Welcome to Discount Reviews. Reviews on games that are on the bottom shelf at GameStop, titles that are in the $5 bin. The great games that are still playable to the uber gamers of the world. Enjoy these games because the fun they include doesn't have an expiration date.
Platforms: PC, 360, PS3
Release Date: 10-19-10
[unpatched 360 version played][Reviewed on 12-28-10]
Fallout New Vegas is a RPG of great proportions with its vast setting, huge replay ability, and follows in the footsteps of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and its sister-prequel Fallout 3. Fallout New Vegas (FNV) is developed by Obsidian and published by Bethesda, who also created the gaming engine (we’ll get more into that later).
FNV starts off with the protagonist being shot in the head and being left for dead in the Mojave desert outside New Vegas, the renamed strip of casinos that were untouched by the nuclear bombs of 2077. But big surprise you raise from the dirt and begin your journey to unravel the mystery of who shot you and why. The game is taxing in the effects of time, patience, attention, and will. You can easily spend a month playing this game and still find new things to do, people and creatures to kill, and missions to accomplish.
A quick overlook of the game shows that FNV has less gore than Fallout 3. Examples would be no raiders hanging from hooks, no extremely grotesque scenes of murder or torture, BUT FNV does have it share of horrid sights and scenes. Most Notably the Crucifixes at Nipton. Visuals of the game are still mature; decapitations, blood, and guts are very much apart of the wasteland.
Graphically FNV is a carbon copy of Fallout 3. The only differences is the setting being in the Mojave Desert rather than Washington D.C. and its neighboring areas. Las Vegas plays a big role in being your night-light in the dark of the desert and the many missions you can gain from any of the casinos within. Bugs and glitches still plague characters and NPCs, but almost all quirks can be overlooked.
Something Obsidian took out was weapon crafting and replaced it with the “reload/work” benches, and the campfire. Reload benches allow you to breakdown much of your ammo supply to the bare essentials to create new ammo or to replenish your favorite type. The workbench does practically the same thing. The Campfire allows you to use ingredients from the wasteland to create potions, stimpaks, and a lot of different items to raise your HP. The Campfire ability is greatly effected by your survival skill rating.
NEW FEATURES
As is with any sequel new features are bound to appear. With FNV new perks are available. For all perks click the link HERE
Challenge Perks are also available by completing different tasks like killing 100 insects, or defeating enemies with melee attacks. There are plenty of challenges to keep you, as the player, busy. Fallout 3 let you gain a perk every level you earned, but in FNV you can only choose a perk every other level. Make sure to be strategic with your choices.
Repairing weapons and armor has upgraded into “repairing” and “maintaining.” The “maintain” feature allows you to get bonus damage or protection from an item if it is completely repaired to the fullest potential possible. This greatly increases the cost of the item and it effectiveness.
Karma was a big part of Fallout 3. If you tip the balance of good and evil you could mold the wasteland however you saw fit. Stealing items and murdering innocents earned you bad karma, while saving prisoners and doing honorable deeds earned you good karma. In FNV karma has been replaced with you Reputation. Many factions exist with in FNV and all of them have different motives, values, interests, and leaning towards one or the other could cause serious problems for you or your chosen guild. Doing missions for a town, group, faction, or certain people causes you to gain fame and reputation with the people you helped. Although on the other hand if you kill members of the NCR or Caesar’s Legion, their friends and fellow soldiers will come after you. This might not sound too bad but think a little deeper; bartering in an area where you are hated could cost you serious caps or some bullet holes in your chest.
Factions are simply different groups of people that inhabit the wasteland. Most want money and power while others want bloodshed and fame. The 3 big factions are Mr. House and New Vegas, Caesar’s Legion, and the NCR. Caesar’s Legion (band of slaves that resemble Spartan warriors) and the NCR (North California Republic soldiers who act like the cops of the wasteland) vie for control of the Hoover Dam because of its power supply and great position. Mr. House controls New Vegas and is the loved and respected powerhouse in the wasteland in terms of fun and excess. All want your help and all are willing to pay for it. Other factions are as follows: Great Kahns, Boomers, White Glove Society, Jackals, Omertas, and the Powder Gangers. All of these little guilds can assist you in the final battle of the game. Take them seriously and watch out when you find the Boomers. (Heads Up)
All in all the replay ability is very high and the time it takes you to complete this game is worth the original $60 price tag. Playing through a second or third or even fourth time allows you to play a different part in the war effort and lets you explore a different path.
Downloadable content
On October 18, 2010 Bethesda Softworks announced that downloadable content (DLC) or add-ons would be available for New Vegas, in keeping with its predecessor Fallout 3. Four add-on packs, Dead Money, Honest Hearts, Old World Blues and Lonesome Road, have been released.
Dead Money
In the first add-on pack, named Dead Money, the Courier is captured by an insane ex-Brotherhood of Steel leader known as "Father" Elijah and must work alongside three other captives to find the fabled treasure of the Sierra Madre Casino.
The pack adds new achievements/trophies, perks, terrain, enemies and decisions for the player, as well as raising the level cap by 5. Dead Money was released for the Xbox 360 on December 21, 2010 and for PlayStation 3 and PC (via Steam) on February 22, 2011.
