Fallout: New Vegas

Fallout: New Vegas is a role-playing video game developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Bethesda Softworks. While New Vegas is not a direct sequel, it uses the same engine and style as Fallout 3. It was developed by a few of the employees who worked on previous Fallout games at Black Isle Studios, along with a larger number of new employees. It is set primarily in a post-apocalyptic Nevada, although some areas of California and Arizona are also visited.

The game was released on October 19, 2010 in North America, October 22, 2010 in Europe, and November 4, 2010 in Asia. It is available on the PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3.

Development history
Fallout: New Vegas was announced on April 20, 2009 at Bethesda's London showcase. The first official information was released in the February 2010 issue of PC Gamer. A cinematic teaser trailer and a gameplay trailer were released. The game spent a total of 18 months in development.

Setting
The game is set in and around a post-apocalyptic retro-futuristic Las Vegas, following the Great War between the U.S., and China as a conventional and nuclear war that occurred on October 22 - October 23, 2077, and lasted less than two hours, while causing immense damage and destruction. Before the Great War was the Resource Wars, during which the United Nations disbanded, a plague rendered the United States paranoid, and Canada was annexed. The city of Las Vegas itself wasn't hit as hard as most of the other districts, with most buildings being left intact as a result. The Hoover Dam supplies free electricity and water to those who control it.

Story
The story has taken some parts from the Fallout and Fallout 2 stories, and is for the most part unrelated to its predecessor, Fallout 3.

Fallout: New Vegas takes place in 2281, four years after the events of Fallout 3, thirty-nine years after Fallout 2, and one-hundred-twenty years after Fallout. The New California Republic plays a major part in the game's story, being in a three-way struggle amongst the Caesar's Legion slavers, and the mysterious Mr. House.

The Courier, the player's character, was meant to deliver a package from Primm to New Vegas. However, he/she is intercepted by the Great Khans led by a mysterious man, who shoots him/her and takes the package, leaving the Courier for dead in a shallow grave. The Courier is later found by a robot named Victor, and is taken to the settlement of Goodsprings, where Doctor Mitchell saves his/her life. After the Courier is given some medical tests, the player is pushed back into the open world, and the quest Ain't That a Kick in the Head begins. Fallout: New Vegas has a definitive ending, unlike Fallout 3.

Endings for Fallout: New Vegas are dependent on what actions the player took via quests during the game, with separate endings being shown for each major location, political faction, and recruitable companion.

Gameplay
The gameplay system is similar to Fallout 3 gameplay, although some changes have been made, one being changes to the combat system to give the feel of a first-person shooter, including the ability to use weapon iron sights. The game also made a change from the true bullet flight paths in Fallout 3 to simulated bullet flight paths, which means the bullets, when fired, originate from the center of the screen's crosshairs, rather than the tip of the gun's barrel.

Hardcore mode
Hardcore mode is an optional setting which makes the game more realistic, with gameplay elements such as dehydration, and non-instantaneous healing. It can be turned on and off mid-game. Either a trophy or achievement is awarded for completing Fallout: New Vegas on Hardcore mode, however, in order to earn it, the entire game must be played in Hardcore, from the point first prompted until the endgame sequence, without ever turning the setting off. The Casual/Hardcore mode distinction is independent of difficulty settings.

Character system
The SPECIAL system returns, and directly influences speech options and quests. Unlike Fallout 3, traits are available for taking, and perks are gained every two levels instead of every one, a move made by the developers to avoid creating overpowered Couriers.

Combat
The Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System, or V.A.T.S., is an active pause combat system implemented in the game, just like in Fallout 3. While using V.A.T.S., the otherwise real-time combat is paused. V.A.T.S. also allows the gory deaths in the game to be shown in slow motion and great detail. Attacks in V.A.T.S. cost Action Points, and the player can target specific body areas for attacks to inflict specific injuries.

During real time combat, you can now look down the iron sights of weapons, rather than the zoom in Fallout 3. Unlike Fallout 3, melee weapons now have special moves in V.A.T.S., such as "Fore!" for golf clubs.

New Vegas also brings back the Damage Threshold (DT) mechanic absent from Fallout 3. If an enemy has a high DT, some weapons may be ineffective. This is indicated by a red shield near the enemy's health bar when attacking it, both in and out of V.A.T.S. The damage threshold will be due to high armor or a built-in mechanic to that character, and will require the Courier to either retreat or attack with a more powerful weapon. Players also take much more damage in V.A.T.S. than in Fallout 3 (75%, up from 10%), which makes dying during V.A.T.S. a real possibility. Another new feature is the presence of a dynamic 'Kill Cam' which shows the killing bullet in slow motion, permitting players who prefer to play in real-time to experience the same cinematic feel of V.A.T.S. This camera can also be enabled/disabled at will, and is only shown on killing the last enemy of a group.

