Fallout: New Vegas Review

Post by Steve Farrelly @ 01:48am 20/10/10 | 76 Comments

As promised, our Fallout: New Vegas review embargo has been lifted (despite seeing reviews popping up online all day), and so we now have the full AusGamers verdict for you.

So has Obsidian lived up to the legacy left in the wake of Fallout 3? Or have they surpassed Bethesda's efforts given they have actual original Fallout devs working within their walls? Has the game fallen victim to the notion Obsidian often lack in the polish department? Or has working on Bethesda's proprietary engine helped?

We answer all these questions and more in our very own in-depth review.

fallout: new vegas obsidian review ausgamers bethesda

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Latest Comments

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Khel
Posted 02:42am 20/10/10

Hrmm, sounds like a good game, but the lack of polish and buggyness is what I was afraid of :(

Might wait for a few patches before picking it up, I got plenty to keep me amused in the meantime.

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Nerfington
Posted 02:55am 20/10/10

Man, this sounds awesome (minus the bugs). I could not get into fallout 3 at all because it seemed too cheery and directionless for me. Now if only I could find the time...

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infi
Posted 05:32am 20/10/10

I like good storyline, bugs don't bother me that much. That is why I was a STALKER tragic.

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Spook
Posted 06:17am 20/10/10

STALKER was hard :(

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Tim Tibbetts
Posted 08:24am 20/10/10

I started playing it last night thanks to some VPN goodness with Steam. I'm enjoying, probably more so than Fallout 3 which I really had issues getting into. I've only played it for about 2 hours though, but I am really looking forward to sinking my teeth into it a bit more.

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groganus
Posted 10:23am 20/10/10

This review concerns me, i liked fallout3, wasnt a huge fan of it though. Probably due to me thinking fallout 1 and 2 are the holy grails of post apocolyptic rpg gaming. I was hoping New Vegas would fix alot of the small niggling issues i had with fallout3, but your review suggests otherwise. :S

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orbitor
Posted 10:24am 20/10/10

I think a huge proportion of my favourite games were bugfests when released. that's because i guess they tend to be ambitious titles.

eg. STALKER, Fallout 1/2, Op Flash, Morrowind, Oblivion, Vampire: Bloodlines.

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groganus
Posted 10:55am 20/10/10

Vampire bloodlines, was that the one on source engine with teh hawt vampire chicks in school girl outfits, if so... sadly the bugs forced me to stop playing and i never found time to get back into it.

Vampire: masquarde on the other hand was f*****g awesome and i played it to death.

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arclore
Posted 11:16am 20/10/10

Is this game standalone or DLC? If it's a new game is it as big as the original?

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E.T.
Posted 11:42am 20/10/10

Oh Steve, your such a soft touch on reviews. 9 out of 10 with all the complaints you have!? The quality of games will not improve unless your not afraid to use a little bit of stick bud.

PC Gamer gave it 84 out of 100. I think their score is more accurate. IGN gave it 8.5 as well.
Maybe you need to use half points? Just a suggestion.

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groganus
Posted 11:43am 20/10/10

Or maybe don't get a big fanboy to review the game :P

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Steve Farrelly
Posted 12:36pm 20/10/10

my issues are technical issues that will likely be fixed in patches, and just that the game engine itself is looking dated, the sum of all the gameplay parts is awesome though; it's not that I'm a fanboy - I never played the first Fallout games, only Fallout 3, but this is really awesome. Eurogamer also gave it 9/10, I genuinely believe it's worth that score

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fpot
Posted 12:45pm 20/10/10

I haven't read the review (paranoid about spoilers) but from what I have played so far 9 seems very deserving. The game owns.

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E.T.
Posted 01:18pm 20/10/10

my issues are technical issues that will likely be fixed in patches, and just that the game engine itself is looking dated, the sum of all the gameplay parts is awesome though; it's not that I'm a fanboy - I never played the first Fallout games, only Fallout 3, but this is really awesome. Eurogamer also gave it 9/10, I genuinely believe it's worth that score

I spose the problem I have with all that Steve is that what you are reviewing is a product and the product is the sum of all its parts. You should not speculate on what may or may not be fixed with future patches. Surly you should review what is in front of you as this is what people are parting their hard earned money on.

