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Fallout New Vegas is a great game for anyone who loves the idea of 50's themed futuristic western apocalyptic scenarios including mutants, spaceships and adventure. Yes, it is true that this game does have some violence, but it is nothing that a mature twelve year old shouldn't be able to handle. Fallout: New Vegas. Fallout: New Vegas is an action role-playing video game in the Fallout video game series. The game was developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Bethesda Softworks. It released for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in October 2010. Downloadable content and expanded re-editions followed in 2010–2012.
What is this?
Well it’s simple. This guide is a quick rundown on each of Fallout New Vegas’s DLC’s. And this guide is to design helping Newcomers to figure out which (if not) all DLC’s do they prefer. Pretty simple, right?
The next thing your wondering is: “Why?” I am doing this guide to help newcommers to Fallout New Vegas. Instead of wasting time looking up the forums or posting topics about the DLC, or even looking up in the wiki. This guide will help newcommers understand what each DLC is in store for them without spoiling it.
NOTE: It is highly recommended playing ALL THE DLC’s in order from Dead Money to Lonesome Road to make sense of the story in Lonesome. If not the story then at least the characters within the final story based DLC.
Recommended Starter levels
Before we begin. Here are the “recommended starter levels” for each DLC. Note, that Honest Hearts doesn’t require a specific recommended level starter. Just a specific weight limit.
- Dead Money-Level 20+
- Honest Hearts: Weight Limit: 100 (Using Strong Back or Pack Rat is useful. Plus a survival skill of 50)
- Old World Blues-Level 15+
- Lonsome Road-Level 25+
Also you can start the DLC at anytime. There is no “invisible Wall” preventing you to start the DLC’s. Just be aware Dead Money, Honest Hearts, and Old World Blues you won’t be able to go back into the Mojave Wasteland until the quest is complete. So save before attempting any of the DLC’s except for Lonesome Road. You can go back and forth between the DLC zone and the Mojave Zone.
Dead Money
Here’s the rundown for the first Fallout New Vegas DLC: Dead Money.
Note: It is recommended that first-time players reach level 20 or higher before beginning this add-on.
So what is “Dead Money”?
In a nutshell you take Fallout, combine with the skill and challenge from a Souls Game. And you combined it into one spectacular DLC for you to either enjoy. Or practically cussing and destroying your keyboard in rage or computer screen which ever comes first. Although it isn’t as hard unless you, yourself make it hard. So beware.
This DLC combines skill and dialogue. Adding to that is an intriguing storyline with a very interesting line up of characters. In a dangerous environment that almost anything can kill you.
What to expect from this DLC?
- “Hardcore” environment
- Character dilemma and drama
- An interesting story of the Sierra Madre.
- Heavy skill based DLC
Pros
- Challenges that tests the player’s particular play style.
- An interesting storyline with characters each of them interconnected.
- Special loot designed for the DLC.
Cons
- One way trip till DLC is finished. (save before starting DLC)
- All items in inventory are gone. Until completion of the DLC (Make sure your weight capacity is large in number if you are intending bringing back everything).
- No companions may come along from Mojave Wasteland. Including companions from the DLC may journey with you outside of the DLC area either when the questline is finished or during.
- No Fast travel.
- No Player home.
Honest Hearts
So what is Honest Hearts?
Take the dark and murky setting of Dead Money. And exchange it for a much nicer and calm setting. Unlike the previous DLC this DLC doesn’t rely on skill mostly paying attention much more to the dialogue and figuring out the rights and wrongs between Daniel and a man named Joshua. This DLC does require a weight limit before traveling but if you have certain perks then that requirement will be negated.
What to expect from this DLC?
- Beautiful lush environment.
- Interesting NPCs with their own backstory
- New and returning creatures
- Specific items and perks for the DLC.
- Specific quests that is related to the DLC
Pros
- New items and New Perks.
- New setting with NPCs and creatures to see.
- DLC requires mainly no skill. Plays like a typical vanilla session.
Cons
- One way ticket until the DLC is completed.
- Followers from this DLC will not go with you after the DLC is completed. Followers from ‘New Vegas’ will not journey with you to DLC location.
- No player home.
Note: Fast travel can be used. Only until the final quest where you will have to do a lot of traveling around. Fast Travel will resume once the final quest is done.
Old World Blues
What is Old World Blues?
