Fallout New Vegas: Impressions Inside!

[sourceninja]

Well, I guess I'll wait and see if they patch it. Thanks for the review. About as I expected. Obsidian usually has good story telling with poor delivery.

 

[Beev]

I had my first freeze about 15 minutes into the game

What I like so far:
The crafting, etc. seems way better done than FO3.

I like the idea of the Mojave Wasteland more than the Capital Wasteland.

Seems like there should be more end-game stuff to do.

What I don't like:
No bobbleheads . I love to max my character out as much as I can, and in FO3 you could get all of your stats to 10, and with the plethora of skill books you could get most, if not all, of your skills to 100 too. It doesn't seem like you can do that in NV, unless I'm missing something.

I don't care for the temporary skill boosting magazines. I'd rather have more skill books that gave you fewer points. I really loved hunting those down.

 

[warcrow]

I had my first freeze about 15 minutes into the game

What I like so far:
The crafting, etc. seems way better done than FO3.

I like the idea of the Mojave Wasteland more than the Capital Wasteland.

Seems like there should be more end-game stuff to do.

What I don't like:
No bobbleheads . I love to max my character out as much as I can, and in FO3 you could get all of your stats to 10, and with the plethora of skill books you could get most, if not all, of your skills to 100 too. It doesn't seem like you can do that in NV, unless I'm missing something.

I don't care for the temporary skill boosting magazines. I'd rather have more skill books that gave you fewer points. I really loved hunting those down.

- Right, no bobbleheads (i miss this too!) but there are

Spoiler

snow globes that you can find that sell for a large sum of money.

- This is a slight spioler about something you can purchase later in the game

Spoiler

You will come across a doctor who sells implants and this upgrades some of your abilities. For instance I was interested in the slow health regen implant

- There are magazines (temp boost) and books (perm boost). the books are much more scarce.

 

[gorcorps]

So you get dehydrated now and have to drink? That's silly...

 

[dougp]

So you get dehydrated now and have to drink? That's silly...

Hardcore mode, bro :awe:

 

[gorcorps]

Hardcore mode, bro :awe:

Ah, gotcha. I haven't read up on the game at all as you can tell :\

 

[digiram]

God, there are way too many games to play these days...I might pick this up early next year. I was an FO3 fiend when it was released. I just have too much to play right now.

 

[gorcorps]

God, there are way too many games to play these days...I might pick this up early next year. I was an FO3 fiend when it was released. I just have too much to play right now.

Hah, I feel the same way. I'll probably get it for christmas, but with rockband 3 and possibly NHL 11 I'll be crazy busy with games. Also I've been going Goozex happy and just got MGS4, Killzone 2, and Assassin's Creed 2... then spent points on DLC for Mass Effect 2 and Borderlands.

What have I done to myself?

 

[Imp]

Splurged on the collectors edition. Should be coming in the next day or two. Can't wait... but will have to. Damn midterms.

 

[Beev]

- Right, no bobbleheads (i miss this too!) but there are

Spoiler

snow globes that you can find that sell for a large sum of money.

- This is a slight spioler about something you can purchase later in the game

Spoiler

You will come across a doctor who sells implants and this upgrades some of your abilities. For instance I was interested in the slow health regen implant

- There are magazines (temp boost) and books (perm boost). the books are much more scarce.

Spoiler

Yeah but they don't add to your stats. I'll probably keep the globes rather than sell them.

Can you buy all of those implants, assuming you have the caps? Or do you just get to pick one and that's it?

Yeah the books are still there, and they give 3 to a skill now, but I would rather they still gave 1 and there were 25 each. I'm not sure how many of each book there are this time around.

 

[zerocool84]

I guess I'm one of the few that won't pay full price for sequels that don't add much. Sure Fallout 3 was fun but this looks EXACTLY the same as Fallout 3 just with a mild skin tacked on. Especially with how many bugs are being reported, this is definitely a wait for me.

 

[warcrow]

Spoiler

Yeah but they don't add to your stats. I'll probably keep the globes rather than sell them.

Can you buy all of those implants, assuming you have the caps? Or do you just get to pick one and that's it?

