i-forgot-to-throw-the-grenade

Fallout: New Vegas (2010)

written by jake

Table of Contents

1. intro
2. factions
3. QoL
4. weaponry
5. QoL cont.
6. the mojave
7. honest hearts
8. dead money
9. old world blues
10. lonesome road
11. add-on conclusion
12. base game
13. side-quests
14. vaults
15. outer vegas
16. camp mccarran
17. the strip
18. lucky 38
19. trip to fortification hill
20. hoover dam
21. gathering factions
22. the second battle for hoover dam
23. ending synopsis
24. tl;dr
25. tips/bug fixes
26. closing thoughts

welcome to my Fallout: New Vegas write-up.. the first of many on my new site. this was a long one, if you couldn’t tell already by it’s length.. please use the table of contents to take you where you’d like to go. and heed the spoiler warning above. there are a lot. this isn’t a review per-se, it’s more of a trek through my experience.. and the places i went. reiterating stuff i thought about while playing. if this doesn’t bother you.. continue on..

not sure if this just recency bias, but this is by faaarrr the best game i’ve ever played.. which is fitting for a first post. as a Fallout noob, i have to say this entry floored me. at the end of last year (nov thru dec) i played Fallout 3. i had a really great time, and even considered that game to have been my favorite.. the Fallout games have a sporadic release schedule. cos of this i almost consider each of the games as pairs. Fallout 1 & Fallout 2, vs. Fallout 3 & New Vegas, for instance.. the gap in time, change in developers, style, and scope, make them the same but.. ultimately different. i think this explains why the discussions usually revolve around these pairings. sometimes Fallout 4 is included in these discussions, but i have no stake in that.. anyway – the reason i bring this up is because during playing i picked up a bad habit of comparing the games to each other (Fallout 3 & New Vegas..). i mean i think it’s a bad habit since it’s destructive to both, and i’d rather view them for their own strengths and in flaws.. but it’s hard to avoid, and made harder now that i understand why they say to start with Fallout 3.

originally more enamored with the design, location, and palette of Fallout 3, i’d assumed it was just a preference thing. and people just didn’t mess with it’s aesthetics. some people just like desert and piss orange.. some are more into a piss green metropolis. really though. the concept of a post-apocalyptic D.C. ruin had more of a grasp on me, originally. exploring the cramped, once bustling streets just outside the iconic memorials was amazing. the crowded buildings each having an enterable interior made the game feel endless. granted i shot myself in the foot by starting with with the middle and towards the bottom right half of the world (google the map here if u don’t kno), as the rest of the game wasn’t as dense with buildings. but it was still quite vast. this is something i felt irked with in New Vegas. less interiors. but honestly.. i somehow still had a longer playtime than i did in Fallout 3, and most importantly; more fun.

i do think New Vegas is something you’ll have to stick with, as first impressions don’t give way to it’s scale and depth. Fallout 3 started with your birth. literally.. you play from the day you’re born inside a vault (a clever way to introduce S.P.E.C.I.A.Ls, character creation, and plot) ’til you’re 19, upon which the events of the game ensue.. while curating an interesting depth to the plot. New Vegas’ initial gameplay tells an entirely different story. which is one of it’s bigger strengths imo. the ultimate goal is flipped on it’s head. rather than a plain ol’ story of searching for your dad (who’d abandoned you in Vault 101), and re-constructing his life’s work; the water purification system – here, the game starts with a bang (eheh..). you jump into the role of a character whom already has a backstory, that’s gradually built upon within the game. at first the switch in tones had me skeptical. while Fallout 3’s main premise was.. lackluster, it was still cohesive in a way. you were your character. your original concept and ideals. here you’ve spawned in as someone else. the “Courier”. someone you barely know, on a mission you’re only vaguely aware of. but honestly.. the Courier is cold as fuck, and far more interesting than the Lone Wanderer (Fallout 3’s protag). by the end of Fallout 3 i’d felt the story had lost it’s cohesion and was a little stilted. though, it was still made up by the adventure you went on. a perk of the Fallout games i heavily consider is the world itself. the main story, while still being important, isn’t all you have to engage with. this changes your story to fit a million different scenarios. i considered Fallout 3 as an awakening; an introduction to the next chapter to your character’s life. emerging from within the confines of the vault.. where you’ve lived a cozy, burden-free life just out of reach from everything that lingers in the Wasteland. leaving the vault you begin to learn the ways of Wasteland, and it’s inhabitants. eventually proving worthwhile, as you find your way.. this all made up for it’s crappy story. in New Vegas, i think this aspect is already interwoven into the story itself. while having also having a great story. in the end, i liked being the Courier. yeah i suppose the idea of creating your own character feels redundant, as you are “the Courier”, instead of a more neutral character. either way you feel abt this is i think it’s an important detail.

after a pretty badass intro, you’re given the synopsis of the game (on first play-through i realized it’s subtle enough, while basically giving away the whole game) – which can be summed up into one word; factions. all Fallout games before had these. many making a return from FO1 & FO2 (e.g. the Enclave, the Great Khans, the Brotherhood of Steel, et cetera). Fallout 3 had these same factions too. in it’s iteration i thought it was awesome. you can ally with most everyone (and depending on your run) these can be for the sake of your own choosing. be they good, bad, misguided, so on.. these factions were really small in scope. they were barely even intertwined, mostly coming down to the two big players of the Capitol Wasteland – the Enclave vs. the Brotherhood of Steel. still, they were interesting to see inhabit the world, and how they each affected it. New Vegas overhauled the karma system (good/neutral/bad) to include faction relations. this single-handedly changed the entire status of the game. instead of general good karma, siding with the obvious good guys.. or the obvious bad guys, you have the option to decide your own status within each faction (while still retaining a broad-strokes karma level). this opened up so many paths.. too many to count. i only experience one ending during my first playthrough (which mind you clocked in at 127 hours). these differing factions and branching paths resulted in a rare occurrence where your ending was actually impacted by your choices. even Fallout 3 felt barebones, really only being impacted by the very last few choices in the finale.

frustratingly enough i didn’t actually get the ending i intended for.. to re-write my choices i would have had to erase like 30 hours of playtime to where i saved before going through with my choice.. o well. typically i do a good karma run in these games as i feel good choices often lead to better rewards, more interesting development of gameplay mechanics, and endings. this was made double-y easy as the “bad guys” (= most obviously evil) were total cringelord fags and i genuinely couldn’t take them seriously. so.. yah. here’s a list of the main factions. the aforementioned ones being: the Enclave, the Great Khans, the Brotherhood of Steel. the rest include: the Boomers, the NCR, the Legion, the Followers of the Apocalypse, and New Vegas (there being multiple differing factions within itself). and the list goes on, with manyyy more gangs, tribes, cults.. etc. soo many of these interact with each other giving the world a great sense of being lived in, something Fallout 3 struggled with. an inverse situation here with the Capitol Wasteland being far more dense, but somehow less populated. and the Mojave Wasteland (New Vegas) being quite bare, but at times very alive. Fallout 3’s factions weren’t as believable either. what i mean is the buildings they inhabit.. and areas surrounding them don’t feel like ones that have culminated from the results of post-apocalyptia. some factions are just a handful of people living in a pre-war building, that aren’t even built around their needs. some are creative adaptions (e.g. Rivet City, or.. erh.. uhh.. i couldn’t think of any others.. Megaton.. maybe.), but the rest fail on this front. it doesn’t feel like a “city” or really even a faction if made up of like 5 people. it isn’t sold very well. and the way they interact with each other isn’t either. i’ve used this word already, but Fallout 3 isn’t the most cohesive game in a few aspects. New Vegas, though.. it really improves on this. like a hella lottt. if them sacrificing more explorable interiors was required for this then so-be-it..

besides the fact that some locations were inconveniently placed and executed poorly (something both these games struggle with.. mostly due to the limitations of hardware at the time, with them erecting not-so-subtle rock formations, or for example the Strip being sectioned off) – they were so much more believable. they felt like real inhabited camps. suiting each faction well. they were really big too, basically being little towns. but real ones, that felt pre-war but also utilized properly. i was fond of this. i was surprised i liked the Strip as much as i did.. it was soo alive in there. it’s layout of there being casinos & other misc. destination gave me butterflies in my stomach. the design was pretty cool. so was Freeside & Westside, as a matter of fact. you spend a lot of time in Freeside. more than the Strip at times since you’ll always have to cross through it. anyways there’s a lot of neat places to see and i think they did a good job with the prompt of “Mojave”. it sorta lies to you on your Pip-Boy, showing outlying mountains as part of the map. yes technically you reach some of these late game. i’m really thorough when exploring, tho there could be some i never reached. but this is okay ultimately. it’s more believable than “you cannot proceed in that direction”.

back to the faction aspect. since there’s a hundred different ways you can engage with them, the goal can mean different things. in it’s most true form it’s the unification/dissolution of the powers that control the Strip, and by extension the Mojave.. the NCR; talking with these soldiers shows a mismanaged and at times oppressive, but overall well-intentioned group trying to do right by the Mojave. trying to hold the Hoover Dam (a very important location make sure to remember it..) and other key points of the Mojave is tough work for them. with conflicting orders.. high amounts of sabotage.. low supplies.. and even lower morale.. all make for a bad combination of frustrated soldiers who’ve grown exhausted of their efforts. all are futile. i wanted to do a pro-NCR route as their dilemma made sense to me. at times they’re shown to be tyrants, but i just chalked that up to skewed POVs of the other factions. while being mistreating a few different groups, and being a little misguided, i felt that many (soldiers especially) had the Mojave in mind. ultimately their control of the Mojave to make more sense. compared to Mr. House.. or the Legion.

the Legion, also as Caesar’s Legion (ran by Caesar) is the worst threat found within the Mojave. unless you’re going for a pro-Legion run, you’ll be mowin’ down a lotta these guys.. a bunch of tards in pre-war getup. they talk cringe, led by an even more cringe tard dictator. their goals are to enslave all they can, and to have a totalitarian grasp on the Mojave. i don’t stand for it. right from their intro in the town of Nipton, i swore never to surrender to their cause. many factions, some bad, have two sides to them.. like Super Mutants, often misunderstood. or the Enclave Remnants. Caesar n his legion tho.. i hated these guys. the entire game hinges on their campaign to retake the Hoover Dam (see..) – and by extension the whole Mojave, years after their failed attempt in 2277. doing all in your power in order to stop them. at least in my case.