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You take science fiction and mix it with a little bit of Fallout. and this is what this DLC is in a nutshell. This DLC takes place in a scientific research hub where you will help scientists foil the plans of another scientist that has gone mad. Unlike the previous two DLC’s this one has no requirement except for level.
What to expect in this DLC?
- Science-fiction references to movies, tv, etc.
- Witty Humor.
- “Perks” to help reshape your character. (This is the only DLC that does it).
Pros
- Perks to help redesign your character.
- Energy galore (Equipment, weapons, etc.)
- Witty Humor
- Able to fast travel
- Large scale places to explore. Each place with it’s own history and unique quest.
- Player Home. With it’s own personality.
- Many scientific related quests (if you like science-fiction or science in general).
Cons
- Unable to bring companions along. DLC has specific companion.
- Heavily based DLC that relies on Energy, Science, Repair and Speech perks. (This is for players not using these particular set of skills whatsoever).
- Fast Traveling (at the beginning of the DLC. Once you start discovering places. This shouldn’t be a biggy).
Note: At some point you will get a device that can transport you from this location to the Mojave.
Lonesome Road
So what is the Lonesome Road?
Well that is a quick explanation. It combines all the previous DLC’s:
- Dead Money’s – Challenges with skills and perks for the particular player playstyle
- Honest Heart’s – Exploration with morality in mind.
- Old World Blues – Unique backdrop and storyline.
Note: Well te♥♥♥♥♥ally if you have been following this guide it combines all the goods and bads of the previous DLCs, and either improves upon them or removes them completely for something more linear.
What to expect from this DLC?
- Dangerous and terrifying new locations.
- New enemies (Only for the DLC)
- New loot and perks.
- Connecting Storyline with the previous DLC’s and mainly your story.
- Ideology and morality discussions.
Pros
- Able to travel from and to the Mojave. Unlike in previous DLC’s. (Exception is Old World Blues)
- Fast Travel
- Companions are not allowed into the add-on, as with all the other add-ons in Fallout: New Vegas
- DLC requires no exceptions only for level. (Although it isn’t really challenging)
Cons
- Mile-away storyline. (You should have a good idea where your story will be heading towards)
- Companions from DLC may not journey with you outside the DLC zone after completion.
- Some familiar enemies.
- Lack of real impact in the main storyline.
Note: I won’t spoil the reasons for number 4. But by the time you beat this DLC you will probably be thinking, “Wait that’s it?”
Courier’s Stash
So what is the Courier’s Stash?
Well depending on the certain retailer you will get a specific “Starter Gear” for the pre-order.
But now? As a whole? What does the ENTIRE Courier’s Stash contain?
Caravan Pack
- Lightweight leather armor
- Sturdy caravan shotgun
- 40 20 gauge shotgun shells
- 4 weapon repair kits
- Binoculars
Classic Pack
- Armored Vault 13 jumpsuit
- Weathered 10mm pistol
- 50 10mm rounds
- Vault 13 canteen <— Semi-Useful on Hardcore mode.
- 5 stimpaks
Mercenary Pack
- Lightweight metal armor
- Mercenary’s grenade rifle
- 20 40mm grenades
- 3 super stimpaks
- 3 doctor’s bags
Tribal Pack
- Tribal raiding armor
- Broad machete
- 5x bleak venom
- 10 throwing spears
So if you want to make your travels throughout the Mojave Wasteland. Less, stressful. This is for you.
Note: Some mods on the Fallout New Vegas Nexus does require this add-on. And also all of this equipment will be given to you at the start of every playthrough.
Gun Runner’s Arsenal
What is the Gun Runners’ Arsenal?
Well it is two-fold. This add-on does two things:
- It increases the number of unique weapons, weapon mods, and powerful ammo types, and recipes.
- This add-on also gives new challenges and more achievements/trophies.
I won’t spoil some of the things this add-on contains.
It basically boils down to this. Overall, If your a gun nut. And love your fallout guns. And also the challenge system within Fallout New Vegas. This one is for you.
Note: Just like the Courier’s Stash. This add-on is needed for some related mods. Or else those mods on the Nexus won’t work.
Original Link – Continuation of discussion
After the mega-hit that was Fallout 3 a follow up was inevitable. Fallout: New Vegas attempts to recapture the shock and awe of Fallout 3, while adding a little spice in the form of new locations, gameplay, and the karma system. As the name suggests Fallout: New Vegas takes place in a post apocalyptic Mojave desert. Your character is a courier who is shot in the head and left for dead. Luckily a friendly robot digs you up and takes you to a town for medical support. Once you're back on your feet you need to find out who shot you and why and retrieve the package they stole from you.
