Basic premise/Story

From developer studio, Obsidian Entertainment and directed by Josh Sawyer. Fallout: New Vegas is the newest entry to the Fallout franchise. After Fallout 3. Here you play as a courier who has been ambushed and left for dead. With your package stolen to boot! Now he/she must embark on a peaceful, bloodshed, or a mixed path to find their killer and recover their package.

Unique Gameplay

The addition of iron sights on most weapons is a welcome change as is the change from skill checks no longer being chance-based. There is a greater emphasis on skills here on whether or not they will help or impede progress through dialogue choices from individuals you come across in the Mojave desert. I honestly like this feature. For example, I faced an angry enemy and was able to pacify them numerous times due to my high speech skill. Likewise, other options in the dialogue are available, not relative to speech. Like: Explosives, guns, medicine, science, and more. All of these checks and more allow greater freedom to handle circumstances that could prevent a total disaster from occurring.

The game oozes passion at every turn. Particularly the sidequests of which players can accomplish in a variety of ways and can lead to different outcomes based on what decisions you had initiated previously or conducted a new strategy instead of killing the target. For example, one quest had me infiltrate a facility. I could go in guns blazing and trip over all the alarms. Or I could wait until midnight and sneak in the building, while not tripping over any alarms. In and out with no fuss or muss. There are more options available to the player, in case they have the alarm triggered. And initiating dialogue with whatever important NPC is available to ‘convince’ them to follow your orders or give you the item needed.

With so many different avenues to take during either main quests/side quests, I went on a rabbit hole to see what situations and conversations were unique in alternate timelines by using the save/load system to my leisure. I cannot emphasize enough how much freedom is given to the player to approach many unique situations/circumstances they encounter in the game.

Heck, there is even a reputation system in place! Where you can see which factions like/dislike you to a small or great degree. And depending on the actions you take in one faction you may become vilified or even hated in one faction! Likewise, going out of your way to make you likable in a faction pays dividends by offering several benefits. Discounts, gifts, and easier time with quests to complete. The inverse has you become hunted by the faction and the impossibility of completing their faction quests. One feature I found fascinating since I was playing a goody-two-shoes player character is how I can still accept quests from an enemy faction as long as my reputation isn’t outright hated/vilified.

I was not disappointed.

The game flourished by displaying several instances where the main quest was altered because of my decision which led me to see every single main ending from the game. I usually don’t care about alternate endings, but seeing just how the final set of main quests differed from minor to great allowed me to see just how broad and complex Obsidian developed the game. To the point where my endings included various achievements from outcomes in quests, I finished for every faction available. And these faction quests differed in each ending as well. The result is an incredible undertaking, which exemplifies how rich and interconnected the dialogue/writing/worldbuilding the game unabashedly demonstrates time and time again.

It is here I feel the main meat and one of the biggest strengths of Fallout: New Vegas comes to the foreground. Sure I could roam the Mojave and eliminate every big bad enemy that comes my way. But exploring and talking to individuals allied or not, granted me a bigger picture of what exactly is going on in the world where the Courier walks. There are despicable people as there are honest and good people out there and a mix of the two in different spectrums depending on how you view them. Thankfully, the open world isn’t littered with countless NPC’s to talk to. And there is a good chunk where NPC’s are just filler to bring the illusion of a populated world. Yet, I feel there is a good balance of relevant and important NPC’s from sidequest to faction related and even main quest ones. Heck, companions have something to say too!

There is a good chunk of companions you can have with you as you journey through the wasteland. And each one has something to say as you travel alongside them. I didn’t complete all of their companion questlines, but a good chunk of them do have one available to the player. Although, it can be difficult to activate. Some have weird requirements and others not so much. I kinda wish companion side quests had less of a requirement to activate, so you don’t have to go out of your way. Although to be fair it's just two companions in general. Didn’t check the rest in the Wikia. Still minor criticism aside. I enjoyed my time with each of them to a very satisfying degree.

