New Vegas is one of those games where the situation surrounding it tends to generate arguments. It was thrown together in eighteen months, reused a lot of assets from 3, and had no time to bug test, and for that reason it seemed to not do as well on release. This led to the game developing one of the most overzealous fanbases this side of cryptocurrency and association football, and countless flamewars over which Fallout is the best one. These flamewars are looking to reach a fever pitch now that Fallout 76 seems prepped to break the fanbase once again.
So it's important to remind people in the midst of all this fandom kerfuffling that New Vegas is just really damn good.
Let's get flaws out of the way. The shooting gameplay remains sticky and clunky. Caesar's Legion isn't as fleshed out as it feels like it should be. The game looked dated in its time. Three of the four DLC campaigns have major issues themselves (irritating gameplay, weak story, few characters). You're gonna need a bugfix mod or five. The final mission feels rushed. And this is petty, but why can't I put weapon mods on unique guns?
Anyway.
In terms of gameplay? It's Fallout 3, but better. Traits are back, a lot of stuff is tweaked and rebalanced, enemies are harder, and you've got a survival mode for people who like even more punishment. Fallout 3 laid a great foundation and New Vegas built on it, and while I lamented the shooting, hey - what is VATS for? And while the game provides challenge, it's never crushing, so long as you Follow the Plotted Line. I know people complained about it not being completely "go anywhere" like 3, but fuck 'em - it's that thinking that led to the final boss being one dude in a coat.
Then there's the writing, which is some of the best in the series, flat-out. The Mojave feels vibrant and alive despite the constant piss filter, with countless things to add texture to its inhabitants. It uses all the "classic" Fallout elements, but they're all taken in completely new directions that still feel like they logically flowed from 1 and 2. Yet the major players are mostly new, and feel like well-thought-out additions. Every companion is great; you'll download an all-companion mod just so you can take them with you everywhere. But what really drives it home is the protagonist.
What makes New Vegas truly an RPG is that you're allowed to, well... play a role. Every quest has at least two ways to solve it. The dialogue drips with personality. The four main factions are all based on powerful ideologies rather than good-or-bad dichotomies. And from the start, it is your journey. It does something paradoxical: it makes you feel very small, a lone wanderer in a great living world surrounded by powers you can't comprehend, and then it makes you feel big by giving you agency such that you can decide its fate. There's a reason the Courier is so well-loved, and it's that New Vegas is indubitably the Courier's story. And that's what makes it work.
The Good One.
New Vegas is one of those games where the situation surrounding it tends to generate arguments. It was thrown together in eighteen months, reused a lot of assets from 3, and had no time to bug test, and for that reason it seemed to not do as well on release. This led to the game developing one of the most overzealous fanbases this side of cryptocurrency and association football, and countless flamewars over which Fallout is the best one. These flamewars are looking to reach a fever pitch now that Fallout 76 seems prepped to break the fanbase once again.
So it's important to remind people in the midst of all this fandom kerfuffling that New Vegas is just really damn good.
Let's get flaws out of the way. The shooting gameplay remains sticky and clunky. Caesar's Legion isn't as fleshed out as it feels like it should be. The game looked dated in its time. Three of the four DLC campaigns have major issues themselves (irritating gameplay, weak story, few characters). You're gonna need a bugfix mod or five. The final mission feels rushed. And this is petty, but why can't I put weapon mods on unique guns?
Anyway.
In terms of gameplay? It's Fallout 3, but better. Traits are back, a lot of stuff is tweaked and rebalanced, enemies are harder, and you've got a survival mode for people who like even more punishment. Fallout 3 laid a great foundation and New Vegas built on it, and while I lamented the shooting, hey - what is VATS for? And while the game provides challenge, it's never crushing, so long as you Follow the Plotted Line. I know people complained about it not being completely "go anywhere" like 3, but fuck 'em - it's that thinking that led to the final boss being one dude in a coat.
Then there's the writing, which is some of the best in the series, flat-out. The Mojave feels vibrant and alive despite the constant piss filter, with countless things to add texture to its inhabitants. It uses all the "classic" Fallout elements, but they're all taken in completely new directions that still feel like they logically flowed from 1 and 2. Yet the major players are mostly new, and feel like well-thought-out additions. Every companion is great; you'll download an all-companion mod just so you can take them with you everywhere. But what really drives it home is the protagonist.
What makes New Vegas truly an RPG is that you're allowed to, well... play a role. Every quest has at least two ways to solve it. The dialogue drips with personality. The four main factions are all based on powerful ideologies rather than good-or-bad dichotomies. And from the start, it is your journey. It does something paradoxical: it makes you feel very small, a lone wanderer in a great living world surrounded by powers you can't comprehend, and then it makes you feel big by giving you agency such that you can decide its fate. There's a reason the Courier is so well-loved, and it's that New Vegas is indubitably the Courier's story. And that's what makes it work.