But it's not that simple when you've got two major armies battling for control of the area, raiders, gangs, and countless wasteland critters in your way. One of the things that sets New Vegas apart from Fallout 3 is. Unlike the rest of the Mojave, Vegas was never hit by the nukes. It still has the lights, casinos and sin of the old world attached to it. This attracts more than just tourists. Several military forces are pulling for control of Vegas and Hover Dam, and your choices will decide the winner.
Gameplay is similar to Fallout 3. You have guns, explosives, melee weapons, energy weapons, and even your own two fists to take care of the bad guys. The combat can be played in real time or in V.A.T.S.
When using V.A.T.S. The game is paused and you select body parts to attack.
Their chance of hitting and the enemies health are displayed. Requires action points which are replenished in real-time combat, so you'll be using both evenly. The game can be played in first and third person, although first is highly recommended.
When it comes to exploration there are no vehicles, which mean you'll be walking everywhere. Luckily once you've discovered an area you can fast travel there. Each time you level up you get to increase your skills. Skills determine how deadly you are with certain weapons, how tough you are, the locks you can pick, and the people you can trick.
Every other time you level up you pick perks. Perks give special abilities to your character. Perks are unlocked depending on your current skill level with different skills so it's recommended you play through a second time to experience everything. The other big gameplay feature is your karma and reputation.
Karma is your personal choices on how to handle situations. Stealing and killing civilians will lower your karma while helping others will raise it. Different groups treat you differently depending on your karma but it's not as important as reputation. Your reputation is how much different groups like or dislike you. The more a group likes you the higher the discounts you get at their shops and the more support they'll lend you against foes. The more a group dislikes you the higher the prices the at their shops and the more likely they'll be to put bounties on your head. In makes you think twice about who you double cross.
You won't be able to be friends with everyone so certain quests will be locked, so it's again highly recommended you play through a second time. The graphics are (for the most part) amazing. Character models look great and it's breathtaking to climb a steep hill and see the Vegas strip shining for miles over a bleak and destroyed wasteland. The occasional texture fade-ins and unblinking eyes of NPCs break the realism.
Fallout: New Vegas sounds perfect, but it's not. The game is riddled with glitches. Some small like invisible walls and clipping, some big like hostile NPCs and and game crashes. If you save often it won't be a problem but it's still annoying. All in all Fallout: New Vegas is an impressive game that any fan of shooters, role players, or gambling would be a fool to miss. When this game came out I had never played Fallout before, but a lot of people I knew (IRL or internet) were excited for it and I started listening to them talk. What I heard was a lot of positive but also lots about bugs, glitches, freezing and just how much time it consumes – ie similar to what I had heard about Fallout 3.
Since then I picked up FO3 for tiny money and loved it despite the very occasional freeze-up in my 100 hours or so playing! Despite this, I let the negative things about NV put me off picking it up for a while before eventually getting it. As before I find that Fallout delivers me a massive gaming experience with so much to explore and do that I get totally immersed in this world despite me not really being a big RPG fan. At time of writing I have played the game for around 130 hours and still have a couple of the DLC sections I want to do.
It is also worth saying that this time is with one character. As with FO3, you have a main storyline but you also have endless little side questions, many of which are linked to the story but a lot of which are simply optional. In terms of the story, it is much better than the previous game and I did find it interesting to follow along, although not so interesting that I tried to rush it – having played the previous game I knew that the story would wait for me to progress it. I also benefited from knowing that there was a specific point in the story where you do have to make a decision to align yourself definitively with one of four factions – so I put this point off for as long as possible so that I can make a save here (as the exploring and discovering is a massive part of the game for me, repeating 80 hours for the sake of a different ending doesn't appeal). However I did like the way that different factions do treat you different. In FO3, the karma thing makes a difference but not a massive difference. In NV it makes things much more engaging that, if you decide to attack NCR for fun, then don't expect them to keep giving you missions and smiling at you – they will attack and you may find you go so far that you remain enemies throughout.
