This review contains spoilers
A good game, this one.
When coming into this game, having previously played Fallout 4, I heard it was among the best games in the series. Now do I think New Vegas is better than 4? Yes. Do I think it's much better than 4? Not really. But do I understand why people think this game is a cult classic? Absolutely.
Starting with the positives. The factions are a real highlight of this game, far ahead of both Bethesda titles I had played in the past, Fallout 4 and Skyrim (the latter being a game I particularly enjoyed). The factions, with the only real exception being the Legion, all had really good and moralistic reasons as to why the Courier should choose them. Neither Skyrim or Fallout 4's factions have anywhere near the intrigue, history or even legitimate arguments as to why you should choose them. In Skyrim, for example, I choose the Imperials, not because I thought they'd be the best for Skyrim or that they were the most interesting but rather because they were the lesser of two evils. That's not to say I found the NCR (my personal choice) perfect, but I believed they had a plan to change the Mojave for the better. I can certainly see arguments for House and Yes Man as well. To quote Todd Howard, "It just works." The gameplay is pretty engaging as well. Not too far changed from Fallout 4's controls and combat system. The game makes you feel increasingly powerful too, I never really felt that way when playing 4. At the start of the game I struggled against powder gangers, by the end I could easily take on multiple legionnaires and not even get close to death. It felt good. The exploration, as it was with Fallout 4, is a natural highlight of this series from the looks of it. Searching throughout the Mojave was really fun, and I specifically enjoyed looking through big cities (like the Strip, McCarran, Primm, etc.) and meeting new, interesting groups of characters. The ending of the game, which shows the player what happened to the different factions and important characters was a really good way to wrap up the playthrough, it made me feel as if everything I did - and didn't do - had meaning. All of this was well done.
Now for my problems with this game. Now this is 100% a strong personal opinion I have, but I really hate how dead everything in this game is. Of course this goes against the whole nature of a post-apocalyptic wasteland, and I understand that. I had this same problem with 4, but with the Mojave feeling even more desolate than Boston, my feelings are exacerbated. Going back to my Skyrim example, one of the parts I absolutely hated about the game were the Dwarven ruins as they felt incredibly devoid of life. The world of New Vegas feels a lot like a Dwarven Ruin. Once again, this is totally personal preference, and not particularly a knock on how the game is designed. In fact, it might even be a compliment given that the desolation of society was something this game was certainly going for. Me knowing this doesn't mean I enjoy the game any more though. Another big issue I had was bugs. Now I get these Bethesda titles are massive and having some bugs here and there isn't something that would surprise me. New Vegas, at least going off how my PC ran it on Steam, was one of the buggiest games I have ever played. It crashed constantly. It would be a good play session if my game didn't crash on me one or two times. Every time I walked into a new area I would risk my loading screen never end and either having to close the game or even restart my PC. Numerous quest lines and NPCs also got broken throughout the game. I had to use console commands a few times just to get things were they should be. It was messy, annoyingly messy. As for some final nitpicks, those unmarked companion quests sucked (looking at you Raul) and also Cazadores can go fuck themselves.
This game is a very good game. I can definitely tell. Sometimes, though, it's just not exactly my type of game. I enjoyed the game but I didn't hit me in veins the same way Skyrim did. I would recommend this game to most gamers, although more experienced players would probably get more of a kick out of it.
But when you really think about it, my opinion doesn't really matter, does it? Because in the end, war... war never changes.
When coming into this game, having previously played Fallout 4, I heard it was among the best games in the series. Now do I think New Vegas is better than 4? Yes. Do I think it's much better than 4? Not really. But do I understand why people think this game is a cult classic? Absolutely.
Starting with the positives. The factions are a real highlight of this game, far ahead of both Bethesda titles I had played in the past, Fallout 4 and Skyrim (the latter being a game I particularly enjoyed). The factions, with the only real exception being the Legion, all had really good and moralistic reasons as to why the Courier should choose them. Neither Skyrim or Fallout 4's factions have anywhere near the intrigue, history or even legitimate arguments as to why you should choose them. In Skyrim, for example, I choose the Imperials, not because I thought they'd be the best for Skyrim or that they were the most interesting but rather because they were the lesser of two evils. That's not to say I found the NCR (my personal choice) perfect, but I believed they had a plan to change the Mojave for the better. I can certainly see arguments for House and Yes Man as well. To quote Todd Howard, "It just works." The gameplay is pretty engaging as well. Not too far changed from Fallout 4's controls and combat system. The game makes you feel increasingly powerful too, I never really felt that way when playing 4. At the start of the game I struggled against powder gangers, by the end I could easily take on multiple legionnaires and not even get close to death. It felt good. The exploration, as it was with Fallout 4, is a natural highlight of this series from the looks of it. Searching throughout the Mojave was really fun, and I specifically enjoyed looking through big cities (like the Strip, McCarran, Primm, etc.) and meeting new, interesting groups of characters. The ending of the game, which shows the player what happened to the different factions and important characters was a really good way to wrap up the playthrough, it made me feel as if everything I did - and didn't do - had meaning. All of this was well done.
Now for my problems with this game. Now this is 100% a strong personal opinion I have, but I really hate how dead everything in this game is. Of course this goes against the whole nature of a post-apocalyptic wasteland, and I understand that. I had this same problem with 4, but with the Mojave feeling even more desolate than Boston, my feelings are exacerbated. Going back to my Skyrim example, one of the parts I absolutely hated about the game were the Dwarven ruins as they felt incredibly devoid of life. The world of New Vegas feels a lot like a Dwarven Ruin. Once again, this is totally personal preference, and not particularly a knock on how the game is designed. In fact, it might even be a compliment given that the desolation of society was something this game was certainly going for. Me knowing this doesn't mean I enjoy the game any more though. Another big issue I had was bugs. Now I get these Bethesda titles are massive and having some bugs here and there isn't something that would surprise me. New Vegas, at least going off how my PC ran it on Steam, was one of the buggiest games I have ever played. It crashed constantly. It would be a good play session if my game didn't crash on me one or two times. Every time I walked into a new area I would risk my loading screen never end and either having to close the game or even restart my PC. Numerous quest lines and NPCs also got broken throughout the game. I had to use console commands a few times just to get things were they should be. It was messy, annoyingly messy. As for some final nitpicks, those unmarked companion quests sucked (looking at you Raul) and also Cazadores can go fuck themselves.
This game is a very good game. I can definitely tell. Sometimes, though, it's just not exactly my type of game. I enjoyed the game but I didn't hit me in veins the same way Skyrim did. I would recommend this game to most gamers, although more experienced players would probably get more of a kick out of it.
But when you really think about it, my opinion doesn't really matter, does it? Because in the end, war... war never changes.