Anyway, I dont want to labour on the point as I think its well made by now.

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arclore
Posted 01:22pm 20/10/10

so is this a full sized game?

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Khel
Posted 01:37pm 20/10/10

Yes, its a full game, not DLC

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Dazhel
Posted 01:44pm 20/10/10

Yeah I can see where Steve is coming from though - anyone who looks at just glances at the numeric score or just looks at the metacritic rating without reading a few full in depth reviews is bound to run into problems at some stage.
The 'What we Liked' and 'What we didn't Like' are much more valuable as a summary than X out of 10.

It's the same issue with factoring in inflated AU pricing into a review score. Pricing & bug levels change over time, but the rating is pretty much fixed unless review sites bother to come back and update their review as each patch comes out or as the prices fluctuate.

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ViscoS
Posted 05:19pm 20/10/10

Played a couple of hours by VPN. It's good, real good, but the $90 price tag still seems a bit steep.

That and there really are a LOT of bugs.

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Sc00bs
Posted 05:22pm 20/10/10

$90 for a game with 1-2+ yr old graphics and buggy as hell. no thanks

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Resonate
Posted 05:24pm 20/10/10

Loved fallout 3 but the npc animations were already becoming dated back in oblivion.

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Basket
Posted 06:26pm 20/10/10

don't pay 90 for it simple.... not as hard as it sounds don't buy it from steam aus and don't buy from eb games, people that take the 50 seconds to vpn it and save the money i tip my hat off to you.

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Eorl
Posted 07:07pm 20/10/10

Use www.ozgameshop.com much cheaper solution.

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Basket
Posted 07:30pm 20/10/10

you can buy it for $40 lol?

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Mantorok
Posted 07:58pm 20/10/10

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Sc00bs
Posted 07:59pm 20/10/10

bugs are soo annoying, especially if u havnt saved in a while and you get stuck or fall through the level.

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Nerfington
Posted 08:26pm 20/10/10

That's so creepy Mantorok. Gives me salad fingers chills. ><

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Basket
Posted 08:32pm 20/10/10

whats salad fingers :(

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Sc00bs
Posted 08:33pm 20/10/10

how can u not know what salad fingers is...

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Sc00bs
Posted 08:33pm 20/10/10

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Sc00bs
Posted 08:34pm 20/10/10

i like rusty spoons

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Sipawhore
Posted 09:27pm 20/10/10

I just worked out how to make a serious horror game...just hire poor programmers and animators :D

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konstie
Posted 11:03pm 20/10/10

apologies if you wrote this in your review steve (i don't want to read it all, you know i'm a fallout zoid), but did you play on a console or pc?

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qmass
Posted 11:05pm 20/10/10

try actually opening the review, it says at the very top what system they reviewed on.

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Steve Farrelly
Posted 11:31pm 20/10/10

whoa mantorok, I didn't come across anything remotely that bad :\

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Khel
Posted 02:10am 21/10/10

Ahahaha, I couldn't stop laughing at Mantorok's video, its so creepy and awesome

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Monkeez
Posted 03:28am 21/10/10

Haha Mantorok, his lines even seem to fit the creepiness of the bug.

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tHeBoRg
Posted 10:35am 21/10/10

It's unlocked on Steam, I just restarted the service and it says it is available and I can click play now.

There is also a 250mb patch for pc users...

http://bethblog.com/index.php/2010/10/20/updates-on-fallout-new-vegas/

last edited by tHeBoRg at 10:35:23 21/Oct/10

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groganus
Posted 12:37am 22/10/10

Well i gotta say, i am enjoying it way more then i did fallout 3.

The setting alone is helping quite a bit.