Mr. House, some sort of complicated all-seeing supercentenarian shut-in, holds control of the Strip. NCR negotiations failed and his neglect of those in Freeside & the surrounding Vegas make his intentions murky.. he leads an army of Securitrons. their presence is very imposing, dissuading many from acts of violence or rebellion. scary tho their design is hella cool .. they don’t appear as much as i was lead to believe. sob.. really only found inside the Strip. Victor, a friendly Securitron, appears very early on. at the start of the game in fact. he’s confusing character to me. i think his ultimate goal was to surveil me.. always appearing at random locales thru-out the game. tho i haven’t read the Wiki about him yet.. so i’m not too sure about him.. i had to kill him.. Mr. House’s goals are for you, the player, to dissect as it’s not that obvious what he’s up to. his presence is also somewhat totalitarian i’d say. constant surveillance, rules set in place, etc.. (maybe not that extreme, but i’m sure you get the picture). of course in the post-apocalyptic state of the world i’d understand that some law needs to be set in order, and someone’s gotta take reign. but his mysterious and confrontational manor put me off from him. as well as his “families” he’s employed to keep the Strip running. different breeds of casino architypes: the White Glove Society, Omertas, and Chairmen. all of these.. evil in some way. depicting the glamour/sinful lifestyles led by those with power and money. this aspect just throws another viewpoint into the war between the NCR and Caesar’s Legion. the twist with Mr. House is predictable, but another great detail to be uncovered. his lore, found in pre-war buildings surrounding the strip, is worth the search to read. it’s cryptic.. but goes deep. just another interesting predicament to consider for life in a war-torn world.

in the Tops Casino is where you’ll find Benny. i’m realizing i haven’t mentioned Benny yet.. another plot of this game (similar to Fallout 3) is the hunt for someone named Benny. the man in the checkered-coat from the intro. unlike Fallout 3, this search is interesting. asking around the Mojave you have the option to ask about his whereabouts and if played correctly can up be really motivating. your judgement of him, be it good or bad, makes for an interesting dichotomy between you and him. he’s somewhat bland.. being defined by that checkered-coat of his.. your judgement is most likely clouded by revenge. this adds an intentional? layer of division since his goals for the Strip too are up for your own interpretation.. this made darker by what you’ll find within the confines of the Tops Casino – Yes Man.. the remnants of Benny’s work (erh.. remnants in my case). a Securitron. Yes Man is the games “fail safe” as described by others. he is integral to the plot of the game and one of the endings. my really only early introductions to this game was through him. i’ve seen him around before.. he’s a modified Securitron coded to explicitly due as he’s told. with Benny gone, you’ll now be in charge of New Vegas under Yes Man’s plan to enact an independent Vegas, by way of disabling (or killing..) Mr. House, and settling accounts with the other factions. it’s a good diversion from the main threat of the Legion, and adding further consequences to this battle for control. unfortunately though i got stuck thru his ending (back to wat i mentioned above being locked into one of the endings by a choice i made..). not that i hated his ending, it was actually interesting i found. it’s just not very pro-NCR. or pro anyone for that matter..

the Great Khans and other rogue groups of raiders, gangs, and encampments populate the rest of the Mojave. the Great Khans are a minor player here, being weary of the NCR while having talks of negotiation with the Legion. they’re “bad guys” in a sense. it’s hard to get a high reputation with them as many good deeds for other factions surrender possible deeds for the Khans.. like eliminating the Fiends. the Fiends are a ruthless group of bastards notable for being described as “being drugged up” and “killers and rapists just for the fun of it”. they’re another nuisance found around Vegas. cutting of the head of their org results in a positive rep with residents around and within the Strip, and with the NCR. another semi-notable faction is the “Powder Gangers”. most prevalent around the start of the game, they were former inmates of the NCRCF (New California Republic correctional facility). due to the NCR’s mismanagement in handling of the Mojave, and distractions like the fight against the Legion, the facility lost most of it’s manpower allowing for the inmates to escape. these inmates formed the Powder Gangers (stupid name). their presence isn’t much of anything, but you do have the option to assist or desist them. some misc. gangs exist around the Wasteland, like the Jackals, or Vipers. they aren’t much of note simply existing just to be cannon fodder. something i should mention is the new mechanic of disguising yourself as an enemy. i was really interested in this early on. it’s useful especially in Powder Ganger related missions. allowing you to infiltrate their grounds without any repercussions. unfortunately this was probably the only instance i used this. there’s way cooler armor’s to don, and keeping a spare get-up for each faction just isn’t viable as it takes up a lot of space. by the time you’ve cemented your connections, you don’t have to disguise yourself much since you aren’t infiltrating anything. and you’ve already made your enemies. obviously, i understand this just didn’t suit me. it’s not a bad mechanic whatsoever. in my experience it just wasn’t much of use, but i felt it important to still bring up.

littered about the Wastes are the bodies of members of the “Bright Brotherhood”.. you’ll stumble across them quite early into the game. dead Ghouls dressed in robes that carry plasma weapons. my first impressions had me thinking this was just gonna be another bland cult.. with a story we’ve heard a million times by now. they don’t have a large presence at all really, and as i went about the story as normal they were relegated to the obscure trenches of my mind. every now and then i’d see another body. i even grabbed their robe, just in case. but after awhile i hadn’t given it much thought. upon entrance to Novac, you’re presented with a bunch of problems (which of course only you can solve). one of these is the mysterious deaths of Brahmin in one of the residents ranches. the other is a populous of Ghouls who’ve overrun the “REPCONN Test Site”. a pre-war test site for rockets. it’s pretty close to Novac, which presents a problem. talking to a local, “No-Bark Noonan”, he sort-of hints in a cracked out way what’s happening to the Brahmin. mentioning how “you can see them too” and a bunch of nonsense about invisible commies.. or something.. investigating late at night you discover the source of Brahmin deaths is caused by “Nightkin”. purple Super Mutants who’ve grown an addiction to stealth boys. besides being a really cute mission and introduction (for some), it’s a really interesting twist on the Super Mutants. i don’t know if they’re from games past.. but i thought it was cool, adding even more depth to the mutants. something these games are really good at doing. after eliminating the source of the Brahmin issue, i began my journey towards the REPCONN Test Site. it’s not a long walk, just down the road. but as you walk more of these Bright Brotherhood members bodies are scattered along the road. around guard-posts that look like a makeshift camp. bodies of feral Ghouls, and those purple Super Mutants can be found too. and then it clicks.. the Ghouls that overran the test site are those of the Bright Brotherhood..

after eliminating some Feral Ghouls around the facility, i enter through a side door. immediately i’m confronted by a Ghoul on an intercom. he tells me how to navigate the facility and where to find him. he makes it sound urgent.. so i hurry. after killing more Feral Ghouls, i find my way. upon entering i come face-to-face with a.. h-human..? gaspp.. wh.. a human..? the gist of it is that the Bright Brotherhood are a group of Ghouls led by one Jason Bright. a form of Ghoul commonly known as “glowing ones” (“Bright”.. meheh..). the other Ghouls view him as a prophet. those feral ones i’d killed on my way in here were also apart of his group, sort of. as well as the human who greeted me on the intercom, and at the door. his name is Chris, and he believes himself to be a Ghoul. howw intserestinngg..

these Ghouls would like to complete their “Great Journey”, in which they will use the rockets found here in the test site. though their plans were stopped by demons who apparently roam the basement. putting two and two together, you discover it’s Nightkin that have overrun the buildings recesses. and the mission continues as normal, with you clearing out the Nightkin and their leader, and assisting Jason and the rest of the Brotherhood in finalizing their plan. an interesting dilemma is struck with Chris, the human who thinks he’s a Ghoul. obviously with the REPCONN facility being a pre-war site for testing rockets, there is going to be large amounts of radiation leftover. Chris can’t go with them in the rockets. it’s upsetting to have to tell him how deluded he is. Jason forbids him from accompanying them on their journey since he knows the radiation will kill him, using him for his technological knowhow. i opted to talk Chris out, saving him, while also allowing him to still assist the Ghouls in their attempt to escape. it’s probably one of my favorite quests, and the ending in which they fly off was really heartwarming.. it was cool. being subtle throughout the Mojave, and an extremely minor faction, the Bright Brotherhood was a great diversion from the typical cult shenanigans that typically ensue.. these are usually hella boring to me but i liked this one a lot.

another Brotherhood you’ll find hidden in the Mojave Wastes is that of the Brotherhood of Steel. they’re cause is involved in the study, collection, and refurbishment of futuristic technology. in Fallout 3 they were a major deciding factor of the future of the Capitol Wasteland. similar to how the NCR functions in New Vegas, the Brotherhood is considered to be good-natured but at times misguided. in that game specifically an offshoot of the Brotherhood, known as the Brotherhood Outcasts, was formed in retaliation to the Brotherhood’s elder, Elder Lyons. members of the Outcasts felt as tho Elder Lyons had lost sight of the Brotherhood’s core cause; the study and collection of futuristic weaponry. while they still believe in that cause.. Elder Lyons had other intentions. wanting to help the people of the Wasteland by eliminating the source of the Super Mutants, whose presence in the DC ruins was not understood by many. the protection of innocent Wastelanders from countless threats became his top priority. much to the dismay of those back home in California and many apart of the Brotherhood, who’d eventually defect to the Outcasts. i won’t spill the entire plot of Fallout 3 here. the reason i bring this up is because the Brotherhood works extremely different from the Brotherhood far out east. here their presence is reduced to a small bunker. rarely ever coming out due to an indefinite lockdown enacted by their Elder, McNamara. they’re extremely confrontational to outsiders, killing many on site. and have a beef with the NCR. their presence lacks glory, a polar opposite to the Brotherhood i’d come to know. i thought this was a nice twist of pace.. same with the Enclave – two huge powers found battling out east are both found to be reclusive. a shell of their former status. the Brotherhoods arc can play out in different ways. i won’t spoil it here, but it’s an interesting faction to get yourself tied up in. one of your possible companions, Veronica – unbeknownst to you – is one of only few Brotherhood capable of leaving their bunker to explore. she’s cute. being a bit of an outcast, many think less of her due to her bright-eyed, somewhat naïve way of thinking. ironically, her cause makes the most sense and is necessary for the Brotherhood if they want a fighting chance at the Mojave. this brings me to my next point..

i really liked the companions. due to my attachment issues this is a really hard mechanic to engage with, i tend to prioritize one over any all. now in hindsight Fallout 3’s companions were really lacking. maybe 1-2 had any depth. the rest feeling quite dull. New Vegas changes this. rather than being relegated to sidekicks they’re people with actual purposes. they have tons of dialogue, and their own afflictions and causes. in my play-through i only recruited 5 of the 8 permanent companions. the remaining 3 were a mixed bag. these ones i never recruited, but i understood their motivations. they were pretty varied too. i tend to like these little mystery surprises of who appears so i won’t spoilll.. besides ED-E he is the goat. to get a robot companion in Fallout 3 you had to have a negative (or neutral?) karma. this was a bummer since like obviously i you’d want a robot friend.. o welll. here they’re all great. besides being limited to one at a time, i don’t think there’s karma requirements. maybe there are overall in the reputation department, as maybe with lower reputation the option to earn that companion isn’t available? i didn’t test, but i was never prevented from any companions. it was my own choice whether or not i wanted to work with them. they even open up they’re own quests. adding to the busy nature of the Mojave wasteland. overall, an amazing new QoL change.

New Vegas’ QoL changes are it’s strongest attributes i think. even moreso than it’s story and world. once again i’ll be comparing to Fallout 3.. i know i know.. i’ll stop this habit with future write-ups, but i think it’s really important to mention, so you can gauge this game properly. please bear this in mind as i continue. New Vegas’ introduces new mechanics to; healing, armor, weaponry, crafting, et cetera. the list is endless. in my Fallout 3 write-up (which i’ll rework to fit this site eventually..) i complained a bit about healing. of course there’s food, and stimpaks, to use. but food only replenished miniscule amounts of HP, while also being irradiated. it just wasn’t worth the effort of collecting and eating. stimpaks came in clutch. besides some forms of healing that were locked to DLC, there wasn’t any other forms of healing. it felt so barebones.. constantly maxing out and spam-using stimpaks. i really wished for some more strategic methods to recovering health. introduced in New Vegas is the ability to create new foods based of different recipes. not something i engaged with often. i prefer just looting these off of enemies. but having the option to collect supplies, bring them to a campfire, and create a variety of foods that all yield different amounts of HP, as well as other new effects, was necessary. they also added these “Auto-docs” which heal HP, crippled limbs, and can give psychiatric evaluations. which is pretty cool. there’s multiple kinds found throughout the Wastes, and it came in clutch a few times icl.. stimpaks return, of course. but they are way rarer than ever before. normally any given first aid box would contain a stimpak, but this was changed in New Vegas. sometimes opening one resulted in useless crap.. but be me when i realized this crap wasn’t useless at all. craft-able items weren’t something i understood all that well. i was still set in my ways from Fallout 3, ignoring anything that wasn’t caps or stimpaks. but here, instead of stimpaks you’ll find empty syringes, of which when combined with other items can be made into stimpaks. this singlehandedly changes everything. like i said in Fallout 3 i’d been conditioned to ignore anything that had no value. but they had no value because that’s how the game was developed to be. items like wonderglue, books, scrap metal, really anything found in desks, boxes, or lockers. i took me awhile to understand this mechanic, as for awhile i neglected these items.. but thinking about it now, i had so many tools at my disposal. you can craft anything here. honestly my favorite came with this new perk, “voracious reader”. it turns any book (burned or pre-war) into a blank magazine, of which can be crafted into magazines, using wonderglue. Fallout 3 had books which increased your skills by 1 point for each one read. this was an okay feature, and was a good rewarded for searching. but ultimately, that 1 point didn’t make all that much of a difference. in my case at least. New Vegas added magazines which boosted your skills by 20 points, but only for a limited amount of time. while there still are books these are quite rare, and now add 4 points to each skill. these magazines came in clutch in moments where my skills weren’t high enough (e.g. lockpick). the ability to craft them whenever i needed them (provided there’s a bench around) made this perk extremely worthwhile. honestly i could go on and on. i didn’t take advantage of this for most of my playthrough, since i think it’s a bit daunting at first. but once you get an understanding for it, it’ll open the game up much more to you.

