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Fallout: New Vegas
Developer(s)	Obsidian Entertainment
Publisher(s)	Bethesda Softworks
Director(s)	Josh Sawyer
Producer(s)	Mikey Dowling Jason Fader Matt Singh Tess Treadwell
Designer(s)	Josh Sawyer
Programmer(s)	Frank Kowalkowski
Artist(s)	Joe Sanabria
Writer(s)	John Gonzalez
Composer(s)	Inon Zur
Series	Fallout
Engine	Gamebryo
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows PlayStation 3 Xbox 360
Release	NA: October 19, 2010 AU: October 21, 2010 EU: October 22, 2010
Genre(s)	Action role-playing
Mode(s)	Single-player

Fallout: New Vegas is a 2010 action role-playing game developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Bethesda Softworks. It was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. Set in the Mojave Desert 204 years after a devastating nuclear war, the player controls a courier who wakes up after being shot in the head by an unknown assailant. While tracking down their assailant, the courier becomes embroiled in a larger conflict between different governing factions vying for control of the region. Fallout: New Vegas features an open world map that the player can freely explore. Much of the gameplay revolves around combat, and there are a variety of weapons the player can use, such as melee weapons, conventional guns, and energy-based weapons. An optional difficulty level is Hardcore Mode, which adds survival mechanics such as a need to routinely eat, drink, and sleep.

After the release of Fallout 3 in 2008, Bethesda contracted Obsidian to develop a spin-off game to the Fallout series. Las Vegas and the surrounding Mojave Desert was chosen as the setting, as they evoked the 1950s style that the series was known for, as well as the post-apocalyptic imagery of Mad Max. Project director Josh Sawyer wanted the story to focus on the themes of greed and excess, and used the history of Las Vegas as an inspiration. Obsidian used data collected by the United States Geological Survey as well as reference photos taken by Sawyer to design the map. Bethesda gave Obsidian 18 months to develop Fallout: New Vegas, which several journalists have noted is a very short period of time to develop a Triple-A game.

Fallout: New Vegas was a commercial success, and is estimated to have sold 11.6 million copies worldwide. It received positive reviews upon its release, with praise directed toward the writing and quests. Some critics questioned the lack of significant gameplay changes when compared to Fallout 3, and the numerous glitches present in initial versions were heavily chastised. Six downloadable content add-ons were released for the game, including four story-based add-ons that featured new areas for the player to explore. Since its release, Fallout: New Vegas has been reevaluated by fans and journalists and is now regarded as one of the greatest video games of all time. Some commentators have described the game as a cult classic.

Gameplay

Fallout: New Vegas is an action role-playing game that can be played from either a first-person or third-person perspective. It is set in the Mojave Desert, years after a nuclear war left much of the United States decimated. The player controls a courier who survived an assassination attempt from an unknown assailant. The goal of the game is to complete a series of quests to find the assailant, which eventually culminates in a war between different governing factions vying for control of the Mojave Desert. In addition to the main quests, the player can participate in optional unrelated quests known as side quests. Kristinie Stiemer of IGN estimates that it takes around 100 hours to complete every quest in the game.

At the beginning of the game, the player can customize the courier's physical appearance by choosing their gender, age, and race. They can then allocate points into seven primary attributes: strength, perception, endurance, charisma, intelligence, agility, and luck. These attributes are known as S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats, and range from 1 to 10. Additionally, there are 13 secondary attributes whose point totals are affected by S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats: barter, energy weapons, explosives, guns, lockpick, medicine, melee weapons, repair, science, sneak, speech, survival, and unarmed. If the player has a high intelligence stat for example, then they will be more proficient with the medicine, repair, and science skills at the beginning of the game. The player can add more points into skill stats whenever they earn enough experience points to level up. Experience points can be earned through several methods, such as killing an enemy or completing a quest. When the player reaches an even-numbered level, they can select a perk, which is a permanent beneficial upgrade. For example, the perk Rapid Reload increases the reload speed for guns by 25 percent.

