More ramblings about Fallout: New Vegas

New Vegas fixed the biggest complaint I had about 3 (you can't aim), and weapon decay isn't really a huge problem.

So in my first four hours of New Vegas gameplay, I managed to get to the outskirts of New Vegas, where I was turned away by the robot because I didn't have 2000 caps to get my green card. Yes, I suck at Fallout games. But I got to explore Goodsprings, the Mojave Outpost, Nipton, Novac, the Helios facility, and the outskirts of New Vegas.

See, what I love love love love love about Skyrim is that right out of the gate, you could go anywhere. Yeah, Falkreath was a bit easier than everywhere else, and you were hosed if a Sabrecat happened to find you at a low level, but it wasn't like you had to wait until you were Level 20 to go to Solitude or Windhelm without dying constantly. The Fallout games seem to want to dissuade this kind of behavior. You have to go and do the things in the order we want.

I guess when you really get down to it, that's the problem I have with every Fallout game I've played - you can't instantly join the faction you want. If you want to join Ulfric's rebellion in Skyrim, walk to Whiterun, take a carriage to Windhelm, and you're off. But if you want to join the Legion (you awful person) or the Institute (you scientifically-minded awful person), well, you have to wait until the main quest gets around to it. Skyrim just feels more free, like you can actually do anything.

I guess the idea is that New Vegas gives you a couple of hours to settle into the setting before making you make the Big Decisions. You see the Legion sack Nipton, for example. Which, okay, I get that, but Fallout in general and New Vegas in particular is... well, it's candy for a min-maxer, somebody who figures out exactly what character build they're going for and who will restart their game if they suddenly realize they need two more points in Agility to get a super-useful perk. Which means playing through the same couple of hours over. And over. And over. Again.

So that's a bit dull. And the game's a bit glitchy. But it is the best Fallout game I've played, and I'm really starting to get into it (now that the settlement-building of 4 has lost its charm and I've come to realize how paper-thin the rest of the game is).