So, Fallout: New Vegas. I will admit that I played a lot more of Fallout 3. I found every area in the Capitol Wasteland while boogieing on down to Three Dawg’s radio station. Shortly after I had done this and flattened all the DLC, I started playing New Vegas. Boy, was this a horrible idea. I had entirely burned out on the modern Fallout gameplay and New Vegas played the exact same. If I had one suggestion to make to anyone who wants to play this game it is to not do what I did – if you want to play Fallout 3 first, wait a little while before throwing this one in. I didn’t do half the exploration I could have done simply because I was so tired of the whole thing.
But, despite this, I thoroughly enjoyed playing this through. Which I feel speaks wonders for the game, considering my Fallout fatigue. For the main story, you play as the Courier who is attacked and left for dead. You, however, survive and go out on an adventure to reclaim the all-important package you were delivering. Along the way you find yourself in the middle of a clash between Caesar’s Legion, NCR and Mr House who are all fighting to lay claim to Hoover Dam. Your choices throughout the game determine who you’ll ally with in the end. I went the other route which was allying with none of them and hanging out with Yes Man. I think this was the only option left as I had turned everyone against me. I need to work on my people skills…
The Vegas area was much more interesting than the DC Ruins, and the different faction allegiances were a cool addition – I tried to stay neutral to everyone, but it never ended up that way. This was made painfully clear to me when I wandered into an NCR controlled town, and ended up massacring everyone there. Whoops. In my defence, they shot first and I was not completely aware that the town I had entered had this allegiance when I wandered in. I thought that there was some story-based reason this was happening. Nope. Not at all. I was just looking for somewhere to have a rest and a restock! I imagine that I had just emerged barely victorious from a battle with Deathclaws. I didn’t want to kill anyone.
That is also one of the things I enjoy most about Fallout (as a whole, I guess) – it really is your own story. People may end up making similar story choices, but there are the little things that personalise it, which makes it a wholly original tale to tell for each individual.
So yes, a thoroughly enjoyable game. I suppose the only off-putting thing could be the stories of the bugs. Most of them have been ironed out, but I know it was frustrating when I couldn’t finish a mission because the enemies had spawned inside a rock…
If you want to visit post-apocalyptia, then pick up New Vegas – you won’t be disappointed.