Fallout: New Vegas (2010)

Some of the best writing in modern RPGs and masterfully hits the "Fallout feel" (go figure considering the creators).

I could rant forever about everything great in this game but the number one thing I will highlight is just how much it respects the player and their decisions. A game that's not afraid to let the player mess everything up if they want to is rare and allows for so much roleplaying freedom within the world.

The biggest issue with this game is technical problems, which is hard to blame the creators for considering they were using Bethesda's tech and were super rushed, but none the less they do exist. But if those technical problems would reduce a star then I'd give this game a starting score of 6.

5 / 5 Stars

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.

Ah... Good old Fallout New Vegas! After playing Outer Worlds, I've decided to go back and replay New Vegas. Although I did have an excellent time with the game (again), some issues prevented it from being as good as its predecessors (again).

New Vegas is familiar to anyone who played Fallout 3. It's basically a glorified expansion of that game, with a few twitches here and there. But that's not to say that this is a bad game! In the Mojave Wasteland you'll meet great characters, amazing new factions to connect with (or not), fine companions, interesting quests, crazy guns, mysterious areas, plenty of secrets and a VAST open world location to explore. And I'd like to reiterate: A HUGE world of possibilities!

When it comes to gameplay, the combat may not shine, but I do believe that the V.A.T.S. system compensates for this. If you have played previous Fallout games, you probably know that this game is about talking your way through a problem instead of shooting your way out of it. But the greatest thing is that, if you want to shoot anything and anyone, well... Go ahead! The sheer freedom of choice in this game is insane. I don't think the story is as great as other games of the franchise, but the overwhelming amount of options and independence is astounding. Especially how they tackle the main quest.

This, the personal sense of progression and the scale of things you can discover in New Vegas, make up for a great time.

The problem with New Vegas is the fact that none of previous mistakes were fixed here. In fact, some of them got worse. This game is not polished at all! It's rough around ALL of its edges and it just gets more and more dated.

It crashed CONSTANTLY, there were glitches EVERYWHERE, game breaking bugs around the corner of every decision/movement your character takes, maze-like dungeon design, annoying unnecessary filler fetch quests, slow combat system, cluttered UI, confusing quest objectives and a karma system that doesn't work properly. These are just a few of the problems you will encounter on your playthroughs, but I could go on...

Also, although dialogues are well-written here, YOUR character's dialogue choices are very vague. Back in the day, that didn't bother me so much, but after games like Mass Effect 2, Witcher 3 and Outer Worlds, the lack of persona in your character is highly noticeable and quite awkward.

And to think that this game came 2 years after Fallout 3... Things could have been better optimized, at least.

Despite its jarring shortcomings and its overwhelming nature, Fallout New Vegas can still be a great experience. Not as good as the other games in the series, but I definitely recommend it, in case you want to scratch the Fallout itch or just feel like playing a bleak, but sprawling RPG.

"Play Fallout: New Vegas," they said. "It's the best one," they said. And I, fool that I am, did not listen—until finally, on a whim, I added to my cart to get free shipping. Now, I went into this expecting it to be basically Fallout 3 in a different place. I honestly thought I'd get bored with it halfway through and just stop. Turns out I was wrong.

New Vegas is the best Bethesda Fallout game right from the start. The opening cinematic that then blends seamlessly into the first scene sets up the world in a way that neither 3 or 4 ever bother to do. That cinematic and the fact that you can actually see New Vegas from your starting point but are forced to take the long way around turns the game from just following a green arrow without any real investment in your journey to actually being excited about your destination, which then makes your more curious about the world around New Vegas. And Goodsprings makes for a great starting point, a town that actually has people already living there (unlike Sanctuary), but isn't so big or established that you don't really feel like you can connect with the community (unlike Megaton). So the first major choice you have in the game, whether to defend the town or help the Powder Gangers, actually carries weight and makes you feel involved in the world right from the start. While there were a couple choices that I actually had to think about in 4, they always felt isolated and disconnected from the rest of the world and the larger narrative (and that B.S. boilerplate ending pretty much confirmed that feeling).

I could go on about the weight of the choices in the game, the interesting characters and side quests that actually feel important, etc. etc., but basically that boils down to, "Hey, you know the stuff you want from a Bethesda game? This game does that stuff really well." The main thing that sticks out to me about this game that may get overlooked in other discussions of it is that Fallout: New Vegas, on more than one occasion, legitimately surprised me. Stories that didn't go the way I expected them to, dialogues that seemed to be going nowhere that actually led to quest chains, problems that I thought had only one solution that it turned I could solve in creative ways, and a couple jump scares that I did not see coming at all. Not to mention Yes Man, who is possibly the most surprising NPC I have encountered. Perhaps the biggest surprise of all was me surprising myself: I spent most of the 2nd act expecting to kill Mr. House, and ended up siding with him in the end. I don't think any other game has managed to change my mind at such a late stage (granted, that's partly because I put off even meeting Mr. House for a lot longer than the game intended, but still).

Does this game have mechanical problems? Abso-bally-lutely. This is a crappy shooter, the crafting is unsatisfying (having played Fallout 4 first, 3 and New Vegas are necessarily disappointing when it comes to weapon and armor mods), and frankly, it gets a little exhausting to play after a while, which is partly why I actually didn't get around to the much-lauded DLC on this playthrough. But I spent 3 WEEKS agonizing over whether to side with Mr. House. No other game has made me care enough or presented strong enough arguments to make spend that much time on a decision. And the ending of the game actually made that decision (and many of the other decisions I'd made) matter, which is a heck of a lot more than I can say for 3 or 4.

And of course Bethesda has promised to never outsource the writing of their games ever again so...this is the best Fallout game we're gonna get. Enjoy it.

10/10 - My third favourite game

Pros:

Excellent story and world, the main story is much more engaging and well-written than Fallout 3's. The world also makes more sense (The farms around New Vegas, the Dam as a source of water, etc), making the world more believable and the faction tension the game explores that much more exciting.

Vast replayability as with any Fallout game, but now with that Obsidian charm. Many unique locations, fun quests and memorable characters on a vast scale.

Cons: Somewhat less player choice focused than Fallout 3 (No Karma, Faction system, etc), and you sometimes feel like you're not in control, forced to choose one faction or another.

Some Bugs, as well as minor graphical and control issues