All things Fallout

[MauricioMM]

I wouldn’t call myself a die-hard Fallout fan because I’ve only played both Fallout 3 and New Vegas but, honestly, after I plunged myself into the Capital Wasteland and became fascinated with the immersion, atmosphere and personality of that game, I kinda wouldn’t shy away at the idea of being considered a member of the club, so to speak. With the good impression that Fallout 3 left in me, however, I wasn’t expecting lightning to strike twice, especially since back then I knew nothing about Obsidian Entertainment.

I started F:NV a bit after the last DLC launched worldwide, partly because I was taking care of both my university studies and my ever growing backlog, but mostly because I wanted to experience the game at its fullest (and as bug-free as possible). Now, I have to admit that the first few hours felt a little off for me: the cowboy setting of Goodsprings wasn’t as exciting as the surroundings of Vault 101, the graphic quality wasn’t great at all, the mechanics in general were good (better than in Fallout 3, as a matter of fact) but could have been so much more and, even though gambling was fun, I can’t remember anything about Caravan, I’m not sure why. Was it hard, boring or both?

Nonetheless, as I explored each town, clashed with gangs and monsters, got to meet many inhabitants, got better armor and weapons, modded my guns, sneaked around, hacked terminals and checked every nook and cranny for treasures and secrets, my enthusiasm rapidly grew and every minute I spent in the game felt more entertaining and interesting than the last one. I even started to immediately love some of its small details, like that energy guns were an even more viable option this time around, and that skills played a more important role in conversations.

Then I got to meet the unexpectedly upbeat ED-E, the brooding Boone, the geeky Veronica, the fiery Cass, the sarcastic Raul, and the rest of the tragicomic but awesome gang. Thanks to the acting and writing (mostly in their personal quests) I consider the companions in this game as interesting and deep as the ones in the best Bioware games, and that’s no small compliment. I would have loved to see them interact more with each other, but still I appreciated their presence.

Let’s not forget the rest of inhabitants and factions one could meet in the wasteland: the bureaucratic NCR, the brutal Caesar’s Legion, the psychotic nightkin, the trigger-happy boomers (I had a blast with them! ...pun not intended and intended ), the crazy Tabitha and her robotic pal Rhonda, the bipolar Dog/God, the shady Benny, the enigmatic Mr. House, the even more enigmatic Ulysses, the wacky scientists of the Big MT, the extremely hilarious personalities of The Sink and, of course, Yes-Man.

And those memorable places! Camp Searchlight, HELIOS One, Hidden Valley, Hoover Dam, Freeside, the Atomic Wrangler Casino, New Vegas itself, the Ultra-Luxe Casino, Vault 11, Vault 22, Jacobstown, The Divide, Sierra Madre, Nellis Air Force Base, Deathclaw promontory, and many more

Long story short: not only did lightning strike twice but it stroke harder the second time.

Aaah, what an incredible time I had in New Vegas. For me, despite its flaws it’s one of the most memorable videogames in existence and part of my top 3 games of all time, I hope I can visit it once again in the nearish future (next time with mods, the game hasn’t aged well). And I know it might never happen again but, Obsidian, please make another Fallout game, your work with New Vegas raised the bar so high that I don’t have any interest in playing Fallout 4 anytime soon.

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My three word review:
Quintessential Fallout experience.

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P.S.: For me, the rangers armor (specifically the elite riot gear) is one of the most amazing looking armors I’ve ever seen in a videogame. It looks freaking cool without being over the top, and works great for both combat-oriented and sneaky characters. Plus, night vision!

[Sellardohr]

My father-in-law lived out West for a while and comes from an old coal mining family. So he knows a bunch of old cowboy songs. One day at dinner I surprised everybody by helping him finish "I got spurs that jingle jangle jingle." I never told him where I learned it. Family secret.

[ThirdDrawing]

I was initially apprehensive about NV's faction system, but on reflection, I appreciate that it really made your choices feel weightier than in FO3. I also think there was a better story overall, although I don't think the soundtrack was as good, which made it more difficult to listen to for hours on end while traipsing around the wasteland.

[Tleprie]

I'll say that I preferred Fallout 3 to NV, but really, they're the same game to me, 3 just came first, so I spent more time with it.

The intro to NV is pretty cool, I'd argue 3's is cooler, albeit longer. Though something can be said for the brevity of NVs intro when compared to growing up in the vault. I didn't get much further in the story than the intro. I can remember talking to someone in a gas station, and coming across a friendly super mutant, though I have no idea if that was a part of the story.

So you fine people might wonder "What'd you possibly do that you think you can come here spouting off opinions, if you barely even remember talking to that guy in the gas station?" (Though I'm sure your wonderings are more eloquent than I make them sound. They probably sound more British at the very least) Well I'll tell you what I did!

