Okay it's official: I fucking HATE "Old World Blues"

[BloatedGuppy]

Hooooooooooooooow did this get popularly acclaimed as the best of the New Vegas DLC? In just a few short play sessions I've gone from generally enjoying my replay of the game to generally hating it, and not coincidentally this transformation occurred immediately after starting Old World Blues.

1. The Humor. Okay, I'm not going to be a total churl...it's occasionally funny. There's nothing WRONG with the humor, per se. It's a little bit Try Hard, but it has its moments. However, this is a 10+ hour expansion, and the jokes go on the recycle button very, very quickly. Most of the humor was quite broad and one-note to begin with. You've heard the phrase "brevity is the soul of wit"? The humor in Old World Blues sailed past the "now it's annoying" line about 3 hours ago and has been in rapid descent ever since.

2. The Bugs. This is partly the game as a whole, but this expansion has really turned things up to 11. Not only am I crashing with clockwork regularity (last crash was during a quick save in case of a crash, huzzah) but the terrain is far more borked than usual. I'm getting stuck on the world, falling through the world, mobs are getting stuck on the world or randomly clipping through scenery. A Nightstalker just clipped through a goddam door and started biting my knee. This is seriously fucking ridiculous.

3. Most egregious, however, is the HP/DT stacking. I've never seen anything like it, and I endured the god awful albino radscorpions and Super Mutant Masters from the FO3 DLC. I'm a...I want to say level 44...character, loaded with perks, loaded with top end gear and top end ammo. My modified Anti-Material Rifle with armor piercing rounds...the gun I 2-shotted the Legendary Deathclaw with...takes 5 bullets to put down a routine cyberhound. It took 10+ to kill a random robot. And that's assuming I opened from stealth. This is not challenging, this is tedious. Let us not forget that the only source of resupply, the Sink, has 2-3 new bullets for sale every 2-3 days. Whee!

 

[Daft Time]

Hooooooooooooooow did this get popularly acclaimed as the best of the New Vegas DLC?

...it was? Holy shit, I must have played the game wrong. It was my least favourite, or second least favourite, depending on how much I hate Sierra Madre one at the time. I agree with everything you've said. I've never really appreciated most the humour in the new Fallout games and this DLC felt like it was meant to be "the funny one". I was probably never going to appreciate it, without the other issues.

 

[Requia]

I can't speak to the bugs you've seen, the only one I noticed was where the Sink decides to stop restocking ammo (not that it would help much if it remembered). But Bethesda *always* sucks at the actual RPG mechanics, they get judged on their world design and writing alone for some reason.

 

[Goofguy]

I may not have been the most impartial gamer when I played through it as I was too busy being giddy about Rusty Venture being one of the robots. Of all the 4 DLCs for New Vegas, it was one of the better ones. The other ones were pretty uninspired.

 

[Vern5]

I can't speak to the bugs you've seen, the only one I noticed was where the Sink decides to stop restocking ammo (not that it would help much if it remembered). But Bethesda *always* sucks at the actual RPG mechanics, they get judged on their world design and writing alone for some reason.

Obsidian were the designers behind Fallout New Vegas and all of its DLC. Bethesda only provided the engine.

OT: Old World Blues was touted as the favorite DLC by the majority of reviewers because it is the only light-hearted DLC of the New Vegas series. Some people like that stuff for some reason.

I, personally, preferred the more reflective and oppressive tone of Dead Money.

 

[Username Redacted]

To each their own. I appreciated Old World Blues for both its humor and its unique items/perks/whatever (i.e. the make killing Cazadores easier perk). I really liked the appliances in the apartment. Also to be fair I am also one of the rare creatures who likes Dead Money as, to me, it is one of the few decent survival horror games to come out in the last few years. Lastly I would add that throughout the entirety of both games and all of their respective DLC I encountered far more bugs with Fallout 3 than I did with Fallout: New Vegas.

 

[Vern5]

I can't speak to the bugs you've seen, the only one I noticed was where the Sink decides to stop restocking ammo (not that it would help much if it remembered). But Bethesda *always* sucks at the actual RPG mechanics, they get judged on their world design and writing alone for some reason.