Honest Hearts
The second, named Honest Hearts, was released on May 17, 2011 on Xbox Live and Steam and June 2, 2011 on the PlayStation Network due to the April—May outage. In Honest Hearts, the Courier is part of an expedition to Utah's Zion National Park, when they are attacked by tribal raiders. While trying to return to the Mojave, the player becomes involved in conflicts between the tribes and between a "New Canaanite" missionary and an individual known as the "Burned Man", Caesar's former Legate, who, after losing the first battle of Hoover Dam, was covered in pitch, set on fire, and thrown into the Grand Canyon.
The pack adds new achievements/trophies, perks, terrain, enemies and decisions for the player, as well as raising the level cap by 5. Chris Avellone has confirmed that the locations in Honest Hearts and all add-ons following it will still be accessible even after completing that add-on (in contrast to Dead Money, which is closed off after completing it). The "companion bug", which prevented players from entering Zion, was fixed in the 1.7 update. Players are now able to use an in-game console to dismiss all companions.
After the First Battle of Hoover Dam, Caesar sent Ulysses to Great Salt Lake to rally the White Legs to destroy New Canaan. With his help, the White Legs found a large supply of weapons artillery. The White Legs then destroyed New Canaan, sending Joshua Graham, the Burned Man, and the New Canaanites to the Zion Canyon, where the Dead Horses stand with them against Caesar. The Courier then arrives in the Zion Canyon and meets the Burned Man Joshua Graham who is surprised that it is a different Courier than Ulysses that came to him, as he had figured Ulysses would come to murder him. This sparks the beginning of Honest Hearts.
Old World Blues
In Old World Blues, the Courier unwittingly becomes a lab rat in a science experiment gone awry and discovers how some of the Mojave's mutated creatures came to exist. Old World Blues takes place in the Pre-War research centers of Big Mountain, known colloquially as "the Big Empty" or "Big MT" (where Father Elijah had found most of his equipment prior to Dead Money, such as the bomb collars and the holorifle, along with Christine also from Dead Money). The player can also choose to either turn on their kidnappers or join with them to fight an even greater threat. This pack offers new achievements/trophies, perks, a vast area to explore, and raises the level cap by 5 like the previous two packs. The player can only explore in the area until the main storyline of the DLC has been completed, but after completing it, can return back to the area at will. Old World Blues was released on July 19, 2011.
Old World Blues focuses on the Think Tank, who had captured Father Elijah for brief seconds and had then come into contact with Ulysses who had rescued Christine Royce. Holotapes of Ulysses conversation with Christine were left in the Big Empty. Upon discovering a crashed satellite at a drive-in theater just outside Nipton, the Courier is kidnapped by the Think tank and his/her brain, spine, and heart are removed, only to be replaced by cybernetic synthetic parts of the three. The Courier is then presented with the choice of either attacking the Think tank or fighting with it against a greater threat, starting the story of Old World Blues.
Lonesome Road
In Lonesome Road, the Courier is contacted by a man named Ulysses, who refused to deliver the Platinum Chip at the beginning of the main game. Initially, Lonesome Road was planned to be released in August 2011; however, the add-on was delayed for unspecified reasons, with senior producer Jason Bergman stating "This isn't due to any major issue with the code or content, but there are lots of factors involved in releasing these things, and one of those is causing us to slip past our intended release date." Bethesda were unable to provide a new release date for the DLC, but did state that it would be released as soon as possible. On August 25, 2011, Bethesda announced that the DLC will be released on September 20, 2011.
Lonesome Road concludes the story of the Courier,[39] focusing on Ulysses, a former Frumentarii of Caesar who had discovered the "Divide": a glorious land until the New California Republic annexed it. This caused Caesar to retaliate and send a small army to seize the Divide, resulting in the NCR ordering the Courier to deliver a package which would trap the armies of the NCR and the Legion and turn the Divide into a tornado strewn land full of ghouls, called Marked Men, and other dangers. Ulysses believes the Courier to be responsible for the mess of the Divide and when he is ordered to deliver the Platinum Chip, he realizes Benny's plan and discovers the Courier to be alive. When discovering the Courier is not dead, Ulysses contacts the Courier and asks him/her to enter the Divide, evoking the start of Lonesome Road.
Gun Runners' Arsenal and Courier's Stash
On September 27, 2011, Bethesda released two content packs titled Gun Runners' Arsenal and Courier's Stash. Gun Runners' Arsenal adds various new weapons and weapon mods (along with new ammo types) to the game, which can be found throughout the game world. Courier's Stash contains all bonus content that was previously only available for pre-ordering the game (the Caravan Pack, Classic Pack, Mercenary Pack and Tribal Pack).
J.E. Sawyer's mod
On December 29, 2011, the project director of the game, Josh "J.E." Sawyer, released an unofficial mod for the PC version of Fallout: New Vegas. The mod adjusts the maximum level cap to 35, halves the rate that the player gains experience points at, reduces base player health, reduces the base weight that the player is able to carry, defines certain characters as good or evil rather than neutral, and makes various other adjustments. These are changes that Sawyer personally wished to make to the game, and were not released as an official patch. This mod requires the Mod Manager, all add-on packs, and all pre-order bonus packs in order to work.
Fallout New Vegas
Score- 4/5
+ RPG Staple
+ Huge Playground and Many Missions
+ Replay Ability Very High
- Old laggy game engine is old and laggy. Full of bugs. (Patches fix these)
-Daniel, Jedi Editor
*164
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