It's alright so far. I love hardcoe mode.
But this game is still not Fallout.. seriously.. i'm almost getting bored now, have to do lots of boring quest and still get nothing and the voice acting svck so bad made the game even more boring.
This is another Fallout 3, not Fallout. I think if they can't make a actual new fallout game, they should have just remake fallout 1-2.
Seriously, Fallout 1-2 never bored me this much even it's alot of text reading there, im not a fan of reading though but this game get me through it.
Are you kidding me? The writing is great and every NPC's character shines through, even one's with brief conversations you meet at random become pretty fleshed out in their motivations. And the voice acting is incredible. Ten times better than FO3. Not once have a run into dull voices like you would find in FO3.
This is the example -_-
This game is another Bethesda crap for me, greatly dissapointed

for ppl who enjoy FO3 will love this game.
Spoiler There's one quest about the guy saying his wife is trapped by a freaking geckoes and he need serious help but his voice doesnt sound like he need it that much, almost like he dont really care about his wife.
Image below showing that my character is a politely gentle man from the year 1920 sort of.
http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/3314/screenshot0z.jpg
Seriously.. the writting team is the same team who works on Fallout 3? what is this boring crap?
First off, one of the best damn RPG writers in the industry wrote New Vegas, not the Bethesda team from FO3, and it shows. Regarding your comment in the spoiler tags:
Spoiler Second, there is a great reason the guy asking for help with his wife sounds the way he does: He doesn't have a wife. He is tricking you into killing geckos so he can collect treasure without having to deal with them, and you are his svcker.
Personal thoughts:
1) New Vegas is frigging HARD. I'm playing on Normal, with hardcoe Mode on, and I have been owned by enemies multiple times, and I am a vet at FO3 and use careful tactics. I actually swallow now as I sneak, hoping enemies won't see me. Threats are realistic now. I scream like a little girl when a (singular, one, uno) super mutant charges down on me. Even as I desperately shoot at an enemy, I often wonder, "Can I really afford to use this much ammo? I only have X amount left, and the rest of the enemies in this area are resistant to the rest of my other ammo types."
2)Crippled limbs mean something now. You are really slowed down by a crippled leg. A crippled arm causes your aim to dip and swerve at the worst times. A crippled torso causes you to stagger backwards with each hit you receive, unable to fire again until you have recovered your stance. A crippled head randomly makes the screen blur in and out, sounds become distorted, and occassionally the screen fills with white as you go temporarily blind. Couple that with needing Doctor's Bags or an actual doctor to heal those injuries on hardcoe Mode, and one of your chief concerns becomes avoiding traps and injuries in combat. (Which is hard to do!)
3)hardcoe Mode doesn't really make things much more difficult besides needing to use doctor's to heal crippled limbs. The depletion rate of the meters fills just right, and hasn't become a hassle once in the seven hours I've played so far. Though it looks like you'll never run the risk of dying of starvation or thirst without being extremely stupid and careless, it adds a nice flavor to the game, and makes a reward of a bottle of water meaningful in more ways than just roleplaying.
4)I still haven't reached New Vegas and I've been trying for the past 2 hours! My character is currently in full retreat mode with a crippled leg, torso, arm, and head, crying loud sloppy tears as she stumbles backwards towards her last safe haven, shooting her scarce "extra punch" ammo at a pack of viscous dogs chasing her. For those curious, I am 7th level (or about 1 level an hour so far), and those dogs surrounded and killed me while I was at full health in less than 3 seconds on a previous save.
I'm loving it!
(PC version by the way if anyone cares.)