Fallout: New Vegas Review (Majordomo)
"If you want to see the fate of democracies, look out the windows."
- Mr House
💻 Description:
Fallout: New Vegas (FNV) is the perfect combination of immersive writing and choice-driven paths that impact its story and gameplay. The game is among the few Bethesda titles that take into consideration your decisions by adjusting the experience accordingly. Despite its many flaws, the beloved first and third-person RPG captivates even the most demanding fanbase by providing an enormous amount of content for the player.
📖 Setting:
Summary
Two centuries after the world was devastated by the aftermath of the nuclear fallout, New Vegas remains the beacon of humanity’s dreams and hopes. In all its splendour, the city that never sleeps is being torn apart from the desert oasis that surrounds it, as well as the many factions fighting for complete control. Among the few poor souls that live in this devastated land, a “Courier” finds their destiny intertwined with the legacy of the Mojave and its dangerous inhabitants. A gunshot wound will change their life completely and the package that they were meant to deliver will be the introduction to their Homeric adventure.
Story
Many people consider FNV among the best story-driven game because of its ability to create memorable characters and places. Its NPCs feel unique and different, with many of them hiding complex backstories that can be explored further through the many notes and details scattered in the wasteland. The environmental and dialogue interactions are a canvas encompassed by the beauty of the Mojave and embroidered by the desires of the player. Masterful writing plays an important role in this factor, expressing a personality that many players are dying to re-explore and for good reason.
🕹️ Gameplay:
Compared to its successor and predecessor, the New Vegas experience is a jack of all trades. The game’s excellent story and quest design coordinate perfectly with its gameplay and the vintage scenery, providing many choices that encourage replayability.
Interactive world
By completing specific quests, you favour the outcome of events that upon getting triggered will change the fate of a battle or even better the scenery of a location. FNV provides flexibility by shaping monumental and minor decisions into interactive backstories that build further upon the already complex world of the Mojave wasteland. The details hidden in each corner are simply amazing with many well-thought references from the previous Fallout titles, as well as many real-world events.
Dialogue options
Among the core aspects of FNV, the dialogue options matter the most. From the very beginning to the end, speech checks play an important role by both challenging and helping the player when the need arises. Each choice has its consequence affecting either a group of NPCs or even a whole faction. The player can even avoid combat completely in certain cases by manoeuvring through the sophisticated dialogue trees, which result in different outcomes.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2900747567
Combat
The combat system of FNV feels enjoyable yet clunky at the same time. On one hand, the addition of specific armour and ammo types, as well as the many crafting component choices, provides variety; on the other hand, the stats given from the above-mentioned activities have a small impact on downgrading their primary use. In addition, the old reliable VATS system has also returned, which in turn fulfils the Fallout experience.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2900747951
Character progression
The specialised perks, provided from the innovative skill tree, are the bread and butter of the game, as every two levels they improve upon the player’s many playstyles. Special perks can also be granted from other sources, usually through actions in the game world. It is essential to mention that certain perks have requirements like specific factions’ allegiances, minimum SPECIAL level requirements etc. otherwise they can't be obtained. Last but not least, the level cap can reach the staggering amount of 50 only by purchasing the DLCs, which add new perks on top of the already amazing building potential.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2900748448
Difficulty
The game's difficulty can be adjusted during gameplay at any time from Very Easy to Very Hard. Each difficulty level makes the experience makes the game harder, by increasing and decreasing the player's and enemy damage respectively. Hardcore mode on the other hand is the exception to this feature, by adding realism to the whole experience. In more detail, ammo has weight, the player can get hydrated, wounds heal over time and the companions will die instantly if they fall unconscious.
👁🗨 Visuals:
The vintage scenery perfectly fits the nuclear apocalypse setting, but unfortunately, it feels very outdated nowadays. The same thing can be said for the character models who look as bad as they did in Fallout 3. Of course, such scenery has its moments with the New Vegas district shining brightly from afar; however, despite all the mods out there, the vanilla version of the engine will remain underwhelming.
🎧 Audio:
There is an unmistakably lot of effort being put into the development of the sound elements. Each gun sounds unique whereas the effect of the environment (such as the movement of the wind) can be distinguished even in the most turbulent background. But nothing can top the perfect combination of blues and jazz that Mr New Vegas provides from his music radio station. The 50s and 60s tunes create a reminiscent atmosphere of the old days with a bittersweet feeling that follows the player during their everyday struggles. In addition to that, Mr New Vegas comments on the outcomes of certain quests the Courier has already completed, making each change special.
🗃️ Side Notes:
The performance is undeniably the worst part of the experience with many bugs that make the game unplayable without the addition of essential mods. It is expected nowadays from a game that crosses the 10-year gap, but this would be a lie especially if we take into consideration the whole jolly Bethesda experience. Thanks to the dedicated Fallout community, players can avoid catastrophic glitches by searching for guides on Steam and other equally reliable sources. I highly advise anyone getting into the tedious life of modding to follow the guides properly without any changes, as this former option will eventually destroy the game’s files, making it completely unplayable.
📋 Verdict:
Fallout: New Vegas is an open-world RPG that not only offers a “one of a kind adventure”, but also provides dilemmas concerning the fate of humanity and its many different shades. I was stunned by the amount of love the developers have put into the story, its complex characters, and its sophisticated backgrounds. As far as technicality is concerned, it is not a perfect game, but for sure a special one.