In regards to the implants:

Spoiler

I didnt manage to pick any up because I dumped a lot of caps into purchasing a mini machinegun, but from what I understand about implant--they boost your perception or strength. I think there were a total of 5 to choose from, and you can get as many as you want.

I guess I'm one of the few that won't pay full price for sequels that don't add much. Sure Fallout 3 was fun but this looks EXACTLY the same as Fallout 3 just with a mild skin tacked on. Especially with how many bugs are being reported, this is definitely a wait for me.

I dunno. To me the addition of a reputation system that has a ripple effect throughout the entire game world, double the amount of weapons that were in F3, Hardcore mode (which I played), more intresting sidekicks with side quests, a VATS system that now allows the use of special attacks, iron sight, a weapon modification system (like adding scopes or increasing ammo clip size), ammo crafting (like hollow point or armor peircing), a redone recipe system, speech checks within dialog trees that are now dependent on skill level rather than chance (like in F3), companion wheel for better control of the sidekicks (love this addition), complete vegas table games (which are really well done I might add) and a wasteland thats more interesting than the captiol wasteland--seems to me like a worthy sequel.

If you liked F3 then you're missing out.

 

[Beev]

The rep system seems weird to me. Can I do good deeds for everyone and end up, at the end, being liked by everyone? Or do I lose rep with one side by helping another?

Also, regarding implants:

Spoiler

So by buying as many as I want, do you mean I can buy multiple copies of the same implant? And in the end, if I had the caps, I could have 10 in all of my SPECIAL stats? That would rock if so, and be better than FO3.

 

[DrunkenSano]

I wish I could clone myself so I can send my clone to work while I stay home to play all the games I haven't finished/played. :|

 

[Phobic9]

I wish I could clone myself so I can send my clone to work while I stay home to play all the games I haven't finished/played. :|

Don't we all? I haven't even finished vanilla FO3 and I haven't touched any of the DLC.

 

[warcrow]

The rep system seems weird to me. Can I do good deeds for everyone and end up, at the end, being liked by everyone? Or do I lose rep with one side by helping another?

Also, regarding implants:

Spoiler

So by buying as many as I want, do you mean I can buy multiple copies of the same implant? And in the end, if I had the caps, I could have 10 in all of my SPECIAL stats? That would rock if so, and be better than FO3.

Not really, there is no all supreame good guy or bad guy level in terms of reputation.

I can understand why you feel this way because I felt the same way but after playing through it I fell in love with the grey area of it all. So many games with morality/reputation have such a clering good or bad thing going on that it's nice to have a Hansolo thing going on where there is good and bad and it's totally ok (and it's rewarded).

 

[warcrow]

I've been getting PMs, IMs and tweets asking various questions about the game and strategies, so I've decided to create a bit of a protips post! I'm going to put them all in one pro-place so all the tips can be protips for everyone who wants to be pro!

PS - I'm not a pro--and I certainly dont know everyhting about the game--but I'll do my best to share some of the knowledge I've aquired through my experience with the game.


Saving
Don't reply on the autosave system. Create at least 6 manual save slots and rotate them every 10-15 minutes. This will save your ass, and not necessarily because of bugs either, in the future. It's a good practice that doesn't take up very much time and can save you a mountain of frustration later in the game. I speak from experience.


X360 Performance
If you're experiencing hitching/stuttering/extensive load times then clear the cache on your HDD and reboot the system. This helped me out in most cases where I experienced performance issues. It's a bit of a pain to deal with, and frankly shouldn't have to be done, but FNV is an excellent game making this all worthwhile.


Invisible Walls
There are some places (not located at the edge of the game world) that have invisible walks restricting access. In my experience they tend to be located around rocks and ledges to prevent jumping/slipping around areas to gain early or unwanted access. It's annoying. So fair warning there are areas that might look accessible via shortcut but, in actuality, are not.


Hardcore mode & Health
When you experience a limb injury you have two options in HC mode--see a doc or use a Doctors Bag. Here's the best practice I found.

