New Vegas

When I say Fallout. What images does that single word conjure up? For many old school gamer types, days of top down turn based combat in a post apocalyptic wasteland are called forth from the depths of their minds. For the newer generations of gamers, Fallout 3’s FPS and RPG elements are called to mind. Either way, gamers remember the Wasteland.

New Vegas is the next in the Fallout game series. It takes us back to the West coast where the games all started. The New California Republic is back and trying to impose their law on the land in an effort to bring back some form of civilization to the radioactive Wild West. Along the way you will also meet Caesar who intends to destroy New Vegas and trample anyone who gets in his path of conquest much like the Roman Emperors of ages gone by.

During the year up until launch date, I followed all sorts of things about New Vegas just to glean the information I’ve touched on so far. Needless to say this was a highly anticipated title for me and I’m sure the same rings true for many others. Fallout fans have been wanting the series to return to the West coast to see what The Vault Dweller and The Chosen One’s actions have done for some time now.

My excitement was gradually on the rise, then I had my hands on my own copy. I’m not sure where all my time went. One day I am pulling the plastic off of my fresh copy. The next thing I know, a week and a half have gone by and I still have yet to even make mention of my experiences in New Vegas here. So now, I tear myself away from gambling in the casinos (that are mentioned in this page) and robbing people blind in Caravan to give a quick rundown.

New Vegas looks very much like Fallout 3, which makes sense considering they re-used the game engine. Things almost seem a bit sharper and the models a bit more polished though. Could be just me playing on a better TV or a placebo effect. One thing I really thought looked pretty awesome was to find yourself a nice hill and look off in the distance towards New Vegas at night to see the halo of light emitting from around it.

The guns have had some changes and some new ones added in. You can now attach weapon modifications to a gun permanently to add some kind of bonus. Extra magazine size, scope, silencer, faster firing rate, and so on and so forth. If you play on Hardcore mode, make sure to manage your ammo wisely because it can get hefty lugging around ammo for all the weapons you have in your inventory.

If I had to nitpick about a few things about this game, I would have to go with the occasional graphical glitch I would run across. Most notably the heads spinning around on the people when you talk to them (fixed now) or enemies spawning half inside the terrain of the game but still able to move around (not fixed yet).

Enough on that. There is one aspect of the game that will likely make me keep playing over several characters (read: a dozen or two) and that is the gambling. I love to gamble with virtual currency. My first character ended the game carrying over fifty thousand in bottle caps and who knows how much in NCR and Legionary money. Quick note: use NCR and Legionary money to buy small amounts of chips at the casino to start your gambling sprees.

For sixty bucks, I find this a fair game to pick up. It offers the same re-playability as Fallout 3 and there are still DLCs to come that could add in some worthwhile content. First content pack is scheduled for release in December so keep your eyes peeled.

Platforms: PC, PS3, Xbox 360

AMMIH: 5/5

SMS: 2/5

 

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