As I tried to explain during last month’s Prime Gaming rundown, Josh Sawyer’s 2010 hit Fallout: New Vegas has never been my go-to play in the series. RPGs and I never got along when I fell into my love of games, mostly for reasons like the Japanese variety being too weird for me. Often the more western-developed titles were PC-centric, and the ever-present issue of dyslexia told me that none of it was worth that hassle. Fallout, a series that was PC-centric until 2008 when it would continue to become slightly more accessible, didn’t pique my interest until 2015.

I’ll say it time and time again, Fallout 4 is the most well-rounded and most accessible Fallout there is. Is it the most expansive, refined, or even the most well-written RPG around? No, none of that is really worth saying about Fallout 4. It is is poorly written in terms of your main quest, the systems between factions aren’t as comprehensive as they could be, and it is a Bethesda game, so it was as refined as it was going to be. What Fallout 4 (and The Witcher 3) did was make the RPG genre accessible to an extent that was designed well enough to not only reward exploration but encourage it.

I’d tried a few times to delve into the land of Caesar’s Legion, the New California Republic, Odo, and Benny’s little jets. Each save file ended up in an early grave outside of Goodsprings. My last save prior to this recent return to Nevada ended outside of the Hidden Valley Bunker after a 13-hour attempt to understand why killing Matthew Perry was worth it. I’d tried repeatedly, but I could never understand the hype other than hearing all the horrible stories of the short time it was made in, the Metacritic nonsense, and everything else that makes its quality so interesting.

The truth is, Fallout: New Vegas never enchanted me the way 4 did. To be honest, I still don’t think it has entirely. A large portion of my criticisms are probably from the 12 years since its release. Maybe the more specific issue is playing 4 for more than 100 (150, 200?) hours, and the general design that is, to put it kindly, old hat. That is what Fallout: New Vegas is, an RPG from that older pen-and-paper era of the genre of CRPGs. While there are slight changes to accommodate the 3D world, it is still a set of systems that were dated by the 2010 release.

Pushing through all of that with every attempt is difficult. The story has only one direction that you are pushed in early on, the mechanics are slower than its Boston counterpart, and generally, I am a bit of a curmudgeon. That last one is important. Much like the hype surrounding the latest teen drama, anime, or fantasy show on HBO about short people having sex, I lose more and more interest (what little I had) with every recommendation. Breathless declarations of why Sawyer and Obsidian are better than Jesus Henry Christ never worked for those three issues.

Why is it that I am tempted to do another run during our end-of-year break? I’ve been bitten by that irradiated bug and finally understand what makes New Vegas so talked about. Though it has taken some considerable coercion with a speech level of 90, a branch of several side-quests, and 500 caps, I have been convinced to admit there is something to Sawyer’s magnum opus. It is that coercion that has been the biggest problem. From mods to console commands, I’ve needed to force this.

My hand-written notes are evidence of this. There are mild rants about quest markers in the PipBoy and more aggressive rants about movement speed, as well as adulation for specific characters. No Bark in Novac is mentioned for having a naming convention similar to my own. The courier this time was Lady Stabby, who would exclusively use guns.

The biggest issue I keep repeating to myself and generally to everyone that will listen is the exploration and the difference between California and Nevada vs Boston. Walk two feet in Fraiser Crane’s old stomping ground and you’ve found seventy-two different threads to follow, but follow the sandblasted road in new new New Vegas, and everything points towards B-B-B-enny and the NCR $100 nose candy.

In Boston, I’m enticed around every corner. I’m pulled toward new quests by the skyline and the design elsewhere throughout Fallout 4. Though in the land of sin and cynicism ruled over by René Auberjonois and fought over by idealists in cosplay, I don’t have something pulling me in every direction for one reason or another.

The crafting and base building systems of 4 are often lamented by some for a lack of depth. Truth be told, that’s what made me scour the wasteland with such detail in my exploration. That pushed me into fights and pushed me into situations that I would otherwise never have encountered. In Vegas, I’m not as much of a klepto.

It is the story that is supposed to grab and tease you along the snaking route that I-15 (Route 93/US Route 95) would take, threading your way through Novac, camp Searchlight, the 188, and into Vegas. It is the political struggle playing out, the people finding it difficult to survive never mind living a full life and doing as the Average White Band sang about in 1974. While it is written well enough to support that aspect of the RPG, the G in there isn’t as fully subsidized to hold my interest. I don’t believe anyone will disagree that the gun-play isn’t the focus, scrap doesn’t have as much value, and outside of a few dungeons, it is all rather empty.

Mods allowed me to make a small bit of difference to the genre and design, opening up New Vegas to be a party RPG instead of a typical single companion adventure. I might have broken a few ideas Sawyer and the design team had, with party members being aggressive and triggering unfortunate events throughout my adventures to Freeside’s weapon-dealing duo and Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus’ best mate. I didn’t set out with the mod in mind but when I heard a familiar voice and shouted “Holly!” at 3 AM, I knew I needed Felicia Day to accompany Craig and Stabby.

I mentioned movement speed earlier because as much as agility and other traits/implants might improve your overall speed, it feels ridiculously slow going backward in the series. This isn’t an issue with New Vegas alone. I’m sitting next to many early to mid-2000s games with similar problems, where sequels or advancements in the genre make the entire game feel sluggish in comparison.

