Fallout: New Vegas - Review
You've been shot in the face, robbed, and dragged away by a talking robot. Just a normal day in Vegas, or should I say a normal day in Fallout: New Vegas. That's right, it's time to head back to the future to make our way through another entry in the Fallout series. This time, however, the game has been developed by members of the original Fallout team, after Bethesda took up the reigns for Fallout 3. While they do manage to add a lot of their own spice to the mix, there's no doubt you'll get an eerie feeling of familiarity while trekking the expansive Mojave Wasteland. Luckily, that's not such a bad thing considering Fallout 3 was one of my favorite games of this generation.
The one area that really could've used an overhaul is the visuals. They're pretty much exactly the same as Fallout 3, and though that's still a great looking game to this day, it's not nearly as impressive two years later. To make matters worse, this game's performance is even worse than 2008's offering. You'll find a lot of good textures as well as some pretty bad ones, a playable but unstable framerate, and some very dated animations. The world itself can be absolutely stunning at times, and somewhat unspectacular at others. The lighting is generally good, but it really shines during certain times of the day, making other times look a bit dull.
This engine is getting a bit rusty considering it was used over 4 years ago for Bethesda's Elder Scrolls: Oblivion. It's still painfully obvious that the games built on this engine are not meant to be played in third-person, as the animations for your character can get laughably bad. Unfortunately, this engine is also synonymous with bugs, and you'll find your fair share in New Vegas. I did find that New Vegas froze up on me more often than Fallout 3, which was a bit disappointing, but overall it's been a similar experience for me. Every so often an enemy will clip through the ground or get stuck on something, but if you've played this type of game before you know what you're getting into. Thankfully, I haven't run across any game breaking bugs. All these negatives aside, New Vegas is still far from the worst looking game out there. As a whole, it looks just as good as Fallout 3, with a bit more variety in the environments. Not as spectacular as it was 2 years ago, but it's still very good looking.
Moving on to the audio, things have gotten better in some ways, and worse in others. First I'll start with the bad. The music, while still great, is very limited in New Vegas. There is a much smaller selection of tracks to listen to on the radio, but what's there manages to impress. The sound effects have remained largely unchanged. Aside from a few new enemy types and weapons, you'll hear the same things you did in Fallout 3. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but some things could have been revamped for New Vegas.
Now on to the good changes. For starters, the voice acting has been improved upon since Fallout 3 in some major ways. There are now a lot more actors providing their talent and most major characters in the game have a completely unique voice to go along with them. What's more is that the dialogue has also been greatly improved, with much more diversity and clever subtleties written into the characters. Overall the audio is very well done with only a few disappointments to hinder it.
An area that has been vastly improved upon in New Vegas is the story. Now, that's not to say the main story is better, because honestly, there was a lot more on the line in Fallout 3. It was a pretty clear cut, these are the bad guys and you should probably stop them, kind of story. Good vs. evil. However, the lines have been blurred in New Vegas, and to great effect. Your choices are going to become a lot more in depth then they were in Fallout 3. Before, it was pretty obvious that some quests were bad and some quests were good.
In New Vegas, everyone has their own agenda. It's up to you to decide who to help and who to kill. Not only does this make for a much more interesting journey through the wasteland, but it also creates a much more believable atmosphere. There are two major factions in the game, but there are also a ton of minor groups that also need your assistance. Some groups may be nice at first, but then you realize that by completing their task, another group will lose a valuable resource or something along those lines. It can be very difficult to choose, but it's more compelling that way. It's also great for people who like to play their games in multiple ways. You really can be a nice person, or just a total dick, and feel like you aren't compromising, or losing any major rewards.
This new faction system also translates nicely into the gameplay. You'll now have to keep track of your reputation with each town and group. If you help one group you may get on their good side, but another might start to attack you on sight. This is only one of the many tweaks Obsidian has made to the formula laid out by Fallout 3. Other tweaks include an improved iron sight view for the real time combat, a better companion system, a more balanced leveling system with more perks that are granted only every 2 levels, and a new hardcore mode.
Of all the new additions, hardcore mode is my favorite. In hardcore mode you basically have to survive in the truest sense of the word. You will need to eat, drink, and sleep in order to avoid death, stimpacks do not heal instantly, ammo has weight, and a doctor is almost necessary to heal crippled limbs. It not only gives the game an added level of challenge, but it also brings a lot more depth to the table. Skills that would normally be overlooked become valuable, space for sustenance is required, and items have a new layer of stats to keep track of. I honestly can't see myself playing New Vegas without hardcore mode turned on after playing with it. Aside from those major tweaks, New Vegas is just a bigger version of Fallout 3. You'll still be using V.A.T.S., sneaking through abandoned buildings, and killing scumbag raiders. However, there are more enemies, more weapons, more items, more people, and more quests. The map is about the same size, but it's packed with more locations, and more importantly, more NPCs that need you for a job or two.
It took me well over twenty hours to get to the strip, and that's arguably when the game really starts getting interesting. There are so many quests to complete in New Vegas it can almost become overwhelming. Most locations have someone in need of aid, whereas in Fallout 3 there were a lot of locations, but not a lot of people with jobs. Needless to say, New Vegas is an absolutely huge game, easily worth your time and money. The engine is showing its age, and I would really like to see a much bigger leap for the next entry in the series, but it's still an amazing experience. If I had to choose between this and Fallout 3, I would have to choose this overall. There's just a lot more depth, a lot more choices, and simply a lot more in New Vegas. Yes, there are also more bugs, but if you're willing to look past the minor shortcomings, New Vegas is just like the real thing, bustling with activity, fun, and a few assholes to shoot, except it's all legal here.
Visuals: 8.4
Audio: 9.2
Story: 9.8
Gameplay: 9.6
Entertainment Value: 10
Overall: 9.6