Final thoughts/Ruminations

I probably had over 5-10+ crashes throughout my playthrough. And despite the fact, I’m close to 200 hours with the game. Only 63+ hours were from my playthrough. The rest were incomplete playthroughs due to me dabbling in the modding side a bunch. Full-disclosure here. For this playthrough, I used very very very light mods. Primarily fixing bugs/patches and adding quality of life features like Fallout 4’s inventory system(quickly adding items from containers/people to your inventory instead of opening a whole page) is just one example. And left the main gameplay largely intact, except for fixing it for any bugs and quality of life features.

The gameplay is solid. And I don’t have any complaints regarding the gunplay/reputation system/crafting/ itself. Aside from what I mentioned above regarding companions, I still believe the world felt alive a great number of times and can be relevant to the side quest/main quest in a small or large number. I did greatly enjoy my time with the downloadable expansions. Completing all four of them. And to my absolute delight and pleasure, the expansions expanded and provided context on the already established lore and worldbuilding from the base game. It is rich with content not just in new weapons/items/armor and more, but new enemies to face, new sidequests to tackle, and multiple avenues to accomplish from different angles. And new conversations to partake in. The graphics can be a bit dry at times, with the sandy color aesthetic. But it didn’t negatively bother me too much. If anything the setting and environments had enough unique areas and locales to differentiate themselves.


The game is rich with stuff to find, explore, kill, converse, and more. Where the path of the courier is ultimately decided by you. You have a colossal amount of freedom at your disposal to shape the Mojave Wasteland at your whim. To bend your back and help the various factions who need help. Go on a bloodthirsty path killing everyone in sight. Or perhaps play by your own rules. Fallout: New Vegas is an incredible achievement from Obsidian Entertainment and I am extremely satisfied to a great degree with just how far and deep the game offers to the player. I can finally see why fans regard this entry with so much love. And it fully deserves every ounce of praise. If you haven’t played Fallout: New Vegas. Add it to the backlog with high priority status.

Total Times Beaten: 1
Score: 9.75/10
Date Finished: 1/26/22
Date Edited: 4+ paragraphs cut to fit the character limit
Hours Played: 63+ hours. The rest of the hours were incomplete playthroughs

