http://www.giantbomb.com
Fallout: New Vegas
The post-apocalyptic Fallout universe expands into Nevada in this new title in the franchise. As a courier once left for dead by a mysterious man in a striped suit, the player must now set out to find his assailant and uncover the secrets of the enigmatic ruler of New Vegas.
Overview
Fallout: New Vegas takes place in and near its titular city, three years after the events of Fallout 3. You play as a wasteland courier who, at the beginning of the game, is shot in the head by an unknown assailant and buried in a shallow grave while attempting to travel to the town of Primm. The courier is then found by Victor the Securitron, a robot who happen to see the murder attempt from afar, and dug the courier out of the potential shallow grave once the assailants left the crime scene. Victor then brings the courier to the small near by Nevada town of Goodsprings, more specifically to the home of Doc Mitchell, the towns resident doctor. Once you are back at the town he removes the bullet pieces that were scattered in your skull. After the bullet fragments are removed and your wound is cleaned and healed, Mitchell asks you your name, after you tell him he holds a mirror in front of you and asks if he "left anything out of place" (This is where you create and customize the look of the courier).
Soon after Mitchell walks you to the Vit-O-Matic Vigor-Tester. After that he then asks you some word association questions. Once those are answered he shows you some Rorschach images and asks you to tell him the first thing that comes to your mind. After all of his tests are finished, he gives the player a couple items and a Pip-Boy 3000 and sets you on your way. Your objective in the game is centered around finding out the identity of the assailant and why the package you were carrying was so important. Siding with either one of the two major factions, Caesar's Legion and the New California Republic, and settling their constant conflicts plays a crucial role in the story of Fallout: New Vegas.
Game play
Fallout: New Vegas plays identically toFallout 3 with some added improvements, including the following: customizable weapon attachments, such as extended clips and sights (all of which are reflected by the in game weapon model), specialty ammo, special attacks in VATS mode for all weapons (for example the "fore" attack with the 9 iron, which is an upward swing at the target) and more dialogue options based on the players stats: explosives, bartering etc. A good example of this is when you're in Goodsprings you can use your explosives skill to convince Easy Pete to relinquish his dynamite stash to you. You can now aim using iron sights instead of just zooming the camera in. The third person view has been improved and the developer acknowledges that people wanted to play it as more of a shooter instead of relying on V.A.T.S. so the shooting mechanics have been improved to accommodate for this. In Fallout 3, the level cap was level 20, then raised to 30 once the Broken Steel downloadable content was released. In Fallout: New Vegas the level cap is 30 right from the start. Perks are now earned every 2 levels instead of every level in Fallout 3 and every third level in Fallout 2.
The character customization options are virtually the same as Fallout 3's. After Doc Mitchell brings you back from the desert and fixes you up he will ask you your name and then give you the Reflection. The Reflection is a mirror that will allow you to choose your race, facial options, and your age. After your character is to your liking Mitchell will escort you to the Vit-O-Matic Vigor-Tester, which will allow you to assign your S.P.E.C.I.A.L character points. The game also introduces the companion wheel where you can give various commands to each of your companions such as how far they should be following you and their combat tactics. You can also tell them to use a stimpakif needed.
In Fallout 3 when a story important NPC reached their damage limit they would become unconscious. Obsidian has completely gotten rid of this (Note: there is only one adult of the 2200 NPCs in the game that cannot be killed though children are still unkillable). Now players can complete the game by killing all the NPCs featured in the game, or they can play the entire game as a pacifist. Bean bag ammunition for your guns and boxing gloves for a melee character will knock out a NPC rather then killing them, allowing the player to be a pacifist.
Karma & Reputation
The karma system returns once again, but this time it isn't the primary way other characters perceive you. The only real purpose of the karma system is to show how moral or immoral you are based on your total actions throughout the game. In addition to the karma system, Fallout: New Vegas is re-introducing the reputation system featured in the original Fallout games. Raising your reputation in individual towns, settlements, and factions will give you special privileges with that town/settlement/faction. There's also a reputation meter that shows you how well liked or hated you are. Based on your actions there are several reputations in the game.
Health & Item Degradation
Like Fallout 3, players' limbs can become crippled after receiving too much damage. Each limb will have a different effect when it's crippled. For example, a crippled leg will cause the player to move slowly while a crippled arm will decrease accuracy dramatically. Crippled limbs can be repaired using Stimpaks or a new item called a Doctor's Bag, which automatically heals all crippled limbs. In Hardcore mode, Stimpaks cannot be used for this purpose. Instead, players must find a doctor or use a Doctor's Bag. Unlike Fallout 3, consumable items like food and beverages heal over time instead of automatically. The same chems from Fallout 3 are in Fallout: New Vegas including some new ones. They are all just as addictive.
Item degradation returns as well. Equipment including clothing/armor and weapons will wear out over time and become less effective. Items can be repaired using parts from another item of the same type or by paying someone who is capable of fixing items (this generally costs a lot of caps depending on the item and the amount of wear the item has).
Finally, radiation is once again something that can affect the player if they aren't careful. Some places have life-threatening amounts of radiation such asCamp Searchlight, a town that is practically drowning in it.
Minigames
Lockpicking and computer hacking are frequent occurrences in Fallout: New Vegas, and a minigame is present for each. Lockpicking is done with a screw driver (something that the player has with them at all times) and bobby pins. The player must rotate the bobby pin to a certain position in the lock and apply torque with the screw driver. Too much torque in the wrong area will cause the bobby pin to snap. The Lockpick skill dictates the difficulty level of locks that the player can attempt to pick.
Hacking computers is a longer and more challenging process. The screen comes up with a list of jumbled characters containing possible passwords. By guessing a password, the player is shown how many letters are correct. This allows the player to narrow down future choices. If the player uses up their limited supply of guesses, they are locked out of the computer. The Science skill dictates what computers the player can hack.