Fallout: New Vegas features an open world map that the player can freely explore. Locations the player can discover range from small settlements and abandoned buildings, to larger locations like the Hoover Dam and the city of New Vegas, which was built from the remnants of Las Vegas. The player is equipped with a wearable computer called the Pip-Boy 3000. The device serves as a menu, and allows the player to access items they have acquired, view detailed character statistics and active quests, and look at the map. The player can use the Pip-Boy 3000 map to fast travel to previously discovered locations. The player can also use the Pip-Boy 3000 as a radio, and listen songs from the 1940s to the early 1960s on makeshift radio broadcasts. While exploring, the player can recruit some non-player characters as companions, who will accompany the player and assist them in combat. There are a variety of weapons in the game, including standard guns, energy-based guns, melee weapons, and explosives. While in combat, the player can utilize a gameplay mechanic known as V.A.T.S., which pauses the game and allows the player to target specific body parts of an enemy. V.A.T.S. is dictated by a statistic known as Action Points. Each attack while in V.A.T.S. costs Action Points, and when the player runs out of Action Points they must wait a short period of time before they can use it again.

The player's reputation among factions is an important game mechanic, and it is determined by previous actions. For example, if the player decides to help a faction, they may be given new armor or access to a secret base. Likewise, if the player's actions are perceived as detrimental, the faction might send assassins to try and kill the player. Some factions dislike one another, and if the player is helpful to one faction, they may be unable to complete quests for another faction. Reputation extends to companions, as some companions will leave the player if they are disliked by a specific faction.

An optional difficulty level in Fallout: New Vegas is Hardcore Mode, which adds survival mechanics the player must keep track of. For example, the player must routinely eat, drink, and sleep in order to avoid dying from starvation, dehydration, or sleep deprivation. Healing items gradually heal wounds instead of instantly, and crippled limbs can only be healed by a doctor or specific items. Additionally, ammo has weight which necessitates careful inventory management, and companions can permanently die. Hardcore Mode can be enabled or disabled at any point in the game. If the player completes the entire game with Hardcore Mode enabled they unlock an achievement.

Plot

Setting

Fallout: New Vegas takes place in the year 2281, 204 years after a devastating nuclear war between the United States and China, known as the Great War. Three major entities seek control of the Mojave Desert, known in-game as the Mojave Wasteland: The New California Republic (NCR), a democratic republic that attempts to maintain law; Caesar's Legion, a violent tribal army inspired by the Roman legion; and Mr. House, a mysterious businessman from New Vegas who controls an army of robots called securitrons. As part of an eastward expansion from California, the NCR took control of the Hoover Dam, which provides electricity to the surrounding area. Caesar's Legion and Mr. House each want to control the Hoover Dam for themselves and advance their own plans for the region. Along with the three main factions, minor ones include; the Boomers, a heavily armed xenophobic tribe at Nellis Air Force Base; the Powder Gangers, escaped convicts from a correctional facility; the Great Khans, a tribe of drug dealers; and the Brotherhood of Steel, a militant organization who aim to secure old technology.

Story

While delivering a poker chip-shaped data storage device known as the Platinum Chip to New Vegas, the courier is ambushed by mobster and casino owner Benny, who steals the Platinum Chip and shoots them in the head. Left for dead, the courier is dug out of a shallow grave by a Securitron named Victor and nursed back to health by physician Doc Mitchell. The courier then departs on the search of Benny and the Platinum Chip. In the casino on the New Vegas strip, the courier confronts Benny, where they choose to either kill him and recover the Platinum Chip or let him escape.

The courier becomes embroiled in a conflict between the NCR, Caesar's Legion, and Mr. House for control of the region. It is revealed that Mr. House survived the nuclear apocalypse in a life-support chamber. He created the Platinum Chip, which contains a program capable of upgrading his Securitron army; the device was initially meant to protect Las Vegas during the Great War, but the war began before the Chip could be delivered. After the Platinum Chip was located, the courier was tasked with delivering it to Mr. House. Benny stole the Platinum Chip as part of his plan to usurp Mr. House with the assistance of a reprogrammed Securitron called Yes Man.

