My feelings are a bit mixed on this one. New Vegas isn't exactly the Fallout experience I was looking for but I must admit that, aside from a few parts, I enjoyed a lot playing it.
New Vegas is the first 3D Fallout I've ever played and I didn't really know what to expect. I have played the classic Fallout games fairly recently and became a huge fan. Especially blew me away with their world and atmosphere. When I first started New Vegas, I was a bit too prejudiced because I usually drop every Bethesda game I try before making any real progress. So, how did I manage to finish New Vegas? I've asked myself this a few times but honestly, I don't have a real answer. New Vegas feels like playing modded Elder Scrolls game. In other words, it’s not much different from other Bethesda RPGs. I guess the only real answer to my question might just be my love for the Fallout universe. I’ve dragged this part out a bit, so I want to get straight into talking about the game by comparing it to the classic Fallouts.
With Fallout 3, the series evolved from an isometric turn based RPG into a 3D open world action RPG. Personally, I don't have a preference between the two styles. Both sides have their own pros/cons and neither outweighs the other for me. Usually, in Bethesda games, if you play a character focused on melee, then combat feels very bland and tedious. I went in with that expectation but I found myself enjoying it way more than I expected. The main reason for this is the limb dismemberment. Shouting out to the Bloody Mess perk I picked up early on and the Protonic Axe I got from the Old World Blues DLC: despite supposedly trying my best to play as a pacifist, I ultimately found myself quick saving and slaughtering the entirety of The Fort, Strip and Hoover Dam. This happens to me a lot in games for some reason. Also, weapons like the Holorifle were also among the guns that I really enjoyed using.
Now, I want to address one of my biggest issues with the game: character progression. In the classic Fallout games, you could specialize in at most 4 or 5 skills, unless you went out of your way to grind extra levels. As I usually do, I started with a speech-heavy character but by the time I finished the game, almost all of my skills were completely maxed out. This meant I could easily do whatever I wanted and the game turned into a total power fantasy. Consequently, all resource management and tension completely evaporated. Frankly, I didn't like this at all. Of course, the reason for this might be that I played through the DLCs back to back right at the start of the game. I entered them at level 15 and ended up at level 42. Another criticism I have is that most of the traits and perks are quite uninteresting. Whenever it was time to pick a perk, I just usually ended up just taking an attribute point because none of the options appealed to me.
My primary reasons for loving Fallout games have always been the world, the atmosphere, and the absurd characters and stories within them. Here, our story starts just like the first two games with a "go and find the [object]" quest. We are trying to track down the person who attempted to kill us and stole our cargo. Everything is perfectly fine up to this point. In the original Fallouts, after finding the [object], you receive another objective, which is "go and defeat the big bad guy." I expected something similar in New Vegas but they took a different route. You pick a side among several factions/characters and go to war against the rest. While the concept is interesting, unfortunately, these factions and characters just didn't catch my interest. In the first game, Mutant army and The Master, and in the second game, Enclave and Frank Horrigan - their motivations and presence really intrigued me. In New Vegas, however, I couldn't bring myself to care about any of them. Obviously, this is just a personal preference. Others might find this much more engaging but it just wasn't for me.
I keep bringing up the atmosphere, so I want to dive into that a bit. Even though New Vegas managed to suck me in with its atmosphere from the very first second, as I said at the beginning of the review, it doesn't quite deliver that authentic Fallout feeling. I think I now fully understand why 3D Fallouts are often called "Oblivion with guns." Music wise, tracks from the classic Fallouts make a return and I have absolutely no complaints about that choice since the Fallout 1 and 2 soundtracks are simply flawless.
I won't even bother mentioning how much of a technical disaster the game is because you all probably know that already. If you’ve never played a Fallout game before, I think you'd be better off playing the first two games first. There are massive differences between the classic Fallouts and Bethesda's Fallouts, so I can't really say "if you like this, you'll love that." However, even though New Vegas isn't quite on par with the classics, it's still a good game and I recommend it.
