Major studios can never beat indie developers in terms of creativity ang genre-blending. This game is one of the many proofs.

-Game divides into two parts, so it has two types of gameplay. One is a train management simulator; you will have to tend to your passengers, check the battery, and make sure the engine doesn't heat up. This part is quiet easy, for most of it. In my playthrough nothing happened to the train but some passengers did die... The other part is scavenging. After each train management part of the game; you reach an station which is mostly likely destroyed by the virus. You will have to look for supplies and most importantly a code to unlock the fuel supplies. This part can be a bit hard because of the small amount of ammos and how much enemies can damage you. Unfortunately the game is too long and drags too much, and the gameplay (neither of the parts) can't hold up.

-The story should be obvious by now; you are the locomotive driver of one the last trains left in the world. You are the last chance of humanity since you will have to deliver vital components of a "device" that can save the world. There is also the personal side of the story. The protagonist is looking and trying to contact his family, and the last chapter of the game is solely about finding them. The ending and the atmosphere of the game drowns you into the world of it.

-From the visual aspect the game is good but nothing more. Some of the environments which is shown in the background while on the train, are beautiful; but majority of the game you see very simple but effective art design.

-The music is also simple compared to major titles; but it can get the job done. Although I would have preferred more usage of music in the game since there is no dialogue.

As I said, the idea of mixing an apocalyptic shooter and train management was something I never though I would see. But it was executed very well and it can give you a good couple of hours of entertainment.

A diamond in rough... Filled with bugs that make you wish for a nuclear winter.

-The gameplay... Technically it's a first person shooter (which is how I played it) but you can also play it in third person. The first person mechanisms (moving, shooting, etc) are like you would imagine, but to go into more detail... The first problem to come in mind is that you can't run in the game; best you can do is to holster your weapon so that he walks a bit faster. Just to make it clear, running is the default version of the movement, if you hold shift, the courier will crawl like a snail.
The gunplay is good; it can be extremely fun depending on your weapon of choice. But what makes it memorable, is the VATS. VATS basically allows you to stop time and aim for a body part and take your chance on shooting directly at it. And the cherry on top is the cinematics after you kill an enemy. Which other than being cool, it also lets you know that you have killed all the enemies nearby.
Nothing special to mention about the mini games (lockpicking, hacking) and the dialogue system choice.

- The story is one of the selling points of the game. It doesn't get to the point right away, first it let's you know what you are actually dealing with, and then tells you the main goal of it. First you wake up from the dead, after being shot by Chandler Bing in checkered suit. You are rescued by a robot and wake up in Goodsprings. You learn how each thing works, help others, and get help from them; Goodspings is your learning ground. You leave the town to find Chandler and take revenge, but instead you will have to deal with different factions of the game. Until eventually you will have to decide, who should rule the Mojave wasteland?
Other than the main story of the game, side quests and the backstories are also very entertaining. Each vault, each companion, each faction you find has sad backstory to check.

-There are so many fucking side quests, and that's a great thing. It happens rarely that the side quests are so good that make you ignore the main quest line. Fallout new Vegas is filled with those. Even though many of them are fetch quests but there are always some that you won't forget after playing.
The great thing is that they blend into each other. Sometimes you might not even recognize a mission can be ignored and isn't part of a main quest. The side quests you do now will leave an important impact on the future of the main quest line.

-The character design is great, but it can be confusing. You have SPECIALS, Perks, and skills. You choose your SPECIALS early in the game, and you can't change them unless you get a specific perk or pay for an implant. You can get skills and perks by leveling up. With each level, you an amount of skill points to add to your preferred set of skills. For the perks though, it takes two levels; and you can only choose one perk.

-Bugs. So many bugs. The game crashes when you are walking. Characters that should give you a quest don't show up. The game exits when you are loading. There is a loud annoying ticking sound in the music....

- As I said there is a ticking sound the music of the game, so I had to cut it off. As far as the voice acting goes though; it is pretty amazing. Characters are distinct, and deliver emotions perfectly.

-The visuals are pretty alright, if you can bare the piss filter. Nothing more to mention...


It has happened many times to me that I try to play a game many times but every time I get bored early in the game; eventually I pass that first stage and finish the game, just to realize how amazing that game is. Fallout New Vegas is one of those games, but I finally played it.
Yes it is full bugs. Yes it has many flaws.
It is not perfect; like most great things.

An underrated, 80s action inspired, side scroller, shoot 'em up.

-The visuals are beautiful. The heroes, the bosses, the enemies, all are beautifully designed; and have smooth animations. The backgrounds and the environments are very vibrant, and there is always something happening in the background (if you pay attention to it). Visually, my only problem is the in-game UI. The heroes icon and his life bar, etc, are so far at the corner of the monitor. It would be much better if it was a bit closer to the center.

-The story is a simple, corny, 80s action movie. You are a bounty hunter in a dystopian future and you have to help the cops and the government (obviously corrupt) to get rid of some gangs. And of course it has an unnecessarily negative ending. Nothing special to it; but I personally like these 80s action parodies, hopefully you're into it as well.

-The game is a side scrolling shoot 'em up, so the gameplay is the most important thing in it. You have your heroes main weapon and their melee weapon. But as you are playing you can pick up other stuff as your secondary gun or melee weapon. The gameplay is very good for the first half of the game, but it just gets progressively boring as you progress in the game.

-The level structure is very simple. You are to face 4 different gang, each stronger and armed with better weapons as the previous one. Each gang has a leader, and that leader has 4 right hands (this is the best way I can explain it, believe me). You will have to kill those 4, one by one and eventually finish the leader of that gang. For each of these bosses; there are some stages to clear first and then you reach the boss of that level. As I said the gangs and the bosses will get stronger and stronger; so don't be fooled by the first ones.


If you are into this genre, you should really give this game a shot. It might not be the best you will ever see; but it can give you a couple of hours of pure fun.