Escape from New Vegas

[Condiments]

Being an older RPG gamer I didn't really like Fallout 3 too much. The exploration was fun, but quests were undermined by the subpar writing quality, and the main quest somehow manages to be both banal, and bizarre. If you're really into exploring, and dungeon crawling, FO3 would be your game.

I loved Fallout: New Vegas, being made by Obsidian. They appeal to my more old school tastes, with great writing and quest design.

 

[SimpleJack]

I had more fun playing New Vegas than I ever did playing Fallout 3 so fuck you all!

...im kidding.

Seriously though there was a lot more to do and the atmosphere was cooler (sorta wild west-ish)
I just liked it better.

 

[JamesStone]

To the first response, true, both California and Los Angeles were also bombed pretty badly, but the thing is, it´s not the location, but the situation. Los Angeles, for example, survived because their Vault wasn´t a social experiment, it was a "how this will be" but without the hallucinogenic drugs, or the ultra sounds reaction, or the "Im gonna lock you away foreva" deal. So enough pre-War men survived to use their knowledge. Now in DC almost every Vault was a social experiment that went wrong, and the ones out there were been ravashed by +50 years of Rad creatures that evolved a lot, not to mention a bunch of green dumb bastards that kill or capture everything on sight, and use fear tactics like treatining to eat their victims, and dismember the ones they kill. You see, if only a few things go wrong at first step, everything in the future will be compromised, like a giant domino effect.

What you say is true, howeverm I think that Bethesda took the whole experiment thing a little too far. Don't you think Vault-Tec would have installed at least one "normal" vault, maybe one for their employees considering their HQ was located in D.C.?

Spoiler: Lots of stuff coming up

And to the fact that Bethesda didn´t explain the FEV thing: There´s no need for it. We can conclude something without the game having to hold our hands and explaining everything. I mean, think about it: it is said that Vault-tec was a Enclave related company. The Enclave have indirect and direct control over the US experiments. They could have easily transported FEV to Vault 87, but obviously it was a prototype, because it caused a inconvient effect of stupidifing it´s subjects, even more if the subject is irradiated (but that last bit was only knowed after the War), and causing gene mutation over time. It was transported to a vault because the Enclave knew that a nuclear war was coming, and Super Soldiers are the best way to garantee dominance to whatever comes in their way after the bombs. The Enclave didn´t have direct control over the experiments at Mariposa and West-tec, so Vault 87 was probably their little failsafe, just in case they couldn´t hold the research bases. See, I used my mind to think about the most likely reason that FEV ended up in Vault 87. And this FEV might not have been a prototype, maybe it mutated after a direct warhead hit the Vault blast doors.

1. For spoiler tags, it's just

Spoiler

, not [spoilers].

I think there is a need, FEV was a big part of the Fallout world, and to just introduce it to the east coast without any explanation was either an attempt to make something really important ambiguous, or just lazy. Ambiguity works better for things like character morals and actions, or certain battle events, but not for something this important.

Plus, the FEV tests didn't become successful until about 2 years before the bombs fell. Now I'm not saying it would take more than 2 years to get the FEV across to the east, but with all the problems America had at the time it's kinda hard to believe.

Spoiler

First, yes, they installed a couple of normal Vaults: 17. That´s the canonical number of experiment free Vaults in America. So Washington might have been one of the few towns not to get a normal Vault because a) as the capital, Vault-tec knew it would be heavily bombarded so why give a shit if most people wouldn´t survive b) the really important people, aka the president, the senators, the scientists, the elite troopers and themselves (basically the whole Enclave) would already be gone in a safe base when the inhabitants went for the Vaults, so they just didn´t care.

To the second one. The problems that raged America would actually contribute to the safe passage of FEV quickly. With so much shit going on, who would care about a shipment from government officials and US allied companies?

