Impressions of Dead Money

Posted: Sat Dec 25, 2010 3:07 am

I'm not pompous enough to think this is news, so I'll just leave this here, I just got done with Dead Money, and I actually rather enjoyed it.

I won't overly rehash the premise, big casino heist, ghost people, killer smog, I WILL say this expansion actually ended up feeling more thena bit like Bioshock, and not to it's detriment.

Like previous dlc, they strip you of all your equipment because of a macguffin, however you don't get it back until you complete the dlc. The difficulty is ratcheted up quite a bit, the ghost people require dismemberment or disintigration to stay dead, and you can't directly fight the holograms at all. After a while ammo isn't that hard to come by, but you never really feel...safe.

I think that's where this dlc shines. I never felt safe, I never felt like I had complete control of the situation. And I can think of one mission, alone, with a bell tolling in the distance, that evoked some amount of dread.

Imagine my shock at New Vegas evoking responses like that. I find two of the new characters interesting, the third is kinda bland. The story overall is actually pretty good, with some nice backstory. And while the holograms are a BIT hokey, they don't overdo it, and give them some semi logical limitations.

The new stealth armor looks nice, and I actually ended up like the Sierra Madre security armor, especially the helmet. The Holorifle, once upgraded, is a really nice weapon,a nd I think it'll depose the oft maligned Gauss rifle.

In my estimation, this is leagues better then FO3 dlc. It's not much longer, MAYBE an hour or two longer, but it feels much weighter, and it had an actual story to tell. They also dropped some hints towards a future dlc at a military installation called the Big Empty, and a final showdown of sorts at The Devide, probably the grand canyon. I still feel the dlc was a bit short, and I wish to god they knew how to intergrate this stuff into the regular game, but I feel this was a step in the right direction. I'm actually sorta excited to see what Big Empty looks like. Anyhoo, I skipped some stuff, but this was just my first impressions. I think this thing is overpriced by about 200 microsoft spacedollars, or about 3 real world dollars, but it's not bad at all.

Posted: Tue Jan 04, 2011 11:51 pm

http://img715.imageshack.us/img715/7586/topsecretfalloutonline.png

Posted: Wed Jan 05, 2011 3:21 am

Eye rape

Posted: Wed Jan 05, 2011 4:16 pm

I think it's news (I am pompous). We need a Dead Money Review.

Posted: Wed Jan 05, 2011 10:24 pm

Agree with most of your feelings on Dead Money though I felt like it went on a little too long especially given how ugly/bland most of the environments are and how much backtracking there is. The smog/alarm collar mechanic were also more of a minor nuisance than anything else and I don't really think the mechanic ever really worked that well and headshots with the holorifle were sufficient enough to take ghost people down fairly quickly and permanently. I'd prefer DLC that integrated into the main campaign more as there are a few areas / factions that are underdeveloped such as Red Rock & the Khans, some early game missions for the Legion would also be welcome along with some effort to make them less plainly evil.

'Sneaking' out of the last boss fight is a joke too. No matter how stealthy you are the barriers will always get thrown up on the shortest route to the elevator forcing you to backtrack the way you came in. In other words, there's no reason to attempt stealth, just book it and you'll get the 'stealth' finale anyways.

And yeah, the BioShock influence is strong in this one.

From what I've read Dead Money is playable on the PC with a little patience and perseverance.

Posted: Wed Jan 05, 2011 10:30 pm

So has it been released on the PC then? That's news to me.

Posted: Wed Jan 05, 2011 10:32 pm

No. Not legally/officially.

Posted: Wed Jan 05, 2011 10:44 pm

I assumed that would be the case before release - just need someone to transfer it to a computer from their sexbox hard drive and cram the BSA into NV for the PC.

Posted: Wed Jan 05, 2011 10:54 pm

Yeah, from the talk page on the wiki it seems like people are already monkeying around with it in the GECK.

Posted: Fri Jan 07, 2011 2:52 am

I've been playing Deus Ex. Tough bit, there's robot turrests on wheels, and I'm all outta splosives.

Posted: Fri Jan 07, 2011 9:10 pm

What a shame. icon_drunk

Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 3:36 am

ITT:

Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2011 8:58 pm

I just completed the first section of it. Game play wise it's been a brutal ass-kicking; it made it clear how feably I've been clinging to my power armor and expensive guns to see me through in the Mojave.

The writing is on par with the main game so far, and the transition between it and the DLC is a lot more graceful than the way Bethesda does things. It even has its own opening video.

Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2011 2:08 am

It's gonna get worse. Parts of the casino aren't quite so much of a maze as the exterior but they get pretty fucking difficult. If you haven't already, make sure you get the bonus perks from talking to your followers.

Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2011 2:42 am

Haven't had much trouble with the maze-ness so much as facing off against ridiculous enemies with shit equipment and little healing.

Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2011 2:25 pm

True. Hopefully you're perked for sneak crits, because those throwing spears you see everywhere can produce some pretty awesome ones.

Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 4:11 am

Finished it. Wasn't nearly as difficult once I got into the groove of things, and the stuff that annoyed me was explained satisfactorily enough that I forgave it.

It's worth the $10. Overall, the tone and cohesiveness of the story was better than all the Bethesda DLCs combined.

Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 9:59 am

I hadn't read into it before, but apparently the capital of Caesar's Legion is Flagstaff.

I'm in Flagstaff.

Do you think they use NAU's campus for slave pens?

Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 4:55 pm

Maybe you'll find out in a DLC.

Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 7:37 pm

What I didn't like about Fallout 3 DLC is they didn't feel like logical extensions of the game, they were just batshit ideas that had almost nothing to do with one another, and even less with the greater game as a whole. I haven't played any New Vegas DLC (holding out for GOTY), but from what I can tell it integrates into the lore and story of the New Vegas plotline and have a larger, cohesive arc rather than just being random ass one-offs.