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It took nearly three years (no joke this time, I still have three months left😎) since the day I started playing Fallout: New Vegas. For some reason, it feels like it was a random impulse. Usually, you prepare for a chosen game for a while, or you pick a genre and then look through the list for something you want to play right now. You only spontaneously start simple games. I don’t remember exactly how it was this time; maybe I just missed the wasteland, or got tired of third-party chatter about the game and decided to finally see it for myself (though after Morrigan I should have taken a longer break), or maybe I picked something relatively old while the game wasn’t too outdated and still runs stably (spoiler: no) on modern systems.
By the way, in the summer I sometimes choose old stuff/etc. because it doesn’t heat up the PC, and in winter, conversely, something more demanding x)

I forgot how to write reviews, so I’ll try to organize my thoughts and write them down point by point.
Character. 👨
Although I’ve played through all the previous games in the series (I know about builds), I still decided to check what people were saying about leveling in this installment. In the end, I learned about some features of Vegas (including Hardcore mode, which I played the game with). I decided to invest in Luck and be a crit build, especially since Charisma here doesn’t affect the number of companions (otherwise, I might have leveled it as usual). The appearance took me a bit more time, given the crappy editor and the fact that the result in-game is slightly different from what the editor shows. I didn’t want to copy my handsome bearded character from the 3rd game, so I decided to come up with some new look. The result was a dark-skinned rogue with a mustache, who didn’t stay a rogue for long, and eventually got boring (not the first time this has happened in games with face editors). I could post a screenshot, but I think most have already seen it (upd.). And I want to ask, why the hell, and most importantly, why are there 20 types of mustaches in the editor but only three beards?
First Steps. 🦶
That was quite a while ago, but I remember the beginning well, maybe because I thoroughly went through the first location and replayed the initial battle several times. Not because of the difficulty, but simply for enjoyment and a desire for it to go according to some personal scenario (old habits that resurface in such games). In the end, I stripped all the scoundrels and piled them into a cart, where they lay for quite a long time, and one named corpse even lay in the garden until the very end of the game (I didn’t encounter any others like it). Overall, it was a pleasant beginning. The return of mantises, which I suddenly discovered near the school, was a nice touch. At first, I didn’t even understand what was attacking me and got a little tense, especially since it was nighttime. But I liked that moment (including inside the school) because it was atmospheric. Plus, it’s just cool when enemies are present in a peaceful location. Then I was also given the chance to dig up graves, which is essentially a small thing, but a pleasant one. After that, the memories are fuzzier, though some segments stuck with me, like clearing out the prison and so on. At some point, I dropped the game, then came back and dropped it again. I think it happened about three times, counting the long breaks. Only last fall did I start playing more consistently, when I was around Novac and finishing Boone’s quest.
Expectation/Reality (Disappointments). 🌗
In this section, I’d like to note two things.
1. Vegas. The city itself, which I personally imagined as a large, vibrant place for "the insiders", guarded by cool guys in helmets and cloaks from the game’s cover, shooting down any wastelanders outside the walls. The intro video planted that exact image in my head (and they weren’t even in the city in the end, plus getting inside was pretty easy). When I was wandering around the walls in the game, that impression partially remained, although the map markers made me realize there wasn’t enough space left for the city, so I started assuming there was a separate map for it. Alas. Well, 50/50. Yes, the center itself turned out to be one street divided into three small parts, which was pretty dull. I don’t quite understand that decision, given the cities in games like Oblivion. However, Freeside was a pleasant surprise, reminding me of the Den from the 2nd game. Those are exactly the kind of locations I want to see, and as many as possible. I enjoyed every chance to kill another druggie-wastelander who decided to attack me (as well as the three muggers from the alley). In general, those two slum locations were the main highlights, though they weren’t very big either. Westside appealed to me less, and I got there much later. And yes, if you’re going to add big cities, then do it this way and in this form, not like the abominable city from the third game. The only thing worse than that is the metro from the same third game.
2. The final battle. Honestly, I expected more, at least something on the level of the third game’s battle with the giant robot. Admittedly, it’s not as big a downside as the first one, considering the battle lasts about 15 minutes and happens once, whereas you hang around Vegas for a long time.
Bugs... bugs never change.🐛
At the beginning, there didn’t seem to be any, but somewhere around Novac (when I resumed the game), they started appearing. Let’s start with the usual crashes (especially when everything is shooting around), which might have occurred earlier and I just forgot about them, since it’s common in many places and to some extent normal. But then freezes during loading started, and that became a serious problem because I had to restart. This happened when loading a save (both when entering the game and during the game itself), when fast traveling, and sometimes possibly when entering a location, but that’s not certain. I spent a long time looking for a solution, tried following various advice, but couldn’t fundamentally change the situation. However, I did use one trick that seemed to help. It concerned the initial load. The idea was to load a save with the character in an enclosed space and preferably a small one when entering the game. For this reason, I made a save in Pete’s house and always loaded that first (before that, I had a different one). During the game itself, I obviously didn’t do that anymore, because it would be a hassle, and it’s not certain it would have helped anyway. So I still caught those freezes sometimes. Though I do have a theory regarding this sub-point, as well as the fast travel issue. Maybe it was about rushing. Take yesterday’s case, when I left the house, quickly opened the map and tried to fast travel, immediately catching the bug. Maybe the game simply can’t keep up