Fallout: New Vegas takes place in an alternate universe 204 years after a majority of the United States was destroyed by nuclear weapons in the Great War of 2077. In this alternate universe, culture developed differently than in our own world in that styles and values remained similar to those of our own universe's 1950s, even as technology continued to advance. The result is a harsh world of destroyed '50s utopian culture and barren wastelands filled with animals that, over the years, have mutated into new beasts, thanks to the residual radiation left by the bombs.
Being seen by the Chinese as unimportant to the United States' war effort, a majority of Las Vegas was spared from direct hits by nuclear warheads, leaving much of the strip intact throughout the years following the war. The surrounding Mojave desert area still suffered from the massive amounts of radiation released in the destruction of the country, so even the inhabitants of the Las Vegas strip (now called New Vegas) live in a harsh, deadly climate.
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| This is how I imagine Vegas looks even in current times... |
Fallout: New Vegas's story follows a courier for a parcel service in the New Vegas area as he (or she, depending on your character customization) is given an important package to deliver to the strip. The courier is intercepted by a gang that holds him at gunpoint and steals the package before shooting him, burying him, and leaving him for dead (talk about bad luck in Vegas). The next morning, the courier wakes up in a strange bed, having been dug up by a passing security robot and delivered to a doctor. Once the courier is patched up, he sets out to find the man who shot him and stole his package so that he can get revenge. This one simple pursuit will pull the courier into a power struggle which will change New Vegas forever.
In addition to the main story quests, hundreds of other side-quests can be found throughout the Mojave. These quests vary in size, though most tell their own little stories, fleshing out the bigger narrative of the New Vegas area. These side-quests make up most of the meat of Fallout: New Vegas and are incredibly rewarding and usually fun and interesting.
The Mojave desert is full of treasures and dangers to be found through exploration. Locations of interest are spread throughout the entire game, be it a cave filled with mutated creatures, a store from before the war that can be raided for supplies and equipment, or any number of other nooks and crannies to explore.
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| I know somewhere out there I'll finally find my lost teddy bear. |
Fallout: New Vegas can best be described as a first-person shooter/action game with heavy RPG elements. Everything in the game is based on behind-the-scenes numbers based on your characters stats. At the beginning of the game, players assign points to different parameters such as strength, perception, and luck. These base stats determine success or failure at most in-game tasks. Additionally, each character has a number of skills that players can add points to in order to increase and customize their character's abilities. These many skills such as stealth, energy weapons, and barter, affect how well your character can use certain items, weapons, and abilities. A number of skill points are granted to the character upon gaining enough experience points through questing and killing enemies to level up. Also, when a character levels up, the player is able to choose from a list of perks which even further customize his or her abilities.
A huge number of weapons are available to assist the courier in his or her journey, including guns, melee weapons, explosives, and some very amusing custom items. New Vegas improves on Fallout 3's gun combat by adding the ability to bring up a weapon's iron sights, making aiming during gunfights much better. Of course this wouldn't be a Fallout game without the inclusion of the V.A.T.S. system. The Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System allows players to freeze time and spend action points to target specific parts of their enemies' bodies. Depending on skill level, each body part has a percent to-hit visible in the V.A.T.S. system, informing players which areas would be most likely to be hit by the attack. Additionally, each body part can become crippled after sustaining damage, leading to different effects on enemies such as limping if a leg is hit, bad aim if the eyes are damaged, or even the possibility of shooting the gun right out of an enemy's hands. After entering V.A.T.S. commands, a cinematic attack takes place in which your character executes the shots you programmed.
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| Hopefully he trips on that bucket and falls, saving me some bullets. |
When Fallout: New Vegas was first released, it was a hotbed for glitches and bugs. Just doing a quick Google search uncovers some pretty terrifying glitches. In the time since release, Obsidian has released several patches that make the game much more playable. I still ran into a few freezes when playing the game though, so I would highly recommend saving often. The odd bug still shows itself now and then, but I never ran into anything game breaking.
At the time of this writing, I have played through Fallout: New Vegas twice, for a grand total of around 80 hours. The first playthrough in which I did nearly everything lasted for 60 or so of that total. In my second playthrough I found another problem with the game that I hadn't noticed the first time around. Western-style RPGs are supposed to be about freedom of exploration, but Fallout: New Vegas forces players to follow the same path for the first half of the game every time you play it. Sure there are no walls or anything keeping you from traveling somewhere else, but what keeps you to the same path are terrible, horrible enemies everywhere EXCEPT for that one path. Want to go a different way this playthrough? I hope you enjoy swarms of poisonous insects that will kill you in one hit. Well, maybe I'll go the other way then. NOPE! Enjoy the giant claws ripping at your flesh.
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| Oh, Hello! I'll just...turn around and...go..the other way.... |
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| Or not... |
Even with all of its faults, Fallout: New Vegas is a very enjoyable game. The sheet amount of exploration available is worth the price of admission alone. Add in the fun combat and interesting enemies, characters, and locales, and you have a game worth every cent. As with most WRPGs, a bit of imagination is necessary to get the most enjoyment out of the game, but not as much as some other WRPGs I have played. If you are a fan of post-apocalyptic atmospheres, RPGs, exploration, or good games in general, you should definitely look into Fallout: New Vegas!
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