The Fallout series takes place after a nuclear war and the U.S. is desecrated, a shell of its former glory. Humanity emerges from the tragedy as selfish and power-hungry as ever. Despite the bombardment of numerous nukes, the city of Vegas managed to survive the war mostly untouched. In the aftermath, a group of people formed touting the values of the old governmental system and called themselves the New California Republic, or NCR. Thanks to the Hoover Dam, the NCR and citizens of New Vegas have access to clean water and power, something most areas lack. At odds with the NCR is the Legion, a dictatorship lead by a man who renamed himself Caesar. Based on the Roman methodology of conquering other civilizations, the Legion absorbs nearby tribes and enslaves a portion of their population. The NCR and Caesar's Legion butt heads over control of the area, and tensions are high.
Features:
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Feel the Heat in New Vegas--Not even nuclear fallout could slow the hustle of Sin City. Explore the vast expanses of the desert wastelands - from the small towns dotting the Mojave Wasteland to the bright lights of the New Vegas strip.
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Feuding Factions, Colorful Characters and a Host of Hostiles--A war is brewing between rival factions with consequences that will change the lives of all the inhabitants of New Vegas.
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New Systems--Enjoy new additions to Fallout: Special melee combat moves have been added to bring new meaning to the phrase "up close and personal".
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An Arsenal of Shiny New Guns--With double the amount of weapons found in Fallout 3, you'll have more than enough new and exciting ways to deal with the threats of the wasteland and the locals.
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Let it Ride--In a huge, open world with unlimited options you can see the sights, choose sides, or go it alone. Peacemaker or Hard Case, House Rules, or the Wild Card - it's all in how you play the game.
Average Customer Review:
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
150 of 179 found the following review helpful:
It's fun for the short period that it's playableNov 18, 2010
By Michelle L. Belgard The intricate storyline, interesting quests, and endearing side-kicks (Lily the grandmother super mutant is, quite possibly one of the best characters I've ever encountered in a video game, despite her limited role and interactions...) are not enough to save this pitiful excuse for a game. For the life of me I do not understand how game companies can release games in these states, without ANY repercussions. 40 hours into the game, I couldn't exit a casino, and had to replay 13 hours (good thing I had the save files- it could have been worse). The games locks CONSTANTLY, requiring hard resents. Certain key areas - I can't even enter because of the locking.
We aren't talking a few annoying graphics glitches here - we are talking game ***unplayability***
I'm running a new 120Gb PS3 Slim with only a few other saved game files from Dragon's Age and Fallout 3.
A look on the Bethesda forums reveals innumerable gamers with the exact same (as well as many many more) complaints.
Before you buy this game - I suggest reading the Bethesda Forums to get an idea what state the game is in.
And they have the gall to announce new DLC while the game is not fixed.
What other industry would be allowed to charge consumers for a product that doesn't work? It just boggles the mind.
208 of 258 found the following review helpful:
Unfinished Business Indeed or A Slap in the FaceOct 25, 2010
By Tacaño Anciano Well, I loved Fallout 3 on the PS3 so much I preordered New Vegas. But I would advise people not to buy it, at least until after the price drops to $29 or so. Now that I think of it, I bought Fallout 3 when it had dropped to $29 so it had massive patches by then. There is absolutely no excuse for selling an unfinished game like this at $60. This is a slap in the face and an insult to game buying consumers. Obviously Obsidian and Bethesda are kicking back laughing their way to the bank at how gullible gamers are and intend to keep pushing the envelope of just how unfinished and defective of a product people will buy. As long as people keep buying garbage like this, they will keep pushing out even more unfinished games, these are big, greedy corporations after all.
Good: pretty much just like Fallout 3
Bad: too much like Fallout 3 right down to the same textures and colored building interiors, same npc baddies, etc.
A lot of worthless items to get and hold onto in order to craft relatively low value items from them. Adds more RPG aspect I guess but its pretty useless if you ask me.
