$20 Game of the Week: Fallout New Vegas Ultimate Edition (PC, Xbox 360, PS3)

When Bethesda Software released Fallout 3 in 2008, it became one of the biggest and best RPGS of this past console generation while resurrecting the classic Role Playing Game franchise from years past. Obsidian Entertainment, whose development team consists of people who previously worked on the classic fallout games released this follow up. More than a simple spin-off and not quite a sequel, New Vegas is an RPG that uses the post-apocalyptic world of Fallout 3 to tell an all new story.

Taking place in the American southwest, FNV cast players as a simple courier (this being a Bethesda game, you construct him/her yourself) making a delivery. However, things go wrong, and you are shot in the face and left for dead. Thankfully you are rescued by a doctor who repairs you (of course this is how you develop your character’s starting skills and attributes) before setting off on your way. Seems the American Southwest is divided into two factions: Ceaser’s Legion, who are the rulers of Las Vegas and the NCR, who value old school democracy. The two factions are fighting over control of the Hoover Dam and you’ll no doubt be swept up in the conflict. Speaking of factions, the actions you perform during the game may affect your standing with a faction. If you have a good standing, they’ll help you out, while rival factions may attack you on sight.

If you played Fallout 3, then you’ll have no problems picking up and playing New Vegas. The S.P.E.C.I.A.L (Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, and Luck) system determines your stats, you can still earn perks for increasing your level, you still have the option of playing in either first or third person mode, and you can still use V.A.T.S (Vault-Tech Assisted Targeting System) to fight enemies if you want less of a shooter-ish approach to combat. Unfortunately, since it uses the same engine as Fallout 3, many of the same bugs are present. However, because this is the same graphical engine, you’ll get swept up in the environments around the post-apocalyptic landscape. This time around, the terrain is much more active than Fallout 3 with people and wildlife.

Obsidian took an ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ approach to Fallout New Vegas, and Fallout 3 definitely was not broken. Although it has many of the same issues the Fallout 3 had, it’s also just as fun and engaging. By the way, the Ultimate Edition includes all the DLC, so you’ll have dozens of hours of content to experience.