As it turns out, the apocalypse did little to change the day-to-day on the Vegas Strip - and that's just fine by me. Obsidian brought an interesting and welcome change of scenery with NV. Sure we have more of the sandy wastes and ruined cityscapes of old, but the warm glow of the strip just makes things feel so...right. The game itself seems to have aged like a fine (and strange) wine. I often heard complaints about rampant glitches and performance issues when it was first launched, or that the game was simply a cash-grab on Bethesda's part by letting "lowly" Obsidian take the reigns, or that it simply paled in comparison to FO3. The game isn't perfect, true. I do wish the strip itself was larger - the game can leave you feeling rather lonely out in the desert (not that there's ever a shortage of quests). My biggest gripe personally with this game is a rather weak main quest-line/story. There definitely are some interesting characters (Benny, Mr. House, Caesar), but the ultimate goal remains stale: investigate [faction], join [faction], sabotage everyone else until [faction] wins. We have been there. We have done that. HOWEVER, New Vegas completely shines with some of the best DLC content I've ever played. Dead Money, with its brushes with horror and stealth, the undeniably charming Twilight Zone-esque Old World Blues, and the "what should have been the main story" Lonesome Road combine to form a golden trifecta of post-launch goodness. (Honest Hearts is decent as well, but not quite as shiny). As it stood on launch day in October, 2010, New Vegas was an interesting, "good enough" Fallout entry. Today, patched and bundled with all content, New Vegas beats 3 and blows 4 away. I think we all know it, too - it just took a while.
As it turns out, the apocalypse did little to change the day-to-day on the Vegas Strip - and that's just fine by me. Obsidian brought an interesting and welcome change of scenery with NV. Sure we have more of the sandy wastes and ruined cityscapes of old, but the warm glow of the strip just makes things feel so...right. The game itself seems to have aged like a fine (and strange) wine. I often heard complaints about rampant glitches and performance issues when it was first launched, or that the game was simply a cash-grab on Bethesda's part by letting "lowly" Obsidian take the reigns, or that it simply paled in comparison to FO3. The game isn't perfect, true. I do wish the strip itself was larger - the game can leave you feeling rather lonely out in the desert (not that there's ever a shortage of quests). My biggest gripe personally with this game is a rather weak main quest-line/story. There definitely are some interesting characters (Benny, Mr. House, Caesar), but the ultimate goal remains stale: investigate [faction], join [faction], sabotage everyone else until [faction] wins. We have been there. We have done that. HOWEVER, New Vegas completely shines with some of the best DLC content I've ever played. Dead Money, with its brushes with horror and stealth, the undeniably charming Twilight Zone-esque Old World Blues, and the "what should have been the main story" Lonesome Road combine to form a golden trifecta of post-launch goodness. (Honest Hearts is decent as well, but not quite as shiny). As it stood on launch day in October, 2010, New Vegas was an interesting, "good enough" Fallout entry. Today, patched and bundled with all content, New Vegas beats 3 and blows 4 away. I think we all know it, too - it just took a while.
Though not as polished visually or gameplay-wise as Skyrim, Oblivion remains my favorite of the series. The combat and leveling system hasn't aged too well, perhaps, but IV maintains an undeniable level of charm that I feel lacks even in Skyrim. The world is smaller and less detailed, the quests are fewer, the plot more linear - but the general quirkiness of certain NPCs and accompanying quests are so memorable, Plus, the Oblivion Crisis felt real, like there truly was an apocalypse taking place. I mean you, alone, descend into fantasy Hell to quell Daedra! Not to mention one of the most entertaining and unique pieces of DLC/expansion I've ever played in Shivering Isles. Couple this with Jeremy Soule's magnum opus (in my humble opinion), and you have an imperfect, but amazingly unforgettable open world RPG. Sheogorath bless you! Or not!