Karma and Reputation
Karma is back, incorporated alongside a reputation system similar to Fallout 2. Reputation is a form of tracking relationships within the many factions and towns of Fallout: New Vegas, such as the NCR or Goodsprings. A high reputation with a faction or town may give certain benefits, such as gifts from the people of that town, while a low reputation may lead to hits being taken out against you. Karma in New Vegas has little effect compared to Fallout 3; reputation is the primary factor as to how people will react to you.

Weapon Modding
A modding feature allows you to modify your gun by adding scopes, extended magazines, silencers, and more. Weapons can have a maximum of three attached mods, and they cannot be removed once placed. Obsidian implemented this feature as a direct response to the popularity of the Weapon Mod Kits mod for Fallout 3.

Unique weapons
There are unique versions of weapons in Fallout: New Vegas, a feature introduced in Fallout 3. Unique weapons have different textures and adornments. They were not originally intended to be modified and most cannot be, however some are still able to take on modification (such as the weathered 10mm pistol), even so their built-in abilities and higher damage output often make up for their lack of flexibility. Counting all the DLCs, there are a total of 81 unique weapons to be found inside the game, but some require the completion of a quest to find (e.g Pew Pew).

Companion wheel
A new companion wheel has been added to quickly and easily give companions commands such as 'Talk', 'Use Ranged Weapons' and 'Wait Here'. It also makes it easier to restore their health (using stimpaks) and swap equipment. The companions also have their likes and dislikes; giving a sniper companion a shotgun, for example, will result in a nasty remark and decreased effectiveness.

Gambling
The city of New Vegas, as well as other smaller settlements in the game, have a variety of colorful casinos or other forms of gambling to explore. In Fallout: New Vegas, several gambling mini-games have been added, including blackjack, roulette, and slots. Outside the casinos, many people across the Mojave play Caravan, a card game designed by Obsidian specifically for New Vegas. Luck is a considerable factor when it comes to gambling. You get money for winning, and floor managers will congratulate you with food or drink and maybe a VIP stay at the hotel. Winning too much money after that, however, will make the managers come down, give you the customary "tap on the shoulder", and tell you to leave the casino on suspicions of cheating. You will not be able to gamble in that casino anymore but are still able to enter and buy items or food from the casino. This however will not remove your current chips.

Developers
Fallout: New Vegas was developed by Obsidian Entertainment, a company founded by Feargus Urquhart and Chris Avellone, two of the makers of Fallout 2 (originally at Black Isle Studios). The project is led by J.E. Sawyer, one of the lead designers of Van Buren, the canceled Fallout 3 project by Black Isle Studios. John R. Gonzalez is the lead creative designer, while Obsidian founder Chris Avellone, who worked on Fallout 2 and Van Buren is a senior designer. Joe Sanabria is the lead artist.

Collector's Edition
The Collector's Edition of Fallout: New Vegas includes Fallout: New Vegas; "Lucky 7" poker chips, replicas from the ones found in the game; a deck of Fallout: New Vegas themed playing cards; a replica of the "Lucky 38" poker chip (The platinum chip) from the game; “All Roads”, a graphic novel about the history of Fallout: New Vegas written by Chris Avellone; and a "The Making of Fallout: New Vegas" DVD. The entire package comes in a collectible Fallout: New Vegas box. The Collector's Edition was also available for pre-order.

Add-ons
A total of four add-ons, Dead Money, Honest Hearts, Old World Blues, and Lonesome Road have been released. The pre-order bonuses are now released as another add-on, Courier's Stash, as well as another add-on called Gun Runners' Arsenal which was released on September 27, 2011.

Fallout: New Vegas had four different pre-order bonuses: the Classic Pack, Caravan Pack, Tribal Pack, and Mercenary Pack. Each one had a unique suit of armor and a unique weapon not found in-game, along with a few other items that are available within the game.

Ultimate Edition
The Fallout: New Vegas Ultimate Edition was released on February 7th, 2012 in North America and February 10th in Europe. The package contents are the base game along with all add-ons, including Gun Runner's Arsenal and Courier's Stash.

Controversies and censorship

 * In the German version, there is no gore. German players that want the full Fallout experience can - as with Fallout 3 - buy the Austrian version which basically features the uncut PEGI version with German speech and text. However, the German Ultimate Edition is completely uncensored.
 * Just like in Fallout 3, the Fat Man weapon was once again renamed to the "Nuka Launcher" in the Japanese version of Fallout: New Vegas. The Little Boy mod, however, was not.
 * Fallout: New Vegas was officially banned in the United Arab Emirates, but the ban was repealed later as it did not contain enough violence to meet the criteria of a ban after a test run was made. The ban lasted for about a day after the game's release and the game was soon stocked in stores fully uncensored (with gore) alongside the collector's edition. The ultimate edition was released without any issues as the original game was already in stock and the ultimate edition was simply the same game with all DLC included.

Official links

 * Official site
 * Fallout: New Vegas Forum
 * Fallout: New Vegas on Wikipedia