Fallout: New Vegas Reviews Roundup #4

[jero cvmi]

Only two CTDs in a full four or five hours of gametime though.

"Only"? Isn't it too often? I don't play modern games much, and i can't tell if the standards for these things have dropped, but the only game i've ever had crashing every 2 hours (with remarkable punctuality, too) was fallout 3, and i found it a tad too much. Is this considered normal for a game before patching?

I hope there's a patch out already by the time i play my copy.

 

[C2B]

RPS Review

Worst one yet

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2010/10/21/wot-i-think-fallout-new-vegas/#more-42293

In my whole time with New Vegas, I found nothing as architecturally entertaining as Megaton, and nothing as eerie or inventive as Little Lamplight. Hiking long distances felt like a chore.

I didn’t particularly like the writing in Fallout 3 either, the characters in that game were often interesting or disturbed enough that you were curious about what they had to say.

With an unforgivably small number of exceptions (and one character who does actually approach the cast of Bloodlines in his likeability), the characters in New Vegas are all tedious constructs, voiced by people who sound like they’re boring in real life, wandering around in the Oblivion engine, which as we all know is about as charismatic as a slow-motion seizure.

 

[Makagulfazel]

The comments are awesome, though. My faith in the overall gaming community is slowly being restored by these comments from individuals that are saying they think this is an "improved" version of Fallout 3.
The bugs/crashes are hurting, though. I know F3 crashed like crazy for me(PC), but I don't remember hearing about the consoles having frequent crashes. It sucks, but it'd be impractical to place all the blame on Bethesda for this one. I haven't felt quite the dismay I did when discovering only the truck half of my car floating in the air, though.

 

[TwinkieGorilla]

In my whole time with New Vegas, I found nothing as architecturally entertaining as Megaton, and nothing as eerie or inventive as Little Lamplight. Hiking long distances felt like a chore.

Fucking LOL!! Is this a troll disguised as a review? God natural selection works so painfully slow.

EDIT: I threw in my two cents.

 

[Tagaziel]

Fucking LOL!! Is this a troll disguised as a review? God natural selection works so painfully slow.

We killed and buried natural selection with medical care.

 

[C2B]

It sucks, but it'd be impractical to place all the blame on Bethesda for this one.

Well, there are several scripting issues and they are 100% Obsidians fault.

Everything crashing is always a longshot to point fingers since you have to know the cause to determine whos at fault.

 

[Hassknecht]

I just love that RPS review.

There is just nothing interesting about them, except for the fact that they all pronounce Caesar “Kai-zar”, a mystery I never got to the bottom of.

Awesome.

 

[Makagulfazel]

Lol.
Some people.. This guy must think Transformers 2 is virtual porn. "OMG, the fifth balls joke in 1.5 hours?! BWHAHAHAHAYUHAHAHAFSUJEA!"

 

[The Dutch Ghost]

Fucking LOL!! Is this a troll disguised as a review? God natural selection works so painfully slow.

We killed and buried natural selection with medical care.

Yes now every retard can breed.
Idiocracy is not just a comedy, this is how the future will be like.

 

[Briosafreak]

I just love that RPS review.

There is just nothing interesting about them, except for the fact that they all pronounce Caesar “Kai-zar”, a mystery I never got to the bottom of.

Awesome.

This was explained in the first five minutes of the game, geez...

 

[Brother None]

Worst one yet

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2010/10/21/wot-i-think-fallout-new-vegas/#more-42293

Not a particularly solid review but from what I've played from the game he has some points. It's overly obsessed with military organisations making NCR and Caesar's Legion really, painfully uninteresting to those of us who are not (that and the guns make me think JE Sawyer let his personal interests take over way too much, to the game's detriment), there's way too much walking and the quest design isn't particularly interesting.

It also is more questionable for Fallout 3 fans than one would originally imagine since while it does employ the same system, it doesn't employ the same structure. This is so painfully obvious I can not believe how many reviewers missed it, even considering it's all Day-1 lullapalooza.

