This review contains spoilers
This was my favorite DLC. I really liked this one.
In fact, I think I like this more than the original game. Although I don't know how fair this comparison is given Lonesome Road is only a 4 hour questline with two fleshed out characters as opposed to New Vegas which is a 50+ hour world that's filled with lots of exploration and unique characters. So maybe what I just said doesn't hold up very well, but I digress.
This DLC gave me a strong Half-Life feel, even down to the elevator ride that made me feel like I was playing Black Mesa again. Lonesome Road was, ironically, a lot like a road in that it focused a lot more on linear storytelling as opposed to exploration. Now exploration is one of the Fallout series' strongest assets so one would assume this expansion would fall flat on its face. For me, the linearization, mixed up with dialogue between the player, Ulysses and ED-E really felt fresh after roughly 60 hours of the same feeling gameplay, with exception to Dead Money. Unlike Dead Money though, the gameplay wasn't nearly as tedious for me. The enemies were really unique and interesting to fight against, which was a problem I had with all 3 of the other DLCs. I also enjoyed the look of most of the areas we explored. It was unique and rarely overstayed its welcome. The story was a little more hit or miss but the strong point was 100% in ED-E's story line. He was the stronger character of the two from this DLC.
As for the negatives, unlike ED-E's story, Ulysses and the characterization of The Courier didn't really work for me in this. Ulysses had potential to be an interesting character but most of what you get to know about him is through long conversations through a robot. You don't even see his face until the end of the DLC, where the conflict gets resolved in all of 5 seconds. The Courier's character gets revealed here in a way it doesn't in any of the other parts of the game, and it simply doesn't work for me. Not knowing who the Courier is or what the Courier has done is why the Courier works as a voice-less protagonist that the player is able to put themselves in. The Courier, despite being separated as a character from the player for the first time in the game, seems to understand just as little about his own past as we do. For whatever reason, Ulysses seems to know more about him than he does.
Overall, the fairly unique gameplay actually works for me, unlike Dead Money and Old World Blues, and the characters and world were far more interesting than those in Honest Hearts (except the GOAT Joshua). While I didn't love all the story choices, ED-E's was really well done and one of my favorites in the entire game. I would absolutely recommend this one, specifically if you have and enjoyed New Vegas.
In fact, I think I like this more than the original game. Although I don't know how fair this comparison is given Lonesome Road is only a 4 hour questline with two fleshed out characters as opposed to New Vegas which is a 50+ hour world that's filled with lots of exploration and unique characters. So maybe what I just said doesn't hold up very well, but I digress.
This DLC gave me a strong Half-Life feel, even down to the elevator ride that made me feel like I was playing Black Mesa again. Lonesome Road was, ironically, a lot like a road in that it focused a lot more on linear storytelling as opposed to exploration. Now exploration is one of the Fallout series' strongest assets so one would assume this expansion would fall flat on its face. For me, the linearization, mixed up with dialogue between the player, Ulysses and ED-E really felt fresh after roughly 60 hours of the same feeling gameplay, with exception to Dead Money. Unlike Dead Money though, the gameplay wasn't nearly as tedious for me. The enemies were really unique and interesting to fight against, which was a problem I had with all 3 of the other DLCs. I also enjoyed the look of most of the areas we explored. It was unique and rarely overstayed its welcome. The story was a little more hit or miss but the strong point was 100% in ED-E's story line. He was the stronger character of the two from this DLC.
As for the negatives, unlike ED-E's story, Ulysses and the characterization of The Courier didn't really work for me in this. Ulysses had potential to be an interesting character but most of what you get to know about him is through long conversations through a robot. You don't even see his face until the end of the DLC, where the conflict gets resolved in all of 5 seconds. The Courier's character gets revealed here in a way it doesn't in any of the other parts of the game, and it simply doesn't work for me. Not knowing who the Courier is or what the Courier has done is why the Courier works as a voice-less protagonist that the player is able to put themselves in. The Courier, despite being separated as a character from the player for the first time in the game, seems to understand just as little about his own past as we do. For whatever reason, Ulysses seems to know more about him than he does.
Overall, the fairly unique gameplay actually works for me, unlike Dead Money and Old World Blues, and the characters and world were far more interesting than those in Honest Hearts (except the GOAT Joshua). While I didn't love all the story choices, ED-E's was really well done and one of my favorites in the entire game. I would absolutely recommend this one, specifically if you have and enjoyed New Vegas.