Hoover Dam becomes the center of the conflict between the NCR and Caesar's Legion. The player can choose which faction to support, which results in one of four endings. If the player supports the NCR, they successfully repel the Legion's attack at Hoover Dam and annex the Mojave Wasteland. If the player supports Caesar's Legion, they force the NCR to retreat, and conquer the Mojave Wasteland. Mr. House wants to have sole control of New Vegas, and if the player supports him, the overwhelming Securitron army forces both factions to leave the area. Alternatively, if the player wishes for the Mojave Wasteland to remain independent of leadership, they can take control of Mr. House's Securitron network with the help of Yes Man.

Development

The origins of Fallout: New Vegas date back to the cancellation of Van Buren, which was intended to be the third game in the mainline Fallout series. Under the development of Black Isle Studios, Van Buren was to be set in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, and Utah, and would have included a mixture of real-time and turn-based combat. Black Isle Studios' publisher Interplay Entertainment was struggling financially, and in December 2003 Van Buren was cancelled. Prior to the project's cancellation, former Black Isle Studios and Interplay Entertainment employees cofounded Obsidian Entertainment. Over the next few years, Obsidian developed the role-playing games Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, Neverwinter Nights 2, and Alpha Protocol.

In 2007, Bethesda Softworks purchased the Fallout intellectual property. The following year they released Fallout 3. Fallout 3 was well received by critics, and sold more than 5 million copies in 2008. Prior to the release of Fallout 3, Bethesda had already begun development on what would become The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Bethesda wanted to support Fallout 3 with more content, and decided to contract another developer to create a large expansion pack. Bethesda creative director Todd Howard successfully lobbied for a full game instead of an expansion pack, and suggested Obsidian based on their experience with the Fallout series. Obsidian had previously turned down an offer from Bethesda in 2007 to develop a Star Trek game, but agreed to develop a spin-off game to the main Fallout series.

Bethesda wanted the game to take place somewhere in the West Coast of the United States. The first two Fallout games were set along the West Coast, and Obsidian felt that a similar setting would give them opportunities to expand on concepts that were introduced in Fallout 2, such as the NCR. Numerous story elements were proposed, such as setting the game in a city based on Reno, Nevada, or allowing the player to play as either a human, ghoul, and super mutant. The latter idea was rejected due to the technical challenges that would arise from ghouls and super mutants wearing armor. Las Vegas and the surrounding Mojave Desert was chosen as the setting, as they evoked the 1950s style that the series was known for, as well as the post-apocalyptic imagery of Mad Max. Obsidian wanted Fallout: New Vegas to take place between the events of Fallout 2 and Fallout 3, although Bethesda mandated that each game in the series should follow chronological order.

Project director Josh Sawyer wanted the story of Fallout: New Vegas to focus on the themes of greed and excess. As a result, the history of Las Vegas served as an inspiration, due to the city's connection with organized crime. One of the working titles for the game was Fallout: Sin City. Sawyer used the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963 as a cut-off for any historical references. The motif of conflicts between factions was inspired by previous fan requests. During a Game Developers Conference presentation, Sawyer noted that Obsidian wanted to avoid what he described as "Jesus/Hitler" moments, in which factions like the NCR or Caesar's Legion were presented as simply either good or bad. Instead, he wanted to instill a sense of moral ambiguity. According to Sawyer, "A player should feel like there's something good and bad about what they pick."

In order to capture the feel of the Mojave Desert, Obsidian used data collected by the United States Geological Survey. Additionally, Sawyer traveled to Las Vegas and took reference photos of the surrounding areas, including the nearby Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. Obsidian used the Las Vegas Beltway as a point of reference while designing the map, as they felt a road system circling the map would help the player navigate. Bethesda requested that the game include large structures that the player could use as visual landmarks. While Fallout 3 used monuments in Washington, D.C. as visual landmarks, Fallout: New Vegas used kitschy roadside attractions, such as a large dinosaur statue, based on the Cabazon Dinosaurs in Cabazon, California. These attractions were part of a broader goal to differentiate Fallout: New Vegas from Fallout 3. Whereas the Washington, D.C. metro in Fallout 3 was tightly compact, the Mojave Desert in Fallout: New Vegas is more spread-out. Other differences include a warmer color palette for the graphics, and the inclusion of local flora, such as Joshua trees and prickly pear cacti. Obsidian wanted the city of New Vegas to closely resemble the Las Vegas strip in the 1950s. This meant that each casino was adorned with large neon signs, and their architecture was modeled after the contemporary Googie movement.