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kettels
Posted 07:19am 22/10/10

Bethesda engaging in more unethical practices? getting reviews taken down.

http://www.duckandcover.cx/forums/viewtopic.php?t=24716

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Dazhel
Posted 10:36am 22/10/10

Bethesda engaging in more unethical practices? getting reviews taken down.

Obsidian won't run in to the same issue - they've recycling the same game with the same tech as Bethesda put out two years ago so all the reviews can just be recycled as well.

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Fuzzy
Posted 10:37am 22/10/10

I agree with Groganus, I loved FO3, and I'm loving this even more. But I bought it on 360. Played it for about 4 hours last night without running into any bugs, maybe I just got lucky?

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groganus
Posted 02:44pm 22/10/10

So i played a good chunk last night, The tutorial imo was much better, i felt i was making an impact in the world right from the start, to compare it to fallout 3 id say in fallout 3 the tutorial introduced you to the back story of vault life, the tutorial in fallout:NV introduces you to the grim world of the wasteland and the life or die attitude of it all.

I've experienced only one bug, a dog had its eyes hanging out the side of its head. It was small bug and i probably wouldnt of notice dit had i not been looking for it.

Conversation feel more natural and flow alot better then fallout3, for me the conversations felt way to scripted like oblivions in fallout 3. In new vegas the scripts are written and delivered in a format that feels more immersive and it makes me want to listen to every word and hear more lore.

The ambience of the game is fantastic, i turned the radio on and had a listen and it was very typical to what you are use to hearin gin fallout3 but with a more country theme. However the actual in game music is fantastic, it blends with the sound of your footsteps and the ambient noises around you really well.

Crafting ammo is a nice touch, adds some more rpg in the mix.

The overall verdict for me and this game is that i finally have a next gen fallout game that feels like the originals.
Whilst it still lacks some of the humour and it still lacks some more adult and mature themes, its ambience makes up for it.

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Nerfington
Posted 02:57pm 22/10/10

Gargh I need to get this some time, it sounds like it addresses a lot of what kept me from enjoying Fallout 3.

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Khel
Posted 07:32pm 22/10/10

I'm sure it wont, I'm sure you'll still find something to b**** and moan about.

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DM
Posted 07:37pm 22/10/10

Bloody loving this game so far but ran across this not 1 hour into it. Had a good laugh, recorded her walking into the chair a bit on fraps and went on my way.

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Bah
Posted 07:56pm 22/10/10

Why is the inventory so s***, they couldn't spend 5 minutes making a more pc centric system, especially with all this crafting s*** that is now in the game, i can't see myself bothering f*****g about checking if i have all this miscellaneous crap to make something ill probably never use.
When you get overloaded you spend 5 minutes looking for crap that is heavy and you can dump, mainly due to the inventory being so f*****g useless.
Also it leads to things like a 10mm gun and a weathered 10mm gun being at opposite ends of your inventory, yeah great design there.

Also combat seems a little easy so far, i completely f***ed up an encounter in Spoiler:
the primm casino
and barely took half damage, even though i triggered 5 guys and was pretty unprepared, i just ran back a bit into a doorway and they didnt really attack me that hard.

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Nerfington
Posted 07:57pm 22/10/10

I'm sure it wont, I'm sure you'll still find something to b**** and moan about.

Of course nothing is perfect and I will always endeavour to help identify where things can be improved, as I am a hero, but I mean overall it sounds like the core stuff that I felt was missing in my attempts to get into fallout 3 has made a triumphant return. :D

Might be able to mod the UI, I had to to be able to play Oblivion without raging.

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Infidel
Posted 08:25pm 22/10/10

The deatclaws were pretty hard at the quarry and I think Im only level 14. Climbed up on top of the digger rig and just sniped them from far, other than that combat has been reasonable easy. Awesome game, the side missions are fun.

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Tollaz0r!
Posted 10:39pm 22/10/10

I'm playing in Hardcore mode, how about you guys? I'm so glad they spent a bit of time adding that into the game instead of it being a third party mod.

So far this does feel a little more like the original fallouts, still missing that Special charm of the originals though.

