Review Vince D. Weller Does Fallout: New Vegas

[VentilatorOfDoom]

Tags: Fallout: New Vegas; Obsidian Entertainment

<p>Vince D. Weller, also known as Vault Dweller around these parts, grants <strong>Fallout: New Vegas</strong> <a href="http://www.nma-fallout.com/article.php?id=57162" target="_blank">the review treatment</a> over at NMA.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>New Vegas is a huge game. I can probably write another 6 pages examining New Vegas&rsquo;s various aspects, but I&rsquo;d rather play the game some more. Like any other game, it&rsquo;s far from being perfect and has many flaws. If you share my opinion that quest design is the most important aspect of an RPG, then you&rsquo;ll like New Vegas a lot. If you think that RPGs are all about character system and/or combat, your opinion will depend not so much on New Vegas, but on whether or not you liked Fallout 3.<br /> <br /> I think it&rsquo;s an excellent RPG and when it comes to shaping your story and making decisions, instead of following a pre-determined path, New Vegas can easily compete with the original games and is definitely top 10 material. If the combat was more challenging, and surviving in the wasteland wasn&rsquo;t so disappointingly easy, the game could actually have competed for the #1 spot. <br /> <br /> New Vegas does have a few technical issues and may require you to tweak the ini files. If having to copy-paste a few lines and updating your drivers fill you with murderous rage, then I&rsquo;d suggest waiting for a patch.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Spotted at: <a href="http://www.nma-fallout.com/article.php?id=57162">NMA</a></p>

 

[MasPingon]

At last! I've been waiting for it

Edit

As expected. great review. I agree 100%

 

[Roguey]

But is it the best RPG since Arcanum? Disappointed at the lack of Arcanum-comparisons here.

Nice review anyway, seemed like a fair analysis. I'm looking forward to the fireworks.

 

[Mortmal]

It would be even better than arcanum if it was more challenging according him:

"if the combat was more challenging, and surviving in the wasteland wasn’t so disappointingly easy, the game could actually have competed for the #1 spot."

I dont think its possible for them to do that, i and a few others here played games since ages, shooters arcade games , rpg since the dawn of time to say so .If new vegas was challenging to me it would be impossible for an average xbox user to enjoy it.

 

[Melcar]

In before shitstorm. Hey VD, aren't you supposed to be working on a game? Where's the demo?

 

[GarfunkeL]

Good read and quite informative.

 

[SharkClub]

New Vegas is about that good if you're a Fallout storyfag and quest design is p. great. And overall it's a largely better game than Oblivion 2: Fallout Edition, in every single way, including shooting (while I'm not a fan of iron-sights in pure FPS games, in Fallout 3 the shitty firing from the hip + zoom was unbearable, at least I can shoot things in this one).

 

[Black]

Preposterous.
He didn't post the review here himself because he thinks he's too good for us.


As for difficulty, mods can help but I agree with not mentioning that in the review. Players shouldn't have to use mods.

I'd say that it's a good spin-off to New Reno. Vegas itself doesn't really make sense just like Reno didn't, but it has good quest design, post-apo theme and so on. Not a sequel to Fallout 1, but a good spin-off to FO2.

 

[Vault Dweller]

He didn't post the review here himself because he thinks he's too good for us.

NMA asked me to write a review.

 

[AlaCarcuss]

Yep, great review VD. All NV needs now is some patching up and a few mods to address the char system and combat+difficulty and yeah - best since Arcarnum (perhaps even best since FO1).

Please don't call me an Obsidian fanboy, but I really think it's time they stepped out of the shadows of Bioware and Bethesda and started producing some original AAA titles (never mind the dry run that was AP).

They have prooved once and for all, of the mainstream development studios, they are the only ones capable of producing a quality RPG that can cater for both casual and hardcore alike. That's not to say they will, just that they are 'capable' of doing so. In short, they are our only hope - just keep the word 'streamline/d/ing' out of the vocabulary.

And FFS, hire some quality coders!!

 

[Tycn]

But is it the best RPG since Arcanum? Disappointed at the lack of Arcanum-comparisons here.

Nice review anyway, seemed like a fair analysis. I'm looking forward to the fireworks.

Best RPG since Dragon Age.

and another +1, agree with most everything you said

 

[Gragt]

Seems pretty spot from what I saw so far. If I hadn't received the game as a gift, I would have probably bought it soon.

It's quite fun to see that while this game is very close to Fallout 3, all the differences like better writing, quest design and faction interactions make it much more enjoyable. I couldn't care for anyone in both Oblivion and Fallout 3, despite giving them a fair chance, and just skipped their dialog and did their quests, while here I actually want to listen to them.