The gameplay of Fallout: New Vegas remained largely unchanged from Fallout 3. Obsidian instead focused on making minor adjustments, such as giving the player more tactical options while in combat. The player could now use iron sights on guns, and accuracy would be greatly affected by player movement. Optional gameplay mechanics were added that would further evoke a sense of surviving in the desert, such as item crafting and Hardcore Mode. According to Sawyer, "We really approached it from that perspective, like, 'Hey, if you want a more challenging thing that makes you feel more like you're struggling in the desert, then here's this aspect for you." Obsidian took inspiration from the Fallout 3 modding community, specifically the mods that sought to improve the game with quality of life changes. Bethesda provided Obsidian with the Gamebryo engine, which had been used for Fallout 3. No one at Obsidian had ever worked with Gamebryo, and as a result, the company hired a modder who had worked with the engine while developing a mod for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

The soundtrack for Fallout: New Vegas was composed by Inon Zur, and was intended to evoke the soundscape of the American Southwest. The first email Zur received while working on the soundtrack included the following descriptors: "Southwest in the Future. Open, Spacious, Raw, Lonesome, Cowboy, Rattlesnake, Desert, Wind, Heat, Rust, Steel, Dirt, Grit." Inspired by the soundtrack for the film There Will Be Blood, Zur worked with audio director Scott Lawlor to compose music for a string quartet. Fallout: New Vegas features an adaptive music system, which means the soundtrack will change depending on what is happening to the player. While exploring, the music is quiet and ambient, and when the player enters combat, the music becomes loud and powerful. In addition to the original soundtrack, Fallout: New Vegas features licensed music that the player can listen to via in-game radio stations. The licensed music features songs from the 1950s, and encompasses several music genres, including country and bluegrass. Over 65,000 lines of dialogue were recorded for Fallout: New Vegas, which at the time, set a Guinness World Record for the most lines of dialogue in a single-player role-playing game. Numerous celebrities were brought in as voice actors, including: Matthew Perry, Wayne Newton, Zachary Levi, Kris Kristofferson, Danny Trejo, Michael Dorn, and Felicia Day.

Bethesda gave Obsidian 18 months to develop Fallout: New Vegas, which several journalists have noted is a very short period of time to develop a Triple-A game. When asked about the hastened development, Sawyer said: "We were working somewhere between forty and fifty hours a week, which is not too crazy ... It was a really tight schedule, but I don't think we had a point where we all thought 'this is crazy we can't do it.'" The contracted development meant that some areas of the game needed to be cut. For example, there were planned settlements east of the Colorado River, including three locations controlled by Caesar's Legion. These locations would have provided more information about the faction.

Release and downloadable content

Fallout: New Vegas was announced in April 2009, and the first trailer was shown in February 2010. There were four different pre-order bonuses available for players who pre-ordered the game from Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop, Steam, or Walmart. Each pre-order bonus included weapons and items that the player could access at the beginning of the game. Another pre-release item for Fallout: New Vegas was a collector's edition, which included the game itself, seven poker chips, a replica Platinum Chip, a deck of cards with character illustrations, a prequel graphic novel, and a making-of documentary. Pre-order sales for Fallout: New Vegas were higher than those for Fallout 3 in North America and the United Kingdom.

Fallout: New Vegas was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 on October 19, 2010, in North America, October 21 in Australia, and October 22 in Europe. By November 8, the game had sold 5 million copies worldwide, and achieved $300 million in revenue. The market research firm Electronic Entertainment Design and Research estimated that by 2015, the game had sold 11.6 million copies worldwide. Fallout: New Vegas suffered from numerous glitches upon release, including crashes, saved game corruptions, and frame rate issues. The large number of glitches were heavily criticized by fans, and was commonly discussed by video game journalists at the time. In the months after release, Bethesda published multiple patches to fix the glitches.

