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There's one crucial element that's somehow gone missing from most modern RPGs: the actual ability to role-play. You can play as Commander Shepard, but you can't do anything a Spectre wouldn't do. You can play as Geralt of Rivia, but you can't do anything a Witcher wouldn't do. Developers have *developed* a nasty habit of creating games that force players into a role and then tell them that they're role-playing. Maybe you are, but in that case I think our definitions might differ.
The opening moments of FALLOUT: NEW VEGAS see you shot in the head and left buried in a shallow grave somewhere in the Mojave Desert. Somehow still clinging to life, you're rescued and brought to the town of Goodsprings, where the local doctor fixes you up and sends you on your way. This is where the magic of the game reveals itself, because you have a few options here: Investigate the reasons why you were shot; Set out to get revenge on the people who left you for dead; Stick around and help out the denizens of Goodsprings; Strike out into the Mojave Wasteland blindly and forget that this whole ordeal ever went down. What happened to you was unavoidable, but everything that happens now is completely up to you.
The fantastic thing about NEW VEGAS is that it allows for so much. You really can do almost anything that you feel like. Gamble in a casino/Rob a casino. Explore abandoned homes/Break into occupied homes. Retrieve a rare item for an NPC/Shoot him in the back, take the reward, and the rare item. Pick out a nice house or apartment somewhere in the Mojave Wasteland and decorate it with all of the neat items you've accumulated. Help out several different warring factions, and then betray them all. Or you can just explore at random, discovering powerful or rare items along the way, or a series of quests that you never would've found otherwise.
Obsidian Entertainment went into this project knowing full well what players want out of a game like this. A heavily branched main storyline with several different outcomes; warring factions that can be played against each other; emphasis on choice, immersion, and exploration. If you go out of your way to explore some lone compound, an abandoned apartment complex, or a cave system, there's always something to be found, whether it's a new questline or a rare item. The game does an excellent job of rewarding you for being a little adventurous.
That's the base game: a well-written, dialogue heavy, well-executed post-apocalyptic RPG that might never be truly appreciated for the freedom and immersion that it extravagantly imparts to its players. As is, it's still one of the best games I've ever played, and one that you can believe the creators of PLANESCAPE: TORMENT and the original FALLOUT games had a hand in. And like I said, that's the base game.
-DEAD MONEY (4/5 Stars): This was the first expansion to be released for NEW VEGAS, and although it's by far my favorite out of the bunch, there are a few elements that might put off a few players. For one, this is a survival game, through and through. You wake up in the shadow of a mythical casino, stripped of all your items, forced under penalty of death to break into a vault. It's a very stressful experience, compounded by the extreme rarity of life-saving items, weapons of any kind, and how your primary enemies have to be dismembered before they stay dead. That, and after you're finished, you can't go back and explore, so it all has to be done in one shot.
But that all kinda folds into the story of DEAD MONEY, which I'd go out on a limb and say has some of the best writing of any game of this generation. It's a story of greed; that you're essentially being punished for doing things that you always do in an RPG. It has a lot to say, which surprised the heck out of me. The characters you come into contact with are memorable, complex, and just plain fantastic to talk to. And the payoff to the entire thing is just brilliant. The path to the Sierra Madre is an uneven one, but wholly memorable. The words "Begin Again" will likely stick with you for some time.
-HONEST HEARTS (3/5 Stars): Out of the bunch, HONEST HEARTS is probably the weakest. It starts out with a bang, after a caravan you're tasked with protecting ends up biting the dust, leaving you stranded in the Zion National Park. Afterwards, you're quickly caught in the crossfire between several warring tribes, with you becoming the decider in the matter. The whole ordeal is painfully short only two hours compared to the others which provide eight or more and the characters that guide you along aren't the most interesting, which the exception of Joshua Graham. There's no shortage of places to explore, and you can come and go as you please when the story is completed, but I'd say Zion itself is the most valuable contribution this expansion makes.