I enjoyed this and, as I play middle-of-the-road, it was fun keeping everyone more or less onside by doing side-quests etc. As before, exploring may not look fun to someone watching you play, but it is fun to never know what is coming and find locations that might just be a burnt out car with some stuff – or come over the hill to find the city of New Vegas illuminating the skyline. Indeed I enjoyed the side quests so much that I had done 80 hours and the majority of them before I even went to Boulder City (which is early in the main story). The game looks and feels the same as FO3 and it is a little disappointing that graphics haven't moved on since then, but only a little – the game quickly makes you forget superficial details like that with how enjoyable the gameplay and world is. Those that were excited about the strip will have been disappointed to find that it is quite a small settlement with only a small number of buildings, but personally I liked it as it was only ever going to be an oasis in the desert and not a massive city. I also very much liked seeing it from afar at night and its location was perfect for that. The audio design was improved from FO3.
OK we have more star voices in small roles, but for me the main thing was that more voices were used for characters you don't interact with, whereas in FO3 all males had the same voice and phrase. I didn't dare play hardcore, but this game was enjoyably tough even in the normal mode. Enemies seemed harder and some of the tougher ones were scattered around nicely – although I missed my dartgun at first, I was glad that the Deathclaws remained a challenge throughout, and couldn't just be slowed down with one dart. The only downside of playing for so long and doing all the side quests before advancing the story was that, by the time I did finally get around to choosing a side and fighting at Hoover Dam, I was such a high level that I was pretty hard to stop; but personally the handful of actual story missions were just a small part of the game when you consider the wider world. Overall Fallout New Vegas did it for me again. A huge world with so much to do – yes visually it is essentially a mod of FO3 but this only bothered me for the first few seconds; after that I was off out into the wasteland, making moral decisions, exploring, helping out towns, setting up murderous old women, leading a cult to their salvation and keeping all factions on my side.
Crashes and glitches for me were probably 1 in 15 hours, which I can happily live with in exchange for such a great game. Fallout: New Vegas is a game that can be played in every way: you could play though the main story and call it a day, or you could be a completionist like me and try to milk it for all it's worth over several separate playthoughs. You can go around with a sniper rifle on your back and try to take down your enemies before they see you, or you can go in with an assault rifle, or an SMG, or a plasma rifle, or a laser rifle for that matter. You can be noisy and rush in with your grenade MG, or with your trusty chainsaw, or, you can be sneaky and fight with a silenced pistol, SMG or sniper. What i'm trying to say is that the possibilities are virtually endless, and it is up to you to decide what suits you best. That is just one aspect of the game. What really makes this game one of the best is simply the atmosphere it has.
No game in history has ever made you wish a nuclear apocalypse more than this one. Weather it be the wide, desolate yet wild landscapes, ranging from scorching deserts to snowy mountains to vast lakes (not as peaceful as it sounds), or maybe the endless sub stories hidden throughout the many computer terminals that are present in all of the ruins scattered about the Mojave wasteland, this game is huge. Not just in the size of the map, but in the stories that go along with it, because for all those people who think that this game has no character development, you are mistaken, for the character with the most depth and mystery is the Mojave Desert itself. As with all Fallout games in the series; the whole concept of the game is mind blowing. The sheer adventure of walking through a post apocalyptic wasteland may not appeal to some, but for those who support the series this is most definitely the best.
Fallout 3 was brilliant, but was a bit depressing to play. New Vegas definitely has a better vibe to it, and it also contains more people and weapons. Although there are a few minor let downs, 1.
Quite Glitchy, a few unfinished rock graphics, slip into one you're stuck and must load back. Danny Trejo's Voice doesn't really suit the ghoul character he plays 3. Main Story ends too quickly. But, apart from that: Brilliant. It is so much easier to write video game reviews than it is to write film reviews, mainly because there is a lot more to talk about. I could write paragraphs and paragraphs about the fallout games, but a thousands words will do for now.
Fallout 3 is the best game I have ever played, meaning I had some serious hype for this. It was not better than Fallout 3, even though it improved a lot of things, it was still an amazing experience. Spoiler free, even though there are no spoilers to be had in this game, so don't think anything I say is one. The Game: I came into this game acting like the grand master, my knowledge served me well, but the game mechanics have been changed.
At first it was incredibly hard, to the point where I didn't feel like playing anymore, but there was no chance of that. In the end you can become even more powerful than you could imagine, the weapons and their mods could change any battle, those statistic enhancement implants were great to.
I have pretty much completed this game, I'm level 50, I got the platinum trophy, and have done so much that my PS3 can't even run this game properly anymore. Why is it that the PS3 version of these games always suck, I had to develop a tactic to keep this game running properly, for the sake of the word limit, I can't explain how. My total play time came up to around a 150 hours, nothing compared to the some 750 hours I spent on Fallout 3. The waste land is now even more hostile, those annoying Cazadors will beat your ass. Now they have death-claws that are as big as a two story house, that can be solved if you know the right tactics.