Fallout: New Vegas was supported with six downloadable content (DLC) add-ons. Designer Chris Avellone spearheaded the development of the DLC add-ons. His goal was to expand the story of Fallout: New Vegas, and incorporate gameplay ideas that would not have worked in the base game. Avellone cites the survival horror elements of the DLC Dead Money as an example. Avellone said, "It would feel weird if you designed even maybe a big Fallout New Vegas level around that. But as a DLC, it felt like, 'Oh, cool. This is my trip to a horror realm.'" In Dead Money, the courier is captured and forced to stage a heist on the Sierra Madre Casino, which is concealed by a deadly toxic cloud. The second DLC was Honest Hearts. Set in Zion National Park, the story revolves around the courier's involvement in a conflict between several tribes. The third DLC, Old World Blues, features B movie humor and a plot about a group of mad scientists. The final story driven DLC was Lonesome Road, in which the player tracks down another courier named Ulysses, who had turned down the job to deliver the Platinum Chip to Mr. House. Two additional non-story driven DLC add-ons were released: Courier's Stash and Gun Runners' Arsenal. Courier's Stash granted access to the items that were originally released as pre-order bonuses, and Gun Runners' Arsenal added new weapons, modifications, and types of ammunition.

Reception

Initial reception

Upon its release, Fallout: New Vegas received positive reviews from critics. Bethesda offered Obsidian a bonus payment if any version of the game received an 85/100 or higher on the review aggregator website Metacritic. Fallout: New Vegas missed the threshold by one point, as Metacritic assigned the game a weighted average critic score of 84/100 for the Windows and Xbox 360 versions, and an 82/100 for the PlayStation 3 version. When asked about barely missing the threshold, Obsidian CEO Feargus Urquhart said, "It was in the contract, it was what it said. We didn't put it in there and we signed it. I wasn't crying over it by any stretch of the imagination." Bethesda's decision to use Metacritic's rating as a determinant for bonus payment was met with some criticism, as journalists felt that the website lacked the objectivity needed to measure the quality of a game.

Fallout: New Vegas's story and writing were well received, and were consistently highlighted in reviews. Craig Pearson of PC Gamer described the story as a significant improvement over Fallout 3, and appreciated how factions would adapt to the player's choices and previous actions. The British version of Official Xbox Magazine called the story "staggering in scope and consistent in quality", with particular praise for the final quest. Despite their enjoyment, some critics bemoaned the lack of memorable story moments when compared to Fallout 3. Game Informer's Andrew Reiner wrote, "Obsidian’s writing is top notch (especially the dialogue), and I wanted to see more from most of the characters I met, but none of the scripted moments deliver the nuclear bang that Bethesda achieved."

The side quests received praise, and some reviewers felt they were more interesting than the main story. Kevin VanOrd of GameSpot greatly appreciated the amount of solutions each quest offered, such as a quest that allowed the player to either fight robots in an abandoned museum or steal a keycard and avoid confrontation altogether. Reiner offered similar commentary, and said, "In just the missions and story, New Vegas offers a nearly unprecedented level of depth ... it delivers a true sense of ownership over the experience and gives you thousands of reasons why you should come back and play it again and again." Kristine Steimer of IGN gave particular praise to the map, as she felt it acted as a catalyst to find new side quests and unique locations.

Since Obsidian chose to make only minor adjustments to the gameplay, some reviewers described Fallout: New Vegas as merely a large expansion of Fallout 3 rather than a separate game. Steimer wrote, "I often want to call it Fallout 3: New Vegas. Since the first game was so widely loved, that's certainly not a bad thing, but New Vegas does feel like a giant, awesome expansion." Pearson was disappointed that there were few technological advancements made in Fallout: New Vegas. Pearson said, "New areas, characters and factions, but the same clunky inventory and character models. Two years to stay exactly where you were." Francesca Reyes of the American version of Official Xbox Magazine struggled to recommend the game to anyone who did not enjoy Fallout 3. The newly added gameplay mechanics, such as faction reputation and Hardcore Mode, were well received, as reviewers felt they added an additional layer of complexity over Fallout 3. By contrast, reviewers were divided in their opinions on the companions. Christopher Monfette of G4 felt the companions provided a stronger emotional connection than any moment in the main quest, while Dan Whitehead of Eurogamer found the companions to be more trouble than they were worth due to their penchant for ignoring the commands he gave them.

