While Dead Money justifies its 800 Microsoft Point price tag in terms of quantity, the quality isn't quite there. The plot and gameplay both sag in the second act, as you perform some obvious filler quests to entice your comrades to do as they're told. Tromping around poisonous streets looking for switches to throw or lost fuse boxes is the worst kind of RPG busywork, and the structure makes little attempt to dress it up as anything more important.

Things pick up considerably once you're inside the Sierra Madre, where the script does a good job of dolloping out revelations and gameplay twists that fly in the face of your Ocean's Radioactive 11 expectations. But that final stretch with its infuriating collar-popping tricks and against-the-clock stealth knocks the wind from the story's sails right when it needs to be in full flow.​