Fallout: New Vegas Review
- Posted October 25th, 2010 at 11:32 EDT by Adam Dolge
- 15 Comments
Review Score
- PSU Review Score
- 8.0
- Avg. user review score:
- 7.8
Summary
Fallout: New Vegas needed more time in the oven to work out all the kinks and bugs, but it is still a terrific experience for anyone interested in re-experiencing one of the greatest action-RPG series of our time.
We like
- The enormous and detailed world to explore
- The player choice is front and center
- The heaps of side missions to tackle
We dislike
- The crippling glitches and bugs
- The long load times
- The dated graphics and poor voice-synching
See PSU's review on Metacritic & GameRankings
Creating a worthy sequel to a critically acclaimed and commercially successful game is often more than a developer can chew. Many sequels have fallen short, while others, like Uncharted 2 or Red Dead Redemption, clearly utilized what worked in the original entry and improved upon them on nearly every level. So when news surfaced that a sequel, of sorts, to 2008’s Fallout 3 was in the works, we were inevitably excited, yet cautious at having overly high expectations. Now that Fallout: New Vegas is out and we’ve had our time with it, we think we were right to be cautiously optimistic.
What is inevitably clear with New Vegas is that it isn’t really new, and little is done by Bethesda Softworks or Obsidian to give players something truly unique. New Vegas feels and plays like a giant expansion to Fallout 3. While that certainly isn’t a bad thing seeing as we really enjoyed 2008’s mammoth RPG outing, we were hoping for something fresh and captivating in New Vegas. Indeed, while there are some minor tweaks to the gameplay, some interesting additions (like Hardcore Mode), and tons of new things to do and see, overall you will find that if you haven’t played Fallout 3 in a while, you’ll quickly remember why you either loved it or hated it.
Like all the other Fallout games, New Vegas questions what would happen after a nuclear apocalypse ravages the United States of America. However, instead of crawling around the remnants of Washington, D.C. like we did Fallout 3, New Vegas starts players in the wasteland surrounding New Vegas. As the name describes, New Vegas is essentially an attempt at rebuilding the Vegas Strip following the atomic war of 2077. The city is unique to the country because of the Hoover Dam, which remains mostly intact following the war. Several factions, or groups of organized militias, form to try and reclaim power. Those who support the old government call themselves the New California Republic, known as NCR throughout most of the game. This large organized group attempts to keep order around Vegas with an iron fist. In opposition to NCR is the Legion, led by Caesar, a group that has a knack for enslaving small groups of people in the wasteland. The tension between the two groups is palpable, and throughout the game you’ll be faced with decisions about which side to trust and which side to oppose—then again, you can just play as your own force and choose a self-serving approach. At the end, you’ll have to use the groups to your advantage, but you have the whole game to play before you get that far.
The game introduces a heavy influence on faction support. You gain and lose reputation based on your actions in towns and groups throughout the land. As with all Fallout games, player decisions are crucial, and which group you decide to help or hurt will have an impact on your game. Fallout has always done this well, and New Vegas ups the ante with more subtle approaches. For instance, you may lose some credibility with a certain group, and its supporters may not openly attack you in the town or on the Strip (they can’t, anyway), but out on the wasteland they may take a few shots at you. In addition to the radio on you PipBoy keeping you well informed on the latest news, NPC residents like to jabber about your reputation across the wasteland.
The game opens with a bang, quite literally. Your character is shot by a man in a checkered suit, and after being left for dead, a robot digs you up and brings you to a nearby doctor. It’s in this little town on the Mojave Desert that sets the game in motion. You’ll learn all the basics here, including combat and VATS (Vault-Tec Automated Targeting System), harvesting raw materials for crafting, tweaking your weapons, and more. The starting quests are quite dry, but after a few hours into the game, the pace finally picks up and you start piecing your life together. As a whole, the main narrative and quest line is not nearly as interesting as Fallout 3’s story, but it’s still good enough to drive us to the The Strip and ... (continued on next page)
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Comments
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Nakatomi Uk |
Nakatomi_Uk- 8:14am EDT - October 25th, 2010
- 2
If I ever got this game it would have to be on PC, I'm currently playing F3 on my PC and the loading times dont exist for obvious reasons but after experiencing serious lock-ups, bugs and stalls and slow downs from F3's GOTY edition I'll never play this type of series on a console again.
The engine is far dated and they just dont tweak it as they should yeah sure most players have a clean run no major bugs but todays games shouldn't be coming out with this rubbish it's not lazy work. It will get patched when they feel like it I never had any issues with F3 on my PC apart from a shut down and 1 re-install but thats once in the month I've been playing it.