weaponry is improved upon here too. there are so many different ones to choose from that it becomes overwhelming. seriously, check it out for yourself: https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Fallout:_New_Vegas_weapons. very few are returning designs from Fallout 3, most of them are new. it’s actually fuckin nuts to me. looking thru this list i notice some i hadn’t even had the pleasure of using.. from my gameplay i do think that a lot of these are earned as the game progresses, or at least depending on what order of factions you assist or locations you visit. later on you’re introduced to some heat, while early on you’re mostly relegated to sidearms and rifles. thought this could just be how i explored n routes i took.. *shrugs*. of course New Vegas retains the carry limit, which is still a pain in the ass. you’ll have to make a lot of sacrifices. or eventually lose your gun to weapon degradation.. orr you run out of ammo. it’s a two-headed beast as the variety is awesome, but you don’t get to use all of them enough.

weapons prevelant in my playthrough consisted of, but were not limited to:

1. Katana
probably my most utilized weapon (well, once i was able to afford it..) this thing shreds. especially with a few perks (Piercing Strike, Unstoppable Force, and Super Slam). honestly, melee fights are really fun here. and a melee build is something i may consider in future runs. it just feels more viable here. lots of enemies use melee, and if they’re not tanks they can easily be overwhelmed by whatever stick (literally) you keep on you.. they’re effective on a lot of animals too, since they can be really fast. dodging your bullets. the katana also has a lot of weapon mod capability. (something i haven’t mentioned yet, whoops.. i’ll delve into that more later on)

2. Elijah’s Advanced LAER
a unique variant of the standard “LAER”, a weapon exclusive to the Old World Blues DLC. apparently the stock versions better it, as it’s durability is better.. but idm this. i like unique variants of weapons. it adds flavor to my inventory. this one in particular adds a lot of lore implications.. something i’ll come to explain later on. really clutch against most enemies, this gun became a backup weapon as made wiping out enemies too easy..

3. K9000 Cyberdog Gun
another Old World Blues exclusive, this gun packs a punch.. seemingly into late game it falls off a little.. feeling lesser than some new guns you come across. but due to it’s overall uniqueness, and it’s ability to carry you through earlier parts of the game (as long as you get that DLC out of the way first) it felt worthwhile to keep around. it also makes cool dog sounds when you holster and unholster it. neato.

4. Hunting Revolver
normally i avoid these types of weapons, as they aren’t my style. especially in Fallout 3, i felt that sidearms weren’t viable at all. they aren’t much suited for early game either. i picked this up about halfway in, i’d say. with upgraded skills and good armor it’s one of those weapons that’s good, while also being satisfying to use. quicker than a sniper rifle, it also reaches a pretty far distance. allowing you to take out your enemies before they even notice you’re there.. if you can consistently one-tap them that is. it looks clean and has proper mods for it. one of the few i kept holstered most always.

5. Marksman Carbine
one i almost considered lumping in with the “Early Game Weapons” section, i realized this one proved much more useful at moments.. not by much, but still. i found this off of a Legion soldier and it was quite the surprise. i didn’t understand the scope (lol) of weapons here, at that point i thought i’d seen enough. but every so often there’d be something new i just had to make room for.. this being one of them. earlier on this proved useful for long distance encounters. it’s one of the many weapons to include a scope. very useful.. i always had spare ammo, and it packed a punch earlier on. i think it takes some scaling before you come across it, because Legion soldiers didn’t carry it up until a certain point. or maybe it depends on the area? unsure, but still – if you see it consider grabbing it.

6. Mercy
sort of a late game find. but this thing helps clear out enemies if you’re in a pinch. found in the Dead Wind Cavern, this weapon’s a unique variant of the 40mm grenade machinegun. i think it’s strong capabilities derive from it’s difficult nature to obtain. Dead Wind Cavern is fuuull of Deathclaws. if this was Fallout 3, piece of cake. but in New Vegas.. even though it was basically the last 10% of the game for me, i still had trouble clearing them out. i didn’t die, but i certainly felt the heat.. ironically this thing works great against Deathclaws, and especially those Legion hit squads that show up every so often. wish i found it earlier.

7. Misc.
others worth mentioning: the silenced .22 pistol – really handy in instances where you need to be stealthy. not all that great on it’s own, but it serves it’s purpose. it’s a holdout weapon too, meaning you can bring it into the casinos with you. the plasma caster – a really powerful plasma weapon. can kill enemies pretty quickly. but it’s a bit hindered by it’s “caster” aspect. it takes a while for the plasma shots to reach your enemy.. allowing for them to dodge it at times. sometimes annoying, but overall is a heavy hitter. the anti-material rifle/sniper rifle – both are somewhat similar to each other. they hit hard and really shine during firefights. allowing for you to pick off your enemies from a distance. the pulse gun/sonic emitter – the sonic emitter is a unique weapon, capable of unique upgrades within the Old World Blues DLC (once again). it’s not as great outside of here, and against humans. but it’s standard version, the pulse gun, works great when faced off against robots. finding that it can consistently kill them in one shot. i forget where i picked it up, but it was hella clutch in some instances where i was swarmed with enemies.. recompense of the fallen – a melee weapon made up of NCR soldier dogtags. i found it in one of the Legion camps. i originally mistook it for a DLC weapon, cause i didn’t remember picking it up.. but it’s another one of those really fun melee weapons to use. it’s creative design and implied origins resonated with me. kinda falls off around the halfway mark, but i made sure to always have it on me. the assault carbine – standard full-auto rifle. can use a lot of your ammo. but towards mid-to-late game it’s a good backup piece, as long as you have some reserved ammo. finally i’d like to s/o – C-4 plastic explosive. sort of awkward to use in the heat of battle, it’s real use comes in the form of reverse pickpocketing. putting one of these into someone’s pocket turns it into “live C-4” with the ability to be detonated.. if you’ve got a detonator. sometimes considered an act of evil (a penalty in your karma) it can be a useful weapon in instances where you need to kill someone stealthily, or if you have to wipe out an entire group without someone getting hostile. before i played i’d seen videos of people doing this. and i have to say it’s quite satisfying..

8. Early Game Weapons
finally, i’d like to give due credit to the guns that helped me earlier on in the game. e.g. Cowboy Repeater, Brush Gun, Hunting Rifle, Service Rifle, Varmint Rifle, Lever Action Shotgun, and Weathered 10mm Pistol. while some of these felt legendary that early on, they aren’t all that great. being rendered useless as enemies scale in difficulty and presence. still, i kept most of these by my side mostly cause of their sentimental value. there are so many other guns, i honestly felt like i’ve only scratched the surface.. looking at the list i realize there’s so many i hadn’t had the pleasure of using.. especially energy weapons.. honestly at times i felt that they were hard to come by naturally.

something i’ll only touch on briefly is the “reloading bench” and the new mechanics it brings with it. ammo now has variety. you can find tons of different kinds of ammo. some only specific to one gun. you also have the ability to reconstruct any ammunition into another kind. my explanation of this is a bit clunky as i’m still not exactly privy on this aspect.. the in-game explanation of some new mechanics aren’t all that good. and honestly it didn’t even make that much of a difference to me. every now and then i toyed around with it, but the act of crafting and swapping ammo just isn’t all that worth it to me, specifically. you’ll find a lot of weapon ingredients throughout the world. and in fact, some of your companions have on-the-go ammo crafting abilities (ED-E, to my knowledge). there’s also the addition of weapon mods. this is much more straightforward. certain weapons have certain mods you can purchase around the Mojave. though be weary, these are quite expensive. since i’ve only experienced a certain percentage of builds, weapons, and playstyles this game has to offer, i do understand i may be coming from a place of ignorance here – but i felt that weapon mods were sort of redundant. by the time you can afford them (while still being able to spare some caps), you’re mid-to-late game. by then the odds of you finding one for a gun you use, and for it to actually be worth the costs are slim. they just became a way for me to ball out towards the end. tho they are required for an achievement.. so there is some incentive. i don’t think they’re bad or anything. just a small nitpick i’d found during my experience.. cud be different for you though.

gunplay feels really good here. lots of fights are sudden, and you’ll have to find a way to adapt to them quickly. something i learned is that you can bound weapons to keys. i heard of quick-stimpak keybind, but i never bothered to look into how to use it. by accident i read a forum and learned you can bind your weapons too. numbers 1, and 3-8 can correlate to a weapon of your choice. a really necessary feature that’s not ever mentioned. i’d recommend using it if you play. it feels much more rewarding switching mid-fight than pausing to change guns. anyways.. the gunplay.. shooting enemies feels good. early on it can feel like a bombardment, especially if you’ve got Legion or NCR hit squads after you. having companions is hella clutch in this game too. i should have gotten them much sooner. avert your eyes if you don’t want companion hints. he’s easy to miss, but ED-E can be found in Primm. make sure you don’t neglect him there as he’s one of the best tools in the game i’ve found. spoiler over.

now’s probably a good time to move on. i hope i made it clear above, the systems in Fallout games are already so robust, but these add a level of re-playability unlike any game before it. the new forms of recovering health. sometimes being not so straightforward with some consumables having downsides.. and some having perks. new artillery, accompanied by new modifications, and ammo. a diverse selection of armors to wear. some even needing training to use. and some providing specific benefits. like a +1 to your S.P.E.C.I.A.Ls, et cetera.. getting equipment feels better earned. there’s also different currencies too. NCR moula n Legion dinero.. these can be used in the casino for chips. there’s gambling here. the casinos aren’t all that thriving, and there’s only a handful of tables you can play it. but while working on getting the “Courier who broke the bank” achievement, and boosting your luck in order to rig the hands isn’t all that bad of a time. there’s a cap to how much you can make, soo you can’t play forever. i only understand blackjack so i played dat.. besides this they’re okay. surprisingly, caravan is fun (as long as you win). i find it to be bullshit sometimes. but i guess that’s just gambling in a nutshell..

i’ve been talking a lot and i haven’t even gotten to the basics, like the map or DLC.. the map of the Mojave is really interesting. Fallout 3’s map was basically everything you saw on your Pip-Boy. with the edges of the map within your Pip-Boy being the edges of the map in game. i discussed this earlier, that how not all of it’s explorable (to my dismay..) the map is made up of the main part of the Mojave, surrounded by mountains and other canyons. i swam across the lake in an attempt to reach the outer recesses of the canyons. to see if there were any other locations i could reach. reaching the other-side i found some plants and a Mirelurk cave. but this cave wasn’t marked on my Pip-Boy.. which i thought was stupid. so i couldn’t even fast travel back there if i wanted. walking further along the side of the canyons i found not 1, but 2 massive hoards of Deathclaws. for those who don’t know: Fallout’s Deathclaws were cool though they’re mostly just a nuisance. they roam the Capitol Wasteland and are hostile, even with the animal friend perk. earlier on they can be tricky to kill but not so much in late-game. in New Vegas.. they’re buffed to hell. even with full armor, the best weapons, and a crew of companions, they can still just one-tap you. i always had to spam stimpaks and cheese any encounter i found myself in with them. and this was just the base-game.. (more on this later..) maybe this was a little easter egg for those who bothered to search, but all this did was irk me. the weapon you get here isn’t even all that good.. i forget if it’s even a unique. i’m not gonna bother looking it up. anyways.. besides Caesar’s Fort, a few late-game and post-DLC locations, there isn’t more to be found out there. it’s not that big of a deal as it’s already dense with places to travel and see, i was just disappointed. the north part of the map was really under-developed to me. around Jacobstown and across the top (nix Nellis Airforce Base i had a lot of fun here), is just soo dull. i hoped it would have had more.

