The LV. Cap - Fallout: New Vegas Review

Fallout 3 came out back in 2008 and it was an instant hit. Even though it had some glitches, it was the game of the year in my opinion. Now, the Fallout universe is back for more and it’s taking us to New Vegas. Taking place in the Mojave Wasteland, Fallout: New Vegas puts you in the role of The Courier. Being left for dead in the beginning of the game, you must find the man who shot you and get back what is yours. However, there is always a bigger picture. The game brings improvements upon gameplay, a new setting and story, and the good ol’ Fallout experience we know and love. Is Fallout: New Vegas game of the year material or does it rot in the Wasteland?

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Fallout: New Vegas
Playstation 3, Xbox 360, & PC
1 Player
Developer: Obsidian Entertainment
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
ESRB Rating: M For Mature
Price: Consoles - $59.99, PC - $49.99

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Pros
Improvements: Since New Vegas uses the same engine as Fallout 3, you will see much of the same type of gameplay. However, there are things that have been added to make the gameplay much better. Finally, you can look down the sights of your guns. This is really helpful as it increases your accuracy. Also, you can give more commands to your companions and they are more helpful. Another thing added to the game is factions. You can do quests for certain groups in the Mojave Wasteland and earn a good or bad repetition depending on your actions. If you do good for a group, this can lead to discounts, extra items, or companions. If you do bad towards a group, they will try and hunt you down. All of these new features help the game improve.


Exploration: The best part of Fallout 3 was the exploration. There was tons of areas to visit and find. New Vegas is no different as it offers tons of locations to see. Small towns, The Strip in New Vegas, & hidden areas will be found in the Mojave Wasteland. You can walk around the Wasteland for hours just exploring. Also if you pick the Wild Wasteland trait at the beginning of the game, you’ll see references from movies like Indiana Jones and Star Wars.


Middle Ground
Hardcore Mode: Obsidian has added Hardcore Mode. This mode ramps up the challenge of the game. You’ll have to eat food & drink water, must sleep, stimpaks heal over time, crippled limbs can only be healed by doctor’s bags or a doctor, ammo has weight, and companions can die. Yes, it seems pretty ridiculous but it’s for the hardcore Fallout fans out there.


Story: The story of New Vegas is pretty simple. You are left for dead and something is stolen from you. A doctor fixes you up and you are out on the quest to find who shot you. Of course, there is more to it as the story becomes more than just looking for the man who shot you. The story is predicable and the ending is kind of a letdown, but it will keep you interested.



Cons
Glitches/Crashes: Just like Fallout 3, New Vegas is plagued with glitches. Spinning heads, invisible computers, and getting stuck in rocks will happen. Game breaking glitches happen making you start a new character. Also, the game chugs along. There is a lot being loaded at one time and it will make the game chug. It seems that crashes happen more often than they did in Fallout 3. There has been a patch for the PC version of the game that makes the game run smooth. Console versions must watch for a patch which is needed badly.


Stiff Animations: The animations of the character models are stiff. They do seem like robots and their facial expressions are always the same. The stiffness of the animations doesn’t help the game look good.


Third Person Camera - Console Version: On the PC version of the game, you can control the third person camera. You can move closer to your character for a more over the shoulder view which is good. In console versions, you don’t have that control. The third person camera is the same as in Fallout 3. You’ll be wanting to stick to first person view at all times on console versions.


Feels Like An Expansion: As fun as New Vegas is, it just seems like a big expansion of Fallout 3. The engine is the same, the visuals look pretty much the same, and the audio sounds identical. The game is still good ol’ Fallout but it just feels like we played the game already.


Can’t Play After Ending: Just like Fallout 3 before the Broken Steel downloadable content, you can’t wander around the Wasteland after you been the game. Come on, just let us finish those side quests after we finish the main storyline. Didn’t we learn from Fallout 3 that people want to mess around after the main story?



Overall/Verdict
Fallout: New Vegas is a good game with some problems. Exploring the Mojave Wasteland and the improvements upon the gameplay make the game just as fun as Fallout 3. However the glitches, stiff animations, and constant crashes may hinder the gameplay experience. For everyone that liked Fallout 3, go out and get Fallout: New Vegas. For everyone else, rent it. And for everyone that didn’t like Fallout 3, you will most likely not like Fallout: New Vegas.


Review copy provided by Bethesda Softworks