It is an issue you can fix with console commands, but it is one of the biggest problems in trying to get into Fallout: New Vegas. Say what you will about the overall experience, but finding that enjoyment to keep going is difficult. Especially coming from a later installment in the franchise.

That is the biggest hurdle for games like New Vegas, Final Fantasy, The Elder Scrolls, Tales of Vesperia, Pillars of Eternity, and Kingdom Hearts. Their early setup phases are often too long or slow for my short attention span. I’d say that is similar for a large number of people.

The time it takes to look past the flaws and early signs of aging in games is difficult. Especially with countless others vying for our attention at any one time. I’m not faulting New Vegas for aging, we all do. However, some aspects have done so more poorly than others.

Despite my misgivings towards the table-top RPG stat building in those early stages, it comes back in your favor in the later game. Some who have plenty of painted mini-figures of fantasy creatures are looking down at me right now while chuckling: “why should I take the opinion of this idiot?” I agree with you but will ‘and yes’ you on the same point.

That system and depth may work well for those familiar with RPGs. However, those jumping in for the first time can find it overwhelming to understand fully. Complexity is great as long as it is easily understandable at the foundation and you can build on that.

I was role-playing, but I was also playing the same character I always play in these morality systems. Beaming down from the Starship TARDIS, I was Flash Gordon: Savior of the Universe. Slavers be damned, strung-out raiders sent to hell, Benny was getting his bullet back.

Tony Khan and his crack squad of 80s rejects were left alone as long as they didn’t stir trouble behind the scenes, and the NCR was a useful tool to get me into the position I needed to be. Meanwhile, I dragged the merry band of outcasts into the wasteland solving everyone’s problems, canvasing by shaking babies and kissing hands as I rode my way to the presidency.

I did enjoy my time solving people’s problems and doing what I love to do in these games: putting the world together once it is broken. Do I think New Vegas is any better than I always thought of it before? A little. As I’ve tried to express, I think the rose-tinted love of Obsidian and hatred of the House of Todd pastes over the cracks and flaws of the California-Nevada desert. The number of times I had crashes or freezes on hardware more than capable of sustaining 60 fps in a game over 12 years old was infuriating. It was frustrating enough to walk away multiple times over the past month.

I love the political games you can play and how detailed the world-building is in that political power struggle between those players you meet throughout the wasteland. Though there is an underlying segment to the writing I can’t get along with. As I’ve said before, Chris Avellone is someone I don’t like the work of aside from the fantastic FTL: Faster Than Light, mostly for the gameplay he had nothing to do with. Given there are notes of what he worked on, it is evident what Avellone wrote for New Vegas and it is the attempt at humor that I found the least pleasure in.

Walking in on my many penis’d feet and playing Old World Blues was entertaining but dragged on for far too long, making it boring after just a short while. Though I plowed through the DLC enjoying a handful of bits, it was often the worst of the experience with New Vegas this time around.

Despite changing my opinion on the base of New Vegas enough to think about returning at some point, the DLCs of Fallout games continue to be the very worst of the series I’ve played thus far. The less I say about the Sierra Madre (Dead Money) the better. That is easily the worst of the entire game and fights Mothership Zeta for the worst of the series.

I think now I can honestly recommend New Vegas from my own opinion and not direct whoever’s asking to someone that blindly loves it. Though I will need a few hours of your time to discuss what you’re looking for in an RPG to balance the opinion fully. At its core, New Vegas is a fantastic RPG that is now a little dated, but great nonetheless. There is stiff voice acting from René Auberjonois, Mathew Perry sounds bored with every line, and there is nothing but pure joy from Felicia Day. There are a few other famous names with varying quality. Danny Trejo, Kris Kristofferson, and Michael Dorn to name a few.

The combat is so poor I took an entire companion army to make the entire ordeal a better experience, and I have disagreements with the karma system. Despite that, Fallout: New Vegas is brilliant when it works, but you need to force that time out of yourself to find out why this entry is so great. Fan patches and mods might help, but as it stands the current state is unstable, to say the least. The crashes as well as a couple of issues I needed to fix with the command console made New Vegas a game you need to tinker with. Depending on your skill checks in the game of life, tinkering might seem like too much of a hassle.

Ultimately, I’ll admit that Fallout: New Vegas is a brilliant story-focused RPG, but it is not a particularly great game overall. Fallout 4 will continue to be my go-to release in the franchise, as it is still the most well-rounded and accessible to date. Though I think there is very little I’d change about how I played New Vegas, making a second run almost redundant. However, there may be a few alignments that could change the outcomes overall. A good or even great Fallout is New Vegas, but it takes a while to get into and sometimes understand contextually.

Phenixx Gaming is everywhere you are. Follow us on Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.

Also, if you’d like to join the Phenixx Gaming team, check out our recruitment article for details on working with us.

Phenixx Gaming is proud to be a Humble Partner! Purchases made through our affiliate links support our writers and charity!

Fallout: New Vegas - Ultimate Edition

$19.99

8

Score

8.0/10

Pros

• A world built on politics of the wasteland.
• With mods, a companion army is great fun.

Cons

• Countless crashes, a need for console comands, and more frustration.
• Dead Money.
• A need to force yourself past all those issues.
• An often desaturated tone.