I only disagree about the decision to make the dialog skill checks transparent. The "break of immersion" isn't exactly dreadful — even less so than access to VATS or owned beds that heal limb damage — and while knowing that you could just eat a magazine to pass the check will likely encourage to reload, it could also achieve the opposite: there is no need to reload if you know that your skill is too low and you won't make the check anyway even with a magazine, something you will want to do if you know that you failed a specific skill check but do not know how close you were from success. Quite a few of those checks may also be attempted again after you failed without reloading.

I agree that the current NV system isn't perfect; a better solution would probably have been to not show any skill check line at all unless you passed it and seriously reduce the number of available magazines, or just remove them all, but given the current system I appreciate the feedback about the numbers.

 

[MasPingon]

Preposterous.
He didn't post the review here himself because he thinks he's too good for us.


As for difficulty, mods can help but I agree with not mentioning that in the review. Players shouldn't have to use mods.

I'd say that it's a good spin-off to New Reno. Vegas itself doesn't really make sense just like Reno didn't, but it has good quest design, post-apo theme and so on. Not a sequel to Fallout 1, but a good spin-off to FO2.

Huh? Why Vegas doesn't make sense and what makes F:NV a spinoff?

 

[SharkClub]

I'd say that it's a good spin-off to New Reno. Vegas itself doesn't really make sense just like Reno didn't, but it has good quest design, post-apo theme and so on. Not a sequel to Fallout 1, but a good spin-off to FO2.

New Vegas is actually explained a lot better than New Reno.

 

[Black]

And still makes as much sense

Why Vegas doesn't make sense

Because it all depends on wastelanders coming there and spending all their caps.

what makes F:NV a spinoff?

Lack of core mechanics for one. Two, the post-apo western theme is post-apo alright, but it's not really Fallout.

 

[Tel Prydain]

Good review.

I did kind of like the fact it showed you the checks - even if it made it easy to use boosts to cheat the system... but you do have to be within 10/20 points of the check to pass it. And it let you see that there are other option you're missing out on due to your skills.

 

[MasPingon]

And still makes as much sense

Why Vegas doesn't make sense

Because it all depends on wastelanders coming there and spending all their caps.

So?

what makes F:NV a spinoff?

Lack of core mechanics for one. Two, the post-apo western theme is post-apo alright, but it's not really Fallout.

Of course it is

 

[flushfire]

You’ll have to work with a lot less in New Vegas

They made the mistake of adding magazines though. IMO that alone broke their intention of making skill points more frugal (at least that's the impression I got from the interviews). +20 with Comprehension just isn't right. There aren't any bobbleheads but there are implants. I guess at least implants are limited by the player's endurance and that they cost something.

the issue is that you just don’t need any help killing things

Would have to disagree. The exact reason for me that makes the combat easy is that most of the available companions are OP (at least the humanoid ones).

Well, when deathclaws aren’t around, at least.

Cazadores are good, too.

 

[ironyuri]

And still makes as much sense

Why Vegas doesn't make sense

Because it all depends on wastelanders coming there and spending all their caps.

When has poverty stopped anyone from gambling, drinking and whoring? What about the NCR troopers who are paid to fight for the Hoover Dam and are given leave with absence to carouse and go hooring?

Vegas and a certain Fat Larry and the desert rangers were in Wasteland, are you saying that Wasteland was a terrible post-apoc RPG?

The description of Tycho in F1 is that of a Mojave desert ranger from Wasteland. Obsidian have combined F1 with its predecessor, non? How is the setting not consistent?

what makes F:NV a spinoff?

Lack of core mechanics for one. Two, the post-apo western theme is post-apo alright, but it's not really Fallout.

California had an entirely different feel. The West Coast has a West Coast feel. Take the New California Republic for example and the long-term idea of Californian exceptionalism in the US.

Why should the "Wild West" not have a "Wild West" feel? It is now the frontier of civilisation in the Wasteland, with the Legionaries swarming in from Denver and the old industrial/farming countries of the dustbowl and Middle America.

 

[Azrael the cat]

Good review. One thing I'd disagree with, though, is the issue of having NCR jump from being cattle brokers to democracy (albeit of an imperialist nature) without any of the 'less enlightened' systems in between. Firstly, it's a little ingeneous for them to back to monarchy, given their cultural history in democracy (unlike the fall of Rome, this is not a case of a civilisation being pushed aside by outsiders with different ideas of how to run a place). Not to mention, democracy wasn't as entrenched in ancient Europe: you had Athens and then Rome, but at no time did you have the kind of near-universal appraisal of democracy as the best, or at least the 'least faulty' system (c/f well-intentioned, non-warlike Athenians like Plato writing in support of fascism over democracy).