-OLD WORLD BLUES (5/5 Stars): If I hadn't been so taken by the story of DEAD MONEY, this one would take top honors from me. Channeling the zany, nonsensical, nuclear-obsessed sci-fi of the '50s, OLD WORLD BLUES is definitely the most entertaining of the bunch and definitely provides the most distractions. After waking up in the Big Empty, you discover that you've lost your mind. Literally. Your brain is gone, and your mad scientist-cum-cyborg keepers have no idea where it is, or even how you're still alive. "Tesla coils!" is the typical answer here, and they don't get any less hilarious as the story progresses. While the tone is generally humorous, there are some genuinely sentimental (if not full blown sad) moments throughout, making this an A+ effort all around.
-LONESOME ROAD (4/5 Stars): If you pay close attention through the base game and the expansions, you'll know that *all of it* has been building to this ending, but even if you miss all of the little visual/story cues, this is still a worthy conclusion. You'll learn about a man named Ulysses, and how he's the reason you were shot in the head in the first place. The man wants you dead, and he's wanted it for a very long time. But Ulysses is not content with telling you; he wants to show you, and the only way to do that is by following him through the dust-swept ruins of the Divide. The level design is a tad linear (intentional, I know), and since Ulysses is one of two NPCs available to talk to, the expansion might feel like one big running-and-gunning sequence. But this is an add-on that really wanted to drive home the RPG mantra that your decisions matter, and it does so in a powerful way.
-COURIER'S STASH/GUN RUNNERS' ARSENAL: These aren't really story expansions or anything. When the game was released, there was dealer specific DLC that's pretty much been bundled up and placed into these add-ons. In addition to providing a ton of new and unique weapons, it also adds new achievements and challenges (and crafting recipes, I believe). Not amazing or anything, but very nice to have in the package.
In closing, I think your enjoyment of this game will be depend on what you want out of an RPG. This Ultimate Edition of FALLOUT: NEW VEGAS provides hundreds of hours of content, a plethora of very compelling storylines, memorable characters, tons of weapons, and maintains the illusion of choice so well it'll be hard to imagine other players could possibly play the same game you have. FALLOUT 3 might have brought the series/formula to the new generation, but FALLOUT: NEW VEGAS takes that formula, perfects it and somehow manages to create one of the best RPGs in a very long time.
If Obsidian Entertainment hasn't taken a bow already, they're about due for one now.
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Here is my review of the ultimate edition Fallout:New Vegas pack. I purchased this game after having played through the regular New Vegas missions, and started the new content with a player that was already about level 30. It was fun to revisit the Fallout world after a year and a few months of not having played the game.-Honest Hearts
This one was fun. The story is good and as the player you are forced to make some moral decisions about where to go next.
1911's and Tommy Guns! Hell yes! About time.
The maps are really well done, beautiful really.
8 out of 10 stars. It would have been 10 out of 10 but it was a bit on the easy and quick side for a high level player. Once the main campaign missions are done the map gets very peaceful and quiet, which makes going back there for any reason kind of pointless.
The ending prize contains what is probably the best pistol in the game.
-Old World Blues
I was mixed about this one. Some of the quests were fun and compelling, others were not. I did like the plethora of new equipment, and the back story was a good one. Despite being a high level character I got the beatdown quite a few times, so tactics were important.
7 out of 10 stars.
-Lonesome Road
This brings some new elements to the story, and you finally get to meet the 'other' courier that is alluded to in the main New Vegas campaign. The end battle is epic, in fact I never legitimately beat it a bug of some sort launched the main bad guy up in to the air right when the fighting started on my 8th or 9th attempt to kill him, and he 'kersplatted' when he hit the ground. Fine by me.
Some decent loot in this mission, hours of difficult gameplay, and lots of shooting.
-Dead Money
I played this DLC mission last, which is good, because I absolutely hated it and if I would have played it first it is likely I would have skipped the others.
It's simply just not fun, or compelling, or interesting enough to make the running around in the dark recesses of the town outside the casino, or inside the casino itself, worth it. The most prominant bad guys will literally absorb 20 or so shots before they die, which gets old. I basically had to resort to stirring one or two up and then running away while shooting at them. Boring and tedious.
