Welcome to New Vegas (first impressions)

Posted: Tue Oct 19, 2010 7:01 pm

Alright, gonna post my first impressions and edit the post as I go as a sort of running first impression. Others are free to join in.

-The dialog is the first thing that stands out, both in writing and performance.

-Wayne Newton beats Three Dog up and down the block as a DJ.

-Once ole Wayne and the music tracks start repeating themselves, turn off your pipboy radio as the ambient music is fantastic. The news post on the layered soundtrack was no bullshit, also there is more Mark Morgan than you'd expect.

-So far the most important "new feature" of Fallout: New Vegas is nuance. They finessed the Holy Guacamole out of this game in terms of writing and level design.

-You die MUCH easier, even in VATS. A lot of this has to do with the fact that I'm playing a "sneak or die" Melee character with 1 Endurance in Hardcore mode and don't have enough points in Sneak yet to accommodate, but I've died quite a bit thus far and most of those times were in VATS.

-Overall there is substantially less hand holding. I didn't encounter an NPC that could repair items til about 6 hours into the game, forcing me to scavenge and alternate weapons a lot early on. Also, if you kill Doc Mitchell, guess what? He was THE doctor for quite awhile, and healing limbs is a bitch.

-You will be crippled a lot. You will be radiated a lot (RadAway and Rad X are scarce).

-Hardcore mode is genuinely fun and makes it feel like a proper Fallout game.

-This game has a feel unique to the series. It feels "more like Fallout", but at the same time it is ballsy enough to carve out it's own niche.

-Just because an animal detects you, does not mean it will charge you. I've had several "aggressive" animals detect me, but would not attack until I encroached too closely on their territory.

-Have yet to see a single generic "raider", though I have encountered several different gangs, each with a unique gang name.

-Animals are no longer bullet sponges. Some can take a few licks, but in most cases (Golden Geckos, Cazadors) they instead move VERY quickly and do outrageously high damage. You can kill them quick, but if you aren't careful they can kill you much quicker.

-The geography of the map is far more intentional and influences gameplay in interesting ways. Where a location is and why seems to be a question that was very deliberately toiled over in creating the game world.

-Settlements are FAR more interesting and the layout is far more conscientious. Instead of towns like Girdershade that looked like they could be overrun by a small band of Little Lamplight outcasts, each town is designed and fortified in a way that looks as if they are expecting the entire Master's Army to come knocking at any moment. This is especially evident when you get to Novac.

That is all you dickheads get for now, I'm missing valuable play time...

Posted: Tue Oct 19, 2010 7:29 pm

Posted to the front page cause DACkers need to get their voices heard!

Posted: Tue Oct 19, 2010 8:01 pm

That's "bitchass dickheads".

Sounds promising, I am now less skeptical. Thanks for the impressions, Aonaran.

Posted: Tue Oct 19, 2010 8:10 pm

Not reading Aonaran's post before giving my impressions; I want to compare after I've typed it up and see how much matches.

- The opening cinematics look a lot better in the final product than they do on Youtube.

- Ron Perlman's opening narration is fantastic, and this is the first taste of how well the game is written. In Fallout 3, his script couldn't have been more simplistic.

- First thing that struck me is I'm running the game on the same settings that I ran Fallout 3, but it runs faster.

- All the animations are better, especially for the brand new critters.

- Though you can tell it's still the Morrowind/Fallout 3 base facial stuff, it's vastly improved. Women look like women now, both in face and body.

- The annoying karma lowering for covert stealing is back, but the noise it makes to inform you of low karma isn't as whiny.

- While combat in Fallout 3 was awful, if first-person shooting needs to be in a Fallout game it needs to be done right. It's pretty good here, and I've had a lot of fun bobbing and weaving while stopping to dump off rounds through the iron sights. Accuracy also seems to be based on your weapon skills, but I haven't raised it high enough/been exposed to enough weapons to confirm that.

- Armor has a point now, and when an enemy's armor blocks your shots a shield icon pops up next to their health bar. Radscorpions are a bitch to kill on account of it.

- It re-uses a lot of resources for decorations and objects from Fallout 3, which in itself isn't a bad thing; it seems there's more original work than there is recycled.

-The voice acting has been nothing but terrific so far. Even the one Fallout 3 voice actor I've come across (the hispanic sounding guy) seems to be putting on a performance instead of reading from a script.

- The writing is engaging, backed up by the voice acting. I haven't skipped dialog once to get to the point.

- The slow downs and stuff caused by using the PiPboy radio is gone. Wayne Newton is pretty awesome - look for his Nuclear Winter Christmas Song Collection coming this holiday on holotape.

- The ambient music is southern twangy guitar based on the theme from Fallout 3, and it sounds fantastic. This is usually overlaid softly on ambient music that sounds like its the sound files from Fallout 2.

- Grave robbing is back, but I found myself without a shovel.

That's it for now. I'll post more as I see it. Also, in my estimation, the collector's edition is worth every penny.

Posted: Tue Oct 19, 2010 8:36 pm

Damn, wish I had some cash, sounds good so far!

Posted: Tue Oct 19, 2010 9:12 pm

I'm going to get it after work today, do you guys think I should start off in hardmode first?

Posted: Tue Oct 19, 2010 9:14 pm

From what people are saying, definitely play in hardcore mode. It'll make the experience much more enjoyable and worthwhile.

Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2010 12:04 am

oh god i love the last boss - the robot / Howard hybrid that poops in your face and makes you buy all the DLC - SO EDGY!

Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2010 6:23 am

Fun Hint: Bring a Stealthboy into the "Silver Rush" in Freeside, clean it out and turtle walk your hobbled ass to the Gun Runners down the way for some VERY nice upgrades.

Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2010 6:56 am

Not so fun hint: There's no maniacal, shot wasting, weapon wearing, nerve fraying combat quite like fighting Nightkin in a cramped basement full of pipes leaking vapor.

Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2010 7:24 am

There are prostitutes in the casinos?... the game says sexual themes.... what is the sexual content?. oh god I can't wait for my game..hurry up ups!.

Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2010 7:25 am

Main quest. Outrageously complex. So. Many. Choices.

Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2010 7:32 am

Too bad this is just an spinoff.. Bethesda is doing fallout 4...

Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2010 7:57 am

Anyone else got disappointed when "company" in F3 meant the bitch got a 7 hour break lying beside you?

Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2010 8:07 am

Ran into Marcus earlier, just now met up with the Brotherhood. Real fucking pricks, the Brotherhood. Also I've been really surprised by how many clean resolutions I've been screwed out of for not properly investing in Speech.

Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2010 8:52 am

Ah, just as it should be.

Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2010 9:24 am

Ah, just as it should be.

Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2010 9:31 am

Fuck where's my wallet

Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2010 9:44 am

I wonder if the towns change after you do certain quests?

Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2010 10:19 am

anybody encountered the enclave power armor yet?