Lots and lots of bugs and glitches. Lots of characters stuck halfway in the ground and walls. Lots of characters just getting stuck walking up against stuff and never moving away. Lots of black holes where suddenly everything is black until you get passed the area. Lots of invisible barriers in weird places to keep you from going past. Lots of game freezes. Lots of auto saves being corrupt. Lots of other glitches as well.
My suggestion to Obsidian and Bethesda: try a beta release or two or three and then, after you get a completely functioning game - sell it. I feel like I should be paid as a debugger for having even tried out this refried potato.
Consensus: It smells like yesterdays lunch with Garlic added. Unfortunately the microwave is on the fritz so you best wait til they at least heat it up for you.
49 of 59 found the following review helpful:
Bug Infested and Broken.Nov 02, 2010
By GetUpInDer BROKEN! You're better off playing Fallout 3 again. The same issues that plagued Fallout 3 only worse.
11 of 11 found the following review helpful:
Just Don'tSep 19, 2011
By Sincerely,UCLAstudent It may sound fun. Hell, the first hour or so is awesome. Inevitably, you will encounter your first freeze within a day or two. A hard reset is the short term fix, but the game will freeze for so, so many reasons. In my personal experience, some situations that may cause freezing include but are not limited to: shooting, jumping, running, shooting and jumping simultaneously, jumping and running simultaneously, shooting and running simultaneously, pick-pocketing and explosive onto an NPC, staring directly into a large explosions, firing a scoped weapon too fast, using V.A.T.S., and walking. I imagine that the list of freeze-causing situations is longer than the list of carcinogens present in cigarettes...but onto the most damning part, game-breaking glitches. This next segment is a catalogue of the game-breaking glitches that affected me. Some of these are not true game-breaking glitches, but they are irreversibly damaging if you don't have saves extending far enough back or just terribly inconvenient. -McCaffrey headshot/ash pile/goo pile glitch -Gommorrah confiscates all weapons held by companions, does not return them. -Everyone in Gommorrah becomes randomly hostile -A companion will mysteriously perish, which is permanent on hardcore mode -The longer you play, the longer it will take for screens to load, to the point that it will take almost 45 seconds to a minute for every loading screen. I'm sure that there are more, but these are the ones I experienced. So just be aware of them if you want to buy the game.
14 of 15 found the following review helpful:
A taste of the Fallout world for those who never truely experienced the series.Jul 17, 2011
By Solid_Snake Since I know this game is riddled with numerous bugs, I will just say that it's expected when you buy a Bethesda game. Fallout: 3 still contains the same game breaking bugs, but with no support in sight for its poor excuse of a "game of the year edition." Obsidian tried its best in such a short time frame with such a buggy engine that Bethesda never fixed within its long lifespan. I give them significant praise for what they did with the alotted time and low quality tools. With that said, here is my review of Fallout: New Vegas.
First, I will go over the gameplay. If you liked the gameplay from Fallout: 3, then you will still like the gameplay of Fallout: New Vegas. The new additions added to the game are mainly tied to the "hardcore" setting that forces your player to eat, drink, and sleep. I never really found this setting to be cumbersome because everything from pure water to canned food is very easily found. This new setting does add more difficulty, though, since your companions can die, and stimpacks no longer instantly heal your character. One other addition is the fact that you are no longer in "God mode" while utilizing V.A.T.S. since enemies can now damage you while you bring them some good slow motion pain. While the "hardcore" mode isn't that significant, the main attraction is some of the new mutants and creatures that roam the Wasteland looking to tear your flesh.