even the southern half was like this. Camp Searchlight has a cool gimmick. an irradiated town.. the airport was one of my biggest peeves though. a whole airport, with a landing strip and everything. and there’s nothing to do here. of course we have Camp McCarran, but sometimes i just felt like.. put a interior.. or something.. gah damn.. i don’t even care if there’s nothing to do in there. i just find that immersion is lost for me when every building is boarded up. anyways, nearby that is a the site of a crashed Vertibird. pretty cool. early on there were really tough robots camping that area. they were too strong for me n so i turned back. not until i was trying to get assistance from Arcade and the Enclave Remnants did i remember this spot. i really like the little details placed into the world like this.. reminiscent of the crashed UFO spot in Fallout 3. the rest of the southern half is like this too. the right side has some Legion and NCR camps.. and the left, a few ravines.. the Mojave Outpost is an interesting spot, accompanied by an awesome statue portraying the unification of the Desert Rangers and the NCR. the road leading up to it continues on past the outpost, but it’s locked. surprisingly this gate never opened. i thought it’d open up later on, but it didn’t.. i thought maybe i chose the wrong route story-wise, and got locked out of that direction. but this doesn’t seem to be the case either. i just yearn to reach the edge of the map is all. glitching out of bounds it’s just mounds and hills. i know apparently a barrage of nukes hit this place, but it feels too barren sometimes. like i said it’s not really that bad. New Vegas still feels 100x more cohesive, and alive than 3. but sometimes i think about things.. complaining over, sorryy..

in the overarching battle for the Hoover Dam, and control of the Strip; your sole purpose was to deliver a platinum chip, a poker chip, to Mr. House. of course, things ensue.. and so the story is open from here. why did Benny take it from you? why’d he try to kill you? who is Mr. House? so onn.. it’s cryptic.. and to understand what’s behind all of this you’ll have to also play the DLC. slight preamble before i begin; i will again be comparing this aspect to Fallout 3’s. i felt very strongly about the DLC present in that game. both negative and positive. i was genuinely very curious to how these ones would hold up against Fallout 3’s. and in my write-up for that game (the one i mentioned porting over one day) i ranked the DLC. from best to worst. so i’d like to consider these within how i felt about those. i’ll also take the same approach in ranking them.

i’m ranking them worst to best

you get a broadcast from a local caravan business scouting some new recruits for an expedition to New Canaan, through Zion Valley. the call states they need someone with experience, and a Pip-Boy pinpointed to be located at the Northern Passage. making your way there, just outside Vegas, you find a small group. this is the Happy Trails Caravan, the ones who sent the message. Jed Masterson, the voice from the call, is the leader of the group. since you fit the criteria the offer is extended to join them. before leaving though you must discard items, as you’re only able to carry 75 lbs with you to New Canaan. after talking to another member of the caravan, Ricky, you’re able to increase this to 100 through speech-checks. Ricky is sort of a prick, and he’s kinda weird. he’s also got a Pip-Boy, though it isn’t working. his presence here is a little confusing.. but there’s no time to dwell on that. we have an expedition to go on. i had ~ 300 lbs worth of stuff.. soo it took me a minute to reach the 100 lb limit. once i finished discarding my items i spoke with Jed and we began the trek to New Canaan.

heeding the numerous warnings from Jed about the savages that inhabit the valleys between New Canaan, we finally arrive at Zion Valley. almost immediately upon arrival we are ambushed by White Legs, a raider tribe. they vie for the possibility to be absorbed into Caesar’s Legion, working on behalf of him.. within the blink of an eye your envoy is eradicated. after finishing off the White Legs who attacked you, you’re left to traverse they valley on your lonesome.. fortunately enough for you, a mysterious inhabitant arrives. one i originally mistook for an enemy. he introduces himself as Follows-Chalk, a member of the Dead Horses. his scouting abilities help you in making your way around the valley, and he leads you back to the Dead horses camp.

littered throughout the of Mojave are writtings about the “Burned Man” that “walks”. the more you traverse and visit different settlements, the more you learn about who the Burned Man is. Joshua Graham, the “Malpais Legate“, had been co-inaugurated into Caesar’s Legion beside Caesar himself. being his right-hand man Graham became a legate (not gonna pretend like i know these words. they’re basically positions held within the Legion). Graham’s assisted the Legion in previous battles and was known as a pretty tough soldier. but.. during the first Battle for Hoover Dam, the Legion lost. i guess as punishment for the loss, and for more demonstrative purposes, Caesar decided to execute Graham. lighting him on fire and throwing him over the Grand Canyon.. o_o – but somehow he survived. his story began to fester within the Mojave and he became known as the Burned Man (the writings and stories you heard about throughout your travels). this is a perfect example of how New Vegas’ DLC works. these stories are interwoven into the whole of the Mojave. not being a one-off misadventure. i admire this aspect. even though i don’t consider this DLC to be all that good, it still reigns higher than most of Fallout 3’s DLC just for that. Graham originally being a New Canaanite returns to home. a beef between him and Caesar continues.. eventually leading to an attack on New Canaan by the White Legs. with surviving inhabitants ending up in Zion Valley, the White Legs following in pursuit. in order to protect those that remain Joshua acts as the war-chief over the tribe; the Dead Horses.

Daniel, a survivor of the attack on New Canaan, also sought refuge here in the valley. him and Joshua are the only one’s who aren’t natives. though they see things differently. this causes a divide between them and the actions you can take, and ultimately the future of Zion Valley.. anyways, back to the Dead Horses camp. here you’ll find Joshua Graham. he’s the same one visioned on the cover art for the DLC. his design is cool as fuck (google here). even in the community tab of the Steam page i’d seen art of him. i was been really excited to reach this point of the story (i played this DLC second to last.. not in the correct order.. whoops..). but if i were to speak honestly, he’s singlehandedly the coolest part n all that’s worth seeing here. the story of the New Canaanites is interesting to me. the resolution between Daniel, Joshua, and the White Legs too. but all of this takes place in this unimpressive landscape. it barely resembles Fallout.. imo. though i did like the tribals reservations of pre-war buildings. viewing them as cursed.. oh, this reminds me; exploring Zion’s caves you can find makeshift hideouts. inside the hideouts are terminals, with entries dated all the way back to the day the nukes dropped. i’ll keep the core of this a secret, but it’s super interesting to read about.. this man surviving the first barrage and living through to the other side, into post-apocalyptia. having to take refuge in this place vast with canyons. bearing the struggle of not ever seeing his wife and child again.. fighting against the new foes found in this new hell on Earth.. it adds a nice touch. this man comes to be known as Father in the Caves to the local tribals and his caves are sworn to sacredness. these caves and any pre-war buildings are viewed as taboo to them. under no-circumstances would they enter. well, besides Follows-Chalk as he’s read up or something. anyways. these details are completely missable (the ones about the cave dweller). the rest of the DLC at times can be snooze, as the remaining missions are to take out local predators, like Yao Guai orr reuniting a lost Bighorner with it’s family. but this made searching very interesting. and i went out of my way to learn more about it.

another unintentional perk with this DLC is the fact it’s on the short side.. lol. by no means is it a miserable play-through. it’s no Point Lookout that’s for sure.. it’s just not the most exciting. anyway, it’s still fun to try and find all locations, and the dilemma between Daniel and Joshua is pretty interesting. either you can take Daniels side and save the all the tribals from pointless death and war, and evacuate them. or; take Joshua’s side and seek out the leader of the White Legs and get back at Caesar. i’d say this is one of those cases where i more torn than i would’ve liked to admit. Daniels route was probably the right choice.. but with an anger fueled by thoughts of the Legion.. and Joshua’s more alluring nature.. i chose his route. honestly i just wanted to hear what he had to say n how his ending goes. i thought maybe he’d even return to the Mojave with me, and fight for the war on Hoover Dam. (maybe i had my hopes too high, whoops.) the final fight against the White Legs leader was good. the change in atmosphere.. the once bright, plastic-y look of Zion is overcome by a dark storm.. bleak.. dramatic.. rainy. it was nice. with just Joshua accompanying me i had a lot going thru my head. did i make the right choice? is this really how it should end? what have i done..? what’s Joshua’s true motives? is he evil? he looks really cool.. he’s gotta be evil.. right? i understand the White Legs are savages who don’t know any better. countless times they’re described as being unable to fend for themselves.. relying on raiding to survive. maybe it was to put down their leader in this way.. but i was reminded of what they did to New Canaan, those unable to strike back.. n their allegiance to Caesar.. i decided to take them out. hopefully this resolved the fear for those seeking refuge.. i hope i made the right choice.

i’m giving this DLC a low rating not because it’s bad (i probably started this section with “it’s bad”, but thinking about in totality has soften my viewpoint on it. bland and simple in appearance, it has a good story behind it. not as epic as i was lead to believe (seriously.. why’d they waste Joshua on this DLC? he has so much potential.. ugh..), but it is certainly made up for by some good world-building.. as well as it’s short nature. i’m rating it a 5/10.

nextt..

exiting you see a deposit box, and a terminal.. interesting. turning the corner you set your sights on the radio. inching nearer you’re blindsided by this knockout gas. it fills up the bunker, clouding your vision. the radio drones as you fade to black.. waking up, you find yourself in a sort of town center. facing a waterfall. a striking feature of it is it’s accompanying Hologram, a message seemingly broadcasting from it. just past it in the distant horizon is the Sierra Madre itself.

before having any control you’re directed toward the hologram. coming through is the voice of Father Elijah. a former Brotherhood elder. his presence in a place like the Sierra Madre is confusing.. honestly. where are you? how’d we even get here. what are the connotations of the gas that’d suffocated us? after a lot (i mean a lot..) of exposition and lore dumping, there’s a few things we’re meant to understand. Father Elijah is a complex character. being neither friend, or foe.. he does have total control over us. Elijah tells you that around our necks is a bomb collar. one wrong move and it goes off. who did this to us and why are unknown. but this is as expected by Father Elijah. he explains that my being here is primarily my own fault.. being unable to resist the sweet call of the Sierra Madre, and promises of it’s vast wealth. (not as if i never even listened to the broadcast and instead found the bunker by pure chance while exploring the depths of the waste.. and am only playing by obligation.. no.. impossible..) anyway. you’re just a pawn to Father Elijah, who needs you to help him. if you refuse, well.. remember that collar around your neck. this DLC is a casino heist. we’ll need to find a way into the Sierra Madre, and to find it’s vault. proposed and built by Frederick Sinclair. but before we can even consider getting inside, we have other tasks on our plate. first we given lots of backstory from Elijah.. who’s clearly a little misguided (my interpretation..) and he’s gone a little crazy. not sure how long he’s been out here but he’s clearly frustrated. he makes mention that we’re not the first, and probably not the last, to show up here. getting co-operation from other subjects has been a huge failure. and nobody’s been able to crack the doors of the Sierra Madre. second, we aren’t alone. there are other victims of this trap. other people with collars attached to them. we’re also told that these collars are linked.. and in order to survive, me and the other (unwilling) participants will have to work as a team. this brings up a problem: what if they don’t intend on co-operating?

