Review: Fallout New Vegas

Americans have this deep-rooted fear that one day someone's going to give them a taste of their own atom bomb medicine. And in doing so obliterate the great superpower, reducing cities to dust and forcing its population to eke out a grim existence of survival in a dog-eat-dog wasteland. Countless literature, television and film have tapped into this concept to give us some crazy entertainment, but on the video game front, the godfather of the post-apocalyptic story is Fallout.

Does New Vegas live up to this mythology and continue the masterpiece Fallout franchise? READ ON BELOW TO FIND OUT.

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Maybe. Possibly. Sometimes. But I can't really say it was an exceptional experience that I had whilst playing these past weeks. Before I go into the game proper though, for those who don't know, Obsidian has taken over responsibility for this title from Bethesda (who did Fallout 3).

If we look at Obsidian's track record, the bug-ridden but semi-entertaining Alpha Protocol and the kinda-slow and not very engaging Neverwinter Nights 2, it wouldn't be surprising to find that Fallout New Vegas came out of the gate unpolished. But you'd expect Obsidian to learn from past mistakes. Come on guys, seriously.

Look past the bugs thanks to a hot fix (third-party, mind you) and what you have is a game that expands generously on Fallout 3's experience. Oodles more quests, weapons, perks, and characters to come across. Unfortunately it isn't a dog that's going to show you an exciting new trick; the game engine is virtually untouched, no new or revamped gameplay/interface, with most assets recycled from Fallout 3. The only thing improved is the Ally command wheel that gives you more advanced tactical control over teammates, reminiscent of the original Fallout series.


I don't have a problem with "more of" Fallout; but that makes it rather like an expansion pack than a full-blown game, so does it warrant a full-blown game's price?

I don't think so. Fallout 3's experience was a tight affair thanks to Bethesda's special touch that ensured you were never bored wandering through the wasteland. There was always something around the corner. But Obsidian's sequel is mostly bleak empty spaces to trek through before you get anywhere semi-interesting.When you do get there, it doesn't really blow the mind or perpetuate intrigue either; nowhere that comes close to Fallout 3's frightening Rivet City or socially and plot-rich Megaton, amongst others.

The New Vegas strip is really the only draw, and despite its flashing bright lights, it too falls short given the mostly depressing inhabitants who are either desperate gamblers or drunks. And it is strangely underpopulated, most of the gambling halls devoid of life making the whole affair not as glamorous and fun as you'd expect it to be.

Obsidian's one significant addition are more factions like the Legion, Great Khans and Boomers. The first two remind me of ancient tribes which seem like a juxtaposition given the futuristic setting of the game. It's like a costume party joke that I can't take seriously. And the final one, the name reminds me more of a Left 4 Dead monster than a bunch of bomber-jacket-wearing rocket-launching doo-hickeys.

The voice-acting isn't that great (sorry Felicia Day, I didn't meet your character Veronica so I can't say you were brilliant) neither is the dialogue well-written or particularly stimulating. As I couldn't empathize with ANY of the factions deeply, it made carrying out their side quests horribly tedious - most of which were of the unimaginative kill-these-monsters or fetch-that-item variety anyway. I was only doing it for the XP and some decent loot. I confess that I did not play the game to its full capacity (about 70 - 80 hours of gameplay), or explore every nook and cranny, doing as many side quests as humanly possible. I would normally have done so and I did with Fallout 3, but this game just wasn't that compelling.

Then there's the main story quest. This is probably the game's only redeeming quality as it is somewhat interesting but gets screwed up at the end. I'll get to that in a bit. Spoilers ahead. You play a courier carrying a special package, a platinum casino chip which is highly sought after. You're shot, left for dead and the chip stolen from you by a mysterious dude. Unlucky from him, you didn't die so begins a tale of revenge and hunt to retrieve the chip. You eventually learn the chip has immense power as the wielder can control a massive secret robot army underneath the New Vegas strip.

Because of it, all the factions want you on their side and you can choose who to ally with before a mega finale showdown at the Hoover Dam, with the winner having complete control of the landmark and surrounding areas. There's also an option to keep the chip, screw everyone else and take control of the New Vegas strip for yourself. Best option ever, and certainly one that kept me motivated to play on. I'm so bored of playing goffer to everyone else, which seems to be an epidemic that no one has really sorted out in any role-playing game. Unfortunately, as exciting as the prospects of being top honcho is, you never actually get there. "What?!? Why?!?" you blurt out.


After working your ass off playing the factions against one another, screwing some or making peace with others, the game ends with a mega battle and an annoyingly hard but not very epic spectacle of a boss fight, then cue credits. Obsidian didn't learn from how bad gamers felt when Fallout 3 didn't let us free roam the wastelands after finishing their main quest line. Why can't Obsidian let us actually play out the repercussions of our choices, let us rule the Vegas strip even? THAT would make the initial tedium of the game worthwhile, and make the rest of it exciting. We'd be invested in the aftermath.

But as it stands, I can't be bothered to revisit the Mojave wasteland. I don't care if there are things out there that I've missed, because frankly, Obsidian didn't seem to put enough effort into making this a fresh experience. Most of the environments are dreary, perhaps it was their intention to have it contrast the flash and panache of the New Vegas strip but even that gets tiresome on the eyes after awhile. Everyone sounds bored or sad and you can meet character after character who says the same line about preferring a nuclear winter to the Mojave heat, or something. Granted, there were a few quests that sucked me in real good like having to investigate a hotel's dark cannibalistic past, but they were too far and few between bog standard go-here-do-this type quests.

Also Obsidian or Bethesda really need to fix the cumbersome inventory system. It could be forgiven in Fallout 3 as that was the first time the system was implemented, but people have complained about it a lot since then. Why is no one paying attention? It needs to be streamlined and maybe then, Fallout New Vegas wouldn't seem so tiresome playing.


Oh and the Hardcore mode implemented to supposedly make your wasteland experience more realistic (forcing you to sleep, eat and drink), isn't really all that hardcore. You can still go for days without drinking water, there's an abundance of food around, and you only need to fast travel to a doctor whenever you bust a limb, so it never really feels like survival. It also isn't very intuitive as the meters measuring your food, water, and sleep levels are confusing, and not indicative of when you need to be nourishing or resting. In conclusion, not a well thought-out system, more like an impediment to your enjoyment so turn it off and wait till modders tweak it.

Maybe people can argue that I can't really write this review if I haven't really explored everything New Vegas has to offer. But the onus is on the developers to ensure players have a good time at every turn, even if we have to work for our enjoyment, it should be rewarding. This isn't. I'll admit that I still had fun shooting people and watching them explode into guts and gore, or talking my way out of problems, or sneaking about and pickpocketing everybody. This means I would've been less harsh on the game if it were just an expansion pack, one for the fans as it were. But newcomers to the Fallout franchise should really just play Fallout 3, cause this one isn't the best representation of a post-apocalyptic adventure.