Obsidian beefed up the environment with some very good quality music, character designs, and weapons. One of the first things you will notice is the music is now more varied. Although the Oblivion type music from Fallout: 3 remains, the more atmospheric, dark music from Fallout: 1 and 2 is now added. The characters are all designed rather well. You now have enemies that can kill your character in a few blows. Gone are the days of Fallout: 3 where you can kill deathclaws easily through V.A.T.S. Now, you will be lucky to survive a single blow from a deathclaw. Also, good riddance to the Oblivion orcs that were supposed to be supermutants. Obsidian has actually made the supermutants resemble the original design. Fans of the old games will be surprised to find one of the most iconic supermutants in Wasteland history in New Vegas. As for the weapons, they are more varied and have some new perks to go along with each weapon type. Obsidian shaved off the fat and deleted some of the redundant skills like "big guns." Although the environment will give you mixed feelings because the historical markers from Washington aren't present, the dialogue and storyline are the most significant aspects, miles ahead of Bethesda's take.
The dialogue is a major improvement. Your character will not just reflect in dialogue their skill level and perks, but also their intelligence. If you made a character with low intelligence, you will have some unique dialogue choices that are rather interesting and hilarious. This game focuses more on dialogue unlike its predecessor so you actually have to read. You cannot get the full experience from this game without stopping and listening to each and every character's interesting stories and directions. Another improvement on the dialogue is the voice acting. Although I love Liam Neeson as an actor, his voice acting was pretty awful as he was wooden and emotionless throughout Fallout: 3. New Vegas has some of the best voice acting that almost rivals Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines. From Chief Hanlon to the mighty Caesar, the improvement in voice acting is so significant that you can feel the emotion through the screen.
Now for the best part of New Vegas, the storyline. The plot of New Vegas involves a multitude of morally grey factions that are vying to build an empire out of New Vegas while some are just trying to carve out a small niche. While the smaller factions are important, the biggest attraction are the two giants fighting over Hoover Dam. The two significant empires are the NCR (New California Republic) and Caesar's Legion. These two empires are enemies in every sense of the word. New Vegas takes an Alpha Centauri-like approach to where these factions are not divided by race but by ideology. Caesar's Legion is a billigerent dictatorship that is actively trying to force man to transcend into the next evolutionary branch. Caesar destroys old cultures and races in order to totally assimilate his empire into a cohesive power that can survive the horrors of the Wasteland through unity and animalistic law (i.e. survival of the fittest). His struggle reflects that of the Master's, but with man leading the charge and no sterility; however, the rival faction, the NCR, are just as powerful. The NCR is the power that you will see a lot of throughout the Wasteland. They are a faction that is trying to revive America's old world laws and morals. Although their design might seem honorable, they are still bringing back America's systematic flaws. Throughout the game, you will see characters bring up some of the pros and cons of both the Legion and the NCR. It is from these descriptions that you will have to choose between these two factions. If you choose not to ally with either NCR or Legion, you are given the choice of allying with the "mysterious overlord of the Strip," Mr. House, or even choose no governance and have the Strip go through anarchy. As stated, Mr. House is a very enigmatic individual, and I'm afraid that saying anything about him will be considered a spoiler because of how detrimental his mystery is towards the plot. New Vegas allows for you to build this world and what is right or wrong. You can be a "good" character and choose to side with the "evil empire" Caesar's Legion, or you can be a "bad" character and choose to go with the "neutral empire" NCR. How you justify their conquest is mainly up to your imagination. New Vegas allows for true flexibility.
New Vegas is one of the best additions to the Fallout franchise, and it is my second favorite Fallout game after Fallout: 2. I am glad that Obsidian showed some of the people that never experienced the original Fallout what the series is about. We actually see settlements rising like a phoenix from its old world ashes, and we are allowed to choose whether to destroy these small experiments or allow them to thrive. Obsidian's take on Fallout is one of legends as they interwove some of the ideas from games like Planescape: Torment and the original Fallouts, and meshed them all together to create a thoughtful experience. If you are looking for a real Fallout game that involves thought, imagination, and patience, then I would more than recommend Fallout: New Vegas, but I would also say that you must play through the originals to truely understand this masterful series.
based on 311 reviews
( 311 customer reviews )