taking on the aesthetics of the southwest and it’s Spanish style architecture, and a 1-to-1 interpretation of the novel and film “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre“. it totes a line somewhere between the weighing gloom of the Day of the Dead, and a desolate sense from it’s pre-war villas and a forgotten-in-time atmosphere. surrounding the Sierra Madre are a maze of town centers, homes, and shops all intertwined and interconnected. creating a densely packed type of maze that can be hard to navigate. especially with the cloud-like substance that fills the streets. toxic to the player we must avoid being within the smog or else we succumb to it and die. this threat is rendered dually frustrating by the roaming threats found in wandering the districts. these ghost people inhabit the streets. acting as unvacated security for the streets. they wear tattered hazmat suits as armor, and wield scythes, spears, even bombs. their masks of their hazmat suits glow a bright green. honestly their design is reminiscent of Scarecrow.. they look grim. their design is pretty cool. i do have some nitpicks though. first of all these guys can’t be killed. well technically they can, but only by explosives. unfortunately my explosives skill was pretty low, and mid-way through the game my inventory was mostly made up of rifles and other weapons. i was very low on explosives. so this wasn’t a viable option. downing the ghosts gives you a short window of escape, but it’s only a matter of time before they get back up again. a deepcut reference to my older write-ups is the anxiety i get from these types of enemies. horror games can be pretty scary, but being the boss that i am, i’m able to get through them relatively unscathed. but there’s this one thing just wrecks my confidence. it’s these unkillable style of enemies. take Dead Space for example. it’s damn scary.. one of the best atmospheres ever. but this doesn’t make my skin crawl as much as enemies like the Hunter or Ubermorph do (google here). the Hunter moreso than the Ubermorph. for some reason i just can’t stand it. maybe it’s a more superficial way of enhancing the horror, like a cheap jumpscare. i can’t be the one to decide, all i know is that it tends to stress me out. these guys aren’t at the same level as a Dead Space Hunter, or even Ubermorph. but they do create a sense of tension. this DLC is really tense, i’ll say. maybe it skews my enjoyment of it a little bit, since it has less breathing room than something like Honest Hearts.. or Old World Blues. but it does add to the overall sense of these DLC. something lingering. this tension is built upon by those you need recruit to help you open the gates of the Sierra Madre. Elijah tasks you first with finding 3 other “participants” involved in his scheme.

first on my list was Dean Domino. one with a good eye may recognize his name from various pre-war posters found out in the Mojave. even featured in one of the loading screens. he’s a famous pre-war singer turned Ghoul in the aftermath of the war. confusingly, his history with the Sierra Madre spans over 200 years. even participating in previous attempts in cracking the doors of the Sierra Madre by Elijah’s command. i guess Elijah hadn’t yet thought of the idea to link the collars between each participant until around the time you show up.. convenient. Dean needs some coercion in aiding you, and his motives are suspicious at best. either way, we need him. reaching him was a bit of a struggle. the toxic cloud that filling up intersections, and the roaming ghosts turned the streets into a maze. being very difficult to navigate at times. Dean’s companion perk is useful though, allowing a few spare seconds of immunity to the toxic cloud. letting you make it through unharmed.

next up was Christine. a bit of story/fourth wall breaking here.. but i’d heard of Christine before already. in the Old World Blues DLC (i played them out of order..) you can find a holotape with the voice belonging to Christine herself. the tape told of experiments and the dangerous nature of the facilities she found herself trapped in (more on that DLC later). by the sounds of it i’d expected to find her dead. but no remains could be identified. another distinguishing feature was her affiliation with the Brotherhood of Steel. either way i was curious to find her and see if she could shine some light into our situation. as a fellow Wastelander i thought our bond to be strong. finding Christine in a clinic, and freeing her from an auto-doc it’s apparent that this is going to be no easy task. Christine’s appearance is that of a test subject.. like she’d been pulled apart and pieced back together. she can’t speak, and can only communicate through visual cues. highkey.. this sucks. Christine is able to reciprocate understanding at times and will be a valuable asset. but it’s clear we’re gonna need more help.

crossing Christine off the list i set off for “Dog”.. i wasn’t sure what to expect. but what i found didn’t surprise me. Dog.. is a Super Mutant. he can be found in the local police station. his condition is difficult to understand, and while searching for a way to free him, you receive a voice. i don’t know if this was through some intercom, or a signal. in hindsight i believe this was the voice of .. “God”. seemingly Dog’s alter-ego. result of trauma in a sense. Dog is a brute-ish creature who’s best known for his impulsive nature, and eating things.. bad combo. God seems to inhabit the recesses of Dog’s mind and is the only voice of reason. critical and of serious importance due to Dog’s impulsive and primal nature, he often leads to the detriment of their efforts here at the Sierra Madre, and getting free. freeing Dog was a confusing task on it’s own. there seemed to be a lot of different ways to approach him. i took the “freeing Dog by keeping him contained behind God, while also pacifying God and getting him to assist me” route. lemme be clear; God is one stubborn son-of-a-bitch. this task on it’s own was hard enough, making it obvious that if we all want to get out of here alive (which we must), then we’re going to need all the luck we can get. getting Dog on my side was no easy task, but it’s done. now we need to make the final preparations before the break-in.

meeting back up at the fountain where we first made contact with Father Elijah, he returns to communicate with us again. in order to get the gates open we need to activate the Sierra Madre’s grand-opening. in a sense, opening it’s doors for the first time. as if it was still that fateful day.. i gotta take each member of my team and place get them into position. of course they all complain and i’ve gotta do some tedious task in order to quell their nerves. (e.g. providing Dean with hologram security guards, or God with food.. so Dog doesn’t get hungry..) once this is done, the grand-opening can be triggered. in the top of a bell tower in the Salida del Sol sector of the villa is a switch. climbing to the top of the tower and initiating the switch begins the proceedings. circling back to the fountain in the center of the Sierra Madre you find the gates of the Sierra Madre are open to visitors..

it’s pretty obvious that Father Elijah has dubious intentions with us. i knew from the jump he was just using us to get inside. as his failed attempts have only made his appetite for entry even stronger.. and he’d stop at nothing to get inside. entering the casino you find all of your companions to be.. dead? by now you’ve had the option to bond with them. by speaking with each of them individually you can begin to understand each and every one of them. and why you’re here. the real truth of the Sierra Madre. but before you can do anything, you pass out. with the screen fading to black. this sight was really disheartening. i knew Father Elijah would’ve turned on us sooner or later. i just expected it to happen nearer to when we crack the vault. but no, he’s cunning.. he knew to shake us up once we were so close to the true nature of this place. fortunately, you regain consciousness. though this time, you’re companions have disappeared. it’s finally time to navigate the casino.

turning on the power to the Sierra Madre brings the place to life. hologram card dealers and workers appear. armed guards too. doubling as a resort, the Sierra Madre comes with plenty of amenities. a restaurant, private suites, a theater.. this time though, Elijah’s orders are to take care of each of your companions. since they’ve “served their purposes”. you’ll find your companions in different segments of the Sierra Madre. one at a time. beginning in the same order that i recruited them, i began with Dean. fittingly he’s found in the theater. Elijah’s tone is basically – take him out. opening the theater was like letting loose hundreds of years worth of secrets. secrets begin pouring out of the room, and Dean confronts you. his connection to the Sierra Madre becomes clear.. and so do his dealings with Sinclair and Vera Keyes. talking to him you learn that this place is only a casino on the outside. on the inside, it’s a fortress. Frederick Sinclair, having knowledge of the impending doom facing the world, had the casino built to protect that of which he was infatuated with. this being Vera, the famous pre-war starlet. little did Sinclair know, Dean already had a firm grasp on Vera. having her hooked on drugs. Dean knew all about the intentions behind the casino. having Vera under his thumb gave him an easy in. the scheme to rob the Sierra Madre’s vault never felt easier. unfortunately for them the bombs fell. this fortress turned into a tomb for Vera, and a pipedream for Dean. being locked out for so long he nothing but time to prep for another assault. finding success on the back of the Courier’s arrival. Dean’s mask slips and (for some convenient reason i can’t seem to remember) his collar his no longer linked. he drops the facade and engages in a shootout with the Courier. killing Dean is required in proceeding.

after business is finished within the theater, i headed for the suites in search of Christine. navigating your way through a couple security holograms you can find her in one of the furthermost rooms. somehow she was able to regain her voice.. though apparently now sounding similar to Vera herself.. next to Christine is Vera’s corpse. a skeleton left in place for hundreds of years. more exposition fills the room as Christine’s endeavors are revealed. this is the same Christine from Big MT (Old World Blues), and one you’d heard about in the Mojave from one of your possible companions, Veronica. Christine’s hunting down Father Elijah, and now’s our chance to finally put him down. she explains how he can’t resist the temptation of seeing the vault himself. putting down the Courier before he can screw up something he’s been waiting for, for so long. before i do that tho i gotta save God..

by now the casino’s overrun with the ghosts that roam the streets. a brief fight between the ghosts and security guards give me a chance to make my escape. you can find God in the kitchen, but this time it seems like Dog’s fighting for control.. he’s aggro here and he’ll attack on sight. this is bad since damaged something causing a gas leak. disrupting this room can lead to both your deaths. after a quick stealth session you finally get a chance to speak to Dog. not God. quelling his anxieties and convincing him to take the backseat until he’s ready to come back out, God returns. it hurts to manipulate him into giving up control, but for both their sakes i found it to be the right approach. after this though he doesn’t accompany you back, and you never see him again. after a bittersweet return back to Christine, you’ve found the proper way to crack the vault. it takes a lot of convincing but you promise Christine that you’ll take care of Elijah. pushing for her to give up pursuit and ensuring her safety. cracking the vault is not an easy task. but you get it done. inside is an unlimited supply of treasures.. gold bars stacked on a table to your right (worth like 160k caps.. ooghhh..) and loads of pre-war money too. loading up on gold bars i read the terminal before leaving. on this terminal Sinclair recounts what you’ve already learned. that this place was intended to be more than a casino. what you didn’t know was that Sinclair already knew of her plan to rob the vault with Dean. he recounts their final conversation.. and understands the headspace she’s in. not attributing it to malice and somehow managing to forgive her, and still has the wherewithal to apologize to her.. and still provide her with necessary protection within the Sierra Madre.

but before you can leave you’re interrupted by Father Elijah. he too drops the mask. explaining that you were just a pawn, and you’ve done all his dirty work for him. with a high enough speech skill you’re able to manipulate him to come down and face you himself. this brings up a slight problem. with all the gold bars i’m carrying i’m over-encumbered.. and getting out before Father Elijah shows up is tricky, furthermore; escaping the vault itself isn’t possible. after countless trial and error, trying to trap Father Elijah while escaping with the dough, i realized.. to let go of my greed.. enacting vengeance on Elijah, i leave him to die trapped within the vault. i can bring (some sort of) peace to Christine. and leaving behind all the riches behind.. at first i was irked. thinking of all the bottle caps i’d get.. but this is just meant to tease you. i understood the mission.. escaping from the time bomb that was the Sierra Madre’s vault, i made it out. and thus concludes my time here.

this was more a brief summary than an exact recounting. it was fun and worthwhile venture. this DLC doesn’t suffer from the typical Fallout DLC pitfalls. yeah it’s linear, but it was an interesting reverse-engineering of heists. which makes for a very cool concept. but this only what my play-through entailed. you can get an entirely different experience if you look at it differently. making different choices or aiding and abetting the foes, maybe there’s an outcome where you recover all the gold bars.. who knows.. but all is not lost; the casino’s technically open now. so i came up with a heist of my own.. the Sierra Madre is the only DLC location you can’t make subsequent trips to. so you’ve got to make it count. before i left i made sure to maximize my blackjack winnings. you can’t exactly “cheese” any of the games since there’s an anti-cheating measure in the form of a one minute cooldown if you re-load a previous save. so by playing strategically.. n getting lucky, you can reach the casino limit. if you recall the Sierra Madre is a pre-war casino.. so the pay out is in pre-war currencies. typically i ignore any pre-war money i find while looting.. so be me when i realized that cashing out my maximum number of chips grants me about 16k pre-war dollars (which carry no weight penalties). returning back to the Mojave, maxing out your barter skill, and finding the right buyer, you can sell these for 9 or even 10 caps each. 16,000 x 9 (in my case) nets me arounddd.. 144,000 caps. et voilà. now i’m rich. and now life’s on easy mode.. all in all, and with this added benefit included, this DLC was kind of awesome. besides my disdain for unkillable enemies, and being “fetch quest-y” at times, i find that it maintains a balance of feeling just at home in a Fallout game, but also kinda being creepy.. atmosphere on mark.. and i think it’s overarching connections back to the Mojave solidly cements it here.. and i very much liked it. 8/10 DLC.

