Fallout: New Vegas Review
Roulette the dogs out?
Version tested: Xbox 360
It's lunchtime. I'm walking to the Post Office to post some packages. As I pass a small hardware shop, I remember that I've been meaning to get a shovel, and wonder if it's worth picking one up now.
Then I stop. Something about this unbidden thought sets off alarm bells. Why do I need a shovel again? It comes back to me: I need a shovel because I want to dig up the unmarked graves in the cemetery where I was shot in the head by a post-apocalyptic gangster to see if there's anything useful in them.
That's when I realise Fallout has dug its radioactive claws into me yet again.
New Vegas may jump across America for its setting, and forward several years in the timeline, but it's a seamless continuation of what Bethesda set in motion in 2008 with Fallout 3. And you can put aside any concerns regarding the decision to hand over to Obsidian for development duties on this spin-off; while the studio stumbled with its fun-but-flawed espionage RPG, Alpha Protocol, there are enough former Black Isle people still roaming its halls to make New Vegas feel authentic, right down to the last detail. In fact, those who felt Fallout 3 deviated too far from the series' role-playing roots may even find they nod appreciatively at some of the deeper elements New Vegas reintroduces.
Obsidian could have restricted its ambition to inheriting Bethesda's game engine and turning out more of the same, and most of Fallout 3's sizeable fanbase would have been quite happy. That it's gone to the trouble of developing both the series' narrative and it gameplay mechanics speaks highly of the studio's attention to detail.

You can have my earnings clipboards when you prise them from my cold, dead hand.
Déjŕ vu doesn't last long. Things are the same, yet different. There's no Vault-based opening this time, as the game takes place long after the remnants of humanity have begun rebuilding the world they left behind, their underground homes left to junkies, gangs and mutant plant life (or transformed into kitschy hotels).
This isn't the barren, blasted wasteland of Washington DC from the previous game. There's plant life, some of it edible. There's a semblance of order, thanks to the soldiers of the New California Republic. Even the quaint bottle-cap currency has become slightly more official, vying for economic dominance with the banknotes of the NCR. Just as Red Dead Redemption poised its tale in the dying days of the Old West, so New Vegas sets you down in a post-apocalyptic world on the verge of forging a new society.
That's not to say post-nuke Vegas is a stable environment. Raiders and gangs remain a problem, but not as much of a problem as the Legion, a vast army of slaves and psychos ruled by an imperial-minded despot called – what else? – Caesar. The Legion is cutting a bloody swathe through the New Vegas territory, threatening the fragile peace and workable economy that has developed.

Best new character? Fisto, the sex robot. Be sure to ask for a demonstration.
Your role in all this is a tangential one, at least to begin with. The game opens with you digging your own grave before a mysterious man puts a bullet in your head. You awake, somewhat miraculously, in the ramshackle home of a smalltown doctor, who patches you up and takes you through some basic orientation that doubles as your character creation.
From there you're free to roam and, like all Bethesda's RPGs, you can set off in any direction and pretty much guarantee that you'll stumble across something of interest.
There's still a lot of crap lying around the game world but, as with Fallout 3, the wheat-to-chaff ratio is brilliantly designed to tweak your obsessive-compulsive tendencies. As you dig around, opening desks and cabinets and crates, you might spot a stat-boosting book tucked under a table or a valuable health item lurking amongst the Pork N' Beans, and realise that some canny developer left it there with the express purpose of rewarding your Womble-esque rummaging.
Better still are the odd little vignettes and ambient stories written into the landscape. There's nothing more amusing than creeping into a derelict hotel room only to discover that some previous occupant has left a teddy bear and toy dinosaur arranged with some kitchen implements to create a Toytown knife fight.
Make no mistake, this is a massive game. The map feels more populated and varied than Fallout 3's, from the scrubland frontier villages, through aspirational small towns like Freeside, to the Strip itself, where a tatty semblance of normality has taken hold with neon signs, almost-clean casinos and untainted food and water.
You'll be meeting lots of different factions as you traverse this world and the game's new focus on reputation makes them more than a pointless palette-swap. You'll be doing missions for most of these groups at some point, often bringing you into conflict with others, and juggling your allegiance is trickier than it seems, especially where the main quest line is concerned. There are multiple forces vying for control of New Vegas and sooner or later you need to pin your flag to somebody's post.