I ain't all the way with RPS so far and still assume the game will pick up sooner or later (been taking my time so still haven't gotten to the Strip at 12 hours in, currently hunting up and down some mountain caves for a killer, where the fuck is he?!). But I already do feel it's time to put the whole "this is the Fallout 3 we were waiting for" rah-rah to rest. Maybe it'll genius up, in a while, but so far I'm playing a game that doesn't even have that much on Fallout 3 (mostly due to its density of tepid quests), let alone a capability to come close to Fallout 1/2.

 

[Lexx]

He definitive has some points, but beside this, I really like the game so far. I cannot say that I really have this old, deep "Fallout feeling", but this might as well be, because I connect "Fallout" with the original games.

So far, it's a fine game for me and yeah... if that's the way Fallout has to go, Fallout 3 should have been like New Vegas.

 

[Anarchosyn]

But I already do feel it's time to put the whole "this is the Fallout 3 we were waiting for" rah-rah to rest. Maybe it'll genius up, in a while, but so far I'm playing a game that doesn't even have that much on Fallout 3 (mostly due to its density of tepid quests), let alone a capability to come close to Fallout 1/2.

I'd be interested in reading your thoughts at greater length, especially regarding the overarching structural and quest differences with Fallout 3. Your commentary that it "doesn't even have that much on Fallout 3" seems at odds with many other commentaries I've read (on these very forums no less) and I'm still on the fence as to whether I should purchase this (or just pick up a good book).

I played Fallout 3 and even enjoyed it for a short spell but, more due to the time I had spent in Morrowind and Oblivion over the past decade, the Bethesda tropes just began to rub me raw. 'Course, it blew as a Fallout game but I was one of those that compartmentalized that away and merely called it "Wasteland Survival Scrolls 3."

Anyhoo, I never finished it. I hit the level cap before getting to the end and said "screw this" after being mentally assaulted by that horribly linear Point Lookout shooter DLC they released. Their character models, hollow and listless worlds (plus bad writing and shallow dialog/RPG options) started to make me physically nauseous.

I take it his game isn't for me, yeah? If it "feels" like Fallout 3 then I'm out.. I've been under the impression it didn't, however.

 

[Brother None]

I'd be interested in reading your thoughts at greater length

I don't have much to add since I don't want to overstep myself before I play more of the game.

The writing is generally better than Fallout 3. That should be no surprise. It is not, however, extraordinarily good. A lot of characters lack a certain depth in personal motivations while tending to rant on about stuff I have no reason to care about. That said, the quest "writing" is generally better than Fallout 3: less plotholes, the quests make more sense, and they tend to be tighter in focus. They still have some faceslap moments though. People often tend to focus on this part of quests and if you do, then yes, Vegas is better.

I should note here New Vegas has a lot more quests than Fallout 3, mostly because whereas Fallout 3 would only mark major quests (ones you could get achievements for), New Vegas will log almost all minor ones (except a few, for no clear reason when it does not questlog them).

Design-wise it is more hit and miss. I haven't seen any quest with quite the same depth of structure as the Replicated Man or even Tenpenny Towers in Fallout 3. The quests, from what I've seen, tend be smaller, tighter and more binary yes/no. At the same time, they do seem to offer less hand-holding, which is pretty good. The overarching storyline looks to be more branching and interesting once you get past the overly linear first 10 hours.

There's a certain tedium to quite a lot of quests. "Go there and kill the ants." "Here's a message, go deliver it." The worst quest I bumped into so far is one where I have to deliver a bunch of radio codes. It is tedious and nonsensically written. And I get the feeling once I'm done I'll just get a "hey thanks buddy". Effort put forth in a mission doesn't seem to be related to the reward.

And then there's all that walking. I think Obsidian tried recreating the feeling of scale Fallout 1/2 had and Fallout 3 lacked. But they forgot that this lack of scale is just inherent of a first-person game. If you make really huge towns in first-person, they just get really boring, because they a) are empty and b) take ages to walk across. New Vegas and its outlying regions really, *really* don't work.