I killed people!

For me, New Vegas was just an entertaining open world shooter. I enjoyed creating characters and building rich backstories in my mind to explain away the fact that they were all complete psychopaths. Each character usually specialized in a different type of combat, with basic lock-picking and computer skills to go along with it. My personal favorite style was, if I remember correctly, explosives and unarmed. And if I may reach further into 5-year old memories, I believe that particular character's name was Bruce.

I can't remember how far I explored on any of my murderous adventures, but I do remember a town with a roller coaster and a prison where I left no survivors. I don't have a whole lot more insight about the game, just that it was a fun way to waste time, and the combat always felt satisfying.

[Todinho]

My history with the Fallout series like many others began when I saw the initial reveal trailer of Fallout 3,I never cared much for the Elder Scrolls series but as soon as I saw that trailer I was immediatly excited,so much so that I looked up and played through both Fallout 1&2 that very year in preparation and to my surprise they became two of my favorite RPGs of all time, to the point that when I eventually got to play Fallout 3 I was inevitably disapointed in many aspects of that game.
So when Fallout New Vegas was announced and that it was being made by Obsidian I was on the fence,on one hand much of Obsidian was comprised of former Black Isle members that worked on the original games and on the other Obsidian's record wasnt exactly stellar with the memory of Kotor 2 launch being plagued with bugs and other issues still fresh in my mind, I was worried at how New Vegas was gonna turn out but decided to pick it up anyway which was a great decision because New Vegas not only turned out to be the best fallout game in 10 years but also one of the best RPGs of that generation.

To get the negatives outta the way the game when it launched was a bug riddled mess with many problems of stability making it crash for a apparently no reason and only after years of patches and mods you can say that the game runs smoothly,the game also didnt look very good it seemed that the engine of Fallout 3 had barely being improved on the graphics departament and they replaced the horrible green filter of 3 with a horrible orange filter instead and lastly cazadors,until recently(thx elementals in Arcanum) those flying abominations were my most hated enemy outta any RPG I've ever played,the amount of pain and frustration these monsters inflicted upon would be almost inexcusable if the rest of the game wasnt so good.

On the positives side,gameplaywise the game is an improvement on nearly every aspect from 3 with combat being more interesting with more weapons and custumization and way less reliant of VATS,a much better progression system with perks,stats and skills that impact the game in a much more meaningfull way,more viable playstyles and a great survival mode that became the only way I played the game.Now where the game truly shines though is in it's writing and how it perfectly captures and continues the Fallout universe from 1&2.
Not to bash Fallout 3 too much but you can kinda see the difference in writing of the 2 games exemplified when looking at the Karma system in 3 and the Factions system in New Vegas,one is this cookie cutter good versus evil narrative about saving the wasteland and the other is about the different cultures and factions that arrise in this new world and how they interact with one another and what do you do being caught in the middle? New Vegas not only continues much of the world and factions of the first two games but also the themes of those games,Fallout 3 decided to make the main storyline about family but the original games were at their core about communities,your main character didnt matter all that much in those games and they had very little interpersonnal relations,they were in essence representatives of their communities to the outisde world and their goal was to protect and help their respective societies,New Vegas takes that concept but throws the player with no alligiance and ask him/her to learn about the factions and makes his decision to help or hinder each in a world of questionable morality. As a result the main quest ends up being one of the most interesting and enjoyable parts of the game because it's not about saving the world,it's about the geopolitical future of an entire region and it's consequences to the societies living there,every faction as a result has it's own unique culture and moral code and each at least has one good reason to want control over the region from the oligarquical NCR to the technocratic Mr. House and even the fascist Ceaser's Legion can make an interesting case for their ideology and rule in a post-apocalipitic world.
The game isnt only about the political chessboard though and the quests range from crazy and bizarre like the cult of ghouls that want to go to space and a super mutant that needs it's robotic babysister back to more thoughtfull and serious topics like dealing with the mental issues of the nightkin in Jacobstown to the social economic clashes in Freeside and even prisoner ethics with the powder gangers, not only that but small side stories you can find that arent even quests but tell their own interesting tales like Vault 11 and the father in the cave. The companions are also excellent ranging from a hulking grandma and cyborg dog to the conflicted ghoul mechanic Raul and the revenge obssessed Boone.

I could go on for hours,as Im sure you will on the podcast,about every interesting quest,storyline and NPC's but suffice to say that New Vegas surpassed my most lofty expectations,it perfectly captures and expands upon the story and the world of Fallout 1&2 while injecting new ideas and sensibilities and is to my mind the true Fallout 3 in every sense of the word and I can only hope that Bethesda lets Obsidian work on another game in the franchise because that would make me happier then the annoucement of 100 Fallout 4's.

