New Vegas review from NMA, too good to be true???

[Multidirectional]

The game says so when you set up your stats.

Yeah you mean that machine in Doc's house. It also says Perception affects your accuracy. Does it?

 

[SoupNazi]

No idea, but I just remembered how I know it does AGI affect movement speed: in my first playthrough I was slower than the tutorial chick and I had around six-ish AGI. In my second playthrough I had max AGI and I was faster. In both cases I had light armor.

 

[Xor]

So I spent the break playing NV pretty much non stop. I'm something like 30 hours in at this point, and fairly close to the end of the game. I can't even find the impressions thread, so fuck it. I'm posting my impressions here.

I was really pleasantly surprised with how much fun the game is. I absolutely hated Fallout 3 and seriously didn't think Obsidian could pull it off, but they did.

The writing is far and away better than anything Bethseda has ever produced. The characters feel more real, dialog is more mature, and the areas are more interesting. Look at any of the vaults, for instance.

The quest design is better for the most part, although there are some fetch quests that I've decided to skip, mostly the ones that want me to gather a bunch of shit from god knows where. I didn't really notice the quest compass at first, but I found myself using it more and more as the game went on. Must be getting lazy. I still read everything, but it's just so damn convenient to be able to know exactly where a particular NPC is rather than crawl around the huge NCR base looking for him.

Combat has never been a huge issue for me. I don't really like FPS's all that much, but I still play them from time to time. In NV the combat feels somewhat clunky, and I rely on VATS to hit things because I get terrible framerate lag in combat most of the time. I haven't really had a problem with anything since mid game, although I did walk to sloan and get my ass handed to me by deathclaws back when I was still wearing combat armor.

The vaults are all interesting (actually, I haven't been in vault 3 yet, that's for this evening). I am kind of curious why there are something like 5 vaults in the Las Vegas area, though. Vault 22 was legitimately creepy from start to finish. From the moment I saw the sign that said the plants will kill me, I was expecting to get attacked at any second. I think the lack of combat in Vault 22 heightened the experience. Vault 34 was much less creepy, but still fun because I had to rush through the place to avoid dying to radiation. Vault 11 was just...wow.

I like the desert environment more than the destroyed cityscape of Fallout 3, too, although that's probably more personal preference than anything.

I'll also comment on bugs, because that has been a hotly discussed topic. Knowing that NV is supposed to be rather buggy, I kept a mental list of all the bugs I experienced in 30+ hours of gameplay. I've been playing with the unpatched version using the nocd crack, and no mods except something to fix Veronica so she'll level up. I had 3 CTDs in mid game which lost me less than 5 minutes of playtime each, two or so CTDs when I hit Exit Game, 2 or 3 animation bugs, and a few bugs with NPCs during quests, one of which forced me to start a quest over once. Overall, the experience has been pretty free of bugs, and when they do pop up they're easy enough to ignore or get around.

NV is honestly the best RPG I've played in quite some time, and probably the best product Obsidian has produced to date.

 

[baronjohn]

The writing is far and away better than anything Bethseda has ever produced.

Morrowind's writing was pretty good.

I've been playing with the unpatched version using the nocd crack,

Fallout.New.Vegas.Update.3-SKIDROW

 

[Black]

No idea, but I just remembered how I know it does AGI affect movement speed: in my first playthrough I was slower than the tutorial chick and I had around six-ish AGI. In my second playthrough I had max AGI and I was faster. In both cases I had light armor.

You also run faster if you have your two-handed weapon holstered.

 

[hal900x]

It's a testament to how much I enjoy this game that I am willing to play regularly in spite of it's glaring bugs, scripting errors and assorted sloppiness. Too many to count, really. The one that's got me ready to punch a baby right now is the fact that:

Spoiler

if you are choosing Benny's fate at the Fort, the option for slipping him the stealth boy and bobby pin is broken. It flags you both as hostile and murder ensues.

I'm quite sure it's supposed to flag you as neutral, due to the nature of the preceding dialog.

