Yes, another opinionated topic of how one person feels about Fallout: New Vegas.

First off, I'm going on my 5th play through now. I have got every ending and on each play through i was heavy NCR, Legion, House, or independent from the very beginning. Meaning I helped that faction (or myself) from start to end. I have tried every type of play style (not 100% true) I mean, Guns, Energy Weapons, non-combatant (very-hard play-style), and now im doing a melee/unarmed. I obviously haven't tried all the mix and match play styles such as a Pistolero, or a Trap Master who uses only explosives and stealth (maybe on my next time through, sounds fun), but I have covered the broad spectrum.

The unarmed was my favorite in F3, and I have to say that I am very impressed with how it was improved on this game. The only improvement that can be made to unarmed in the next game, would be to get a new game engine and do some animated, interactive cqc takedowns or something. Like a mix between Condemned 2 and some sort on quicktime event. (yes quicktime events. I know most people hate them, but hey its just my opinion)

Got a little side tracked talking about unarmed there. My game bugs out or glitches every time I play it. The only time it affects game play is sometimes my hotkeys will stop working for about 30 seconds or so. (on the long end, sometimes its just 3-4 seconds). Lots of insects walking on their faces, NPCs walking through the environment. And the really [censored]ay collision boundaries around the world that block my bullets when Im shooting three feet from the wall or pile of rubble. (not a bug, but it bugs the crap out of me. Semi-intended Pun)

hardcoe mode is a must. Without it, the game just feels too easy, even on very-hard. I just wish that food and sleep were needed realistically like the water.

I like how there are consequences. Do something stupid and you could fail a mission you didn't know about. Be good in the right skill, and skip 3/4ths of another mission. I love it.

I think the survival skill should have been built upon more, same with the crafting. But for their first entry, I can live with 'em.

Overall I like the atmosphere, weapons and tweaks from F3, so I guess im on the 'This is how F3 should have been' wagon, but its true. Its a good game that should have been polished more, and made on a new improved game engine, but its a good buy. I would rather have a slightly buggy game now, then have had to wait another three months in delays while they did more QA. Besides, a patch that should be out anytime.

Good game, good buy. If I had to rate it I would give it an 8.5/10. It is buggy, for me at least. New weapons, new and altered skills, hardcoe mode, iron sights, crafting. Thats pretty much all the new things this game has over its predecessor as far as gameplay aspects are concerned. And aside from the skill changes, which i think were appropriate, these things should have been in F3. F:NV doesn't really push the envelope or bring anything new. For these things I have marked it down in my personal rating.

Well, that's my two cents worth. Good game. Glad I bought it. Desert Rangers kick-ass.

It doesn't push the envelope, but it does bring back a lot of what made Fallout 1 and 2 great. And for that, I'd mark it up.

I agree with you for the most part, though. New Vegas really is a step in the right direction, and I can only hope the Fallout series will never take a step backward again.

I was thinking of making a post similar to yours - thanks for taking the time to do it better than I could have.

I agree almost completely with your points in favor of the game. You didn't say too much about the overall quality of the questlines, so I wanted to add my own .02 about that.

I am a longtime player of Bethesda's RPG's. I never played FO1 or FO2, so I can't compare FO:NV to them, but I have to say that I'm blown away by the quests in this game compared to Morrowind, Oblivion and FO3. I've probably spent several thousand hours playing those three games over the last 8 years or so, and while I enjoyed (and continue to enjoy) all three immensely, I was always somewhat dissatisfied with the richness (or lack thereof) of the quests. That all changed with my first playthrough of FO:NV. Until now, I had about concluded that there must be some technical hurdle with the engine or scripting technologies in use with these games that prevented really satisfying, multi-optioned, richly fleshed-out questlines that could really respond to the character's karma and the choices the player makes as the character progresses, but FO:NV has proved that it was not a technical limitation but a creative one. FO:NV has become a new standard by which I will judge future products from Bethesda and its partners. I hope they are listening and paying attention - I felt real emotion as I approached the end of play for my first FO:NV character - this is something that a really great book or engrossing movie can evoke, but it's the first time a computer game has really done that for me.

My hat is off to the people who conceived, scripted, voiced and otherwise managed to create such a compelling gaming experience. I hope they can continue at this very high level in their future endeavors.

I'm level 16 and on Very Easy I am turned to sticky paste in 10 seconds if I wander away from the main roads. You'll find descriptions of my woes elsewhere but it goes to show the range of experience with the same game, don't it?..