Three word Review: Jingle Jangle Jingle

[Todinho]

On the point I was making about the politics and factions of New Vegas there's this great video analysing both of the main factions and it really encapsulates the complexity and thought Obsidian had when creating the factions:

[Flabyo]

Some open world games are more open than others.

Fallout 3, Oblivion and Skyrim are mostly undirected. Their main quest lines start off with 'go to that place at some point to pick up the thread' but beyond that do nothing to channel you in any particular direction. You'll eventually reach areas too hard for your current level, but you can wander a very long way before you hit anything like that.

New Vegas on the other hand is much firmer in directing the player through the initial 20 hours or so of the game. There's a path through the world they want you to be taking (a spiral, starting by going south from your start position, then east, then north, then west into New Vegas itself). If you deviate from it by much at all, you'll hit barriers and essentially be steered back onto the path.

Some are literal barriers (you hit the edge of the world quite quickly if you go west from the start, or further south than they want you to), others are more vague (go north from your start position and you'll be quickly overwhelmed by deathclaws).

Thing is, a lot of players aren't going to notice the difference. If you play Fallout 3 by just following the main quest blips, it'll feel the same to you as playing New Vegas does. The difference is that Obsidian have a more complex narrative in their game and therefore want you to not be able to sequence break it so much.

In general Obsidian games are much bigger on the 'lots of ways to approach this quest' style of open world than they are 'lots of things to do at once' style. They're also fans of making player actions have more consequence than is traditional in open world games. (Their best work on that front is still Alpha Protocol, one of the finest examples of 'everything you do and the order you do them affects things that happen later' you'll find in gaming)

Is New Vegas a better game than Fallout 3? I think it is, but I can see why this more directed quest flow might annoy people more used to Bethesda's 'here's the world, go play in it' approach.

[Todinho]

Just as a final addendum I have to give special comendation to the DLC in this game not only it has some of the most memorable characters and areas in the game but they were very well integrated into the game with all of them having connections with the main game and between themselfs making everything feel cohesive,nowhere is this more apparent then in the character of Ulysses the shadowy courier that sets events of the game into motion and whose story spans not only the main game but all DLCs,his character in many ways embodies what the game is about and the conclusion of his story feels much more appropiate as the conclusion of the game as well.

[AndrewBrown]

I met her in a bar beneath a twisted statue commemorating the expansionist tendencies of the imperialist New California Republic: Rose of Sharon Cassidy. An NCR girl, born and bred, but I wasn’t about to hold that against her. It took some time to her win her over, but after dooming the Van Graff family to a web of NCR bureaucracy, she came around. From there, our adventures in the Mojave Wasteland were a booze-fueled orgy of explosions, shotguns, and murder.

They say that “patrolling the Mojave almost makes you wish for a nuclear winter,” but over time I came to think that a nuclear winter might be preferable. To the west, the NCR, a bloated monster, grabbing whatever lies next to it in its greedy tendrils. The NCR people aren’t a bad lot, really. “Just folks,” as the saying goes, swept up in a cause they were strong-armed into, bitterly loyal to a corrupt system. To the east, Caesar’s Legion, a murderous autocracy ruled over by a hypocrite with a god complex; these guys are so cartoonish they make the NCR seem like classic good guys in comparison. It takes a truly twisted morality to side with them at all. And lording over it all is Mr. House’s gaudy tower, a monument to his shortcomings. I owed my allegiance to none of them, playing them against each other as it amused me. I could tell Cass favored the NCR, but she didn’t object as I undermined all three parties. “No Gods, No Masters,” she muttered with just a hint of bitterness. Maybe that’s just the booze talking.

New Vegas is the pearl of the Mojave, a sandtrap we are drawn into for days at a time. Even when it feels like I’m not accomplishing much and would much rather be out in the Wasteland, exercising my trigger finger, the grind and politic of life in the big city feels like an obligation I cannot refuse. Life outside the city is more interesting--I swear I was kidnapped and had my brain removed by robots at one point, but Cass insists I just had some bad moonshine--and yet that life is still ruled by the city. It sits in the center of the Wasteland, and all my adventures seems to be a slow circle around it. Cass and I are a plug caught in the swirling waters of a drain, or else a magnet trying to escape its pair. We strain to leave that drab, boring, disappointing city, but always finds ourselves drawn back there. “Come visit beautiful New Vegas!” the posters will read. “You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.”