 

[janjetina]

It's a testament to how much I enjoy this game that I am willing to play regularly in spite of it's glaring bugs, scripting errors and assorted sloppiness. Too many to count, really. The one that's got me ready to punch a baby right now is the fact that:

Spoiler

if you are choosing Benny's fate at the Fort, the option for slipping him the stealth boy and bobby pin is broken. It flags you both as hostile and murder ensues.

I'm quite sure it's supposed to flag you as neutral, due to the nature of the preceding dialog.

Spoiler

You have to do it before upgrading (or destroying) the Securitrons. Otherwise there is no opportunity for him to escape undetected and logically Caesar's people conclude that you're involved.

 

[hal900x]

It's a testament to how much I enjoy this game that I am willing to play regularly in spite of it's glaring bugs, scripting errors and assorted sloppiness. Too many to count, really. The one that's got me ready to punch a baby right now is the fact that:

Spoiler

if you are choosing Benny's fate at the Fort, the option for slipping him the stealth boy and bobby pin is broken. It flags you both as hostile and murder ensues.

I'm quite sure it's supposed to flag you as neutral, due to the nature of the preceding dialog.

Spoiler

You have to do it before upgrading (or destroying) the Securitrons. Otherwise there is no opportunity for him to escape undetected and logically Caesar's people conclude that you're involved.

...which is why (at least for me) that option is removed once you've done that. No, my problem occurs beforehand. If you choose to help him in this way, you are immediately attacked by every NPC in the faction. Doesn't make any sense...why even add it as an option then? The rest of the internet seems to agree with me, as well. I would be interested to hear from anyone who did NOT have everyone go hostile after choosing this option.

 

[Xor]

I finished NV a few days ago. The final sequence was a bit underwhelming, honestly, but that didn't ruin Fallout 2 for me and it didn't ruin this. I ended up really regretting a bunch of decisions I made:

Spoiler

-I supported Hardin during the BoS quests because I thought he would be a better elder after doing Veronica's quest, but Hardin ended up being kind of an asshole.
-I screwed up Cass's quest by killing the Van Graffs after agreeing to do Hardin's quest to join the brotherhood.
-I sabotoged the rockets at REPCONN mostly because the ghouls pissed me off by making me fight fucking nightkin, and that ended up killing Novac.
-I pissed off the legion after getting the offer to talk to Caesar so I ended up never getting to talk with him.
-Apparently I let Veronica die during the final battle without realizing it.
-I kind of regret helping the boomers because they're fucking insane.
-I went the Yes Man route but I ended up having to fuck over the NCR which I didn't really want to do, and Yes Man's final dialog was fairly ominous, making me regret going that route.

I'm definitely going to replay it, probably going the NCR route because they ended up being pretty bro all things considered.

 

[attackfighter]

NCR seems like the worst choice to me. With the other choices you're working with a single person who you're able to speak with and gain the gratitude of, but with NCR you're working for a bunch of faceless ingrates who you don't know personally. They're just risky and less likely to reward you (well), although I didn't side with them so maybe I'm missing something (ie you meeting with Kimbell and finding out he's a pretty cool guy after all).

My first playthrough was with House since he seemed the most competant and the nicest, I'm playing through again with the Legion though, since they'll probably have the most unique experience.

 

[The Ninth Circle]

NCR seems like the worst choice to me. With the other choices you're working with a single person who you're able to speak with and gain the gratitude of, but with NCR you're working for a bunch of faceless ingrates who you don't know personally. They're just risky and less likely to reward you (well), although I didn't side with them so maybe I'm missing something (ie you meeting with Kimbell and finding out he's a pretty cool guy after all)

I've yet to finish the game, so this is someone pretty well in, but this is my current outlook on some of the factions. Not sure if these are spoilers, but whatever. I'm currently vilified by Legion, Wild Child (Vilified + Idolized) by the NCR. Chaotic Neutral type character.