[h1]A Bullet to the Head is a New Beginning [/h1] Basic premise/Story From developer studio, Obsidian Entertainment and directed by Josh Sawyer. Fallout: New Vegas is the newest entry to the Fallout franchise. After Fallout 3. Here you play as a courier who has been ambushed and left for dead. With your package stolen to boot! Now he/she must embark on a peaceful, bloodshed, or a mixed path to find their killer and recover their package. [h1]Nothing but Guns. New Vegas. And a Wasteland of Honest and Despicable individuals. [/h1] Unique Gameplay The addition of iron sights on most weapons is a welcome change as is the change from skill checks no longer being chance-based. There is a greater emphasis on skills here on whether or not they will help or impede progress through dialogue choices from individuals you come across in the Mojave desert. I honestly like this feature. For example, I faced an angry enemy and was able to pacify them numerous times due to my high speech skill. Likewise, other options in the dialogue are available, not relative to speech. Like: Explosives, guns, medicine, science, and more. All of these checks and more allow greater freedom to handle circumstances that could prevent a total disaster from occurring. The game oozes passion at every turn. Particularly the sidequests of which players can accomplish in a variety of ways and can lead to different outcomes based on what decisions you had initiated previously or conducted a new strategy instead of killing the target. For example, one quest had me infiltrate a facility. I could go in guns blazing and trip over all the alarms. Or I could wait until midnight and sneak in the building, while not tripping over any alarms. In and out with no fuss or muss. There are more options available to the player, in case they have the alarm triggered. And initiating dialogue with whatever important NPC is available to ‘convince’ them to follow your orders or give you the item needed. With so many different avenues to take during either main quests/side quests, I went on a rabbit hole to see what situations and conversations were unique in alternate timelines by using the save/load system to my leisure. I cannot emphasize enough how much freedom is given to the player to approach many unique situations/circumstances they encounter in the game. Heck, there is even a reputation system in place! Where you can see which factions like/dislike you to a small or great degree. And depending on the actions you take in one faction you may become vilified or even hated in one faction! Likewise, going out of your way to make you likable in a faction pays dividends by offering several benefits. Discounts, gifts, and easier time with quests to complete. The inverse has you become hunted by the faction and the impossibility of completing their faction quests. One feature I found fascinating since I was playing a goody-two-shoes player character is how I can still accept quests from an enemy faction as long as my reputation isn’t outright hated/vilified. I was not disappointed. The game flourished by displaying several instances where the main quest was altered because of my decision which led me to see every single main ending from the game. I usually don’t care about alternate endings, but seeing just how the final set of main quests differed from minor to great allowed me to see just how broad and complex Obsidian developed the game. To the point where my endings included various achievements from outcomes in quests, I finished for every faction available. And these faction quests differed in each ending as well. The result is an incredible undertaking, which exemplifies how rich and interconnected the dialogue/writing/worldbuilding the game unabashedly demonstrates time and time again. It is here I feel the main meat and one of the biggest strengths of Fallout: New Vegas comes to the foreground. Sure I could roam the Mojave and eliminate every big bad enemy that comes my way. But exploring and talking to individuals allied or not, granted me a bigger picture of what exactly is going on in the world where the Courier walks. There are despicable people as there are honest and good people out there and a mix of the two in different spectrums depending on how you view them. Thankfully, the open world isn’t littered with countless NPC’s to talk to. And there is a good chunk where NPC’s are just filler to bring the illusion of a populated world. Yet, I feel there is a good balance of relevant and important NPC’s from sidequest to faction related and even main quest ones. Heck, companions have something to say too! There is a good chunk of companions you can have with you as you journey through the wasteland. And each one has something to say as you travel alongside them. I didn’t complete all of their companion questlines, but a good chunk of them do have one available to the player. Although, it can be difficult to activate. Some have weird requirements and others not so much. I kinda wish companion side quests had less of a requirement to activate, so you don’t have to go out of your way. Although to be fair it's just two companions in general. Didn’t check the rest in the Wikia. Still minor criticism aside. I enjoyed my time with each of them to a very satisfying degree. [h1]A Courier’s Job [/h1] Final thoughts/Ruminations I probably had over 5-10+ crashes throughout my playthrough. And despite the fact, I’m close to 200 hours with the game. Only 63+ hours were from my playthrough. The rest were incomplete playthroughs due to me dabbling in the modding side a bunch. Full-disclosure here. For this playthrough, I used very very very light mods. Primarily fixing bugs/patches and adding quality of life features like Fallout 4’s inventory system(quickly adding items from containers/people to your inventory instead of opening a whole page) is just one example. And left the main gameplay largely intact, except for fixing it for any bugs and quality of life features. The gameplay is solid. And I don’t have any complaints regarding the gunplay/reputation system/crafting/ itself. Aside from what I mentioned above regarding companions, I still believe the world felt alive a great number of times and can be relevant to the side quest/main quest in a small or large number. I did greatly enjoy my time with the downloadable expansions. Completing all four of them. And to my absolute delight and pleasure, the expansions expanded and provided context on the already established lore and worldbuilding from the base game. It is rich with content not just in new weapons/items/armor and more, but new enemies to face, new sidequests to tackle, and multiple avenues to accomplish from different angles. And new conversations to partake in. The graphics can be a bit dry at times, with the sandy color aesthetic. But it didn’t negatively bother me too much. If anything the setting and environments had enough unique areas and locales to differentiate themselves. [i] The game is rich with stuff to find, explore, kill, converse, and more. Where the path of the courier is ultimately decided by you. You have a colossal amount of freedom at your disposal to shape the Mojave Wasteland at your whim. To bend your back and help the various factions who need help. Go on a bloodthirsty path killing everyone in sight. Or perhaps play by your own rules. Fallout: New Vegas is an incredible achievement from Obsidian Entertainment and I am extremely satisfied to a great degree with just how far and deep the game offers to the player. I can finally see why fans regard this entry with so much love. And it fully deserves every ounce of praise. If you haven’t played Fallout: New Vegas. Add it to the backlog with high priority status. [/i] Total Times Beaten: 1 Score: 9.75/10 Date Finished: 1/26/22 Date Edited: 4+ paragraphs cut to fit the character limit Hours Played: 63+ hours. The rest of the hours were incomplete playthroughs