Media Journalism

Review of Fallout: New Vegas for the Daily Mail
Fallout: New Vegas is the sequel to the highly popular Fallout 3. A cross between a First-Person Shooter and an RPG, the main draw of the game is the setting; A Watchman-esque alternate universe set in the fifties. Here, technology developed at a faster rate, leading to laser guns, nuclear cars and other crazy creations of science. However, this new technology caused the Cold war to escalate, leading to a nuclear holocaust. It’s a captivating setting; at once detached from reality and yet disturbingly similar. You are thrust into this world, playing as a courier almost shot dead by a mysterious stranger and looking for revenge.
The storyline and writing is New Vegas’ biggest strength. The main storyline is incredibly complex, with many different ways to play through it, and the side missions are equally detailed. Even when compared to other RPGs, the sheer number of permutations in the story structure is staggering. You can play through New Vegas at least five times, and the game can still be different. This contrasts sharply with Fallout 3’s irksomely linear quest line.
Unfortunately, while the writing has improved from Fallout 3, the graphics and gameplay have not. New Vegas reuses so much from its predecessor that it may as well be a glorified expansion pack. Although there are a few new monsters and lots more guns, the game hasn’t moved anywhere in terms of visuals and the faces in particular still have the look of the uncanny valley about them. The combat hasn’t evolved any either; despite a slew of new weapons and controllable companions, the strategy in this game still amounts to blasting apart the enemies before they can do the same to you; those looking for CoD-style gunfights will be severely disappointed. Even so, combat remains fun, if mindless, due to the great variety of weapons you can unleash on your opponents. It’s perhaps apt that a game so clever out of combat should be so dumb when the fighting starts.
Fallout: New Vegas comes definitely recommended if you enjoyed Fallout 3, and if you’re a fan of the series as a whole in particular. The writing is much improved, and the setting remains captivating even with sub-par graphics. If you’re new to the series, don’t be fooled into thinking it’s an FPS. Behind the first person perspective lies a complex game, better suited to exploring than fighting.
[7]

Review of Fallout: New Vegas for The Sun
Fallout 3 made quite a splash last year, with its mutant-blasting RPG/shooter action in the ruins of Washington DC being an eye-catcher for those of us who were tired of other brainless FPSes. It wasn’t an easy game to play, mind. Combat as a whole was too simple and the graphics just weren’t up to scratch at times. But along comes New Vegas, hoping to solve those issues. Unfortunately, it fails to solve or even improve the graphics issue; in fact the game has pretty much THE SAME graphics as Fallout 3. For shame, developers! At least make some effort to make the game LOOK DIFFERENT, if not improve it. But no. Never mind, hopefully the time spent NOT improving graphics went into controls and combat? Once again, I’m disappointed. There are lots of new guns, true, but this doesn’t mask the fact that combat is still the same as Fallout 3’s. Enemies are still borderline retarded, charging blindly at you. Healing is still a matter of jamming syringes into your arm. There’s no EVOLUTION, is what I’m getting here. The missions are boring, most involve too much talking and not enough action, and even when there is combat, the enemies are either a walkover or overpowered. The game gets really frustrating at times. I’m sure a more patient man could get more out of this game; apparently the writing has improved, but if this simply leads to all the effort being spent on dialogue screens, count me out. For me, this game leaves a nasty taste in my mouth; I feel like I invested a good deal of money in a glorified expansion pack, and not a good one at that.
[3]