with the processes—like there’s an autosave running in parallel, I’m pressing buttons and activating other processes, causing the game to hang. I’ve noticed this bug many times in similar situations. Or when you quickly load several times in a row, like when hacking a computer. Fail-load, fail-load, fail-load = bug. Although there were cases where there was no rush, but the freeze still happened, though those instances seemed fewer. If I’m not mistaken, it occurred more often somewhere in the center of the map, near the NCR camp. It was pretty annoying, though towards the end I encountered it less often, maybe because the DLCs worked better in that regard. I’d like to say the bugs ended there, but no. After clearing the camp near Boulder City, I discovered that the game died (or also froze completely? I don’t recall exactly, it was a while ago) when opening the quick-access menu. That is, I couldn’t assign weapons to hotkeys for quick switching between them. I tried loading an older save, but the bug was already there, and replaying from an even earlier one seemed too much trouble, so for the rest of the game I manually switched weapons through the inventory. Over time, I even got used to it, though it wasn’t very pleasant, especially since I was carrying several types of weapons. There were also minor bugs in quests and other situations, but all that is trivial. I’ll only mention the stupid Legion patrols that started attacking several times a day at some point until I completed a specific quest.
upd. Idk if it’s a bug or a feature, but crafting at a campfire worked oddly—specifically, the list would stop scrolling.
Style. 🤠
Somewhere around the middle of the game, I suddenly realized I don’t really like the atmosphere of this installment, specifically the whole cowboy theme that’s almost everywhere. Everyone’s in hats, half are carrying rifles and revolvers, making it closer to a post-apocalyptic western than something more familiar. It’s understandable—it’s about the setting (there are even real-life differences), and I agree with a friend who explained it as there being no unified country anymore, only some remnants of the past that people try to recreate in the new world, often without fully understanding them. And while some imitate Elvis, others find their own symbols and do other things. I won’t even talk about the Legion; it’s a very strange concept, in my opinion. Apparently, they thought ordinary raiders wouldn’t cut it anymore. But they didn’t stop there and for some reason added Khans on top of that, which is a lot for one game. Thank goodness there aren’t any Huns or something)
Gameplay. 🎮
It’s hard to describe the game in detail, given my attitude towards stories and the fact that it differs from the 3rd game (which everyone played) mostly in content (which again, you wouldn’t retell) rather than anything else. Overall, it seemed better than the third installment. I think that’s logical and even correct. Especially since there were almost no gameplay issues, aside from some DLC moments and bugs. So for the most part, it was pleasant to run around, explore locations, do quests, and dive back into the wasteland world, even if I sometimes got tired of it (the usual story with games from Bethesda and Co.). I’d like to highlight the vaults and the stories they held as a separate point. It was really interesting to learn about them, and in my opinion, that’s one of the main positives of the game.
upd. Liked the references to the old games.
DLC. 🧩
I liked that they were connected to each other and the main story. In that regard, it’s better than the DLC from the third game. Though the first and third ones don’t easily associate with the Fallout universe for me, so they feel more like separate sci-fi stories.
1. Money. Who the **** created this town? In my opinion, one of the worst locations in the series, if not in games overall. I got sick of wandering through these identical mazes with tons of passages. In the end, I couldn’t find Dean’s last stash. Just an abominable place. The casino itself is better, the atmosphere is eerie, and the idea with the holograms is cool—they essentially are real ghosts (extra point for the singer). The story was also good; I generally liked the second part of this DLC. Too bad I never got to hear the mutant’s story, and not all the companions survived х)
2. Hearts. Visually pleasant, and you can really take a break from the grayness of the main game by immersing yourself in more colorful and vibrant landscapes. I’d also like to note specific locations, like the bus that fell from the bridge (a small thing, but atmospheric) and the campsites. Nothing was particularly annoying, except the constantly respawning mobs behind my back. What the hell was that? But it was cool that plants returned. The storyline with the tribals didn’t particularly move me, but the survivor’s notes were engaging, and it was interesting to learn his story. + I found out the fate of the vault dwellers.
3. Blues. In my opinion, this DLC has the fewest positives. Yeah, there are a couple of jokes, but that’s it. The location is crap, not very convenient to explore. The story is so-so (though the ending slightly redeems it), + it stands out the most from the rest of the game. The mobs are ****. Worse than in the last DLC. They appear even more often and very suddenly, as if crawling out of an incubator. Why do that? The little scorpions look cool, reminded me of the Aladdin cartoon. Also caught a bug with a dog that couldn’t get out of the building.
4. Road. The most pleasant DLC to play through, since for the most part you just go forward and that’s it, though there are many hidden secrets too (I didn’t find 5 posters!). The story is a bit strange, honestly. They built it up so much, but in reality... I dunno, I wasn’t particularly impressed. But otherwise, it’s fine—interesting landscapes and good locations.

There were probably many other thoughts about the game, whether about weapons, armor types, or more global things, but I’ve forgotten them now.
upd. And yes, I played through the game completely and poked into every possible nook and cranny. Except I didn’t complete the slave liberation quest entirely correctly—I freed them before getting the quest, so I couldn’t turn it in to the main questgiver (though the quest itself completed immediately), and those idiots stood in the Mormon Fort for the entire game.


I took too long to finish the game, as usual (especially with open worlds). But I’m glad I did. Not sure if I’ll decide to play the 4th game when the wasteland calls again. More likely, I’ll play the fan-made 2D games, of which there are already several. In any case, I need to take a break now and tackle something less ambitious/return to other started games, and then maybe someday I’ll finally get around to Skyrim... though Starfield is already on the horizon х)
ps bring back the WoW topic or let it sit here?