There are the dubious crime families of the Strip – Omerta, White Glove Society, The Chairmen – and the militaristic forces that aim to rein them in: the New California Republic Rangers, Caesar's Legion and even the Brotherhood of Steel, diminished by time but still a powerful presence. Further down the food chain are rough and ready gangs and cliques, charitable groups and traders. The ghouls have found religion. The Super Mutants have their own talk radio station. Progress is on the march.

New melee options allow you to pull off special attacks, knocking enemies over or blinding them with dust.
Lording over all of it is the mysterious and reclusive Mr House, New Vegas' default ruler, whose inscrutable plans dragged you into this power struggle in the first place. Post-BioShock, we've perhaps met one too many toffee-voiced videogame oligarchs ordering us about from afar. But New Vegas just about makes it work, if only because your freedom to ignore or defy the man at the top is unlimited by the linear narratives of first-person shooter design.
Indeed, Fallout remains a procrastinator's dream. My idealistic intention was to plough through the main quests and then explore the margins until my deadline loomed. 50 game-clock hours and 38 quests later, I'd barely scratched the surface of the story, having spent my time being wonderfully distracted by interesting structures and enjoyable side-quests and ooh, what's that over there, let's go and see. I'd visited just under half the locations on the map, was two-thirds of my way towards the Level 30 cap and, according to the Achievements list, there were still at least 16 major quests to be completed. So, yeah: big.
It's all incredibly intuitive if you played Fallout 3 since, on the surface, New Vegas looks, sounds and plays exactly the same. With only a few new creatures and a lot of familiar scenery items, it's initially easy to think of it as a really big expansion pack rather than a game in its own right.
There's more going than just reshuffled assets, though. Obsidian has reintroduced more RPG features, such as crafting. You could make a small selection of weapons in the last game, but that's changed now. You can still create some explosive devices at workbenches, but mostly you'll be putting together your own stimpacks and medical supplies. Camp fires allow you to take the raw ingredients found around the place and turn them into nutritious, stat-boosting meals, while you can even salvage, recycle and repack your ammo supply. Though the world may be crawling back towards civilisation, you'll be living off your wits a lot more.
The Bear Grylls approach proves essential in Hardcore Mode, perhaps the most striking and beneficial addition to the game. Activated at the start, it plays up the survival aspect by introducing numerous realistic variables to your game. You need to eat, drink and sleep: hunger, thirst and sleep deprivation will hinder, disorient and eventually kill you if you don't keep on top of them. Ammo has weight in Hardcore Mode, so you can't merrily stuff your pockets with every shell and bullet you find. Efficient inventory planning soon becomes a pressing requirement.
Most importantly, healing items no longer instantly top up your health, but fix you over time, forcing you to be much more tactical in your confrontations. Crippled limbs must be fixed using the rare Doctor's Bag item or patched up by an actual doctor. You can't simply dash in and spam the hotkey for stimpacks during a fight, but have to really think about how you can take down, say, a cellar full of hulking Nightkin without being squished into a fine paste.
It's a brilliant decision, and one that fits perfectly with the aesthetic of the game, forcing you to fully engage with its radiation-scorched landscape. Before, food and water were simply optional health pick-me-ups. Now they form a balancing act, as you weigh up the benefits of curing dehydration sickness with the radiation poisoning you'll get from slurping out of a manky old sink. It's also great to see an extra layer of difficulty that doesn't rely on simply making your enemies bulletproof (yes, Mass Effect, that means you) but instead forces you to play smarter, rather than harder.
The only addition that simply doesn't work is the enhanced use of companion characters. These were present in Fallout 3 (RIP, Dogmeat) but now come with a command wheel that supposedly gives you more control over them.
Trouble is, what they need is better AI, not a rudimentary selection of orders that are inadequate for the game's many obstacles. Companions bestow unique perks (more if you complete their side-quests) and are very handy for carrying additional items and supplying extra fire-power, but their tendency to dash off into battle against any enemy that passes within visual range, even when supposedly set to 'Passive' mode, makes them more trouble than they're worth.

Black Mountain, home to Super Mutants and Nightkin galore. Maybe wait a bit before tackling this one, eh?
I lost count of the number of times I turned around to discover they'd sprinted off to tackle a Deathclaw single-handed, standing two feet away from it and firing wildly. Eventually, I stopped reloading to keep them alive and let them commit suicide. Compared to the huge strides BioWare has made in RPG party design, this is an area Fallout 4 would do well to either improve on or avoid altogether.