Spoiler

It really depends on your personal belief of what is best for the future of society. NCR is an attempt to reestablish the empire with little regard to the current situation. They want to absorb anything and everything to strengthen the "nation". Short term they are a self-righteous, authoritarian entity in the guise of a democracy but in the long term they could possibly lax their expansion and conquering but likely not. Still, for long term success of the people they're possibly the best option. Their expansion is growing larger than their power can maintain though, so they will likely face collapses along the way. They want the Strip and they'll eventually get the Strip. House knows this and with good reason does not trust the NCR. They believe the more power they gain the better it is for everyone, trickle down, but by their orders for Helios, they obviously aren't interested in immediate improvement for everyone.

Independent towns are too open to take overs and raiding. Goodsprings shouldn't exist -- a qualified doctor and some resources (clean water + beef), it would be a prime target. Towns like this need NCR protection. It's the eternal freedom vs. safety balance.

Legion is basically depicted as the absolute worst of people and has been foreshadowed as a group following a leader rather than ideals. Supporting them will be supporting a failing faction. Though, the tough ideal of survival of the fittest might be just what the wasteland needs to get itself back on its feet. Likely not.

House, at this point in the game, I simply don't trust. His wanting to only want to keep The Strip independent sounds like a bunch of fluff to get the courier on his side. The fact that he awaited NCR's arrival at Hoover Dam only to turn it over with the remark "I was holding it for you" if we make this deal seems like garbage, though it may be true. He also has been ramping up Securitron production in anticipation of the impending battle at Hoover Dam. At this point, the PC has to decide if he's trying to capitalize as a third party and kill two birds with one stone. He knows the NCR will never allow him to retain independence and Legion would not either. In this case, he values his own monetary interests over what is best for the people of the land. Destroying the NCR/Legion and collapsing much of the reestablished society for his own greed seems like a huge asshole maneuver.

Honestly? I don't think any of them would be last.

All of this could change by game's end, but at this point in my journey, this is my outlook on each competing faction. I actually prefer the Followers of Apocalypse's mindset in philosophy, but it's completely unattainable in application. It's against human nature.

 

[Xor]

Oh, sure, NCR is run by a bunch of faceless assholes, but the people you actually interact with are pretty cool guys. They seem like the best choice to me. The legion clearly isn't going to last, and even if they did they're not the kind of people I would want as leaders. House I just didn't trust from day one, and even if he did succeed and follow through with all his promises, it's only a matter of time before something comes along that he didn't expect and kills him. The Yes Man route didn't go the way I expected it to and from what is implied at the end it might have ended up being the worst choice of all.

 

[Silellak]

My concern with the NCR - and the reason I went with Yes Man on the way through - is that it just seemed to me like the NCR wasn't capable of holding and properly protecting the Mojave. This might change once Hoover Dam is secured and the West Coast pussies are more willing to send reinforcements, but it's hard to say.

I still wish the Legion had been written as less hurr-hurr-evil and a more viable - if a bit darker - alternative to civilization.

The Yes Man route didn't go the way I expected it to and from what is implied at the end it might have ended up being the worst choice of all.

Spoiler

Yeah, I wasn't sure what to make of that, either. I think the intention wasn't so much that Yes Man was going to be evil, so much as a way of ensuring that the Courier didn't get to become Emperor of New Vegas.

Which is a shame, because "Courier as leader of New Vegas" would be a fun ending, too. Especially if some of the decisions you made throughout the game factored into the final fate of the area.

 

[Havoc]

NCR is good on the outside, but bad on the inside and the inside controls what the outside does. The "ambasador", General Olivier and the president are a bunch of powermongers that lie to the people. At least Caesar is honest.
NCR works on failed systems and will make the same mistakes like the Pre-War goverments. The only person that has a long term goal is... Mr. House. He's goal is survival of humanity.

In the end... no option is "good" for the Mojave. NCR will fuck up in the future. Caesar will die and a warrior will rule instead, will fuck up the desert. Mr House isn't intersted in helping people. People must help themselves and what House wants House gets. Yes Man is a big ?, but I think he's sinister in his doing.

