One Life Left - "Fallout: New Vegas"

“You have one favor, but think it through before you ask me.”

Looking through my dialogue options, I could ask for some money, extra items or become a member of the Kings, a gang whose members all dedicate themselves to talking, acting and dressing like the original King himself, Elvis Presley. After becoming a member, I asked if I could help cure the King’s sick robot dog Rex. My offer was accepted, and I found myself on a new quest to fetch Rex a new brain. Appropriately enough, the quest was titled “Ain’t nothing but a hound dog.”

This is just one of the innumerable memorable moments New Vegas has to offer. The game puts you in the role of the Courier, someone who has been enlisted to deliver a very important package across the Mojave Wastes to New Vegas, the remains of Las Vegas after an enormous nuclear war. But you’re intercepted by a classy gambler named Benny (voiced by Matthew Perry, no less) and shot in the head. The game starts as you wake up (thanks to a cowboy robot and a kind doctor) in the nearby town of Goodsprings where you create your character and begin your journey to find out who shot you and why. Just as in Fallout 3, character customization is totally up to you, as one can choose their base traits (Strength, Intelligence, Agility etc.) and can obtain a certain amount of “skill” points every level to upgrade certain aspects of your character. Like to break into things? Focus on lockpick. Are you more of a diplomat than a fighter? Put some of those skill points towards your speech skill. (Which, by the way, is easily one of the best and most useful skills in the game) Your efficiency using different weapons is also determined by your skills — for instance, three separate skills govern the use of guns and rifles, explosives and energy weapons.

As they travel the wastes, players will come across many different factions of people (such as the previously mentioned Kings), but the two main factions are the New California Republic (NCR) and Caesars Legion. The NCR likes to annex neighboring territories while providing supplies, protection and taxes. The Legion enjoys conquering neighboring territories, enslaving the survivors of their vicious assaults. One will also get to meet Mr. House, the disembodied Andrew Ryan rip-off and the de facto ruler of the Vegas strip (who is also the would-be recipient of your package).

While the “moral” choices of the above two factions are fairly obvious, the game does offer plenty of quests that will leave some major decisions to the player, and the consequences of some will result in tangible changes in your game world.

As one receives more and more quests and meets new characters, one cannot help but lose track of time. The world of New Vegas is so engrossing and so beautiful in its ugliness the phrase “just one more quest” will never come true. New Vegas isn’t one of those games where you play it and continue on with your life. This is a game where you can discuss all the actions you’ve performed, the decisions you’ve made or just all the really cool stuff you’ve encountered along the way with other players.

Sadly, developers Obsidian Entertainment (Knights of the Old Republic II, Neverwinter Nights) show their true colors yet again with the sheer amount of bugs found within the game — for instance, characters getting stuck inside walls, dialogue options sometimes not functioning correctly, many loading screens and the occasional system crash. All these silly technical problems should have been caught before release, and they seriously diminish the experience of exploring the Mojave.

However, despite these glaring problems, I’m willing to completely overlook them. The story, characters, environments and gameplay are just that good. New Vegas gets my highest recommendation and a perfect 10/10. As the game famously says, “War, war never changes.”