Your companion's dim-witted nature is perhaps connected to the creaking Gamebryo engine, which still carries a lot of Oblivion's clunkier aspects in its digital genome. Interior maps remain frustratingly vague, character models are still bloated and odd, and both people and objects are prone to random jigging or getting lodged in doors and rocks.
The game can still throw out some glorious vistas – the distant lights of the Strip twinkling in the wilderness – but mid-range details pop in awkwardly and the frame rate chugs too often for comfort. There are even complete game freezes, usually after prolonged play sessions, though Bethesda assures us that this is a known issue and a day-one patch will fix it.
Fallout: New Vegas is still a fantastic game, only slightly held back by its increasingly outdated tech. Obsidian has created a totally compelling world and its frustrations pale into insignificance compared to the immersive, obsessive experience on offer. Just like the scorched scenery that provides its epic backdrop, New Vegas is huge and sprawling, sometimes gaudy, even downright ugly at times – but always effortlessly, shamelessly entertaining.
9 / 10
You may also like...
-
In Theory: How iPad 3 Breaks the 1080p Barrier
-
The Rise and Fall of Sega Enterprises
-
Ridge Racer Vita Review
-
The Essential PlayStation Vita
-
GAME to close 35 stores
-
Syndicate Review
-
Battlefield: Aftershock pulled from App Store
-
GAME: "we can't stock absolutely everything"
-
Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs announced for PC
-
Dating site for gamers launches in the UK
-
Guild Wars 2 open beta sign-up begins
-
Can SSD Upgrades Boost PS3 Performance?
-
Japan chart: Strong debuts for Binary Domain, Theatrhythm
-
Borderlands 2 release date announced
-
Leaked Mass Effect 3 DLC reveals race of secret squad member
-
PlayStation Vita midnight launch: cosplay and commitment
-
Pokémon Company blasts iPhone game scammers
-
PS Vita: Sony defends Uncharted, FIFA price, explains expensive third-party digital games, reveals larger memory cards are coming
-
Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock powered by Unreal Engine 3
-
Nvidia GeForce 295.73 drivers better Skyrim, Mass Effect 3 performance
-
Mass Effect 3 gets simultaneous US PSN digital release
-
App of the Day: Orbital HD
-
Motorstorm RC for PlayStation Vita - first 15 minutes
-
Gravity Daze Review
-
PS2 Classics Virtua Fighter 4, NFS on EU PlayStation Store









Comments (204) Latest comment 1 year ago
Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
*Reads*
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
if the voice acting and dialogue are as good (in comparison to FO3) as the first preview videos promised then this is the fallout i've been waiting for. yay!
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
/digs out land mines and comedy hat
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
No reason to play Fallout 3 before this. It's worth playing at some point if you've got the time though, simply because it's brilliant.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
/Now hurry the fuck up Play.com and get me my copy!
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
More interesting factions - coupled with the higher stakes and deeper gameplay of hardcore mode - are tempting me to revisit the series.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
How could I hope to evaluate the worth of Fallout: New Vegas, a full-price game that's practically identical, both graphically and mechanically, to another game that was released two years ago? How could I tell you whether or not it's an insult that you're being asked to pay $60 for a game that's so technically deficient that it scarcely feels past the beta stage?
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
What review was that?
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
EDIT: Overlooked EG comment about it.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
The kings.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Sounds like it's a little bit more like Fallout 2, which is a good thing in my view. Day one purchase for me I think...
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Well... it's out in US and no patch yet
I was looking forward to this game but don't like all the stories about glitches and frequent (and long) load-times
Comment below viewing threshold Show
I don't know what happened, but sometimes embargoes just don't hold. We got up this morning and there were Fallout: New Vegas reviews all over the internet.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
The people who thrive on games like FO don't really care about pixels per square inch and what fps the game is rendered in. Whereas generic FPS 2001 uses that sort of stuff as a crutch, a game like Fallout (and to a lesser extent, Oblivion) transcends that.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
/pre-orders ;_;
Edit - Although I recall Sainsburys doing a launch deal on FO3 so may hold off ordering until the weekend.