Hell, actually, I really don't like the town of New Vegas. New Reno was terrible but at least it had personality. This...I don't know guys.

Apropos, I'm ranting.

 

[Anarchosyn]

Well, I don't like the real Vegas so I never entertained the notion a digital replication dripping 1950s retro charm (another point in space/time I dislike) would be particularly endearing.

Still, I like Obsidian and I love Fallout (the originals). My only fear is that the world will feel too similar to Fallout 3 and the writing won't save it. I guess fear #2 is that the "ghost town" vibe which haunts these Bethesda styled games will work to ruin any sense of immersion I would otherwise have.

Oh well, thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts.

 

[lmao]

I don't feel like the game feels ANYTHING like Fallout 3. The gameplay mechanics are the same. It uses the same engine. That is all. The games are like identical twins with radically different personalities. Of course, if you hated the mechanics of Fallout 3 (and I don't blame you), you probably still won't enjoy New Vegas. And I'm not saying it's the best game ever, either. I give it a B+, personally. Just don't let the memory of Fallout 3 dissuade you from trying it, because in tone and content, it stands on its own.

 

[Ausdoerrt]

The worst quest I bumped into so far is one where I have to deliver a bunch of radio codes.

It's not the most fun quest, but to their credit the radio stations are mostly located next to other major locations or other quest locations. It's one of those quests that you'd do on your way to taking care of something else. That, and it encourages some exploration.

 

[Innawerkz]

Design-wise it is more hit and miss. I haven't seen any quest with quite the same depth of structure as the Replicated Man or even Tenpenny Towers in Fallout 3. The quests, from what I've seen, tend be smaller, tighter and more binary yes/no. At the same time, they do seem to offer less hand-holding, which is pretty good. The overarching storyline looks to be more branching and interesting once you get past the overly linear first 10 hours.
There's a certain tedium to quite a lot of quests. "Go there and kill the ants." "Here's a message, go deliver it."

You are (much) further along than I am so I am simply offering something to consider. Is it not fair to look back at FO1 and see that the first few hours are similarly linear? I can't think of many people in their first run who wouldn't have 'Kill Rats - Go to Shady Sands - Kill Radscorpions - Go to Vault 15 - Kill More Rats"

It's only at this point where the branches start. Do I go to the Khans or straight to Junktown? Even then, the decision is superficial since the Khans are so much closer and more or less along the way to Junktown. Even most meta-gamers would stop at the Khans first simply to gain the loot & XP granted. It's the illusion of choice.

Perhaps the drag of that 10 hours is that instead of a dot moving on a map towards a circle, you actually have to walk there? Just throwing it out there.

 

[Brother None]

Is it not fair to look back at FO1 and see that the first few hours are similarly linear?

No. As in: it's fair to say that about Fallout 1, but it doesn't really excuse New Vegas.

24 hours in my impressions are becoming more positive. The writing really shines at times, most quests are tedious but a portion is pretty great, and man this game opens up wide when it opens up.

Perhaps the drag of that 10 hours is that instead of a dot moving on a map towards a circle, you actually have to walk there?

That's a pretty big difference, though. In fact, the more I play of this game the more I can't help but feel it was designed on the wrong engine. That's both a fault of the engine (which kinda blows) and the designer (who shouldn't try to crowbar something onto the engine that just doesn't work). In fact, this disjoint might explain most of the things I don't like about this game so far (setting aside, because setting-wise I really don't like this game as a Fallout, no more than Fallout 3, though it has more internal consistency). Something I'll chew on and write up in my review.

 

[Arden]

BN are you going to do a review later on? My French is too rusted for the canard-review and most of the other stuff gives me the creeps and braincancer.

Oh well, I will probably buy it anyway once they patched the fuck out of it so I can stop wondering. I spent money on sillier things in the past (FO3 for example). I just hope Obsidian will get a share and I don’t really like funding the retardiation-project.