I'm revisiting New Vegas and doing my first new playthrough since game's release in 2010 which makes it time to check what those DLCs were all about. Ten hecking years later!
So far it's been a hit. In a way this DLC is Obsidian's school of doing Operation Anchorage while retaining the strengths of Fallout's systems. Dead Money also strips player off safety of accumulated equipment and directs them the path of linear exploration of a pre-nuclear world setting with very few distractions on the way, except it actually delivers on all fronts. The richness of New Vegas problem solving is still present, but opressiveness of environment and initial resource draught leads to a progression that's more coolheaded and cautious than usual. The combat never reaches the tightness of a proper survival horror title, but ghosts still make for some of the best encounters in the game by utilizing hard-hitting yet dodgeable projectiles as weapons and actually making Fallout's ridiculous limb destruction system matter in combat.
While the act of playing is pretty solid it's writing that manages to create real stakes here. Sierra Madre's history is confusing and bizarre, it's another case of great New Vegas world building through the mix of environmental storytelling, terminal notes from the past and character dialogue that gradually sheds light on the playstage . The cast of people you are unwillingly forced to cooperate with is, for the lack of better world, brilliantly broken, and exploring their pasts and problems is even more onerously interesting than the casino itself. It's all very engaging stuff and my only little issue would be just how ridiculously world-disrupting the technology of this DLC is which directly plays into antagonist motives, but it's not the first time you have to suspend your disbelief in Fallout.
Overall? High mark for a piece of downloadable content and starting Honest Hearts already made me wonder if other expansions in the pack manage to reach it.
So far it's been a hit. In a way this DLC is Obsidian's school of doing Operation Anchorage while retaining the strengths of Fallout's systems. Dead Money also strips player off safety of accumulated equipment and directs them the path of linear exploration of a pre-nuclear world setting with very few distractions on the way, except it actually delivers on all fronts. The richness of New Vegas problem solving is still present, but opressiveness of environment and initial resource draught leads to a progression that's more coolheaded and cautious than usual. The combat never reaches the tightness of a proper survival horror title, but ghosts still make for some of the best encounters in the game by utilizing hard-hitting yet dodgeable projectiles as weapons and actually making Fallout's ridiculous limb destruction system matter in combat.
While the act of playing is pretty solid it's writing that manages to create real stakes here. Sierra Madre's history is confusing and bizarre, it's another case of great New Vegas world building through the mix of environmental storytelling, terminal notes from the past and character dialogue that gradually sheds light on the playstage . The cast of people you are unwillingly forced to cooperate with is, for the lack of better world, brilliantly broken, and exploring their pasts and problems is even more onerously interesting than the casino itself. It's all very engaging stuff and my only little issue would be just how ridiculously world-disrupting the technology of this DLC is which directly plays into antagonist motives, but it's not the first time you have to suspend your disbelief in Fallout.
Overall? High mark for a piece of downloadable content and starting Honest Hearts already made me wonder if other expansions in the pack manage to reach it.