# I don't want to set the world on fire... #
Comment below viewing threshold Show
You know, I can live with the insult of playing a game based on a 2-year old engine (if only slightly improved) if the game is written by somebody who knows how to tell a good story (and IMO Avellone and Sawyer know how to do that). To me, more insulting are those games that use fancy engines, lighting, bazilions of polygons and shaders as a mere facade to hide their ultimately empty gameplay.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Nice to hear that they've got their shizzle together for this one. As Tyronne says at the top, the only problem is going to be how to spin to the girlfriend that this is another 80-hour monster that I'll probably shoot for platinum with.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
There are complete game freezes in FO3 that *never* got fixed, so I wouldn't hold my breath.
It's no deal-breaker though, just an annoyance.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
However, this review is peaking [sic?] my interest. I think this might spell the end for DR2, consigning it to rarely used (in my case) trade in status, while it still has some value.
But dammit, when is AC:B out? I can't play two hour hungry games like that back to back. Stoopid run up to Xmas.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
1. Made me even more glad I preordered.
2. Made me smile.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
I'll pick it up in a month or so
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Then the fking tories ruined my day :/
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Seems a good EG review is tougher to swing these days, and for this to get a 9/10 is a HUGELY encouraging sign. Glad mine is being packed as we speak :-D
Comment below viewing threshold Show
...Almost feel bad when the slow-mo plasma bolt hit's one of their finger's and he goes into super gib mode like he got hit by the 100 cracked fists of the north star. And the second Mutie doesn't die, but then a quick twang of a guitar string, and out pops Mysterious Stranger to pass on his greetings in the form of hot lead.
Nothing left for me to move on and reminice about the two friends I could've made that day, if it were not for the slip of my trigger finger.
Good times.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
It's the kind of game I love the sound of... but will probably never get round to playing.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Yup Hardcore mode can be toggled on/off on the fly. You won't get the achievement though if you switch it off and then on again, even if only to 'test the difference'.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
I'd be VERY surprised if this was the case. Surely it'd have to be one or t'other, no pussying out
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Joystiq's review seemed more honest and in depth to me and eurogamers seemed to give too much praise. I think ill wait till tech issues are sorted as well as see how the DLC turns out before picking this up.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
can't afford it right now :/
and fecking Fable 3 is out the same day.
Buggery!
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Oh, my.
I am *so* looking forward to this.
#So bongo, bongo, bongo, I don't wanna leave the Congo, oh no no no no no
#Bingo, bangle, bungle, I'm so happy in the jungle, I refuse to go
#Don't want no bright lights, false teeth, doorbells, landlords, I make it clear
#That no matter how they coax him, I'll stay right here
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Ohhhh that was you that wrote the FO3 one? I remember reading that, and loving it. Well done
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Not to say it isnt good but thats just glossing over the issues. Plenty of games get marked down heavily for such problems and called broken. But when its bethesda/Bioware etc etc its largely ignored in scores
Comment below viewing threshold Show
DAMN YOU! I've got that in my head now. And I've been clean for 12 months
/sob
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Because gameplay > graphics?
Comment below viewing threshold Show
yeah... but if a games not finished and is out dated it should be reflected in the score shouldnt it?
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Exactly my problem. My 360 is playing up (disc read errors) so would rather get a PS3 version as that machine is looking healthy. But then again the 360 version is probably better...
Aaargh I can't decide!
Comment below viewing threshold Show
The problems are pretty much inherent in the engine though. And I don't see how an old engine makes the game itself dated - the review clearly states the new mechanics are brilliant.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
I sure as hell hope they've found some fixes/workarounds for these problems by Friday. I've got the Steam version pre-loaded and it's itching in my fingers to play - I would hate for Friday night to consist of a long stream of start up crashes or crippling framerates.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Erm, how would they know? The game is locked till release...
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
US release date is earlier. With your region set to US, you too could be playing now.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Or not, if what you say is being posted on teh forums is true
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Obsidian didn't fuck up Kotor 2, Lucasarts did by forcing Obsidian to release it before they had finished.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
the orignal had its quirks and bugs, but most get fixed eventually...when a game is good you are willing to forgive some technical problems as the end result is still excellent
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Because the Fallout 3 variation of the long obsolete GameBryo engine had piss poor performance and was shockingly unstable. I'm certain that many would forgive the old engine if it had actually worked. Fallout 3 was in no way a bad game, but the build quality (or rather lack of it) unfortunately destroyed any positive experience for many gamers, especially those on PS3 who didn't even receive patch support due to the DLC debacle.