Remember the locations of all the doctors you meet (there isn't a lot out there so it's no real feat) and fast travel to them before using the doctors bag. Fast travel is possible in HC mode when you have a limb injury. Doctor Bags should be reserved only for missions where you cannot fast travel, like missions located indoors like caves or bunkers. I would recommend keeping a stock of about 10 Doctor Bags in your pack at all times. At 1lb apiece they do add up.


Empty bottles
Though I wish it were a feature (especially in HC mode) you cannot--at least in my experience--fill empty bottles with water.


Food
be careful, some food and drinks (sodas) actually increase your thirst levels. This can bit you in the ass in the most inappropriate times.


Leveling
The level cap is set to 30


Companions
You can have a total of Rex (the dog) + 1 companion in your party. Try not to lose track if them. If they manage to disappear then "wait" in the location you last saw them for a few days and they should find their way to you. In HC mode this will require a LOT if food and water so heads up! Also try visiting their homebase (where you met them) to see if they snapped there.


Health
There are warnings, located right above the compass, alerting you when you reach critical levels for food, water, sleep & limb damage. All negative (& positive) effects ate located on your Pipboy under Stats> Status> EFF.


Housing
At the risk of spoiling I'm going to answer this one in public: Yes there is a house, or suite rather, that you aquire in the game that is similar to the Ten Penny suite in Fallout 3. Yes there are upgrades you can purchase for it too.

 

[Beev]

Not really, there is no all supreame good guy or bad guy level in terms of reputation.

I can understand why you feel this way because I felt the same way but after playing through it I fell in love with the grey area of it all. So many games with morality/reputation have such a clering good or bad thing going on that it's nice to have a Hansolo thing going on where there is good and bad and it's totally ok (and it's rewarded).

I don't mind the gray area I guess, but what I do mind is finding a random faction member out in the world, who shoots at me first, that I kill and then lose rep from. No one should know I killed this person.

 

[warcrow]

They will only attack if you've got a bad reputation with that particular faction.

 

[Krakn3Dfx]

The cursing is WAY over the top, especially with the women in the game. I feel like someone at Obsidian just really likes to hear women curse.

Otherwise, been loving the game on the PC. It's crashed twice in a little over 5 hours, which isn't horrible, but still been quicksaving like crazy.

 

[Golgatha]

As with any Bethesda game. Wait a year for them to finish the game via patching, get the DLC packaged in with a GOTY edition, and then buy it all for around $30. Everyone knows this.

 

[QuikWgn]

Companions
You can have a total of Rex (the dog) + 1 companion in your party. Try not to lose track if them. If they manage to disappear then "wait" in the location you last saw them for a few days and they should find their way to you. In HC mode this will require a LOT if food and water so heads up! Also try visiting their homebase (where you met them) to see if they snapped there.
Housing
At the risk of spoiling I'm going to answer this one in public: Yes there is a house, or suite rather, that you aquire in the game that is similar to the Ten Penny suite in Fallout 3. Yes there are upgrades you can purchase for it too.

There is a second robot companion to be had relatively earlier on in the game if your skills are high enough.

Spoiler

It's the ED-E (eyebot in the Mojave Express office in Primm).

There is also a second 'base location' to be had early on in the game as well.

Spoiler

In Novac after you set up Jeannie May Crawford to be sniped and killed by Boone, if you visit Cliff in the Dino-bite gift shop, he will give you a permanent key to a motel room.

 

[sandorski]

So you drank water? Like, from the toilet? :\

 

[Platypus]

So far it's a buggy fucking mess, just like all Bethesda games.

Wish I didn't love it so much

Seriously, anyone who has discovered the Brewer's cabin, if you made it there without getting stuck on textures or having enemies that you cannot kill because they're stuck, but they can kill you, I'll be impressed.

 

[Beev]

I haven't been there yet. Whereabouts is it?

I have the entire southern half of the map... mapped. 75 locations found so far. 30 hours in. Level 20. Only on the second story mission (They Went That-a-Way). I am so in love. It's FO3 for me all over again. Sorry for the sentence fragments. I just love this game so much. I still miss the skill books that gave you one point. They were so fun to find.