2. Old World Blues
i’m only just realizing i have these ranked in their release order.. and also technically the order you gotta play them in.. erh.. whoops. i swear it’s not intentional.. i guess each DLC drop was better than the last (fact). anyways, this was the first one i played. most likely cos it was placed relatively in a way where most new players would bump into it first (or second, considering the wreckage near Primm..) or maybe this is just my experience. either being clued in by a mysterious broadcast, or by pure chance, in a drive-in near Nipton you can find a crashed satellite. it’s reminiscent of Mothership Zeta’s crashed UFO in Fallout 3.. (well this ideas also been used by older Fallout’s already, so.) but it’s a really obvious idea that gives me a warm feeling in my stomach.

if you investigate the satellite during the day you’ll be prompted with a message to come back at midnight. should’ve known from the quest title.. after neandering around a bit, the time finally came.. and the clock struck midnight. outta nowhere the satellite projects a film out onto the long abandoned drive-in screen. the film’s of an eye.. it’s frantically peering at you. same as the DLC cover art. interacting with the satellite now you can examine it closer.. the precautions mention a place called the “Big Empty..” i’m curious.. after agreeing to its treacherous journey (where you’re unable to return until all it’s secrets are solved) you’re presented with a slideshow on science.. and particular scientists. and then you’re transported somewhere else. woah.. we’re no longer the in Mojave. a new quest is added and it’s descriptor entails; “Find out where the hell you are.” fitting. where the hell am i..?

to make a long story short the Big MT (pronounced mountain, but also known as the “Big Empty”, get it?) is a bit nonsensical at moments and really hard to describe. compared to the likes of Zion Valley and the Sierra Madre it’s far less linear. like DLC’s past you’re given a new sandbox to explore with it’s own sub-missions and mysteries. it feels massive on first impressions. it’s also got a nice moody feel.. especially at night. of all the DLC this is the most cozy. it’s hostile, and at eerie at moments. but provided with of a safehouse, it feels rather safe here.. or maybe this is just a result of the effects of the pacification shield..

taking in the sights the Big MT looks like an amalgam of sorts. something feels off. it feels like it’s in the process of something. it still feels lively.. but abandoned at the same time? it’s an off-putting sort of feeling. in the distant horizon is this dome that’s emitting a red glow. i’m obviously led to believe that place is evil.. there’s railways, facilities dotted around the landscape. some accursed Halo 4 Promethean Forerunner ass architecture in the form of hexagon pillars that at first had me dying on the inside. the contrast of the blue and red glow makes for a satisfying departure from Fallout’s typical bleak nature. again, the atmosphere is nailed here.. what’s weird though is that this place doesn’t feel like it’s been through a nuclear holocaust. it’s bright and uniform. speaking of uniform.. our outfit’s changed. now we’re wearing a patient gown, as if we’ve just gone through a procedure.. weirdd..

after admiring the view for a bit, i began my journey. the only door around was one leading to “the Sink”.. not knowing what to expect, i went in. the Sink sorta works as your temporary base of operations. it’s really damn unlucky that it can only be accessed here. throughout the DLC you can find holotapes that upgrade the various units around the room. these units vary from a literal sink to an auto-doc, jukebox, even lightswitches, et cetera. including a few unique things like “Muggy”, or a “Biological Research Station”.. finding these holotapes restores them to their natural state, and some of them provide a useful utility. they can also talk. i won’t lie i i lol’d a lot and it’s safe to say i was charmed.. i’m still scratching my brain at what their meaning was. i guess i forgot the implication. ah well.. it’s nice in there. easily my favorite safehouse in the entire game. i wonder if there’s a mod to port it into the base game.. onward – it’s a lot to take in. but eventually it’s easy to grasp. finding these specific holotapes is kinda hard though. i needed a guide for that.

i grew pretty attached to this part of the Think Tank. it’s developed interestingly throughout, you’ll be going in n out pretty often. it works well as a rest stop.. a place to re-collect yourself, and take in the sheer oddity of this new world. a layout that rivals that of any base world residencies. despite its segmented status from the rest of the game a lot of its utilities are useful. you may neglect them at first, just like i did, but when i returned i didn’t understand its true capability. you can auto-grow food and transform it into other types of tools, and heals. so like.. an infinite way to gain resources. it’s a process that i had not acknowledged at first. the Book Chute is also extremely useful. mentioned above, the Voracious Reader perk is easily the best of the new perks. the Book Chute can do this without the perk. tho it costs more books.. providing blank magazines this early (in my experience) was totally a godsend. the most irking thing is not having a magazine whenever i needed it most. this method is far more convenient.. add onto this the Sink Auto-Doc and Jukebox, and you’ve got a lively and boundless safehouse which i wish could’ve made it into the base Mojave.. maybe there’s a mod that can do this.. hrm, i wonder.

i’m instantly locked into the longest dialogue of my damn life. seriously. i was being cute and decided i’d record my first steps into this new world. the concept of piqued my curiosity. i must have been so caught of guard that i forgot i was recording. not until 20 minutes later did i realize i was still recording. holy crap these guys talked so much.. and me being the who explores every dialogue option.. it took forever. i mean technically it was a conversation between 6 people so it makes sense for it to have droned on. but geeez. there’s a lot of exposition dump here, and i have no idea where to begin..

the scientists appear to be a certain make of robot, also known as think tanks. they’ve got limbs made up of monitors that act as their eyes and mouths. conjoined at the center is a glass dome displaying their brains. some ultra advanced hi-tech here.. they’re off-putting at first. but getting to know them eases my first impressions. you’re introduced to each – Dr. Klein heads the group. acting as a speaker in which they all talk from (since yano in Fallout games the world tends to pause when speaking to someone head on). while intrigued, Dr Klein’s the most abrasive of the group. the others are more curious than fearful, but Klein’s harbored resentment of “Lobotomites” (a term you’ve somehow become associated with.. hrmm) makes him quite confrontational. each scientist has a very played up persona. they’re very distinct from each other. Doctor 0 (incorrectly referred to as “Oh”), while sometimes the voice of reason (rarely), he’s often quick to frustration. and can be a little unstable. well, most of them are. Borous falls into this category too. he often recollects on his high school glory days. and hates commies with a passion.. what’s new? Dala’s the only female scientist. at least i think she is. according to the Wiki she’s referred to as gender-fluid too. i’m not sure. she’s got a weird obsession with teddy bears, often referring to us as such. shrugs. Doctor 8’s the quirky one of the group. he’s the most abstract. it seems that after a run-in with Father Elijah (a familiar face..), both Doctor 0 & 8 suffered effects of his pro haxor abilities.. with 8 losing his voice in the altercation. when talking with him all you get is: “@@[*…….]@@… @@[*…….]@@..? @@[*……*]@@“. the Courier seems to be able to understand him. and with a high enough speech skill you can help him out. he was probably my favorite.. considering he didn’t talk for 100,000 hours. lastly there’s Mobius. he’s an interesting case. he’s one of those more than what meets the eye types.. you could say (since he’s only got one working eye.. er.. monitor i mean.. meheh). he’s the villain here. playing the DLC basically unravels the meaning of Big MT, and Mobius’ backstory. turns out he’s moreso playing the role of the villain. after the scientists transformation into their think tank counterparts, and the Big MT’s more heinous, out of hand experiments, Mobius chose to hack the chips of peers. morphing their personalities and wiping most of what they knew. as well as giving them new names. Mobius’ fear of them leaving Big MT and exposing their atrocities to the innocents of the Mojave led him to pacify the other scientists. distracting them with his evilness, and taking on the role of the bad guy. a thankless job.. he also built the pacification shield.

obviously the scientists are frustrated with this, but they’re oblivious to Mobius’ doing. Mobius’ innocence isn’t so obvious at first, and he doesn’t drop the act ’til the end.. so assisting the scientists was all i could do. they reside in the Think Tank and don’t dare leave, in fear of being attacked by the rampant experiments out in the Big Empty. they need me to retrieve equipment for them so they can finally disable the pacification shield, and learn what waits outside the Big Empty.

exiting the Think Tank i can understand why the scientists don’t want to leave. out into the greater Big Empty is a warzone between an ensemble of all kinds of hostile enemies. but now i can finally mention my biggest gripe with Fallout DLC as a whole; how tank as fuck the enemies are. to a lesser degree in Honest Hearts and Dead Money, but in the case of these last two (and Fallout 3’s) it’s a major headache. for some reason all the enemies are insanely buffed. i don’t know if it’s just me, but i scoured a ton of forums and nobody seems to share this issue. maybe there’s a mod that could fix this? but i never bothered to look. anyways. it’s got to be a sort of difficulty boost. the DLC wouldn’t be as long if the enemies were easy to mow down. so to a degree i can understand it. but in it’s normal state it’s made way too hard. all of the enemies have so much health. this early into the game i didn’t have expendable ammo, or the means to repair my most valuable weapons. every fight was a battle of life or death. they don’t even drop useful loot. so i’m draining ammo for no benefit at all.. it irks me so much. the White Legs from Zion Valley were on baby mode, and the ghosts from the Sierra Madre couldn’t die (unless blown up, ripped apart, et cetera) so they didn’t apply. Big MT had a loooot of enemies though, making them some of the toughest in the entire game. well, second to those damned Deathclaws from the base game.. (oh.. how naïve i was..)

there’s the regular variety of robots. all being pretty tough. Big MT was actually one of my first encounters with Securitrons, hostile ones at least. there was this creepy as hell one.. if my memory serves me correctly, his name was: “010011110110111001100101”. but this is just my best guess…… he was really strong too. luckily, he was too big to fit through the door to the room he was in. so i could sorta cheese his encounter.. then there’s Cyberdogs, nightcrawlers, and Cazadors. you can find all these out in the Mojave. Cyberdogs are easy to get rid of. though the nightcrawlers and Cazadors can be a pain in the ass. especially the Cazadors with their poisonous effects. eventually Robo-scorpions are sent by Mobius and only appear once progressed further into the story.. there’s even a proper boss battle before you come face to face with Mobius; a giant Robo-scorpion it was really cool. actually it was reminiscent of a boss fight in Deus Ex: Human Revolution; where you face off against 80-X Boxguard’s. the warehouse, and cover provided by platforms/warehouse offices.. the humanoid enemies are made up of Lobotomites, “Y-17 trauma override harness” (google here), and Ghouls from the Yangtze concentration camp. it should be noted that upon our arrival we were operated on. major organs like our brain, spine, and heart were all removed. conveniently our operation was successful (i won’t question it), hence the name “Lobotomite”. though, these other Lobotomites are hostile. as a result of their failed testing. anyway, these enemies are all tanks too. the Y-17 trauma override harness were probably the most difficult. but the were scarce at times. different enemies had different spawning locations. but when combined they can swarm you and are really hard to fend off. yes yes.. everything changes when you consider what your level is, and which perks and skills you’ve invested in. since mosts foes were robots my energy weapons often did the trick. melee weapons felt efficient too. but every fight was still a chore. even when returning at max level, with some of the best weapons. this is the biggest nitpick i’ve had, but i’m glad it wasn’t as miserable as it was in Fallout 3. phewww.. Big MT was really refreshing to explore. at times the Mojave can feel a little dull. honestly, i was just itching for more of this industrial theme. all the different labs and research sites..

the random Chinese concentration camp was an out of place spot. but it’s significance was interesting.. elaborating on China’s annexing of Alaska, and it’s beef with the US. it’s dark but it makes it make more sense. and the surviving Ghouls found there aren’t very difficult. “Boom Town” is a really tough spot. you’ll find yourself in and out of this area a lot. especially near the start. i found myself in a lot of close calls.. the artillery range across from it adds a sense of alteration. the terrain’s captivating. and fun to venture through. but by far the most interesting spot was Higgs Village. there’s barely any enemies in and around here, giving you some breathing room to explore. inside’s a replica of suburban cul-de-sac. it looks like Tranquility Lane. but it’s empty. there’s things like doghouses, full mailboxes, though there’s nobody here. signs of life.. but that life is long gone.

exploring the homes it becomes easy to piece together. seems this is where the scientists used to reside. each have not-so-subtle clues based on their neurotic nature. for example, one’s littered with teddy bears. you can find Dr. Klein’s glove in another. at first i thought this place was just used solely for experimentation purposes, but inspecting further it’s got more to imply. i love finding places like these. things can be easy to miss if you’re not looking, even when staring you in the face.

