It really makes you FEEL like you are in a war-zone.
Let me explain it like this, in a Paradox game like Europa or Victoria, a war is represented by what color a province is. In actuality, war is never so simple, there are spies behind enemy lines, local resistance, checkpoints, civilians between the fire. New Vegas captures the lawlessness and factionalism of a war-torn country with such impact that has not been matched to this day (as far as I know). Combine that with a more than acceptable combat system and great characters, and you have one of the best games of all time.
I will say though, people who think New Vegas' story is a philosophical masterpiece because the writers read the Wikipedia pages of Fukuyama, Hegel, Malthus, and Evola are fucking delusional. But games don't need to be philosophical diatribes to be good stories.
Let me explain it like this, in a Paradox game like Europa or Victoria, a war is represented by what color a province is. In actuality, war is never so simple, there are spies behind enemy lines, local resistance, checkpoints, civilians between the fire. New Vegas captures the lawlessness and factionalism of a war-torn country with such impact that has not been matched to this day (as far as I know). Combine that with a more than acceptable combat system and great characters, and you have one of the best games of all time.
I will say though, people who think New Vegas' story is a philosophical masterpiece because the writers read the Wikipedia pages of Fukuyama, Hegel, Malthus, and Evola are fucking delusional. But games don't need to be philosophical diatribes to be good stories.