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DM
Posted 11:21pm 22/10/10

Yeah i'm on hardcore mode as well. Also no clue what that wasteland perk is at the beginning but i'm on that mode too. So... who knows wtf is going on in my game.

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reload!
Posted 12:12am 23/10/10

f*****g lol
anyone else found the sacrificial chamber in vault 11?

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groganus
Posted 09:21am 23/10/10

I didnt bother with hardcore, i do have the wasteland perk though.

From what i gather dm, it juts makes more random encounters occur.

My starting stats were 7 luck 7 intelligence 6 charm.

It's made for some random lulz, like 1 shotting boss with an awesome crit to the head.

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DM
Posted 09:55pm 23/10/10

I'm about Lv 11 and thinking of restarting because I don't like my stats. I'm trying to get loved by the Legion which is hard obviously. Anyway came across this. I have a habbit of seeing people stuck inside others.

He was running on the spot like an idiot and couldn't move. I tried to help with a headshot but YOU CAN'T KILL KIDS. Wtf is with that crap? I want to be a child murdered god dammit! Anyway think i'll start again and make a real smooth talking psychotic. Hatchets, swords and bladed gauntlets ftw.

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groganus
Posted 08:47am 24/10/10

The most usefull starting stats are intelligence and luck. pump everything into them,

Then speech or barter, 1 choice of weaposn and either science or lock picking

My prefs are Barter, guns and lock picking

Though you could replace guns with energy weapons as later on in the game, there are some f*****g sweet energy weapons and more heavily armoured dudes.

F:NV seems to have more lock picking then hacking
and i would of gone with speech over barter, but what evs.

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fpot
Posted 12:02pm 24/10/10

Also the meltdown perk is awesome.

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konstie
Posted 12:05pm 24/10/10

i somehow pissed off all the casinos. draining.

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DM
Posted 11:54pm 24/10/10

Trying to find out how to get friendly and loved by the legion but all I can guess is that i'm supposed to do something at hoover dam so they let me through the door but cant work it out.

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fpot
Posted 04:01am 25/10/10

newbs

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Tollaz0r!
Posted 09:02am 25/10/10

I like this sooo much more then Fallout 3. Your non-combat skills have more use throughout the game and it just feels a little more RPGish then Fallout 3 did. This game is 2 steps closer to the original Fallouts, which is a good thing.

The only bugs I've encountered are creatures stuck in the ground.

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DM
Posted 11:00am 25/10/10

Found out how to befriend the legion. Woo! i'm about 15 hours in now. Also that Maria pistol is awesome as s***. How f*****g strong is it.

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Crowbar
Posted 12:49pm 25/10/10

Played the game for 11 hours now, only 1 random cras** What a sweet game, Has a few bugs in it witch will soon be smoved out with more patches to come.So glad it is on steam this time round!

TOP GAME IF YOUR SICK OF MULTI PLAYER SHOOTING!

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Crowbar
Posted 12:56pm 25/10/10

Hay guys also What operating system are you guys using?im going to upgrage my system to window 7 64bit currently using windows vista 32bit. Have you guys been having any crashing issues on window 7 64.
there seems to be alot of crashing issues going around the net with the 64bit vers of window 7 runing this game.

Thanks Crowbar

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groganus
Posted 01:48pm 25/10/10

I've only had one crash about 31 hours into the game.

Small glitches here and there, but nothing game breaking.

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Basket
Posted 01:54pm 25/10/10

im guessing if you could run fallout 3 you should run this fine, it's basically the same specs im pretty sure, with that said i need an upgrade :(

but on that note i have windows 7 64, hopefully mine shall arrive in a few days ill give you a heads up if it's just infected with problems

last edited by Basket at 13:54:36 25/Oct/10

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groganus
Posted 01:55pm 25/10/10

Yeah runs fine on my 6month old machine everything on highest setting possible.

I've had a few known bugs, slow down in frames using vats. dogs eyes appearing out of there heads randomly, a few stuck people. but again nothing game breaking.

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Crowbar
Posted 05:56pm 25/10/10

Thanks dudes!