Big MT comes off as an amalgam of sorts. one second you’ll be fighting spore monsters in the botanical sector.. and the next you’ll be participating in a stealth obstacle course (an easy one at that..) there’s just so much to do and see. you’ll be given the chance to splice together certain creatures into a certain other type of.. mess.. or mesh.. making you feel like an evil scientist for doing so. so many little details, and visual cues. it can be overwhelming.. it’s got a mixture of pre-war realism, mixed with it’s obvious sci-fi inspirations. it’s cool to see in action. like those clashing hexagon palisades sticking out the ground. then compared to the meek nature of the old industrial offices, riddled with catastrophe. old world vehicles.. platforms, utilities. i love it. maybe messy at times, but i feel this place strikes a strong feeling of whimsy. it feels like a bunch of randomness thrown at the wall, but it feels inspired. a consistent detail of the best Fallout add-ons.

something i don’t think i’ve complained about yet, is the neutering of caves in New Vegas. they all feel same-y and much more like straight mazes. Fallout 3 had vast winding caves.. it felt like going in one direction you were missing out on another. but somehow it always cleverly tied back together. something that took me a while to catch onto.. caves in New Vegas are fine.. but they’re mostly just crevices inhabited by a select number of creatures who somehow aren’t bothered by it’s cramped space.. Old World Blues has a few that stand out. and i’d like to give them a mention. the Cuckoo’s Nest is one overran by Lobotomites. they’re strong as hell.. i attempted to sneak around them, but they’ve got insane premonition. every time it failed.. some Lobotomites are simply default enemies, but apparently a few are some of the first to become Lobotomites. i was ignorant of this detail while fighting them. you know, since they were so tough.. but on research i found out this detail and i found it intriguing. somehow they’ve made it this long, and choose to reside in a makeshift shelter. what is it like to be a lobotomite? we don’t count for this experiment since somehow our lobotomy adversely succeeded and we’ve retained our cognitive abilities. but still.. that must be a weird existence. it speaks volumes to the freakiness of the Big Empty, and these experiments that are known to terrorize newcomers. another standout cave was that of “the Mysterious Cave” (woah..) this lonesome cave system was home to a Bloatfly militia. i have yet to mention Bloatfly’s like at all since they’re kind of the most pointless Fallout enemy, in my humble opinion.. they’re gross, ugly, and kind of serve no purpose. from all the Fallout i’ve ever played this is their most relevant presence. inside this cave resides the ‘Legendary Bloatfly’. my first encounter with it ended it total failure. at the time i believed it to be the toughest enemy in the game (granted i was still weak and underdeveloped. with better tools, armor, and resources this could’ve been a piece of cake. who’s to say). but at the time i only had maybe 1-2 viable weapons. anyway.. this thing was tank-y as fuck (and no surprise) dropped nothing at all. all that work for nothing. i remember walking out of there with less than i walked in with. utter waste of time.. at least i can say i killed it though. bragging rights i suppose..

there’s a lotta different facilities labeled X-something & Y-something. i can’t remember what’s in all of them, but the most prominent one was the X-8 research center. just out front of Boom Town. it serves as another testing site but it stands out due to its prominence. there’s a lotta missions that finalize here. and some interesting secrets to ponder. a majority of this site is dedicated to this pretend high school replica. i guess intended as testing grounds, it also works as a makeshift obstacle course. or maybe this was it’s intended purpose. shrugggg.. i was a little confused at first though. they have you go through it a few times. each time feels a little harder than the last. so it was a little tedious. but it’s worth it. you can find a cavern that houses some.. houses. it’s weird, normally you don’t find homes underground. i was really curious, though i couldn’t figure out a way into there. but by the end of these quests i was able to get inside. i was pretty surprised to find a giant Cyberdog, AKA “Gabe”. Borous’ dog. you can even find clues of his existence in Higgs Village. guess this is where he’s housed. i didn’t really want to kill him.. but he was hostile towards me, so.. this mission is actually important (in my case). each member of the Think Tank has missions which the Courier can assist them in. for me, gaining their trust and keeping peace was my goal. if you help them they take your side towards the end, voting against Dr. Klein. they were satisfying to do. i liked the scientists. at times annoying, but i felt they were the most obvious depiction of “misguided”. imo. quelling their worries and helping to restore the Big Empty’s focus.

the story is a straight shot. most of my time here was spent exploring. learning Big MT’s history.. and secrets. and how it’s woven into the Mojave. thinking about it now.. most of it’s optional. of course you’re led to discover lots of places from the missions. but a lot isn’t. i was already ready to return to the Think Tank and finish the story before i even searched half of the map. it’s worthwhile though. you’re provided with some very useful tools. like stealth ninja armor (she’s bae..), or Sonic Emitter upgrades. once the technology is collected, you’re sent to face off against Mobius’ in the Forbidden Zone. like i mentioned earlier, you face off against a giant Robo-scorpion. and in-turn, Mobius himself. but he’s got a different tune to tell. he shares the truth of Big MT and the role that he plays to the other scientists. at first it feels like another scheme of his, i mean he sent Robo-scorpions to kill us. now he’s tryna play us for a fool.. but choosing to hear him out, i think he’s working for the greater good.. of course you’re given the option of fighting him. i chose not to. oh yeah, it should be noted; Mobius has our brain.

the Courier’s brain is such a bastard. proving to be a real pain in the ass, for some reason we’ve got to barter with him for him to re-join us. as if he’s got a choice.. he’s got this annoying voice, sounding like a stuck up snob.. too good for me? my own brain thinks this..? he’s upset with all the turmoil we’ve endured out in the Wastes, and seems to want to settle down somewhere cozy.. finally finding a chance for escape during our lobotomy. either way, i convinced him to come back with me. asshole.. tryna taunt me.. convincing me i’m wrong, and that i don’t have his best intentions in mind.. well this is addressed to him – “╭∩╮(◣_◢)╭∩╮”.. upon beating the DLC (or just before it) and returning to the Sink you can get your heart and spine back. either i left both, or took my heart.. i forget. either way, after having to convince my brain to partner back up i made my way back to the Think Tank. upon entering you’re given the message “Dr. Klein is waiting.. time to finish this once and for all.” finally faced with Dr. Klein and the others.. their synchronized appearance.. combined with the red hue cast against the dim span of the room made for an intimidating sight.. weary of them forcing my hand into combat and the impending doom that would ensue, i persisted. hoping to talk them out of what they longed for so badly..

helping the other scientists proved fruitful as they came to my defense in my final dialogue battle. helping Doctor “Ø” with his name.. hearing out Doctor 8, when nobody else would.. giving Borous a chance to feel true compassion for Gabe.. allowing Dala to observe and inspect us as she pleases.. all of this. paid off. after a few passed speech checks, and their help, i was able to talk down Dr. Klein. convincing them that i’d aid in their continued research, primarily in that related to the Mojave. in return for them to remain within the confines of Big MT. thus protecting all of the Mojave’s inhabitants.

and this was Old World Blues.. by far the most bizarre setting yet. with all it’s roaming enemies.. most of which have a stunted way of communication, or are plain artifical. the voiceless holograms (similar to non-hostile civilians found in the Sierra Madre.. hmm). the berserk Securitrons.. soldiers revived with the Y-17 trauma override harness.. the various laboratories all overrun. the depths of their peculiar nature unknown to the average Wastelander. Big MT feels alive. it feels present. almost like it’s stuck in it’s pre-war iteration. but it also feels uncanny. that’s probably the best word to describe it. it’s not a scary location by any means. on the surface it’s most unassuming. digging deeper though, changes this. digging into 6 scientists, digging into the laboratories.. so much lurking within plain sight. it’s a really awesome blend that they’ve hit on. it has the most expressive personality of any of these extended DLC locations. even though the scientists are nuts they’re still charming. discovering secret clues to finding out what happened to Big MT scientists of the past. the small plot-line of Christina, Father Elijah, andd.. Ulysses. someone i have yet to discuss..

1. Lonesome Road
handily the best DLC here. no contest. i knew it as soon as i entered. when i first bought New Vegas i forgot that the DLC didn’t come attached to it. i was in Fallout 3 – GOTY Edition mode. i’d already explored a small amount of the Mojave. from Goodsprings to Primm, and right around Camp Searchlight. the first time i encountered the Canyon Wreckage (the entrance to the Divide) i was oblivious to the fact it was related to the add-on. i was confused since there was nothing to do here.. writings on the wreckage were directed to a “Courier 6”.. that’s meee.. interestingg.. what do they know about me? why are they telling me to go away? what is this place? but nothing happened, and i carried on. i played thru the rest of the game with the DLC installed. was teleported Big MT.. visited the Sierra Madre and put an end to Father Elijah.. and fought the White Legs beside Joshua Graham. yet i stilled wondered about the wreckage. i forget when i figured it out, but i put two and two together. luckily i’d already planned on playing the Divide last. the way it was intended to be played.

i find first impressions to be really important. either i’m intrigued or i’m prepared to dread. usually there’s no inbetween. something like Honest Hearts (Zion Valley) elicited a groan from me. i wanna search somewhere cool.. and ultra inspired.. not more desert canyons.. this is my only example since the rest elicited intrigue from me. but yano what i mean? furthermore, being introduced to the factions and gameplay mechanics are just as important. sometimes you know when you’re in for a long ride. here though.. i felt pulled in. entering the Divide you’re told you can go back to the Mojave whenever you wish. if what you face becomes too much to bear. this is unique for an add-on. typically you got to tough it out. or there isn’t a way back home at all. this was interesting. would it be that difficult?

the Divide’s a fitting name. i mean literally the place is divided.. this is probably the most war-torn location out of any Fallout’s that i’ve played. compared to the Mojave or the Capitol Wasteland. the dense cities here are almost completely ravished. many buildings bare a resemblance to skyscrapers.. corporate offices. most buildings are at least multiple stories high.. all leaning over. any second now looking as if they’re about to crumble. a thick orange smog fills the sky. smoke plumes rise everywhere. in this state of disarray you’d almost think this place hasn’t had long to settle. but it’s been over 200 years since the bombs fell, and the world entered it’s nuclear holocaust era. why is it like this? if you assumed this was fresh then you’d be right..