Obsidian were the designers behind Fallout New Vegas and all of its DLC. Bethesda only provided the engine.

OT: Old World Blues was touted as the favorite DLC by the majority of reviewers because it is the only light-hearted DLC of the New Vegas series. Some people like that stuff for some reason.

I, personally, preferred the more reflective and oppressive tone of Dead Money.

The only thing I hated from Dead Money was those damn speakers.

I actually thought the speakers were a nice touch. Destroying them was just another part of the game to me. There are worse features they could have included.

 

[Chris Tian]

2. The Bugs. This is partly the game as a whole, but this expansion has really turned things up to 11. Not only am I crashing with clockwork regularity (last crash was during a quick save in case of a crash, huzzah) but the terrain is far more borked than usual. I'm getting stuck on the world, falling through the world, mobs are getting stuck on the world or randomly clipping through scenery. A Nightstalker just clipped through a goddam door and started biting my knee. This is seriously fucking ridiculous.

3. Most egregious, however, is the HP/DT stacking. I've never seen anything like it, and I endured the god awful albino radscorpions and Super Mutant Masters from the FO3 DLC. I'm a...I want to say level 44...character, loaded with perks, loaded with top end gear and top end ammo. My modified Anti-Material Rifle with armor piercing rounds...the gun I 2-shotted the Legendary Deathclaw with...takes 5 bullets to put down a routine cyberhound. It took 10+ to kill a random robot. And that's assuming I opened from stealth. This is not challenging, this is tedious. Let us not forget that the only source of resupply, the Sink, has 2-3 new bullets for sale every 2-3 days. Whee!

I find it often crazy how different people perceive those things, although one might assume bugs and difficulty level should be a somewhat objective issue.

I don't remember any more bugs than in the main game, but on the other hand i seemed to have had far fewer bugs than most people, thanks to some mods.

The third point I don't get, I played FO:NV on "Master" and had no problems with my stealth/sniper guy. Is this "HP/DT stacking" a bug too? Or something else bugged out on you? Otherwise i don't understand how it can be that you seem to need alot more shots than i did.

 

[scorptatious]

I thought Old World Blues was good. The bit where you meet the Think Tank for the first time I felt dragged on for too long, but other than that it was good.

Oh and those Nightstalkers. Fuck them.

 

[Melon Hunter]

Eh, it was alright. I was laughing when I first got there, but it does drag on an awful lot and eventually becomes really rather dull. The B-movie theme was fun and all, and I liked the items it added, but yeah, it felt like it was trying too hard to be funny.

To be honest, I'm one of those weird people who really liked Honest Hearts. I loved the beauty of the setting, and the exploration of the tribes beyond the influence of Ceasar's Legion. I think that Dead Money might win out over HH, but for me, Old World Blues drags on for too long to make it my favourite.

 

[Requia]

I can't speak to the bugs you've seen, the only one I noticed was where the Sink decides to stop restocking ammo (not that it would help much if it remembered). But Bethesda *always* sucks at the actual RPG mechanics, they get judged on their world design and writing alone for some reason.

Obsidian were the designers behind Fallout New Vegas and all of its DLC. Bethesda only provided the engine.

OT: Old World Blues was touted as the favorite DLC by the majority of reviewers because it is the only light-hearted DLC of the New Vegas series. Some people like that stuff for some reason.

I, personally, preferred the more reflective and oppressive tone of Dead Money.

Nope, the Core game is Obsidian, but the 4 major DLCs are all Bethesda, though they used the old Van Buren notes for Honest Hearts.

 

[Mossberg Shotty]

To each their own. I appreciated Old World Blues for both its humor and its unique items/perks/whatever (i.e. the make killing Cazadores easier perk). I really liked the appliances in the apartment. Also to be fair I am also one of the rare creatures who likes Dead Money as, to me, it is one of the few decent survival horror games to come out in the last few years. Lastly I would add that throughout the entirety of both games and all of their respective DLC I encountered far more bugs with Fallout 3 than I did with Fallout: New Vegas.

It's been a long time since I've played it, but if I'm not mistaken, I have some rather fond memories of it. It was too difficult at times, to the point of basically being a grind, but I liked some of the humor/items and such. But I have the terrible feeling that if I had to replay it, I would probably hate it.