BUT much more importantly, I thought that's what the whole middle third of Fallout 2 was about. You emerge from a tribal society thinking 'shit, things have gone even further backwards'. Then you find, slowly, that things are actually rebuilding. Small city-states are forming. And they have very different ideas on government. But in FO2, they are ideas that would be engrained in the American consciousness: democracy, racial privilege, ultra-libertarianism, mafiosi tradition. And so the player goes about getting involved in the struggle for which ideology is going to grow forth and rebuild. And then the old world shows up in the form of the Enclave, the old government, who haven't learnt a thing from the destruction of the last 2 centuries, who stayed off-land while everyone else struggled to rebuild, coming NOW to take over like nothing's changed....to strangle the new civilisation at its birth...Yep, FO2's theme is a lot stronger on paper than it ended up being in the game. But moreoever, my notion is that stage of sorting between different styles of government WAS what FO2 was about.

And if you notice, while the NCR won, it wasn't an entirely pure victory. The NCR of FO2 struck me as having something of the moral puritan about them (at least in comparison to other parts) - by FO2 standards they're almost a police state, albeit one that doesn't discriminate by race. It seems like, by capturing New Reno and the more libertarian areas, those crime families also took over NCR a little too, in influence and culture.

 

[peanuts]

no wonder why eos is taking so long when this guy reviews games ffs

 

[deuxhero]

Vegas and a certain Fat Larry and the desert rangers were in Wasteland, are you saying that Wasteland was a terrible post-apoc RPG?
\

The guy from Bloodlines? He was a cool merchant.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Good review. One thing I'd disagree with, though, is the issue of having NCR jump from being cattle brokers to democracy (albeit of an imperialist nature) without any of the 'less enlightened' systems in between. Firstly, it's a little ingeneous for them to back to monarchy, given their cultural history in democracy...

I don't think that things like "cultural history" would last long in a post-apocalyptic society. From my post on NMA:

I think that more advanced forms of government require pre-requisites that simply wouldn't exist in a post-apocalyptic world. For example, a certain level of living standards (which instantly disqualifies any PA world), development/re-discovery of social values and self-expression/participation in the political process (which, too, has its own pre-requisites).

In a PA world where people are too busy trying to survive in every possible way, the feudal system makes a lot more sense. People would seek protection of strong individuals, then strong groups capable of keeping raiders at bay, then strong settlements/towns/kingdoms.

These people would be happy to feel safe and have a place to raise their families/do business. The last thing they would want to do is rock the boat and demand to have a shot at running things. Those who would end up on top would enjoy their status and wouldn't want to give it up and give turns just because it's fair. At least I don't recall any medieval lords asking anyone if they want to run things for awhile.

BUT much more importantly, I thought that's what the whole middle third of Fallout 2 was about. You emerge from a tribal society thinking 'shit, things have gone even further backwards'. Then you find, slowly, that things are actually rebuilding. Small city-states are forming...

That's the problem. They are not.

Arroyo is a tribal village. Klamath is a small trapper town where people live in ruined pre-war buildings. The Den is a slightly bigger town, but still set in ruins (i.e. people haven't even reached a point where they start building towns - for example settle in ruins, then start cleaning things up and adding new buildings). Modoc is a farming community. Redding and Broken Hills are small mining towns. New Reno - ruins. So far so good. Appropriately post-apocalyptic and more or less in the spirit of the original.

Then we have the Vault City and the NCR. The latter felt like a fragment of a different game. I know it's canon and all, because MCA said so, but I have my doubts.

Even if we accept that the Shady Sands -> NCR transformation makes sense, how do you explain that the majority of people still live in pre-war ruins and haven't even moved to "let's start building proper towns" phase?

And they have very different ideas on government. But in FO2, they are ideas that would be engrained in the American consciousness: democracy, racial privilege, ultra-libertarianism, mafiosi tradition. And so the player goes about getting involved in the struggle for which ideology is going to grow forth and rebuild. And then the old world shows up in the form of the Enclave, the old government, who haven't learnt a thing from the destruction of the last 2 centuries, who stayed off-land while everyone else struggled to rebuild, coming NOW to take over like nothing's changed....to strangle the new civilisation at its birth...

But it's not new. According to you, it's what we had before: democracy, racial privilege, ultra-libertarianism. From this point of view, the conflict in NV is more interesting. I liked Caesar's speech that in the early days the NCR was a family dynasty and that trying to copy the pre-war America has weakened the NCR and brought with it the associated problems: corruption, greed, in-fighting. The Legion is an attempt to build a different society, one that better fits the new world.

 

[GarfunkeL]

Eye of Serpent? That's been out for ages, bro!

 

[deuxhero]

Prewar buildings are there. Whats the point in wasting materials building a new building if you can just refurbish the pre-war ones? It doesn't indicate anything about the state of society other than they aren't happily wasting their resources.