I put off pre-ordering this opting instead to wait for independent reviews before making the purchase. I'm glad I did as it seems that even the mainstream reviewers aren't afraid to tell the truth about the build quality this time round, and that means that I'll be waiting a couple of months for the game to reach a working state before I part with my money. Assuming of course that New Vegas does in fact reach a working state, after all, Fallout 3 didn't and it's been out for nearly two years now.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
I'm gonna put off a potential purchase, at least until I've nothing else to play, by which time this should have been greatly discounted at retail.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
For some more Fallout
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
[link url=http://www.metacritic.com/game/xbox-360/ fallout-new-vegas/critic-reviews
]http://ww w.metacritic.com/game/xbox-360/...[/link]
85 is mixed reviews now?!?
Disclaimer: 85 at time of url postings.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
At last hopedfully a RPG that actually role plays.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Re: the shonky game engine - It was already shonky-looking when FO3 came out (apart from a few of the nice vistas). Let's hope the new deal with id means we'll see Fallout 4 running on idTech 5 eh?
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Some people have lost perspective. 85 is a great score for a game
And Eurogamer did mention there should be a day one patch to fix any current issues. We'll assume they mean day one of the WORLDWIDE release rather than the Yanks playing it early.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
If it crashes out of the box, it should be reviewed on that basis. All those boxed copies of the game will be around longer than the patch will be available and some people don't take their consoles online in the first place.
Completion with no crashes at all is supposed to be the norm for console games, anything that misses that mark should be penalised heavily.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Giving an okay game like Mafia II an insulting 4 beats me.
How FIFA 10 is a 9 and FIFA 11 an 8 is strange.
WRC Rally is such a crappy game it shoulda had that 4 Mafia 2 had, yet it gets a ridiculous 7, wow!
Plus, most critics don't find MOH that good, yet you folks see it as an 8
Eurogamer, enough with the attention seeking, always wanting to stand out at Metacritic, always tryna have a different opinion to the majority. I love this site but your reviews lately have been a complete mess. Hell, hows SFIV/SSFIV a perfect 10?
I'll trust this site when it comes to Digital Foundry's comparisons but with the reviews, I don't know...
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Lets see how things are going for players who get towards the 200 hour mark when the Fallout: New Vegas DLC arrives.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
I'll wait for the patch to be released before buying ...
Comment below viewing threshold Show
The key word here is opinion, something which is entirely subjective, and as such your entire ranting post has absolutely zero merit. EG are under no obligation to make sure that they have exactly the same viewpoint and nor should they.
Games journalists aren't the freaking Borg, you know.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
I was referring to the numerous reports of bugs, one or two of which are allegedly VERY bad.
I don't know about anyone else, but that's enough to put me off coughing up 40 notes for an [unfinished] game. If I ever play this, it'll be further down the line - when it's been patched to kingdom come.
I think that's wisdom, not a lack of "perspective".
Comment below viewing threshold Show
If there are ultra-buggies in it, I'm definitely buying. Will they have rocket launchers?
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Here
More bugs than the game per se but still looking forward to it anyway!
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Were any of them gamebreaking? No.
Do I like that Console games are increasingly released in a rushed state and need patching? No
Am I looking foward to New Vegas regardless? HELL YES.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
"Apparently the reviewers at Eurogamer are such Western RPG fanboys."
And why exactly would that be a bad thing?
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Didn't work. That was supposedly a fix for the extended loading pauses. If you can call up the XMB it was actually a long pause (a bug in itself) rather than a crash, versus what I was getting, a total system lockup with no XMB.
By the time I'd completed all the DLC excepting Broken Steel the game would actually crash if I went near specific areas of the map, by the time Broken Steel was done I simply couldn't play any further. The game would crash long before I could reach any further unexplored locations
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Obviously you playing through all 3 versions before a review isn't feasible, but it would be handy to know if I need to find a PC specific review to check up on any issues. PS3/360 owners would probably appreciate the information too.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Wait for the inevitable faceoff.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Nah, I always prefer Psychic or Water type.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
I created a popular thread on the official Fallout 3 forums detailing a set of user-enforced rules that amounted to a hardcore mode; they were intended for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 users who did not have access to mods. The goal was to increase the challenge without just turning enemies into bullet sponges.
