Fallout: New Vegas

Fallout New Vegas is kind of a hybrid between Fallout 3 (made by Bethesda) and Fallout 1 and 2 (Black Isle). Basically the brains behind the latter are using the engine of the former.

This is a very good thing.

All the Fallout games are a bit special. My personal favourite was Fallout 3, as I like free-roaming, and found the turn-based nature of Fallout 1 and 2 a bit restrictive. However, some fans of Fallout 1 and 2 thing Fallout 3 is a travesty. So here, finally, we get the look and feel of Fallout 3, but with the plot detail of Fallout 1 and 2.

Well, thats what I imagined anyway. When I actually installed it this morning (took about 20 minutes) I was pleasently surprised to see that it looked exactly like a slightly more colourful version of Fallout 3. If you played and loved Fallout 3, but were a bit disappointed with the expansion packs, then you will be delighted with this. Its like a whole new Fallout 3. Loads of new quests, loads of levelling up to do, loads of locations to explore (at least 125) and a wasteland to get lost in.

The only thing missing is a grappling gun. Sorry, but I have been playing Just Cause 2 to death recently, and have got used to a grappling gun. If I could zoom around the Wasteland with a grappling gun then I think I might just wet my pants.

This game uses Steam. Personally I like Steam. But if you don't like Steam, bear this in mind that you will need an active internet connection to activate the game. Once installed, just use Offline mode, if you hate steam, but, as I said, I actually like it.

A brief peek at the Steam achievements for Fallout New Vegas reveals the following:

Achievement: The Boss - reach level 30.
Achievement: Master of the Mojave = discover 125 locations.
20 Quest achievements.
6 gambling achievements.

This tells us the game is big, with a higher level cap than Fallout 3.

If you want the full list of achivements, and more info than you will ever need on Fallout the game, then google "FallOut New Vegas Achievements" and find the link to the Fallout Wiki.

Its more RPG than Fallout 3. Traits are back, weapons can be customised, and stats seem to have more of an effect. I will only know for sure when I play it through a second time, but opening thoughts do suggest that the people from Black Isle have stamped their mark on the Fallout 3 world. Relax though, as there isn't a hexagon in sight!

Outside of the usual skill levels, there is also a hardcore mode, where stimpacks only heal over time, and you MUST eat, drink and sleep to survive. I like this, because having cut my teeth on Baldur's Gate, I feel something is missing in an RPG when you can romp through it 24/7 without batting an eyelid.

Its not all sweetness and light though. While combat has been improved (you can now aim down sights) there is an annoying bullet time effect, which I am sure looks great in adverts, but rapidly becomes tedious. Fortunately you can turn it off, if you go into the GAMEPLAY section of settings, and set Kill Cam mode to OFF. Other criticisms? Well, the graphics, being just like Fallout 3, do look a little dated, but the plus side is that you won't need a Ninja PC to play it on. It certainly looks a little bit better than Fallout 3, but lets face it, Fallout 3 itself wasn't exactly shabby in the looks department anyway.

If, like me, you peeked at the American Amazon and saw a few horror stories of crashes, all I can say is that I have played it all day, and after 8 odd hours haven't had a single glitch. I'm running it on Windows 7 with an ATI card. I did read somewhere that a patch had already been released for the US version. Perhaps it is automatically installed (thanks to Steam!!!) on the UK version? If that is the case then I guess I shouldn't be miffed having to wait 4 days to play the game. I shall certainly be playing it for months to come.

Rejoice Fallout fans!!! This game rocks!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

UPDATE. 24/10/2010

Happy to report that I still haven't had any crashes. I've come across the odd floating boulder, but other than that, it all seems fine on my rig. There are a lot more than 20 quests in this game. However, only 20 of them have achievements attached to them. I am just mentioning this in case you got put off by the achievement reference in my main review.

Fans of Fallout 3 will not be disappointed by this game, but it's got a slightly different feel and more colourful graphics. Add to that the addition of more factions to side with or fight with and Bethesba have produced another winner IMHO, with replay opportunities aplenty.

If you've never played Fallout before but your a big fan of story based rpg's like Mass Effect, Dragon's Age etc, then you'll enjoy the storyline behind this game I think. New Vegas has a nice atmospheric world you can lose yourself in for a few hours a night. You're the hero in your own story.

You want more info?

Think about every cowboy film cliche you've ever seen, combine that with a post nuclear world, add some gambling games (you can play various gambling mini games), some 1950's 'future tech', some 50's radio music, and that just about summarises this game. However it's so much more than this, but you get the gist.

Like a traditional cowboy movie, you can be the cold hearted mercenary gunslinger, or the mysterious stranger saving town after town from the local bad guys, or something in between. Unlike some other rpg's Fallout is very open ended, choose your own path and face the consequences.

I could rave about this game all day (I'm full of that new relationship lurv tingle) but I will try and be brief:
-If you liked Fallout 3 get this game.
-If you like rich, well versed, open ended rpg games where there is no linear path, and you can go wherever you want, when you want (with consequences) get this game.
-If you fancy yourself in the wild west, set in the future after a nuclear holocaust, with some of the best first person shooter action ever, GET THIS GAME!

By the way I didnt have any problems with steam at all, I installed the game and was playing it almost instantly.

If I have one criticism it would be that the tribal set was a bit of a let down, but so what, it was free as long as you pre-ordered the game, and if you don't like it don't use it.

For those that played & loved Fallout 3 (like I did), the chance to delve into another round of post apocalypic fun was looked forward to eagerly.

New Vegas uses pretty much the exact same engine as fallout 3. There are differences this time around (a welcome one is improving free shooting/non-VATS combat), but what your getting here is essentially a new world and set of quests using the FO3 engine. Even the graphics have not really improved since FO3, although they are still decent, and do the job.

Having played for around a month, I am still far from discovering all the content and playing all missions. My impressions are that in FONV, there are more involving missions.. you have to take into account your rep with factions - helping one faction could damage your rep with another. This is a welcome addition.

New Vegas was not as affected as D.C by nuclear holocaust. This is a personal thing, but the result is that the world feels less threatening to me, and more settled. There is less of an element of raw survival in an irradiated, blasted, eerie world. Theres nothing wrong with that of course, but I slightly preferred the world & mood of FO3.

As has been well documented, the game can be buggy. I believe much of this has been resolved now in patches. I haven't found this game breaking at all, but on the PC I have found that sometimes I try to load the game, or load a save game and it just crashes out. Most of the time its fine though. I have experienced getting "stuck" in VATS a few times though. And have been annoyed at getting stuck in textures and unable to walk up steep hills (the latter appears to be by design).

Leaving the game aside, I have a real gripe with paying for a disc with the game in the shop, only to find out that you are FORCED to sign up to steam account to play this game. This worrying trend is absolutely disgusting in my opinion.

In all, New Vegas is great fun and offers months of gaming. Even if you focus only on the main quest, there are multiple ways to approach this proving hours of entertainment.

The real joy of the game though, is the sandbox feel that bethesda are famous for - you can ignore the main quest if you want, and wander the wasteland adventuring & finding your own fortune. Theres no correct route or path that your spoonfed along like most games. You can be good, evil, approach combat in a sneaky or balls out manner, be a drug & drink addicted thieving psycho, or play as a good guy and protector of the weak. It's this aspect that keeps me coming back, and seperates it from most games these days which are little more than interactive films with great graphics forcing you down a path with invisible walls.

In all a great game, so far it hasn't quite got me in the same was as FO3 though. 4/5 stars.