Which isn’t to say that life outside the city is completely boring. Aside from the conflict at Hoover Dam between the NCR and the Legion, there’s a motley assortment of freaks and oddities, living their own lives. There’s paranoid, xenophobic, and self-centered Boomers. The Brotherhood of Steel; basically the Boomers without a sense of humor. The Great Khans, the last survivors of a way of life being stomped out by the likes of the NCR, the Legion, and House, civilization putting down barbarity through its own means. A refuge for the Super Mutants hides in the mountains, friendly, but monstrous. There’s even a last stronghold of the treacherous Enclave, for those brave enough to seek them.

Through all of these adventures, I find myself, at long last, dealing with Mr. House. Caesar’s Legion proved simple enough to massacre. The blustering NCR will soon be impotent. Benny, the droning fool, was closer to the mark than he knew. He just didn’t have the skill or fortitude to see it through. I do. And now I stand over House’s preservation chamber, ready to pull the plug. I still remember meeting him for the first time, his pre-war photograph flickering on a massive screen while he informed me that I was now working for him. It was an impressive moment, but I was not drawn in by his grandiose ego. “The House always win,” I mutter as I pull the plug, leaving him to fester in his own bacteria.

The job done, I head outside. Back to New Vegas, the town I have liberated, but only want to escape. House’s army of Securitrons is now mine. The city is now mine. I have freed it from its tormentors, returned control of the Dam to the people. That was all my doing. Cass is there, waiting for me. She could go home, but she doesn't. I wonder why. “No Gods, No Masters,” she says as one of my Securitrons chases a drunk off the Strip.

I hope that’s just the booze talking.

[Todinho]

Ok I know Im flooding this thread at this point but im replaying New Vegas and man some of the dialogue in this game is incredible and I just have to share it here sorry,so much depth through brief dialogue it's great..

[specters_art]

Long time listener, first time poster.

I was never really concerned with ‘current’ games most my life. I grew up on Nintendo systems and have a deep love of PC RPGs like Baldur’s Gate, Nox, and Fallout. But between the PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii era, I went with the Wii and my PS2. But on my 22nd birthday in 2010, my brother and my mom coordinated with each other to get me enough new and some handy down parts (from my brother) to build my first PC tower. Building the tower the was way more power than any of the current consoles I was drunk with power.

One of the first games I got was Fallout 3. Being a fan of Fallout 1 & 2, I was excited to finally be able to play 3. I was less than impressed with the graphics, setting, and the storyline I felt was very weak. Luckily the gameplay was great and that was enough to get me through it. It felt like it had lost something in the translation to 3D. So when Fallout New Vegas came out, I was very cautious about it.

I acquired a less than legal version of the game a couple months after launch. I’m not going to try and justify why, again I was drunk with power. Anyways I spent my firsts 2 hours of the game modding the game to get the best graphics, rebalance weapons, better AI, etc.

Upon leaving Doctor Mitchell and Victor, there was a shoot out and I was hooked. Instantly NV had something 3 didn’t, personality and depth. While everything was drab, green, and rusty in 3, NV felt lonely, empty, and dangerous. It felt like a true western. I found a prison instantly and began killing every bandit I could see. More walking and I found a town that was under siege and killed some more bandits. I light up when the NCR showed up, felt like reuniting with an old friend. I found an NCR outpost and recruited a nice lady, I found Brotherhood of Steel Bunker and helped them retake the HELIOS, I found the Legion and tried to take out as many as I could. It appeared everywhere I went there was an interesting story with conflicting interests while I was eagerly trying to solve who tried to kill the Courier. Probably took me 30 hours before I actually found New Vegas! Every town, every outpost, everything was calling me somewhere else. And I loved it.

The faction choices felt real and compelling from all sides and I really had to consider which route I was going to go. By the time I had gotten to the end of the main quest, I had decided that I needed to create an independent New Vegas but not under Mr. House. Had my Yes Man army and I got the Boomers, put down the Great Khans, recruited the Brotherhood of Steel, helped the Followers of the Apocalypse, and even got a vertibird of Enclaves on my side as well as I pickpocketed everyone in the Wasteland. I talked down the NCR (still loved them) and put down the Legion. It all felt like I had done what was best for everyone in New Vegas and provided some stability for the region.

NV was exactly what I wanted from a Fallout game; good gameplay, good story, and multiple choices that felt made a difference. There are several unforgettable factions and places such as the Legion, the White Glove Society, Vault 11, the Fiends, the Kings, the State of Utobitha (had to look up the name), etc. There was so much personality and almost everyone had a decent backstory that justified their current state in the world. Plus the call backs to the older games was the icing on the cake for me.

Anyways I feel like I’ve gone on too long, but the most praise I can give this game is that I actually bought it and all the DLC! I started a new game putting in another 120 hours and got 100% on the Achievements on Steam. It is one of my favorite RPGs. I hope that since Fallout 4 is out that we get NV 2 or something else developed by Obsidian.