My conceit is that, along with the "hardcore" mods, the thread motivated Obsidian to include the hardcore mode as standard in New Vegas.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
What platform did you play it on though? It's widely documented that the PS3 version especially was far from working, and the 360 and PC versions, though better, were hardly perfect. If we forget specific game breakers such as the GOAT bug, Jefferson Memorial bug or the 100 skill point bug which affected all three systems and halted progress requiring the player to start from scratch, there is the little issue on PS3 of the game becoming increasingly unstable leading to frame rate drops and lockups as the save file approaches and exceeds 8mb, something which Bethesda outright refused to acknowledge as an issue, let alone work to fix.
Fact is, the PS3 version of Fallout 3 was a lazy port and the reviews don't paint New Vegas in a disimilar light, though I personally appreciate that the reviewers have been honest about it this time. It is nonetheless difficult for me to get properly excited about this game as I now know that improvements haven't been made and that as long as Bethesda maintains the DLC exclusivity there's a good chance that the PS3 version will once again go totally unpatched just as Fallout 3 has done.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Just happy obsidian has been able to do what we all knew it could.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
I've spent so many hours travelling through the landscape,absorbing the atmosphere and loving the setting.
You don't need Crysis-esque vistas to make a game stunning. This game proves it brilliantly.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Mind you, to completely switch to a survival mindset the hardcore mode might be interesting. Borderlands drops so much loot that half the time I couldn't even be bothered to rummage, there was just no need.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Eurogamer are just trash really aren't they?
All I ask for is an honset review to help base a purchase decision on, and I get this crap ... Eurogamer really is a joke !
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
This is a lazy broken bug ridden expansion pack cash in. BUYER BEWARE.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
I don't want to sound like a die-hard Fallout NV apologist but Quintin posted this in the RPS comments:
"As I mention in the article, I’m enjoying myself. None of this stuff is game-breaking. Just disappointing."
A RPS Wot-I-Think feature would be more important from my point of view as it goes beyond the first impression stage.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Aye
So glad that this game is at least a improvement on obsidians previous work(god-awfull NW2 keeps haunting me combined with the 6-hour long patches)
Comment below viewing threshold Show
I was trying to resist,but this game will last me months and months.
Cya next year chaps!
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Hardcore mode looks like how the first game should have played. My character became an invincible and invisible walking death machine by level 13 on F3, this gameplay mode should go great guns to balancing that out and adding an extra layer of depth. Hell, should compensate if that rather low level cap carries over from F3.
Think about this is that I can probably assume there is due to be about Ł30 odd of DLC to come in the future, so am going to wait for the GOTY to come out as I really cannot be bothered with drip fed content. I have the game, I want to play all the game now please.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
He actually said five times. Which is rather a lot compared to most other games which don't crash at all. That's just a reference to crashes, not a testament to the game being bug free aside from crashes.
If this game is based heavily on Fallout 3, those crashes would become increasingly frequent as the game progresses. 99% of my crashes in Fallout 3 GOTY happened over the 70-80 hour mark. With so much to explore especially with the added DLC you could easily spend 200 hours wandering but for the fact that the game hits barely playable spots frequently as you top 100 hours and beyond.
By the time I finally decided to stop my save file had swelled to 15MB.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
People will be comparing it to bloody Pro Evo next.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Perhaps you shouldn't be playing RPGs if you found Fallout confusing. You'd have a mental breakdown playing Demon's Souls.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Completed the PS3 version 100% three times. Had about 5 freezes.
Where you get your facts?
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Use google to look for Fallout 3 PS3 issues. You'll find countless posts on Bethesda's own forums, official PS forums, numerous independent forums, blogs, websites and more. IGN's original review of Fallout 3 mentioned game breaking bugs and crashes but was replaced by an edited version stating that they had no issues worth noting.
Thankfully the reviewers are being a little more honest this time and while reviews seem to be mixed every one of them agrees that the game crashes for fun, much like Fallout 3 PS3 still does now, two years after release. If New Vegas really is as bad as Fallout 3, it's going to be very difficult to recommend to PS3 owners, in fact I've personally recommended to my friends that they not buy it and buy something else instead, wait a few weeks and see if once again Bethesda's DLC exclusivity extends to bug fixing patches as it did with Fallout 3, if so then this game simply might not be worth the hassle in the long run.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
I'm upset that issues still surround the game, that should have been fixed before they even started on the gameplay!
I'll still buy it though, I just cant resist some more Fallout devoted hours!
