 12 years after release. From the way you choose your character skills (I didn’t think any Fallout game would do it better/more immersively than 3, but I was wrong) to how differently the ending may play out depending on your decisions, NW hits the perfect note on almost every single RPG aspect there is to consider: customisation, scaling, sense of progression, factions, storytelling, worldbuilding, mission variety, choice and consequence. I really could go on. The game gives you a true sense of freedom, allowing you to shape the world in as big or as small a manner as you like. This is, in fact, one of the main aspects NV executes wonderfully: you start off as a courier. A courier on a mission, potentially, but a courier nonetheless (and even that is debatable). There is no narratively mandatory grand quest to embark on. There is no noble crusade you ‘have’ to take because the plot pigeonholes you into it. Every single action you might end up taking can make sense, precisely because NV doesn’t present you with a moral imperative that feels wrong to ignore. In this particular sense, both the Hardcore mode and the fact that you can pretty much kill any NPC you see without breaking the game are wonderful tools. I honestly can’t remember the last time I played a game that made me want to experience it in a pure survival style this much, which is what I’m doing right now.

Another RPG trope NV made me want to play around with almost immediately is the builds. There is so much potential here for so many different play styles that I often started drooling at the prospect of being someone else doing something else during my first playthrough. In a big way, that’s also because the game offers you a ton of things to do. The map isn’t massive by any means (though it does a great job of selling the illusion of size) but it’s packed to the brim with awesome, varied content which ties itself to a marvellous sense of exploration, another area where NV really shines. Right around the corner, there’s always a mini-story to dive into, a mystery to solve, a weird-looking structure that pokes at your curiosity, useful loot or enemy encounters. I’m pretty sure I’ll never forget my very first, and very epic encounter with Deathclaws, or the time I stumbled upon Vault 11 completely by accident, and got pulled into a superiorly written mystery I immediately wanted to get to the bottom of (what a stellar example of environmental storytelling!). NV is full of these moments that enrich your own personal experience and make you want to spend a lot of time in its world.

One final RPG aspect I’d like to talk about is the ‘grey area’ concept. Being a huge fan of the genre, I’m tired of the overly simplistic, overused black & white dichotomy for choice and consequence so many RPGs employ, especially these days. Oftentimes, this dilutes player choice into a very easy, very binary decision-making process that requires no thought or emotional involvement. New Vegas bellies out a resounding fuck you to all that. I’m having trouble remembering the last time I agonised over my choices and potential outcomes as much as I have throughout this game: there rarely is a ‘right’ answer, particularly as you go through the main story beats. In the NV universe, you are constantly reminded that the world isn’t a binary playground, and that even your well-intended choices might result - and will result - in unintended negative consequences. Here, too, this game serves as a breath of fresh air and a pungent reminder of what a true RPG should feel like to play.

I haven’t gone into detail about all the things this game does super well (great, moody and atmospheric soundtrack, surprisingly good voice acting, disguise system, having to hand in your weapons depending on where you go, and so on). Nor have I mentioned every single one of its flaws. But in a nutshell, this is what I’d like you to take away if, for whatever reason, you bore with me and endured this (probably unnecessary) long ‘essay’ until the end: Fallout: New Vegas is one of those games that truly deserves the moniker of ‘RPG masterpiece’. It treads the genre needle almost to perfection, to the point of overshadowing its issues almost completely. The sheer amount of possibilities in terms of playstyles, outcomes, mission execution and experience diversity you get from this game is nothing short of incredible, even more so when you consider its short development cycle. If, like me, you’re one of the few weirdos who has managed to never play the game until now and are a bit apprehensive in terms of how much it has aged, but also consider yourself an RPG fan at the same time, go ahead and dive into New Vegas, head first. I can pretty much guarantee you’ll come out the other end feeling glad you did. 9.5

Kobu - Sortable Crafting Backpack ('convenience' container with unlim. carry weight)
Auto Loot Cheaters Edition
Grenade Hotkey
Explosions Critical Knock Down
Explosive Knockdown
Sprint
DK Bullettime
Reload

Advanced J3XMotercycle (alternative to fast travel. Saddlebags.)
00 Commando - A shotgun Lover Mod
AEVegas Vol5 Gatling Alice (Adds three very nice big guns.)
TGs Armor Collection

Project Nevada
Monster Mod (With Aliens and Terminators plugins!)
Warzones
New Vegas Bounties
A World of Pain
Run the Lucky 38

CASM (MCM)
Mod Configuration Menu
Pipboy Readius (A Familiar Friend Pip-Boy 2500 is also nice...)
iHUD (better than ever)
PipWare UI New Vegas Edition
IMCNNV Imps More Complex needs
Ambient Temperature
HUD Extended
pHud (primary needs)
uHud (unified hud)
aHud (adjustable hud)

More Challenges
Combat Enhancement Perks

Not the best compatibility. Had issues with some things. (Monster Mod, AWOP iirc)