Fallout: New Vegas is still a fantastic game, only slightly held back by its increasingly outdated tech. Obsidian has created a totally compelling world and its frustrations pale into insignificance compared to the immersive, obsessive experience on offer. Just like the scorched scenery that provides its epic backdrop, New Vegas is huge and sprawling, sometimes gaudy, even downright ugly at times – but always effortlessly, shamelessly entertaining.​

It's not a surprise that Fallout: New Vegas sticks closely to Fallout 3's structure and style. But if it weren't for the game's way-too-long list of technical issues, New Vegas would actually be better than its predecessor. Instead, it's a well-written game with so many issues that some of you might want to take a pass, at least until some of this nonsense gets fixed. Yet, for all its flaws, I'd consider taking a second run through it, if only to see how some of the game's finer points play out with different choices.​

But really, for all of its grandeur and epic narrative, New Vegas  is a game of small moments. Seeing a group of starving children chasing a giant rat and then eating it raw. Entering a town filled with charred corpses nailed to crosses. Or simply seeing the sunrise while listening to Johnny Cash and realizing you've been walking the entire night. These moments make the world feel real and are equally as satisfying as reaching a new experience level or surviving a close battle. If Fallout 3 left you thirsting for more wasteland exploration, New Vegas  is just the thing. And since the story stands on its own quite well, it's also a great entry point for new players. However, it doesn't add enough new to entice players burnt out on the previous game.

Sadly though, the technical problems can't be ignored. When you're as scared of losing progress as you are of fighting a Super Mutant, that's a problem. And one that will frustrate even the most die-hard Fallout fan.​

Fallout: New Vegas is the game that many wanted Fallout 3 to be. It's harder, more ruthless, better written and more morally ambiguous. It's a game we’ve been wanting to play for more than a decade, a real modern re-imagining of the Fallout series, complete with that deliciously black humour. But it's also more of the same, aesthetically and technically identical to Fallout 3, wonky facial animation and all. The ever-so-slightly ageing technology only marginally detracts from what is otherwise an expansive, fulfilling and ambitious game, unmatched in scope and maturity. If Obsidian were to make another Fallout game, we certainly wouldn't say no.​

It's disappointing to see such an otherwise brilliant and polished game suffer from years-old bugs, and unfortunately our review score for the game has to reflect that. Reviewing 2008's Fallout, I felt inclined to give a certain amount of visual glitchiness a pass because that game covered so much ground, from a development point of view, and was simply awe-inspiring in many respects. Seeing the exact same bugs in a new game, two years later, is harder to excuse. Truth be told, I enjoyed New Vegas a lot more than Fallout 3, but I can't give it a full score on the basis of the bugs alone.

Bottom Line: Fans of either the original Fallout games, or 2008's Fallout 3 will find plenty to love in this new installment. New weapons, characters and locations, plus a fresh sensibility marry to make New Vegas a near-perfect continuation of the series.​

Unfortunately, while there are rays of light that manage to break through, the clouds still make up the majority if the view. Tonally and conceptually New Vegas feels like a return to form, but the tone isn't always consistent and the execution is sadly lacking, grounding New Vegas closer to Fallout 3 than the Fallout 4 it could have been.​