Comment below viewing threshold Show
these are just the early impressions amongst journalists. once the game gets into the hands of the many gamers across europe plenty more game ending bugs will be found.
think i'll wait until such a time as it's fixed and go with vanquish this month.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Vegas will be exceptional, the game lockup issue will get a fix as mentioned. Roll on Friday and roll on the DLC. It's something to look forward to and I have no problem dropping less than €6 on 3-4+ hours worth of new content, almost the price of a pint? I fail to see some peoples logic here.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
http://ww w.rockpapershotgun.com/2010/10/...
Comment below viewing threshold Show
http://ww w.rockpapershotgun.com/2010/10/...
Comment below viewing threshold Show
From my point of view, it is just a weak formula to keep players addicted, granting them shallow but constant "rewards". I wish gaming was about more than just tiny ego boosts "I found something !", "I levelled up !" or the worst "Watch this fabulous headshot and this head gorily rolling in slow motion !"
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
I hear that the new Hardcore mode may justify the need to loot everything, but in Fallout 3, you ended up with ridiculous amount of everything and it was supposed to be a wasteland as well. I never fell short of anything to be honest. Looked a lot more like a supermarket, as if nobody was interested in picking this stuff up before you came around.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
He actually said five times. Which is rather a lot compared to most other games which don't crash at all. That's just a reference to crashes, not a testament to the game being bug free aside from crashes.
I think you are setting the bar way too low. If a game freezes or crashes, even once in a repeatable way(ie not hardware specific), then the score should instantly be dropped to half marks (5/10) because it hasn't been Q/A tested properly.
Just like handing in University course work late; you'd only get 50% at most, to teach you a meaningful lesson so you'd avoid repeating the mistake.
Although the screenshots/videos looked very underwhelming for me, almost in a sub-Half life 2 kind of way, and poor tessellation in the character models and foreground scenery seemed to be a repeating theme that I didn't expect at this point in a console generation for well funded game.
However, if gamers like the reviewer enjoy this style of story/gameplay then graphical polish shouldn't really matter too much, it probably doesn't damage the game in any meaningful way, unlike freezing or crashing would.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Because it doesn't freeze up every hour or so? At least it didn't for me. The game certainly has issues, as mentioned in the review, but I didn't experience anything in over 50 hours of play that diminished the sheer amount of fun I was having.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Well, the game doesn't make you do that. It's perfectly possible to play the game using stuff looted from enemies and bought from traders. I do think that the compulsion to poke around in every corner is a natural tendency in RPG players, so it's more a case of the developer rewarding the player for something they'd do anyway rather than thm forcing pointless busywork on you.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
[link url=http://www.primagames.com/catalog/promo_imag e/9780307469960_1639.pdf
]http://ww w.primagames.com/catalog/promo_...[/link]
If that link doesn't work (it sometimes doesn't) it's easiliy accessible from the main splash page on the Primagames site
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
He might make some good observations and it's nice to hear feedback, but as soon as he said:
"I played Fallout 3 on my console toy so I'm not sure how bad Fallout 3's controls were on PC"
I couldn't take him seriously. The Xbox 360 is a toy now?
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
What about older engines like Unreal3 and Source? Are they unplayable now? FFS
"I couldn't take him seriously. The Xbox 360 is a toy now?"
Yes, like all consoles. Nothing wrong with having fun with your toys.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
"Well, the game doesn't make you do that. It's perfectly possible to play the game using stuff looted from enemies and bought from traders."
Well, they strongly encourage you to look at everything, by way of the game design itself: I want to survive, so I better stack up as much as possible to tip the odds in my favour, so in the end, what I'm doing is busywork. It would make sense if there wasn't so much of it, if resources were scarces and vital, but most of the time it feels useless and it's just done for the sake of tiny useless discoveries of the same old ammunition, health pack etc.
"I do think that the compulsion to poke around in every corner is a natural tendency in RPG players, so it's more a case of the developer rewarding the player for something they'd do anyway rather than thm forcing pointless busywork on you."
Interesting point. I do think it's more of a chicken/egg problem, players being accustomed to such things so they don't find it odd, and even like it in the end. Anyway, I don't feel loot should be considered an interesting reward, that this should remain unchallenged most of the time, or that rewards should be handed out constantly. Exploration (which I guess is what RPG players are really fond of) can be made interesting without scavenging boxes. I do find problematic that an empty room is now considered a problem (http://tv tropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Ma...