Many reviewers derided the glitches, which were seen as substantive and disruptive to gameplay. Among the more common glitches noted in reviews were poor companion and enemy pathfinding, framerate issues, and crashes. Mike Nelson of 1Up.com stated that Fallout: New Vegas had some of the most frustrating glitches he had ever seen, and he would have given the game a higher score had it not been for them. A reviewer for Edge wrote, "Creatively, New Vegas gets almost everything right. Mechanically and technically, it's a tragedy." Some reviewers noted that they still enjoyed the game despite the glitches. Giant Bomb's Jeff Gerstmann wrote, "When I reflect on the experience, I'll probably think about the times the game locked up on me or broke in a dozen other crazy ways first, before thinking about the great world and the objectives that fill it. If you were able to look past the issues that plagued Fallout 3 and before it, New Vegas will eventually show you a real good time."

Fallout: New Vegas won the 2011 Golden Joystick Award for Role-Playing Game of the Year, and the 2010 IGN award for Most Bang for Your Buck. Fallout: New Vegas was also nominated for the Role-Playing/Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year award during the 14th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, but lost to Mass Effect 2.

Reevaluation and legacy

In the years since its release, Fallout: New Vegas has been reevaluated by fans and journalists, and the game's reception has significantly improved. Cass Marshall of Polygon wrote, "Fallout: New Vegas has endured in the cultural zeitgeist in a way that few other games have." Some critics have referred to Fallout: New Vegas as the best game in the Fallout series, and as one of the greatest role-playing games of all time. In a retrospective article about the Fallout series, Ian Dransfield of Retro Gamer stated, "New Vegas served as the balance between Bethesda's new 3D approach, and Black Isle/Interplays focus on traditional mechanics." Eurogamer's Emma Kent wrote that, "it felt like even the smallest story was carefully crafted to maintain interest and deliver a rewarding kicker ... on the macro scale, New Vegas took a more serious tone by weaving a complex power struggle that mirrors many current real-world conflicts."

Part of the game's reevaluation stemmed from the patches that fixed many of its glitches. Kat Bailey of VG247 notes that once the discourse regarding the technical aspects subsided, players grew to appreciate the game for what it was. The subsequent DLC add-ons and the active modding community also contributed to the game's long-lasting appeal. PC Gamer's Dominic Tarason wrote, "Years of dedicated community efforts have culminated in New Vegas being a better game than ever." Among the more notable mods include Tale Of Two Wastelands, which combines the maps of Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas, and Fallout: New California, which serves as a prequel and expands on the story of the courier. A mod that added a new map to the game, Fallout: The Frontier, was the subject of media attention due to its large size and controversial content.

Some fans have negatively compared Fallout 3 and Fallout 4 to Fallout: New Vegas. When compared to Fallout: New Vegas, common criticisms ascribed by fans are uninteresting storylines, downgraded role-playing mechanics, and limited options for player expression. Patricia Hernandez of Kotaku commented, "It sometimes seems as though you can't talk about Fallout 4 without having someone start talking about how good New Vegas is, how much they wish Obsidian, rather than Bethesda, handled modern Fallout games. It's in every comments section for the Fallout 4 articles we post, I see it on Reddit a whole lot, and I've been emailed petitions about Obsidian and future Fallout games many, many times" said Hernandez. When the Fallout television series came out, the episode "The Trap" seemingly contradicted the plot of Fallout: New Vegas, which led some fans to believe that Bethesda was trying to retcon the game due to their perceived disdain of its reception. When Bethesda director Todd Howard clarified the issue, PC Gamer released an article with the headline "'New Vegas is a very, very important game to us,' says mildly exasperated Todd Howard, who will never stop getting grilled about New Vegas."

Since 2022, a yearly Fallout: New Vegas themed fan event has been held in the town of Goodsprings, Nevada, the player's starting location in-game.

Notes

1. Attributed to multiple references:
2. Attributed to multiple references:

References

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