I bought the collector’s edition, because I like those. Sometimes you get the cool stuff which you’ll probably see on amazon or ebay in a few months for stupid amounts of money. It’s also nice to feel like you have a piece of the game, especially if it’s a game from a franchise or company you like.
In short: this is a very frustratingly awesome game to play. I like the oxymoron. I’m at a stage now when I just want the game to end. I’m doing the story missions, but with each mission, there’s a couple more waiting for you. Each mission seems to take forever to complete if you’re taking the “good” route. I’m currently “sorting out” the Brotherhood of Steel for the NCR, and instead of going in with all guns blazing, I’m taking the time to sit down and listen to what they have to say for themselves. Now they want me to do a million and one different things for them. I feel like I signed up to do the recycling and got put in charge of doing the trash as well. There’s always a damn catch – the elder wants to read a book, but his light bulb blew up, so you have to travel to the other side of the wasteland, into one hell of a confusing tunnel full of baddies to find a new light bulb. I don’t mind doing the missions, but I know that the next mission will be the same.
I don’t expect a flawless video game to come out, but I at least expect a game to have been tested and corrected enough before retail to make it playable and loved before the hate comes spilling out. I do expect glitches and bugs, but not to the extent this video game demonstrates. Some people have found this game virtually unplayable with its constant sticking – honestly, I found that the game ran fine with me until the save game increased its size by over 5000MB. Now it sticks and freezes a lot more than before. A patch came out shortly after release without many details on what it was supposed to be fixing... for me, it just caused problems – my game ran fine before I downloaded it.
Going further on that matter, this game made me believe that my console was going through the early stages of YLOD by restarting my PS3... multiple times within about ten minutes. What the fuck is all that about? It happened three times to be fair, just as I was following Red Lucy into her room for sex, so it was definitely the game messing up on me. Or maybe my console is just homophobic. The later I highly doubt though. Highly.
According to my save data, I’ve played for about eighty hours. That’s because it is a fun game, and I can’t put my controller down. So I’ve found one hell of a load of bugs and problems, and the most frustrating thing for me is being unable to complete side quests I’ve found. There’s one which is given to you by a ranger lady who is on lookout to the southwest by the giant statues of the two people, who asks you to investigate smoke coming from Nipton. Firstly, the Legionaries were unresponsive, and the leader came up to talk to me, said nothing, and walked away. Charming. You can apparently ask a guy called Boxcars in the general store about what happened, but he only gives me a “Goodbye” option when in conversation. I’ve done everything to try and trigger another journal entry for that mission and to no avail.
There’s another mission called “Wheel of Fortune” in which you need to speak with Boxcars again. I thought it’d trigger some more dialogue options with him, but I was mistaken – still just a “Goodbye” option. What gives?! I’ve never even spoken to this NPC before, and I’m getting the silent treatment!
I’ve done uber amounts of exploration in this game too and I’ve found what appears to be pointless and shabby cover-ups in regards to items, textures and scenery. Again, the floating rocks from Fallout 3 have returned. I’ve found a plane of rock texture come away from another rock texture... there was no need for the additional plane. When running away from the Red Rock Drug Lab, the canyon wall ahead changes shape and colour. In some places, graffiti seems to come away from the wall. In trying to find a shortcut over a rock, I managed to jump over an invisible barrier, and trapped myself on top of a rocky hill. I got stuck in a window when trying to chase a fleeing fiend, who was obviously a lot skinnier than me and managed to get through it.
I’ve heard a voice actor cough and come out of character once in a conversation, and the subtitles don’t always read as what the NPC says.
I remember Fallout 3 having glitches and bugs, but this is that twice and a half over. It’s a damn shame because it’s a good game.
Now moving on to the better points...
Post-apocalyptic Vegas? The idea is brilliant, and I’m really liking the story about hunting down the person who shot you at Goodsprings. The story kind of goes out the window when you get sucked into the missions after you’ve dealt with your suited friend, and becomes less interesting. Well, that’s not really my place to say because I’ve not finished the story, but based on my impressions so far, that sums it up.
I’m really enjoying exploring, and I’ve discovered pretty much all the locations and looted everywhere. My ammo is well stocked due to me sticking with the unarmed and melee weapons early on. That’s not to say I’ve not experimented with all the weapons I’ve come across so far – the 9mm was by far the single most used weapon I had until I got to the Helios plant. Or there about. The Fire Axe has become my best friend, and I’ve not had to repair it once.
Weapon and ammo modifications are a nice touch, despite me not really using them much. I’ve found that there’s always a weapon for any situation, and mods don’t improve or worsen that. Some mods are useful, say to increase the rate of fire or damage a weapon can do, but I didn’t even bother with those. Maybe I just need to adjust to it. I’m not too good with playing around with my ammo – I’m a pick one and stick to it kind of girl. That’s not to say neither are helpful, I just don’t see the need. Maybe it’ll help me with those blasted Deathclaws though...
Factions are interesting. Each group has their own little story, but I feel like I can only explore that feature so much before I’m forced to pick a side. I was originally planning on being on Mr House’s side, but he turned out to be an asshole. I then get a message that the NCR and Yes Man will hate me if I keep helping Mr House! It was expected, but I at least thought I could take it a little further with each before I had to make a choice. Mr House was keeping too much from me, Yes Man is too helpful and is on Benny’s side, the NCR want to control everything to give it some order, and the Legion are just horrible. If anything, I hate every faction – I want to destroy them all, and take over Vegas and the Dam on my own. Something tells me you don’t get that option though.
The new enemies are a lot of fun. Is it just me, or are Geckos really hilarious? One comes running up to me, and instead of pissing my pants in fear, I’m pissing in them from laughter! It’s the way they run, with their mouths open in what looks like a grin, and when they dive at you? That’s exactly how my dog greets me if he hasn’t seen me all day.
I like how the super mutants/nightkin have been worked on. Yeah, they look even more like a plastic model, but at least they look better. Jacobstown was interesting for me, and not just because of “granny”. I just wasn’t expecting a civilised community of super mutants.
All in all, it is a good game if you can get past the bugs and the glitches.
Gameplay: 7/10. That’s me being generous. There’s a lot of bugs this game can do without, but overall it’s not bad. New Vegas brought along some excellent new features, which would have done well in Fallout 3.
Story: 7/10. This is just so far for me. It’s a drag full of catches.
Play Time: 9/10. There’s a lot to do. I’m at eighty hours, and nowhere near completing the story just yet. Loads places, loads of loot, side quests, and hidden gems to discover along the way.
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