 

[The Ninth Circle]

NCR is good on the outside, but bad on the inside and the inside controls what the outside does. The "ambasador", General Olivier and the president are a bunch of powermongers that lie to the people. At least Caesar is honest.
NCR works on failed systems and will make the same mistakes like the Pre-War goverments. The only person that has a long term goal is... Mr. House. He's goal is survival of humanity.

In the end... no option is "good" for the Mojave. NCR will fuck up in the future. Caesar will die and a warrior will rule instead, will fuck up the desert. Mr House isn't intersted in helping people. People must help themselves and what House wants House gets. Yes Man is a big ?, but I think he's sinister in his doing.

I still think the Followers of the Apocalypse are the only ones with the general population in mind [/hippie liberal]

 

[Havoc]

But they can't do shit. Only the big dogs can.

 

[The Ninth Circle]

But they can't do shit. Only the big dogs can.

Pretty much. I think the Wasteland is doomed for a very long time no matter what faction you throw your weight behind.

 

[baronjohn]

On the whole, Yes-Man seems to be the best ending for all companions/towns.

 

[Jim Cojones]

After a long struggle I finally managed to get my review published. It's in Polish so I don't pimp it in a new thread or spam Codex staff to post a news about it. There's quite a lot of my fellow potato-eaters so I guess maybe some of them would like to read it. And if anyone else is interested, you can use your favourite online translator, although I doubt it would be readable; translators generally don't do good job with Polish texts and I don't find the text very interestingly written anyway. I'm quite satisfied with the core of the review though, I probably managed to say everything I'd like to tell about NV.

Here it is.

Bottom line: CYOA elements are good, gameplay generally sucks. It's not really "good for what it is" because you can't separate the good from the bad in this game. It's cool that you have plenty of ways to complete quests and your choices actually matter a lot but it's ultimately a choice between one boring, unchallenging path and other boring, unchallenging path. Writing is solid but it's not enough to make dialogues compelling because there are hardly any "wrong" responses, skill tags are annoying and skill checks generally serve as "I win" buttons".

It's still worth a single playthrough (but definitely no more) if C&C is what you look for in RPGs and it have some brilliant moments.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Good work, Tomasz Gąsior

 

[Jaesun]

SO basically, since you write very good English, you will provide us the English version too Jim Cojones? Awesome. Can't wait to read it.

 

[Jim Cojones]

SO basically, since you write very good English, you will provide us the English version too Jim Cojones? Awesome. Can't wait to read it.

Hmm... I'll think about it. I have another, much shorter review to write at the moment and I might start working on translation after I finish that.

 

[SimpleComplexity]

Another thing i've noticed some areas are too huge where you have to walk 2 minutes just to reach the NPC quest guy, some examples are the Nelly Air Force base or the NCR outpost with the tower (McNamaran or something). Of course the whole point is to illustrate the hugeness of the base or area but gameplay-wise it's annoying. Walking up to the Mutant town (forgot the name) on a hill was probably the most boring experience of the game, isn't the world huge enough to warrant a motorcycle? Why can't Oblivion have a horse and New Vegas not? Add to that the annoying PiP-Boy interface which you have to use everytime when you need to change the location or take a look in your inventory

This is how my F:NV unofficial patch would look like:
-No quest compass
-No enemy radar
-Interface hotkeys (I = Inventar, C = Character, T = FastTravel, etc.)
-Dialogue Hotkeys (1 = first dialogue, 2 = second; etc.)
-Motorcycle
-Sprint Feature, alternatively faster walking speed, slower backpedling speed

NewVegasNexus probably has maybe almost of all of them in their database but what NewVegas needs is a guy like Drog who understands what cRPG's is about and see's what's wrong with the game and instead of 20 different mods you'd only need to download 1 mod from the same guy.

 

[Severian Silk]

A dirt bike might have been cool. Would make making the distance between areas larger more justified, as their nearness has been a common complaint.

 

[Oesophagus]

snip

+ no fast travel

+ less critters running around. It's supposed to be a wasteland ffs, you can't take two steps without running into something