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comparing two completely different games and engines, seems a little weird.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
I've wanted to join in on the Fallout3 fun since it launched and in my 4 or 5 attempts to sit down and play the game, I just couldn't appreciate it like so many of you did. The problem is that I try to play it like a traditional FPS game and rarely use the VATS system like I should (because it feels unnatural in the midst of a firefight and it annoys me when shots miss and I feel I can do better aiming myself!!) and the game just comes up short for me in a shooter sense... I dont know what it is, but my brain just tells me "No! Pull the trigger your damn self!".
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
As much as I loved FO3, with the amount of unplayed/unfinished games I am currently holding I think this will have to wait either until the new year, or the inevitable GOTY.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
However, I'm rather worried about all these glitches and bugs. When the patches are released, how am I gonna get 'em, with my OFFLINE PS3?
Someone, please, tell me exactly how screwed I am. :/
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Do they do demo cd's anymore?
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Comment below viewing threshold Show
You're pretty much screwed until GOTY. Sony's TRCs state that title updates must be downloaded and auto-installed only.
From what I'm hearing this game should never have made it past submission, it seems that multiple GOTY winning publishers can push any old shit onto store shelves these day and MS and Sony won't bat an eyelid as long as the platform royalties are paid.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Hey, it is just a game - wait for GOTY and get it all.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
I have noticed a few minor bugs here and there - a character got stuck in a rock outside of Novac, an enemy that appeared to 'bounce' along the scenery for a few seconds, stuff like that - but hardly anything 'game breaking'.
It's not the most polished game I've ever played for sure, but it's hardly 'broken'. Certainly no more than Fallout 3 was, and we all enjoyed that thoroughly. Well, some of us did anyway.
Hyperbole sucks.
EDIT - I should point out that I've been playing the Xbox 360 version, so your mileage may vary on other platforms. Also, the majority of the bugs I've experienced took place on Thursday. The release-day patch kicked in yesterday, and I've noticed a significant improvement. My primary concern now is that, the longer you play the game, the longer the loading screens get. That's pretty much it.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
I dont like the plastic looking characters in the cutscenes, graphics look alot brighter than FO3.... seen one character stuck halfway in the ground, but generally no major issues. It does feel like an extended DLC so far (not played much, but doesn't look or feel like its been greatly advanced).
Usual problems of items just randomly falling on the ground when you load (physics yay), some character and scenery pop. It does feel more clunky than FO3, certainly feels like the FPS has little pauses (PS3).
Anyway, enjoying it so far, but i think they could have done with another 6 months of tuning/fixing.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
A 9 out of 10 appears completely inadequate.
Comment below viewing threshold Show
Its a shame so far, wanted more FO3... but in the end, it seems more like the issues side of FO3 DLC than FO3 good (if you know what i mean)..
Comment below viewing threshold Show
He's got a bit of a rep in my opinion for being controversial for the sake of it. And this is pretty obvious since he opens the review with a rather nasty slander against the games developer itself. (One that one of the senior developers, J.E. Sawyer, expressed some degree of dismay at in a Formspring question. Noting that, indeed, it's fine to dislike a game, but taking sneery potshots at a developer and insinuating that the developer had no passion for the game they were developing is incredibly not cool.) I mean, if he doesn't like the game, then that's fine, but who goes out of their way to insult a developer in the opening of their review? It's just not on, and it's not done for a reason.
There were also a number of elements of the review which were 'staged' to make the game look bad, in which the reviewer was actively trying to make the game look worse than it was. For example: At one point the reviewer claimed that he'd heard about a large farm, but once he got there, the place was tiny. However, in a screenshot he'd supplied as evidence of this, he'd placed the camera in such a way as to make it look like this was the case. Move the camera left a bit and one would see that it's actually ten times the size he'd claimed. This casts the entire review into doubt.
Really, with reviews or 'What I Think's like that, I don't consider Rock, Paper, Shotgun to be exactly credible at the moment, they had some genuine pedigree there with Kieron Gillen, but he's since left the site. And to be honest, I'm a little disappointed with them. I honestly think that after having sunk an ungodly amount of hours into the game with numerous replays and enjoyed all of it, that Dan's review is far, far more fair summation of the game. And that RPS seems to be slamming just to be controversial and to drive traffic to their site.
So really, take it with a grain of salt.
Source for my claim that the Eurogamer review was pulled: http://ww w.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/th... (Do note the comments about how the review was littered with nasties like Asian jokes made in bad taste, and poorly placed political jokes. Remember what I was saying about this reviewer being worthy of The Sun? I wasn't joking.)