The final 'boss fight' is a big letdown too. Veteran Fallout 3/NV players will key in to the fact that there are automated turrets to do their bidding, so it's a matter of just switching them on and watching the antagonist die. But, that's not all...then there is a final frustrating run for life from the recesses of the casino. It took me several tries to get it right and at the end I was literally swearing at the screen because I just wanted this awful mission to be over.
4 out of 10 stars. Not even a pile of money made it worth the hours of frustration and boredom. The weapons you take away are weak, the loot is only okay, very skippable.
Gun Runners' Arsenal and Courier's Stash
New weapons, mods, armor, locations, etc. Cool stuff most of it, some of it is just a retread of what was already in the game.
Overall the ultimate edition DLC stuff is worth it. Yes, some bugginess remains but it only comes up infrequently. Bringing new life in to a game I haven't played in a long while makes the purchase a good one in my eyes.
Best Deals for Fallout: New Vegas Ultimate Edition - Xbox 360
There is only one fault with the game, but it's a big one. A game of this nature (an open world, do things your own way in your own order type of game), and one adding DLC, cannot absolutely CANNOT end IT CANNOT END NEVER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES NOT ACCEPTABLE. The character and game must stay open so the player can continue to do side missions, DLC, or whatever, in his or her own way. (I believe Oblivion stayed open after the main storyline, for example. That's the proper way to do it. Fallout 3 also ended, then they had to scramble lamely to reopen it for the DLC SO STUPID STOP IT ALREADY! Then after that travesty, they came out with this game, and they repeat the same exact mistake? How is it even possible to be that stupid.)Okay, my strong objections aside. This version is as glitch free as any game I've ever played (and I've played a lot of games I also played the original version of this game on day one the version that included the infamous "getting locked out of the Strip glitch" a truly inexcusable bug to be sure). But this version has corrected every glitch as far as I can tell. The people with problems are surely having hardware problems or are playing a different non-updated, or non-ultimate version of the game. Also. I have now played this ultimate version on a very modest notebook, a decent desktop, and an Xbox 360 with no bugs, glitches, or unexpected problems whatsoever. This is truly amazing considering the extraordinary ambition of this game.
Also on the plus side, this is probably the most intricate RPG of this generation. It can be fairly challenging to achieve certain goals. There are times when things must be done just so, or you will suffer disappointing and unintended consequences.
Lastly, if you're into a more "REAL" role playing experience, then try the hardcore mode. You will soon feel the full impact of the post apocalypse. You must adapt or you will die die of thirst, starvation, or the even the tiniest of enemies.
4.5 stars.
Honest reviews on Fallout: New Vegas Ultimate Edition - Xbox 360
This version of Fallout New Vegas is addictive. The player can achieve a level top of 50! Choose where your loyalty lies: NRC, Mohave,towns,people, Legion or self. Difficulty ranges from very easy, to very hard and Hard Core. Hand eye coordination a must. The player also gets so much cool gear, it will be difficult to sell some of the pieces. Awesome Game! Best of the Fallout series. Lots of strategies, tricks, and OMG.Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Fallout: New Vegas Ultimate Edition - Xbox 360
This game seems to divert from what made Fallout 3 so revolotionary as far as level design... instead of a predominantly urban environment, you'll find yourself basically in a desert. This in of itself isn't bad, cause with the 'Hardcore' setting and how it encuorages you to play, it really comes together in a completely different experience then it's predecessor, with equal to greater merit! I have gotten the first 3 DLC at launch (I'll be getting the last one soon enough), and what justifies their cost is a priceless surrealist experience that can't simply be described... I played the first DLC under the influence and I would say didn't so much as 'played' the game as opposed to having 'lived' it. This game for it become enjoyable requires your investment in time and emotional involvement... some of the places I saw and gotten to experience in this game preside happily as one of the most enjoyable and serene moments of my gaming life.Also... there's a overall thematic effect that this game seems allow you to indulge in, and that's the feeling of being on the verge of discovering something new if you simply pursue the horizon for just long enough.
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