Dead Money I enjoyed less. I really liked the characters, if not the scenery. I'm curious though, I didn't know it was intended to be a survival/horror type setup. I don't remember it that well, but I don't think I ever got that vibe from it.

 

[jackinmydaniels]

I disliked New Vegas itself for a lot of those reasons stated, it just seems like they're amplified more in this particular DLC. To each their own I guess, but it never seemed like it was for me.

 

[Sir Thomas Sean Connery]

The humor is utterly subjective. I found it funny as hell. You didn't. It isn't an objective complaint.

As for the bugs, also pretty subjective. I went through the whole DLC 3 times without a crash and only VERY minor clipping problems.

In terms of the enemy health, I agree to some extent that they tend to sponge a bit too much, but what you described is crazy. I think you installed a mod or modified your damage with console commands or something. Also, finding the right weapon is extremely important. If the Anti-Mat rifle isn't working, try something else. Also, if an enemy doesn't have armor, for fucks sake don't use AP rounds. They lose a lot of damage on unarmored targets

I, personally, preferred the more reflective and oppressive tone of Dead Money.

Holy shit! Another person who thought Dead Money was great!

You have made me very happy.

 

[-Ezio-]

I can't speak to the bugs you've seen, the only one I noticed was where the Sink decides to stop restocking ammo (not that it would help much if it remembered). But Bethesda *always* sucks at the actual RPG mechanics, they get judged on their world design and writing alone for some reason.

Obsidian were the designers behind Fallout New Vegas and all of its DLC. Bethesda only provided the engine.

OT: Old World Blues was touted as the favorite DLC by the majority of reviewers because it is the only light-hearted DLC of the New Vegas series. Some people like that stuff for some reason.

I, personally, preferred the more reflective and oppressive tone of Dead Money.

Nope, the Core game is Obsidian, but the 4 major DLCs are all Bethesda, though they used the old Van Buren notes for Honest Hearts.

vern's right the add-ons were all developed by obsidian. bethesda only published.

 

[Animyr]

Nope, the Core game is Obsidian, but the 4 major DLCs are all Bethesda, though they used the old Van Buren notes for Honest Hearts.

Huh, everything I've seen lists Obsidian as the developer. And I find it hard to believe that Bethesda produced story as good and gameplay as bad as Dead Money's.

As for OWB, I liked it. I'd say it was my second favorite, behind Dead Money (which I like for the writing, obviously). The humor didn't really drag for me, perhaps in part because I spent large stretches of time wandering the wastes, and I didn't have all that many bugs either. It was surprisingly difficult at first, but I got by.

 

[Lucem712]

It's by far my favourite, though it completely kicked my ass. But, never again, NEVER AGAIN, will I play Dead Money. Fuck that DLC, seriously. I love the story and the characters, I kind of like the atmosphere but FUCK some of the mechanics in that. I am referring specifically to the 'Bomb Collar'. Nothing is more annoying than walking around looking out for ghosts and bam, rapid beeping and head EXPLOSION.

I'm sorry...I'm...not bitter, or anything...-cough-

 

[uchytjes]

I absolutely loved everything about Old World Blues. That said, let me counter your points as best I can.

1. Humor

Yeah, the humor can get kind of stale after a while, but it was quite enjoyable in my opinion. Also, I recommend finishing the DLC before you comment on the humor more. Its kinda tied into the story if I remember right.

2. Bugs

It may just be your luck. I had a bug-free run of the entire expansion. Also, I hear the game may not work too well on certain systems, so this is a "your mileage may vary" situation, as it is with most Bethesda games.

3. Damage/hit points

I know EXACTLY where you are coming from. I tried going in with the best guns, and perked out to boot and ended up getting my ass handed to me. I advise against the use of ANY guns. If you want to get the most enjoyment out of the DLC, I recommend the Saturnite fist melee weapon and the upgraded "superheated" fist once you get the toaster working. Go punch stuff in the face, it really is the best way to go about it. Hell, I even remember going around and hitting the Cazadoeres and nightstalkers with the thing and it working wonders.