I did like the option of choosing which side I could fight with, I liked the wild card one the best, like the game says 'no gods and no masters', just the courier and an independent New Vegas. I didn't care for the NCR or Cesar's legion, I suggest going in alone or with Mr.
House, those are the only worth while endings, mainly you could destroy both sides commanding officers, if you already didn't kill Cesar when you preform brain surgery on him. Remember what Vegas looked like in the trailer, well it's actually nothing like that, it was a major let down.
The amount of side quests have been doubled, so you rarely will have nothing to do. I really enjoyed the parts with the Enclave and Brotherhood of steel, it's really cool to get the Enclave Tesla armour. The guns are much better done this time, you get more variety and they all feel great to use.
I suggest getting the regular sniper rifle, once you completely upgrade it you can solve any problem you encounter, and do so silenced and stealthily. I was a little disappointed that you can't buy property, but I ended up seizing control of Mr.Houses casino tower, now I have property where all of my companions can live with me, note it never feels crowded.
There are plenty of locations to discover, each has some weight or value. You can even find yourself having 3000 plus Stim-packs and 100s of thousands of dollars. Make sure you get the perk that allows for strange events to occur so you get get rare loot or even a diamond encrusted Pip-boy. Note the hardcore mode isn't very challenging once you know what you are doing, I completed the game in 8 or so hours on hardcore mode, so don't be discouraged by it.
I could go on for longer, but I still have to talk about the DLC, so thats all I can share about the standard game. DLC: Considering how great Fallout 3's DLC was, I had high hopes for this game. The first one, Dead Money was actually pretty challenging, and only recommended to people who are looking for a challenge.
Overall it wasn't very good. Honest Hearts was more of what you would expect, open world. It was alright. Old World Blues, this is the one you defiantly have to get, it offers the most content and is very well done, highly recommended. I bought the lonesome road, but as i've said the game won't work anymore, it must have not been made to allow you to complete everything.
The gun runners pack is also a good buy if you want some new guns, buy it early so that you can make use of it. I wish I could have talked about this more, but it is what it is. It's a great game, recommended to those who have the time and patience. Get the PC version, it is a all around better experience than the PS3 version. For that I am great full. Fallout New Vegas has the makings of a great game, GOTY it is not but fun filled time in the wasteland it is! Riddled with new characters along with new upgradeable weapons is cool.
NV does have it's flaws for example while in the wasteland enemies become lodged into the ground or stuck in the air, after killing said enemy they actually fall through the map. Some of the V.A.T.S usage becomes unreliable at times causing you to miss your target. For a lower level character starting off it is best to stick with the missions at hand instead of wondering around the wasteland. Obsidian has updated the 'companion wheel' which is easy to use when you get a partner to go along in the wasteland with you. One of the things that they have done is letting you make your own ammo which is very frustrating and time consuming. All in all New Vegas is a great sequel and has opened the door for many more add on's as well as whole games in general. Bugs and Glitches are found but they are few and far between now thanks to the recent update/patch.
Wow, can I just say this exceeds my expectations. Fallout 3 is my favourite game of all time and Fallout: New Vegas follows closely behind. REALLY close. Fallout: New Vegas brought more challenge to the Wasteland, making it harder for you to find medical items and ammo, and now more than one Deathclaw attacks you at a time! New Vegas may look the same as Fallout 3, but gameplay wise.it isn't.
The atmosphere of the game is still there and it feels great! The DLC addons are fantastic too, just like the previous game. It expands on the game's world and makes Fallout feel more than just a FPS RPG. This game makes games like Call of Duty and Battlefield look like games that didn't even take a year to make. FPS games these days are all the same, but games like Fallout, are always different. Fallout: New Vegas is one of my all time favorite games, because of it's amazing game-play. Not the shooting, shooting is bad and clunky, and feels weird, and not the graphics, the graphics are horribly dated today, and were horribly dated at it's realize.
I mean game-play as in the quests. I love the diverse and unique quest lines and much darker tone, more following the original fallout games. I was excited for Fallout 4, thinking that it would be the same, but Fallout 4 is much more watered down quest wise and tone wise. The tone tries to be dark, but dodges truly dark things, and the quests are repetitive and boring after a while, however this is a FNV review, not a F4 one. Over all, it is a very solid game, and if your willing to get over the crashes, bugs, graphics, and shooting (I know it's a lot, but it's worth it) you will have a very enjoyable game.