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Crakaveli
Posted 06:02pm 25/10/10

Been playing this a bit and i've just got the platinum chip for mr house. I haven't really come across any game breaking bugs, although i did get a quest breaking one. In the area near new vegas you come across a gun shop where you can take a quest to guard the door of the shop. I aimed my gun at one of the people who was trying to get in and he completely bugged out. Couldn't talk to him or anything and if i tried to leave the guard shot at me.

So i just killed the guard and everyone in the shop and sold all the guns and stuff in the shop and made about 15,000 caps. lol

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DM
Posted 08:05pm 25/10/10

I've got 2 characters going. One legion friendly beefcake and a smooth talking lady who's currently doing that door guarding quest. It's so tempting to kill everyone in that place and take the weapons though. Also I think i'll start leveling my energy weapon skill up since they seem rather powerful. Both characters around 16 - 19

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fpot
Posted 08:07pm 25/10/10

It's so tempting to kill everyone in that place and take the weapons though

Got a stealth boy? Use that. I stole everything there and then sold it back to them.

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Door
Posted 08:11pm 25/10/10

I've had no issues with crashing on 64 win7 thus far.

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reload!
Posted 08:14pm 25/10/10

Likewise the only bugs I've encountered are a couple of creatures stuck in the ground and a person stuck in a table. No crashes but have had it freeze on the load screen once when trying to quick travel to a location I was already in, just not in the right spot.

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DM
Posted 11:29am 26/10/10

WIsh i'd of taken a picture of this but I found 3 "Holy Hand Grenades" on a table, and next to them was a sign that said "pull pin and count to 5 (with 5 crossed out)... 3

I cant remember exactly where they are but I think they are in that irradiated town in a cellar somewhere. They do like 299 damage when I had about a rank 20 or 30 explosive skill and a f*****g HUGE blast radius.

last edited by DM at 11:29:10 26/Oct/10

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groganus
Posted 11:42am 26/10/10

They had holy hand grenades in fallout 2, along with a million other monty python references.

The bridge with guy who asks 3 questions as a random enoucnter was always my favourite.

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ravn0s
Posted 11:57am 26/10/10

WIsh i'd of taken a picture of this but I found 3 "Holy Hand Grenades" on a table, and next to them was a sign that said "pull pin and count to 5 (with 5 crossed out)... 3

theres lots of easter eggs like a fridge with bones and a fedora hat inside and 2 charred bodies with the names owen and beru.

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Basket
Posted 06:02pm 26/10/10

fallout 2 was the f*****g greatest :D

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DM
Posted 04:40pm 30/10/10

Playing yet AGAIN with a character with max strength and endurance, but 1 luck and intelligence and here is some of the awesomely funny dialog you can get. This is in Helios one.

EDIT - Flowers of Pock-Lips = Followers of Apocolypse lol. I urge everyone to give it a go since you get some really awesome lines to talk about. The responses are awesome too.

EDIT 2 - Ok so i've racked up about 18 hours on my stupid character and realized that unarmed is the way to go for end game it seems. Bullets and stuff is all well and dandy but as soon as you pick up a ballistic glove, or a displacement glove, the fun begins. I'm at 10 strength with a Lv 70 unarmed skill, and a fully repaired glove (either one, ballistic is a explosion graphic and displacement is a blueish white energy one) can one shot anyone i've come up against so far. I just ran into caesar's tent and 1 shot everyone in that damn place, including him. I didn't even have my companions with me as I left them outside. Also having a high unarmed skill lets me do uppercuts in VATS. This, together with the 1 shot nature of the gloves = flying corpses. I've got so many fraps videos of people shooting off cliffs and stuff.

Found a bug though. If you kill any of the people Cass's companion quests lead you to, you can no longer get her. I killed one of them and she wouldn't get off the chair so I lost the chance to get her. Right now i'm using ED-E and Lily. He announces when mobs are nearby with his music, and she is a beast with her huge sword and 480 hp.

last edited by DM at 16:40:21 30/Oct/10

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