Fall in to Fallout: New Vegas

Story: 

Benny and members of the Great Khans

You are literally thrown in media res of a conspiracy that will ultimately decide the fate of New Vegas.  Throughout the game, you will run into smaller factions such as the Boomers, Great Khans, Brotherhood of Steel, and others in the Mojave Wasteland with the stakes rising as you set foot in New Vegas and the three major factions ask you for your help in claiming the Hoover Dam, the only stable power source in all of the Mojave. Should you pledge your loyalty to the Romanesque Legion of Caesar, an army of cold blooded killers who wish nothing more than to conquer and enslave? Perhaps working with the New California Republic (NCR) by helping them police and regulate the land? Or becoming the right hand man to the reclusive guardian of New Vegas, Robert House, who carries a secret agenda of liberating New Vegas. 

Layout:   

Too familiar?

            New Vegas is not necessarily a sequel, but another story of the Fallout world. The game engine can easily be recognized as the same as Fallout 3, leaving nothing really new to offer. The color scheme is focused more towards a sandy yellow as opposed to the lifeless grey in order to emphasize the desert setting. The actual city of New Vegas is a new experience for Fallout enthusiasts, giving players the chance to gamble and become involved in the inner workings of the casinos.

Behold the Centaur!

Not only are there plenty of drug fiends and gangs running amok, there is also a plethora of wild mutated creatures from two headed cows to man sized geckos to radiation induced abominations called “Centaurs”. Whether you’re cracking a Legionnaire’s skull with a fatal melee blow or sniping an NCR Ranger in the far off distance, you have the luxury of pillaging their bodies for any notable loot which you can keep for yourself or sell to traders in order to improve your odds of survival.

Interaction/Mechanics:

One of the many outcomes of a quest.

As soon as you are able to move, you are given the freedom to explore the Mojave Wasteland through multiple angles. One of the major strengths and appeals to the Fallout series are the countless possibilities a player can use to approach just about any situation. Want to try a diplomatic approach to talk your way out of a fight? Maybe sneak by with enough stealth and lockpicking skills to avoid a fight? Or maybe you could just throw caution to the window and run in, guns blazing, taking down all who fall in your sights.

Survival is the theme of this game and the post-apocalyptic wasteland does nothing less than emphasize it. You will find yourself traveling long distances, hopping from town to town like a true wanderer with your trusty Pip-Boy to keep track of the your stats, inventory, quests, and GPS. It’s no wonder that one of the many traits your character can invest is titled “Survival” where you must scrounge for any source of sustenance. This not only allows the player to regain hit points per second (HP/S) depending on how many points are invested in it, but also also allows you to make campfire recipes to improve the quality of the food you consume.  Although this may seem like a trivial trait, it is quite effective in the new hardcore feature which adds a bit more realism by including a hydration, food, and sleep meter to your stats which you will continuously need to keep an eye on. Players will thoroughly enjoy the epic climb to the top from scrounging for mole meat to dining on fine wines and throwing their caps around at the numerous casinos.

The V.A.T.S at work.

The combat system contains a mixture of mechanics of a traditional first person shooter, where a player must aim their shots manually in real time or use cinematic stat based attacks utilized by Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System (V.A.T.S). The difference between firing off two to four shots at a time in V.A.T.S can be determined by the amount of action points you have which recharges over time.

New Vegas has not only put some particular traits like “Speech” to more use, but other traits and stats have the chance to influence alternative choices along with your reputation in each faction. The complexity of reputation goes much farther than being good or bad; siding with one faction can lead to another hating you and some quests disappearing. For better or worse, your choices will ultimately determine the fate of the Mojave and the individual people you meet. Quests and side quests alike have multiple outcomes which will occasionally put you in the fork in the road where each decision results in its own ramifications.

The ever loyal Rex.

Companions of all shapes and sizes can help keep you company and watch your back in some tight situations depending on how you tweak you “companion wheel”, a special interface that helps you manage the behavior of your companion along with other features. Speaking of features, “fast travel” helps break the monotony and time consumption of backtracking by instantly taking you to a previously explored location.

Presentation:

As mentioned earlier, little has changed since Fallout 3 aside from allowing more options in quests. The autosave in the game is actually a vital necessity thanks to the many bugs and glitches residing in the game itself; you will easily become angry at the sight of a frozen loading screen and parts of the map that you will fall through the floor of.

The soundtrack of New Vegas is quality that fits perfectly with the theme of a classic Vegas. Wayne Newton’s voice makes a guest appearance through a radio station called, “Radio New Vegas”, which plays music reminiscent of a Vegas from another time; other notable actors such as Matthew Perry, Ron Perlman, and Felicia Day also lend their voices. This combined with the dynamic sound effects of explosions, beeps, and plasma blasts results in high quality audio that should not be overlooked.

Pro:

Whether you have played previous installments of the Fallout series or not, New Vegas is an easy game to immerse yourself into. Aside from the glitches, Bethesda did a good job in creating a unique world full of things to do. The variety of weapons are surprisingly plentiful in the wasteland along with plenty of enemies to test them on. There is plenty of replay value not only to try your hand at the hardcore mode, but also to complete the quests over and over again with the many alternative choices which helps determine the fate of the Mojave after completing the main quests.

Con:

The bugs and glitches have already been mentioned several times but it is a point that cannot be stressed enough for a game that was highly anticipated amongst dedicated fans. Although New Vegas' layout  was well put together, it is almost too similar to Fallout 3. Hopefully if they decide to make another Fallout game, it won’t seem so much as a rehash as a whole new gaming experience to enjoy.

Get out there and get your hands dirty.