When the game came out, a lot of players experienced gamebreaking bugs and glitches that were really annoying. Considering it was made in 18 months, the game was pretty good. The developers kept making patches that would eventually fix most of the bugs, but to this day, bugs do occur in every Fallout game, there's even a bug section on the wiki. What wasn't made in those 18 months, came later in the form of DLCs: Dead Money, Honest Hearts, Lonesome Road, Old World Blues. Each one is more entertaining then the last, introducing new elements of the game and stories never heard of before. The overall story of New Vegas is one of the best stories ever written, having comedy, tragedy, romance, action, and many more.
Every character has a story behind them, each being more impressive than the other. Unlike in the other Fallout games, you aren't a figurative demigod, you are a person that is imperfect in their own way, that has an altruistic feel, deciding who they trust, and who they don't trust, who to support, and who to not support. I started playing this game in 2015. Thinking it was going to be just a normal open world game. But, it was more than that. Even five years after my first try, I still discover new things that are little things the creators implemented during their 18 short months of development.
The gameplay is in the middle of things, it's much better than of Fallout 3, but not so much better than Fallout 4. One of my favourite gameplay elements is the Karma and Reputation systems.
Karma determines how good as a person you are. Gaining Karma can be done by helping people or killing bad guys, while losing it can be done by helping bad guys and stealing from people.
Reputation determines how you treat a certain faction. For example, I am disgusted by what the Legion does, so I have a Vilified reputation with them, because I like to see their red football jerseys through my sniper scope.
But the most interesting thing in the game is the pacifism. Unlike Fallout 4, where almost all your choices are to murder people, in New Vegas, you can avoid that through conversation, intimidation and bribery. The whole game can be beaten by not hurting a soul.
Seriously, you can talk your way out of a boss fight if you play the game correctly. In other words, since New Vegas, it has only gone downhill with the inclusion of the Creation Club and microtransactions. Going back to the day where everyone made a game because they loved to is really good, and playing this game sure shows so. I would recommend this game to everyone, not just adults, but younger people too, because this game can teach them a lot of things other than how to use a weapon. This is my favorite Bethesda Fallout game, largely because of Wayne Newton's portrayal of Mr. New Vegas, the Mojave's charming radio DJ (and the accompanying songs.) Of course, you can also expect other great writing and performances throughout the rest of the game.
My biggest complaint for New Vegas is the bugs and glitches. If you are considering purchasing this game, I suggest doing so on PC. This will provide you the opportunity to fix/patch most of the bugs in the game by incorporating player-made mods designed for that purpose. This is my first review on IMDB. I noticed none of the other user reviews pointed out what I felt needed to be said.
Newton gained a life-long fan in me, after having accompanied me in the wasteland for countless hours. For the record, I own the Ultimate Edition for Xbox 360, and have put the game onto my hard drive to try and diminish potential issues. This review is a latecomer to the scene, as this game has been out for several years at this point. However, I think that I need to bring to light that while this game can be very enjoyable in the way most modern Bethesda games are, the terrible bugs that can randomly occur while playing this game greatly diminish the Fallout experience. The story of the game is simple enough, and I won't review it this post. In short, it is a competent narrative that is a good enough hook to make the gamer invested in what happens.
Side quests that are a staple of Bethesda sandbox games are omnipresent in this game, although I will say that it seems that compared to Fallout 3, this game seems to focus more on combat experience than quest experience. In Fallout 3 huge XP bonuses were gained only for completing quests. The more important the quest, the more XP awarded. In this game that still happens, but now there are bonuses in XP for completing certain combat challenges, such as killing X amount of enemies, popping pills Y amount of times, or drinking and eating Z amount of health.
This isn't necessarily a detractor to the game, but it is a change and a focus shift that may bother some gamers. The combat itself is very similar to previous Fallout games. VATS is still the go-to for combat, but one major improvement in the game was the ability to use iron sights for aiming guns manually. This is a very simple change, but it makes a big difference in combat, because alternating between manual aiming at enemies and using VATS becomes a more plausible option than in Fallout 3.
There are several major problems that I personally have had in combat. Several times I have used VATS, only for my character to enter VATS mode for a prolonged period of time without shooting at the specified target. This is a problem because your character is still vulnerable in this mode, and you are rendered completely helpless to whatever enemies are attacking you.