 

[ChupathingyX]

First, yes, they installed a couple of normal Vaults: 17. That´s the canonical number of experiment free Vaults in America. So Washington might have been one of the few towns not to get a normal Vault because a) as the capital, Vault-tec knew it would be heavily bombarded so why give a shit if most people wouldn´t survive b) the really important people, aka the president, the senators, the scientists, the elite troopers and themselves (basically the whole Enclave) would already be gone in a safe base when the inhabitants went for the Vaults, so they just didn´t care.

That's true, but still you'd think there would eb at least one normal vault? Oh well, Bethesda, what are you gonna do about their creative design team?

To the second one. The problems that raged America would actually contribute to the safe passage of FEV quickly. With so much shit going on, who would care about a shipment from government officials and US allied companies?

Well I don't think they would "ship" it if you're talking about the literal term of "shipping" something. Still, you're guessing/assuming, and although that is a good thing and your points for the most part are quite vaild, it isn't fact. Bethesda did a bad job when it came to consistency in Fallout 3, FEV is a perfect example.

 

[GonzoGamer]

I know NV had it's good points, (like jury-rigging) but it also had fucktons of glitches and loading times. If you're patient, that probably won't bother you too much.

That?s the thing. If New Vegas wasn?t full of glitches, crashes, and load times (some of which never ended) I would?ve thought it was the best game from last year.
But even so, I wouldn?t have liked it more than F3.
While I liked the improvements they made with the main story (branching with factions), the shooting, hardcore mode, and the companions, New Vegas was missing a lot of what made Fallout 3 so amazing.
Like even though the Mojave was in a much better state than the capital wasteland, the latter felt more alive and spontaneous. Mostly because it had all manner of weird encounters that would be waiting for you in the middle of nowhere: escaping slaves, wastelanders fighting over water, people you?ve (intentionally or unintentionally) rescued running up to thank you, and all sorts of stuff like that. Even with the Wild Wasteland perk, the Mojave felt like a relatively dead place that wasn?t nearly as spontaneous and unpredictable. And while there were more locations in the Mojave, few of them were the expansive narrative oozing settings in Fallout 3. The only place in the Mojave that felt as well thought out as the majority of locations in Fallout 3 was Vault 11. While that place made me feel like I had just walked in on a Twilight Zone episode?s climax, there were a lot of settings in the capital wateland that gave me that particular brand of heebe geebies.
As I?ve played Fallout 1 & 2, I can understand why some people liked New Vegas more but personally, I felt more lost, more overwhelmed(in games that can be a good thing), more spontaneous, more rewarded, more creeped out, and generally more enjoyment with Fallout 3.

 

[JamesStone]

First, yes, they installed a couple of normal Vaults: 17. That´s the canonical number of experiment free Vaults in America. So Washington might have been one of the few towns not to get a normal Vault because a) as the capital, Vault-tec knew it would be heavily bombarded so why give a shit if most people wouldn´t survive b) the really important people, aka the president, the senators, the scientists, the elite troopers and themselves (basically the whole Enclave) would already be gone in a safe base when the inhabitants went for the Vaults, so they just didn´t care.

That's true, but still you'd think there would eb at least one normal vault? Oh well, Bethesda, what are you gonna do about their creative design team?

To the second one. The problems that raged America would actually contribute to the safe passage of FEV quickly. With so much shit going on, who would care about a shipment from government officials and US allied companies?

Well I don't think they would "ship" it if you're talking about the literal term of "shipping" something. Still, you're guessing/assuming, and although that is a good thing and your points for the most part are quite vaild, it isn't fact. Bethesda did a bad job when it came to consistency in Fallout 3, FEV is a perfect example.

True, it isn´t fact, but with logic we can find out why. But your point is pretty valid, seeing that it´s most likely that this entire reasoning exercise wasn´t done on purpose, but rather because Bethesda was kinda lazy.

 

[Evil the White]

I feel that NV is better once you actually get to New Vegas. Mainly because the game is very linearly-built until you get past Novac and you get to explore all the fun and different places.

Also, because half the side-bits you can do up to there, you can't do without dropping all the points you get for the first few levels into one skill.