Fall Out: New Vegas

So... Jake and I went halves on Fallout New Vegas... and it's good.  I liked Fallout 3, but there were so many problems I had with it... little things, but little things that added up really fast.  It really felt like Oblivion with guns, but no magic, and more tongue in cheek story lines.  I liked Oblivion a lot, but again had a lot of problems with IT... but that's another review for another time.

New Vegas fixed all those little problems I had.  It really opened up a lot more of the Fallout 'verse (at least, it did to me), in an entertaining, compelling way.  It keeps true to the Fallout genre, and I really like that it gives you the option of keeping the tongue in cheek jokes (like the Aliens) or doing a more serious game.  Also interesting is the "Hardcore" mode, which makes weight an even bigger problem, makes you stay hydrated, manage sleep, etc.

As far as base gameplay, it's just like Fallout 3, but with a lot of improvements.  You can recover ammo shells and reload them, VATS is quicker and cleaner (I had a lot of problems with VATS locking up in F3), companions have slightly better AI (still obviously AI, but a little less stupid).  The HUD is essentially the same, but has a different color scheme, which worked for me but might not be good for everyone.

There's also a reputation system, nothing stellar, but it works.  Help one faction, another will probably like you less.  What's interesting is the half and half approach they took... say you're in the good graces of the Brotherhood of Steel, but you end up killing a squad with friendly fire.  Instead of just losing rep, you gain BAD rep.  That is to say, you have two reps with each faction; good AND bad.  Maybe I've misunderstood exactly how this works, but from what I can tell, affecting one is independent of another... or at least partially so.

So if you liked Fallout 3, get New Vegas.  If you liked Oblivion and want something to play till Skyrim comes out, get New Vegas.  If you're on the fence because you really didn't like F3 or Oblivion... skip on New Vegas.

As a game as a whole I give it a 9.5 out of 10.  As a sequel, I give it a 8/10... because while it's definitely an improvement... it's also definitely more of the same.