Another problem I have had is with the Mysterious Stranger perk. This stranger will show up and do his work, but then VATS mode will continually focus on him while you again helplessly take damage again. I have died at least fifteen times due to these two aforementioned bugs. I have had countless enemies get stuck in rocks or in walls, and have also at one point had to restart from a save because I walked over an uneven slope, and entered continuous and inescapable free fall. Several other problems I have encountered are random freezing, and I have had several save files corrupt, ruining over 10 hours of game play. I have also occasionally had my screen change colors, often to an unplayable point where my screen was completely bright green. Suggestions: Save often, and create at least five different save files.
This will hopefully prevent losing progress from file corruption. If frame rate slows down, immediately save. Avoid the Mysterious Stranger Perk, and do not use VATS unless completely necessary. These are suggestions that solve the problems I have encountered, there may be more I haven't encountered. Overall it is a good experience, but all of the aforementioned issues have made it frustrating and unfortunately somewhat ruined the game experience for me. Fallout New Vegas Captures much of the charm of Fallout 3.
The map is sufficiently massive, its dotted with a wide variety of interesting characters and it manages to build on many of the game play improvements of Fallout 3. In terms of Gameplay New Vegas adds an incredible amount. Weapon upgrades, Iron Sights, Hardcore mode, Factions return from Fallout 2. There's more variety in weapons, one moment you can be shooting up Lizards with a revolver, next you're throwing a spear at NCR Soldiers. However one of the biggest improvement is the fact that there is no clear good guy or bad guy in the conflict, and that faction standing is separate from karma. The New California Republic and Caesar's Legion don't seem to have many different motivations, Mr.House and Caesar are two of the most intellectually deep characters I've seen in a video game, and if you hate everyone you can go in alone, destroy everything else and have that be a viable ending.
However, this lack of restraint on who you can support takes away some of the concrete feeling that Fallout 3's main story had. There seems to be no reason for the Courier to run off someplace else after surviving getting shot in the head. In Fallout 3 you always know why you're doing something (trying to find your dad, trying to save your dad, trying to avenge your dad, etc) This lack of reason to be anywhere really makes the story suffer. That being said New Vegas is worth every second you play it. Its an amazing game and hopefully Fallout 4 manages to create further improvements. I wanted to like this game (with its supposed focus on freedom and interesting characters), but could not. It felt very dated, and there were too many immersion breaking flaws and bugs.
In terms of graphics, level design, and animations, this feels like a game from 2005 (to a lesser extent also true for TES:Oblivion, but it certainly bothered me less there). The main quest offers good freedom of choice, but otherwise quests are mostly quantity over quality – a hallmark of Bethesda. Some of the characters were entertaining though, and voice acting is fairly good. Character leveling and perks are also quite well done.
The interface looks cool but is a total pain to use. There are no keyboard hotkeys, which means switching weapons or healing requires browsing through the full menu each time! Combat feels unbalanced (Oblivion and Skyrim were slightly better here) ranging from OK to frustratingly tedious or difficult. The difficulty of various foes often does not match with the expectations the game lore may give you. Enemies run around without any movement inertia making them frustratingly difficult to aim at. Hitbox detection is not great, and your bullets are often blocked by invisible walls if they pass near geometry.
I also had lots of enemies get stuck behind geometry, with only legs clipping through the wall. Worst of all, at one point, my gun would not fire bullets – I would hear and see the gun fire, and the ammo counter would work, but no bullets – I got eaten alive, both ingame and in terms of frustration. The mod experience was bad: I could not get most mods to work despite following all instructions etc. The mod scene may be vibrant, but it is still a total mess.
It lacks curatorial refinement and there are no '1-click install' total-overhaul supermods (like the 'complete' mod series for the Stalker games). Buried underneath all the flaws is a good game, and you might find it, but I gave up after days of digging. The game itself is great. But the bugs and crashes, are unforgivable.
It crashes so many times. Yesterday in 2 hours of gaming. It crashed over 8 times! That being said its an amazing game, i love the DLC's how they all tie together. The fact you get to decide who you want to support and who not, and who will win the final battle. Each companion has his or her own background story, a quest which lets you get to know him or her.
And this is also an excellent opportunity to see if their combat style fits with you, and what their perks do as each companion gives you a perk when they travel with you. And each perk fits with the character you have in your party.
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