Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Initial Thoughts on Fallout New Vegas

Fallout 3 is one of the greatest games I've ever played.  I put in around a hundred hours without any DLC on William's PS3 (this was 'ere I owned a PS3), and I never grew tired of exploring the Wastes.  Then I bought a PS3, lost all of my trophies, and lost the free time college afforded.  But when I heard New Vegas was coming out, I knew I'd be getting on the post-apocalyptic train again.

New Vegas is essentially one gigantic expansion to Fallout 3.  Graphically, the games look almost identical, with the newer release having slightly better graphics with the environments.  The story has so far been very interesting, but I've barely done anything related to propelling the plot, instead focusing on the enormous landscapes ripe with unexplored territories.  Fallout New Vegas is so far a beautiful game that's offered the same fun-factor its spiritual predecessor did.  If you loved the retro music from Galaxy News Radio and Three Dog, then you'll also love the new tunes of New Vegas.  There are a few new additions, like gambling, factions, a traveling card game called Caravan, and lots of weapon customization, but mostly, if it was in Fallout 3, it's in New Vegas.

Some have expressed issues with the game glitching worse than Fallout 3, but so far I've not experienced this.  (I think I only had one problem with Fallout 3 glitching on me and that was it.)  I believe the glitch problem is more for the 360 and PC, but I'm not sure.

Already I find my mind roaming back to the harsh Mojave wastelands, aching to see what else I can find.  If you loved Fallout 3, then there's no question that you'll like New Vegas.  The "new game" price tag may be a little steep for the lack of innovation, but I happily paid it anyway, knowing that I would easily get my $60 worth of enjoyment.  Now, back to the screen!

9 comments:

David Wagner said...

I broke down and bought New Vegas the other day, and have put a few hours into it. I agree, it is very similar in feel to FO3, which is a good thing. I miss 3 Dog! I'm not digging Wayne Newton anywhere near as much as good ol 3Dog. OWOOOOO!

I haven't wandered too far from the starting village yet. I'm made it to Primm and the nearby convict camp. Biggest glitch I've seen thus far is a person stuck in the ceiling. Lucky for me, the game let me have a conversation with him, since he was needed to advance the main plot.

Keep us informed as you progress!

logankstewart said...

Yeah, that's how far I am. Primm, working on getting a sheriff back for the town. Glad you got the game, though.

David Wagner said...

First I got in with the convicts, and did a couple jobs for the ring leader, then went off to Primm to see if the NCR guys were planning on attacking the convict camp... then decided to betray the convicts and help NCR take the camp back, lol. Ah, I'm ambiguously amoral this time around... I was a squeaky-clean good guy in the first game. Now the powder gangers hate me, lol.

Anonymous said...

Oh I envy you! I'm a big Fallout fan and pre-ordered it. I didn't have any glitch problems in Fallout 3, but I seem to be having the worst time of it with New Vegas.

I actually heard that DLC codes were broken on PS3. I got mine on 360 which it was working fine on until they sent out a patch and now I can't play it which is odd.

I also have a friend who had it on PC and ended up ditching it for a 360 copy instead! I think the glitches might be right across the board with a lucky number of people having no problem at all.

Anyway, enough rambles from me. I got a little excited coming across someone who has blogged about it... Glad you're enjoying it!

logankstewart said...

@David: I think you know that I went all crazy-evil (I blew up Megaton!) in FO3, so I decided to take the good (well, mostly moral) route this time around.

@Dutchie: Yay for Fallout, and yay for not having any glitches yet. Hopefully it remains glitch-free.

Carl V. Anderson said...

I've got about 60 hours in to Fallout New Vegas and haven't even scratched the surface of all the places yet to explore, quests to complete, etc. It is such a great game. I'm enjoying it every bit as much as Fallout 3.

Haven't had any glitching issues at all thus far, but didn't really have any game related ones with 3 either. I'm getting my money's worth out and more, and have no doubt there will be expansions to this one as there were with Fallout 3, meaning lots more Wasteland adventure in the future.

logankstewart said...

@Carl: Yeah, I've not even accomplished the first step for the main quest yet. I've been exploring. I've got Primm a new sheriff, and I've also been having a grand ole time using melee weapons, since that was something I never did in Fallout 3.

I have had one glitch so far, near the prison where the powder gangers are holed up. It was repeatable, so I had to do something differently to avoid the freeze. Still, that's it for me, and it wasn't much of a bother.

I'm also enjoying Caravan, too! The rules are convoluted, but it's fun.

Carl V. Anderson said...

The one thing I haven't done is play Caravan. I was reading the rules and it made my head hurt.

One thing I didn't mention earlier was that I like the extended buddy system in this new game. Early on, depending on what you do, you start getting folks who come along with you. You can have one person at a time, plus if you repair the robot in the store at Primm he, it, comes along as well. They are so great in a firefight, especially with the Legion early on before you get more powerful weapons, etc.

Kristopher A. Denby said...

Okay, I'm getting on this bandwagon based on your thoughts. I've been following your posts on the Fallout series. I'm gonna start with Fallout 3. Now the only challenge is getting my hands on a copy while I'm in the poor house. LOL

Thanks for your thoughts, Logan. You need to stop influencing me to want to purchase more and more media. This is getting expensive!