I am sure I will enjoy this but I will wait for a couple of patches and once I've finished some PS3 games and F3.
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Clazy
- 11:06am EDT - October 25th, 2010
- 6
What long load times? I have a PS3 and they seem about as long as any other game. I agree, I've literally seen bugs (Such as ants) trapped in the ground. Aside from that, my Fallout: New Vegas experience has been amazing.
And I think the story is awesome. It's a relief to have concepts like the NCR and mentions of Klamath in this game as it shows a great amount history from Fallout 1 and 2 (For those of you fortunate enough to play them).
I'm about 18 hours in, so I'll put my foot in my mouth when I experience any debilitating "Bugs", besides the radscorpions, ants, and radroaches I've already encountered. Next playthrough I am definitely turning on hardcore mode.
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D0nni3
- 12:28pm EDT - October 25th, 2010
- 7
It's a shame some of the bugs present have damaged the scores personally i got this on pc because of the modding community and it seems pretty bug free and i'm about 20 hours in! in fact the only thing i've come across is a couple of blue screens but didn't hamper the experiance too much
Bug free this game is a solid 9 the politics of it all is a much better idea than anything FO3 offered, if people are still on the fence wait a few weeks for it to get patched and you've got an amazing game
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SilentNoise |
SilentNoise1780- 12:53am EDT - October 26th, 2010
- 8
Load times are there, but not terrible. ModNation Racers is by far worse.
I\'ve seen glitches, but nothing major that causes crashes or anything even close, and definitely agree that they should\'ve spent more time on this one. It\'s still an enjoyable game though. -
Xdeth
- 5:07am EDT - October 26th, 2010
- 9
I bought FO3 and the GOTY edition for PS3 and loved them both. The glitches/crashes I encountered with them were very minor. Only once did I have to use a back save because I got stuck in a rock. The longest load time I had was about a minute long and that was near the end of the game. I decided to go with the PC version however for New Vegas for mods and anti jaggy support (anti-aliasing). I'm about 30 hrs into it. I've encountered about the same amount of crashes and or glithces as I did FO3. I'm really not sure why all these reviewers are acting like the game is so bug ridden its unplayable. If you liked FO3, your going to love FO NV. If your new to the series then you can still jump right in. I love this game and have been playing since the first one on PC. 9/10 in my opinion and equal contender for GOTY.
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chumdiddy
- 11:55pm EDT - October 26th, 2010
- 10
I was liking this game despite it being a complete re0hash or Fallout 3 in every way but story.....
.....until it broke my beloved 60GB PS3 that I have had since launch.
No joke, it never once acted up or got loud or anything. Perfect and I took good care of it. Then, while doing some NCR work it started to get as loud as a vaccuum cleaner humping a jet engine. As I sat there wondering what was going on, it stopped. So I stopped playing. Then, next day i load it up and 10 minutes in it goes nuts again. Before Icould shut it off, it shut off. YLOD.
Again, no other game or games, even on 10 hour gaming binges EVER did anything like that.
Im convinced that buggy as heck but still fun game ruined my beloved PS3. Anyway, as far as I played it, it was good. Not only to get the game out of it. Should I send it to Sony or just open it up myself?
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RugerRellP89
- 7:07am EDT - October 27th, 2010
- 11
I actually sold my 60GB PS3 on Ebay broken when I got the YLOD playing the God of War Collection. I got like 160 for it and bought a PS3 slim. I\'m not sure if there still going for that much, but your best bet is to get a PS3 slim because who knows how long the refurbished one you will get from Sony for $150 is going to last. I think the refurbished ones only come with like 90 day warranties.
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Cosmo811
- 11:24am EDT - October 27th, 2010
- 12
So it is as I feared. The moment I saw this game, back when it was announced, my first thought was "Hmm. Seems like Fallout 3 with a new storyline." and it seems to be just that. And they haven't even updated the horrendous graphics.. Think I'll give this one a miss.
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knowitall222
- 7:28pm EDT - November 1st, 2010
- 14
What, how could they ever compare Uncharted 2 with fallout.This game is a horrible sequel.this game is more like a 7.3 and kinda disgraces RPG
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wetfbbqchiken
- 1:09pm EST - November 7th, 2010
- 15
@13 hmm wonder what made you think that... could it be the developer saying "this isnt a sequal treat it more like a fo3 expansion" ?
and @15 l.o.l game is amazing alot more fallouty than 3
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