Welcome to Vegas, New Vegas. As you battle your way across the heat-blasted Mojave Wastelands to the neon drenched Vegas Strip, you’ll be introduced to a colorful cast of characters, factions, special weapons, mutated creatures and much more. Choose sides in the upcoming war or declare “winner takes all” in the follow up to the 2008 Video Game of the year, Fallout 3.
1. ) Graphics (Great) – The visuals haven’t been upgraded to any noticeable level since Fallout 3. They have, however, provided large heaps of rocks and dotted the landscape with foliage that you can pick making the desert a vast improvement to the flat nothing that was the wasteland in Fallout 3. Characters still look descent but exhibit the slow plodding motion of zombies with a two broken legs where as actual zombies still show more life in them as they jump up to rape your face. There are a few new additions to the bestiary that are pretty awesome looking like the night stalkers and random versions of geckos.
2.) Gameplay (Great) – The game plays just like Fallout 3 with enhancements. Many people bitched about having to play the game’s combat through VATS mode. For those of you that did just that, you may rest at ease, to an
extent. My play-throughs of Fallout: New Vegas have been 95% played in real time. No VATS mode. I’d still use it from time to time when i needed to single out targets in groups from bum rushing me and attempting to rape storm my ass, but I love the improvements. For the snipers out there, crouching and sniping is even more fun now. There is a great sense of satisfaction that comes from blowing the head off a target you can barely see with one shot loosely aimed at the small blob on the screen, reloading, and popping another dead without having to sneak closer to increase accuracy percentages.
Gunslingers at heart can also rejoice. Not only are there special traits that will enhance how fast you shoot, draw weapons, and reload, hip fire is now a viable way of taking out targets. That’s right, tell some punk you don’t like the way his face looks and then fill him full of lead. Pistol combat is fun and very handy for when you come across those monsters that just won’t die with one well placed shot. Run backwards and unleash the beast as you sling hot lead. You too can be a proud lead farmer. If that wasn’t fun enough, you can also tell them to “eat a dick” as you chuck sticks of dynamite at them like an old school western. That trick works great on slowing down those damn giant radscorpians. Who’s gunna feel like a big man? You are.
Having a follower has never been better. Do they still done gun and R-U-N-N-O-F-T? Yep. Do they still take damage from your bullets and grenades when they step in the way to protect your enemy? Hell yes. Do they die shortly after you get them rendering them next to useless? NO, THEY DON’T! In fact, they are very helpful. Each partner will grant you a perk just for having them around. They also come with baggage, talk to them and find out they have quests of their own to provide. If you manage to help them out even more you’ll be rewarded with an additional perk to help you bring New Vegas to its knees. Wait, what? There’s more? Hell yes there is. These guys will run out and pick up equipment to make them better. A smart A.I. system enables them to equip and round up better gear for themselves making them extremely valuable in combat. After the dust has settled, load them up like a pack animal to carry all the extra shit you looted and stole off of every person place and thing you’ve come across.
The best part? Yeah there’s a best part. THEY DON’T DIE! Like Kenny from South Park they can still get dropped to their knees from soaking up too much damage, but after you are done saving the day or cleaning up a mess they have made, they will pop right back up and be ready to soak up that super sledge to the head you would take mear moments after combat has ended.
If crafting was a fun past time for you in Fallout 3, you can also dance a jig of joy for additional game content. With the survival skill, you can take all the flowers you pick, dog meat you loot, and throw it into a pot to make useful healing food. Have 5,000 rounds of chain gun ammo you will never use and out of shotgun shells for your own personal brand of vigilante justice? No problem. A reloading bench has been added that will allow you to break down ammo you aren’t using and make stuff that you can. You can also craft different kinds of ammo like hollow point or armor piercing forms to get through armor or do more damage.
In addition to a load of new feats available to customize your little terror, you’ll be treated to a full 30 levels worth of progress before it’s all said and done. That said, it’s still not enough to do everything in one sitting. You’ll be loading up a new character before the credits finish scrolling at the end of the game.
Two big things stand out about the game in a negative way though. Much like it’s brother, New Vegas suffers from constant crashing and glitching. t’s hard to tell what sets it off but when it does, you’ll know all too often. This bitch froze my PS3 at least 23 times on one play through. A new glitch to me made the game completely stop and threw me to the dashboard twice. What the fuck.? The other thing that pissed me off and you will also be sure to notice is the increased presence of radiation. It’s fucking everywhere. I know, I know, big bomb went boom radiation everywhere. I’ve never needed to use a doctor to get rid of radiation poisoning in Fallout 3, but in New Vegas, you’ll need one attached to your hip. I had to avoid exploring many places due to the ridiculous spikes in radiation levels that are all over the game.
3. ) Story (Great) – Everything is connected. Everything you do effects many other things in game. Factions have been introduced into the game to give you more variety on who lives and who dies by your hand. The fate of New Vegas truly lies in your hands. There are four main ways for the story of Fallout: New Vegas to end, but everything you have done to get there still counts. Who you have helped. Who you have not. Who you have killed and the results will all be played out before your eyes. There are roughly 20+ extra side stories that will play through as you watch the credits roll. How they play out is crafted by your hand.
4.) Soundtrack (Good) – Much like the soundtrack of Fallout 3, things are pretty limited. You will end up turning off the radio function on your pip boy after hearing the same crap for the 1,000th time. The score is pretty good, but nothing you’re going to spend money on or download off the Internet. It does it’s job making the world seem stuck in the one period of time before the bombs dropped.
5.) Replay Value (Outstanding) – Once again 4 ending, 30 levels, new feats, new crafts, new trophies, new awards. You’ll be back again and again, until you burn out like you did with Fallout 3.
Game Rating: 3.75 (Great) Game type: (Action RPG) Game System: (PS3, Xbox360, PC)
By: Obsidian Entertainment (www.obsidianent.com)
Rating system:
Rating Point Value: (Trash)=0 (Meh)= .25(Good)=.5(Great)=.75(Outstanding)=1.0
Game Score System: Overall Total Value: (Trash)=0-1.5(Meh)=1.75-2.25(Good)=2.5-3.25(Great)=3.5-4.25(Outstanding)=4.5+
Rating Suggestions:
(Trash): Don’t bother with any form of purchase. This product isn’t worth the effort to purchase it.
(Meh): Not at all impressive. This product isn’t something that should be recommended for most people to enjoy. Flawed or incomplete.
(Good): An average score this product does what it is intended to do and will be worth at least a rent if you are interested in it. A solid item that will be enjoyed.
(Great): This product is highly recommended. It is well worth the investment if you are interested in it. You will not be disappointed in a purchase of this item.
(Outstanding): You needed to own two of this product yesterday. Superior quality, going beyond what it was intended to do.
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