Fallout: New Vegas

I initially decided to play Fallout: New Vegas in a similar way to how I played Fallout 3 two years ago – as a good guy bringing justice to the wasteland. What I found was a game where the line between good and evil wasn’t quite as clear cut. Take the Brotherhood of Steel for instance, the closest you got to a «good guy» in Fallout 3. In this game, they’re pretty much a bunch of dicks! Certainly not evil, but secluded, unpleasant mole-people holed up in a cave for years. I ended up destroying their base for what I thought was the greater good at the time. It didn’t feel great but it didn’t feel that bad either.

Navigating this game’s version of the Mojave desert, and the city of New Vegas, is just as fun and interesting as navigating Fallout 3′s «Capital wasteland» but you feel like you don’t necessarily know who to side with. That’s where factions come in. The previous game’s karma system takes a back seat to a similar system that tells you what all the factions think about you.

I decided to help the New California Republic, an approximation of a democratic government that seemed to want to at least bring some justice to the wastes. Enter Mr House, the enigmatic ruler of the Vegas Strip who is far less forthcoming about his motives but assures you that if you help him, you’re definitely doing the right thing. Both options seemed sensible enough but I remained wary of both factions in case they started shit. I did some missions for the NCR until I had an offer I couldn’t refuse. I’m still not sure about the decisions I made in the end so I may have to replay the entire game to see what the other options are.

Whoever you decide to work for and ally with, the centre of the game’s plot is the defense of Hoover dam, which provides electricity to the whole region. The sadistic, violent Caesar’s Legion wants it, the NCR wants it, Mr House wants it. Who do you trust?

By the way it’s fitting that your character, a courier by trade, is sent on so many fetch quests for your faction of choice. It’s a good thing that the quests are varied, interesting, and full of fun conversations. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that the writing is stronger than in Fallout 3. The language seems more colourful, and not just because of the increased amount of cussin’.

All the roleplaying elements still work a treat, it’s still an incredibly satisfying experience to go from level 1 all the way to the 20s, and combat has been refined somewhat as well. Mass Effect 2 was an incredibly streamlined experience and it’s kind of cool that Obsidian and Bethesda are still being old school about this.

Bethesda’s aging open world game engine, Gamebryo, is aging rapidly and a lot of things that seemed impressive in Fallout 3 and Oblivion don’t shine quite so brightly anymore. Animations are arthritic, faces look awkward, and the game world feels kind of dead. I guess that last part is appropriate for a post-apocalyptic wasteland but I would have wished for a little more vibrancy and life, at least in the human characters. There’s a mismatch between the funny, clever writing and the stiff people. Even the robots and securitrons seem to have more life in them than humans half the time, and certain climactic events don’t feel as epic as they should because the tech gets in the way. Landscapes still look great though, and the music, both licensed songs and score, is appropriate.

I spent 25 hours in a single week on this game. I could have been doing something productive instead but that’s how much I enjoyed my experience trip through the Mojave wasteland. Just like Morrowind, Oblivion and Fallout 3, it’s incredibly hard to stop playing. War may never change but I don’t really need it to change if it’s this fun.
 
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