Fallout fans have their guns blazing, stakes high and Geiger-counters ticking in ecstasy for the ambitious Fallout New Vegas. Obsidian Entertainment is hitting the jackpot with a radiant set of opinions ranging from anticipation to even a little skepticism at the same time. You can’t argue with the fans; Fallout 3 was a masterpiece. On the other hand, with different developers and excessive reminiscence to its predecessor, does post-nuclear Vegas clear the table or is Obsidian bluffing? Vegas jokes aside, Todd Howard and his team that worked on Fallout 3 are not present in the development of this installment. However, the New Vegas team has quite a cast of developers, including Chris Avellone, who apparently worked on the Van Buren Project for three to four years. Van Buren was Black Isle Studios’ attempt in making a Fallout 3, until financial issues forced them to give single player Fallout rights to Bethesda Softworks, resulting in the play-style that many Elder Scrolls fans appreciated. However, we all know that it was more than just “Oblivion with guns”.

Speaking of guns, Obsidian stated that New Vegas’ arsenal will not only feature twice the amount of guns that Fallout 3 had, but it’s expanded with a weapon modification system. If you ever wanted to shoot grenades out of a machine gun, now you can. All you require is the appropriate gun mod and probably a lot of grenades for ammunition.

These tools of survival wouldn’t mean much if exploration wasn’t worth your while. Fortunately, Obsidian is working competently to ensure that you will want to live to see everything. Within the storyline, The New Vegas strip is a hub for getting your fix on gambling. The strip is fully lit with the power supply of the Hoover Dam, and the person running the strip has a major story reason for keeping it that way. The Vegas strip may be lit up and shiny, but it’s not the point of New Vegas. For instance, the character has to first survive the many hazards of the Mujavi wasteland, and can join one of several warring factions to aid the character. Suppose the character wants to help a faction take control of the Hoover Dam power supply. You can make that choice, or lounge around and play the slot machine. No matter where you as the character want to go, the character must fight through the perilous wasteland. On top of these unique features, the same Fallout gameplay is still intact, so it’s a generous package on top of the wasteland exploration that previously captivated gamers in Fallout 3, even though it would be inappropriate to call this game an expansion. This is a full new Fallout experience. With my collector’s edition on pre-order and ready for October 19th, I’m pretty convinced. Can you say “Game of the Year”?

MORE INFO
Gameplay Trailer
”Mining the Past” Interview with Chris Avellone
Gamestop
Steam