Hopeville and it’s neighboring city of Ashton were above an army silo’s which housed (yup) – nuclear warheads. a weird choice of location.. but i didn’t store them there, so.. wateva. now all of this is according to the story here, and i have no recollection of it.. but apparently (i mean a huge apparently) this is the work of.. the Courier.. yeah. us. Courier 6. erh.. this is awkward.. now the Divide’s name is more fitting, in a literal sense.

these locations had heavy NCR & Legion presence. it’s not conveyed all that well, but the locations of places such as the Sierra Madre, or Big MT, are located close to the Mojave. most times it feels as though we’ve been transported to a new timeline. an alternate universe. since these new locations feel so alien at times. but no.. we’re still deep into the west. apparently the Divide, made up of Hopeville and Ashton, had grown a community. there’s even mentions of it being next in line for a chance at humanities future. whatever the deal was, it never made it that far. the lore suggests that Courier 6 had been tasked with delivering another mysterious package. this package contained a robot “that spoke”.. as it’s described. well this package contained a detonator for all the nukes housed underneath the Divide. “waking them up”. i guess the Courier’s been a lobotomite far before arriving in Big MT.. i don’t know how the Divide appeared before this second barrage of nukes, but it clearly didn’t matter. maybe this explains it’s ultra-destroyed nature, when compared to the likes of other Fallout cities. it’s utterly destroyed.

the vista we’re presented with on re-entry of the Divide is both frightening and enveloping. it takes up your entire screen. and it’s all you can see. always love when games portray the scale of the map. showing you what you’ll be delving into from atop some mountain somewhere.. you can only make out some details before your vision’s obscured, and you leave the comfort of the starting zone. making my way along the lone (ooh..) road (double oh..) you’re led to a military bunker. entering, your visions skewed as the bunker seems to be tilted. the setting here feels straight outta F.E.A.R. it’s eerie, but militaristic. a perfect blend. the windows look to be permanently clouded. fog spreads throughout the rooms. the doors are locked, and it seems like a non-starter. until you spot a chamber housing an eyebot. releasing it, you find it’s not just any eyebot – it’s ED-E. the eyebot that can accompany you in the Mojave! him and Veronica were my squad. sadly, i had to disband them before entering the Divide. so be me finding out ED-E’s here. i was overcome with joy. though it’s not clear if it’s the same ED-E. i believe it to be a clone, but we share the same connection. it’s like a convenient way of it being the same ED-E, but not at the same time. doesn’t matter, he’s still my favorite companion. and this time he comes with upgrades. throughout the Divide are damaged eyebots. picking up their holotapes you can apply them to ED-E. anyways, there’s no time to rejoice, this place isn’t safe.

with ED-E by my side i can unlock doors that i couldn’t get open before. ED-E’s able to hack switches and components. something i forgot to mention though are the brief interludes where ED-E delivers a message. it’s jarring. every time it took me by surprise. randomly throughout the Mojave something (i believe it to be dependent on locations) triggers ED-E into playing back a log. the voice isn’t clear until you visit the Divide. seems it’s ED-E’s owner, Doctor Whitley. Whitley’s a member of the Enclave. a minor presence here, but a major force in other titles. so ED-E’s got ties to the Enclave. it’s a hard pill to swallow at first. but i got over it quick. intermittently he’ll give a message to relay. you can bring him to the Brotherhood, or the Followers of the Apocalypse. these logs can be recovered and used for future tech. like in arms manufacturing. or rehabilitation of future tech. the knowledge could be prove to be limitless.

just outside the room i found ED-E is an unlaunched missile. geez.. it’s impending.. and i wanna get out of here. i fought my way through a bunch of armed robots. i missed these pre-war military bunkers so much.. dotted around the winding tunnels are bodies. some of them pinned up onto the wall. they’re Ghouls. but not the average Hhoul. they’re skins melted off.. but it’s fresh. it almost looks like a reallyy bad sunburn. they also don NCR and Legion armor.. it seems like those nukes took out those of both factions. rendering them bound to the Divide.. and seemingly hostile towards me. not sure if it’s because of their current status. with them being unable to control themselves. or if they know it’s me. it’s hard to say. these enemies come to be known as “marked men”. pretty grim.. they’re hostile on sight. at least for now we’re only dealing with their corpses.

making it out of the silo and before we can even take our first steps into Hopeville, our attention’s grabbed by ED-E. this is neither ED-E’s voice, nor logs of his previous owner. it’s someone new. this someone’s Ulysses. he’s an extremely distinct character. everything about his presence, story, even voice (which i know is used by other NPCs) stands out to me. somehow he knows me. but i don’t know him. i’ve only heard vague utterings of him by both Christine and Father Elijah. he talks cryptically. always going on and on about the Bear (NCR) and the Bull (Legion). he tells us things about ourself, the roads i’ve walked. things i don’t even know about myself.. Ulysses was a former Legion member (ah, that explains why he talks the way he does -_-) but he’s also a courier. just like us.. from what i’m led to understand, Ulysses is a stalker.. sort of. he’s followed us and studied us. i guess him and i (Courier) are bound in some way. he was even present during the whole Divide debacle. he’d already found curiosity within the package we brought with us the first time around. but our undoing of the Divide, and in-turn the undoing of the future of the wasteland, angered him. even though he thought we died in the explosions, he held onto the frustration he felt. i don’t really know his connection to other locations like Big MT or Zion Valley (that’ll require further reading), but his story’s tumultuous. and long.

Ulysses is vague. there’s a clear beef between us. the disdain bleeds through quite obviously. he’s cordial, but he doesn’t give a lot. playing as the Courier were aren’t keen on the past. i think it’s explained by the bullet we took from Benny. screwing with out memory.. i’m not sure. either way, we seek answers. Ulysses leads us on by allowing us to walk the road to him. he also won’t kill us. apparently there’s a pact between Courier’s. this truce is even kept by Caesar, as during my trip to his fort to disable (or activate) Mr. House’s secret bunker, he gives you a warning if you choose to disobey him. instead of just straight killing us. either way, i’m curious too. at the time of playing i didn’t understand a word he said. the mystery of what he expects me to see is gripping.. and i got to figure it out. before we can reach him though, we gotta find a detonator. apparently some leftover unexploded warheads block our path. these can only be re-activated by the detonator. our first task is to find this detonator.. – then Ulysses.

this add-on is especially beautiful. back to what i said about an instant feeling of dread; this one instantly has a hold on me. it’s straightforward. well, gameplay wise. the story’s a little confusing. but it’s just a straight shot. Hopeville’s first in our travels. it’s made up of a lot of pre-war military buildings. it’s got a nice contrast. the ease of the scenery and it’s orange/green blend reminds me of Broken Steels ending (from Fallout 3). here we also encounter our first living Marked Men. in and around the buildings. they’re pretty strong. never missing a shot.. like most Fallout enemies. but my Katana, paired with the super slam perk makes quick work of them. most enemies by now are rendered easy by this combo. ED-E’s also a really strong companion. making him a perfect fit for this DLC. companions tend to distract enemies, giving me plenty of opportunities to strike. i find the detonator and clear out the warheads, and continue onward.

in addition to the ED-E upgrades, there’s a lot of other collectibles/hidden secrets in the Divide. already listed were the ED-E parts and undetonated nukes; but there’s also RALPHIE posters (ED-E lore), hidden caches, and Ulysses logs. to me these are the most obvious examples of collectibles out of any DLC, as well as the entire game. maybe it’s simple.. but it adds more of a reason to explore. not like i wouldn’t have already, but it’s just as rewarding – if not more since at this point i don’t really need bottle caps, or ammo. a few these also contribute towards achievements so.. it’s satisfying.

the Divide has a day/night system too. at first i thought it was a night-vision ability from my armor, n it frustrated me since it wouldn’t turn off. but in hindsight i really like it.. the change in look changes the whole feel of everything. just how the Mojave does. i’m realizing now but Big MT and Zion Valley have this feature too. erh.. whoops.. so i’ll just say i like it a lot! a ton. it’s probably moodiest in Big MT, but here it makes me uneasy. it always lasted awhile too.. so it felt like there were long intervals between safe zones. continuing on further, i make my way through the extended city of Hopeville. i found some clues and hidden caches belonging to Ulysses. in it he describes his association to Caesar, and his former tribe. the “Twisted Hairs”. i’m a little sidetracked by fighting enemies n tryna make it through safely.. so i don’t pay it full attention. but it’s still pertinent. i also found some logs belonging to NCR soldiers. perhaps sharing their last few moments before the nukes tore the Divide apart.

the next zone is a collapsed underpass. entering it it’s dim.. and totally destroyed. there’s cars scattered everywhere. there’s also some odd sounds.. like growls. i almost felt like i was playing through F.E.A.R. 2 again (second F.E.A.R. mention.. woah.. “if i had a nickel for everytime” etc etc..) especially when we’re introduced to a new enemy who dwell beneath the underpass. the Tunnelers. handily the coolest new enemy type. personally, i think New Vegas’ new enemies are amazing. the Marked Men.. ghosts/holograms.. and the various experiments from Big MT. the Tunnelers actually remind me of Trogs (from Fallout 3). a creature whose identity was extremely confused. appearing like Tunnelers, but taking on an appearance moreso of a Ghoul. they were weak, skittish, and only encountered in one zone in the entire game. making them a forgotten species to most.. but their DNA is felt here. the Tunnelers crawl and escape conflict through Tunneler holes. they can be tricky to pinpoint.. fighting them is like a game of whack-a-mole.. eheh. they’ve also got the infamous DLC tank buff. but they’re honestly harmless. sometimes they can overwhelm you, but they appear timid at some moments. taking cover and recluse in their tunnels. plus they don’t shoot anything. they’re melee only. soo.. cool design that you’re able to admire. but they don’t piss you off all that much. it’s a really good combo.. and they’re introduced very well within the underpass.

exiting out onto the highway, we speak with Ulysses again.. it befalls me to tell you that i can’t exactly remember every instance of dialogue with him. he speaks a lot, and like i said very vague.. but more mentions of Bear, and Bull. and of couriers.. and tracking him down. it’s made up for though by the awesome photo-op presented to us just behind ED-E (shown below). emerging out that bleak and dense underpass out into the brightness was a sight for sore eyes (in-game speaking). the highway was a mixed bag. there’s perfect vistas.. they feel more refined than those ugly as hell highways we’ve come to be familiar with, more specifically the ones in Fallout 3. the Mojave has less of them. but here finally the fantasy or trekking along a crumbling highway comes true. the issue though; the Deathclaws. i’ve seen some write about this. but the Deathclaws in the Divide are the toughest enemies i’ve ever encountered. in anything. even worse than the ones in the Mojave. i cannot stress enough how frustrating they are.. there’s 2 of them on the highway. no matter how i faced them they’d still kill me in one hit. the only way i could kill them was by glitching the geometry. with this only being made possible with a mod i installed that removes all of New Vegas’ stupid invisible walls.. i won’t pretend like i understand the health system in New Vegas. but apparently the Deathclaws health scales with the players. i guess we’re on some equal footing. these guys are truly busted. i don’t even feel that strong. my weapons aren’t nearly as powerful as theirs.. i used all my best tools and it was merely just an inconvenience to them. Fallout DLC would be sososo much better if they nerfed these enemies a little. actually, not a little. a lot. like i said they aren’t proper boss fights. they don’t even drop loot. eventually after a bunch of tries i finally got ’em.

there’s not much else of note up here.. there’s a cool hidden sniper’s nest way above the bridge. it’s got some loot, and a Ulysses holotape. there’s a rest stop to search too. there’s a snow globe in there. something i hadn’t mentioned yet are the snow globes as a collectible. Fallout 3 had bobbleheads. super small and easy to miss, but posed in a way where you’ll most likely catch it. it was so satisfying to bump into one of these in certain intervals. New Vegas discards the bobbleheads in favor of snow globes. they’re cooool.. but they don’t illicit the same joy that the bobbleheads did. there’s about half as many snow globes as bobbleheads. n by nature of this i forgot to look out for them. for the trained eye you can catch them. but ones like this i missed at first.. ah well, they’re still cool. imo cooler designs than the bobbleheads. either or really..

just past the highway is the Ashton missile silo. all you gotta do is gain access to it by way of a simple switch. what isn’t so simple is the fact that the switch seems to also launch a rocket.. uh.. not sure if intentionally, or unintentionally planned by Ulysses, or if there was no way around it.. either way we’ve got no option. lest we turn around and head back for the Mojave. setting off the rocket, it’s trajectory leads north of the Divide. for now i ignore it.. though i’m still getting constant intermissions from both ED-E and Ulysses. the rocket launch is pretty dramatic, and i almost feel kinda bad. i got paranoid thinking maybe i could have prevented it? someone having this much power and ability feels wrong. once the rocket landed i’m alerted it’s created a new location.. “Courier’s Mile”.. and some weird new map marker’s appeared. i’ll have to visit there later. for now i continue further.

after a dated little static shooter section, i’m finally in the home stretch. down ahead is Ulysses’ silo. he tells me to focus on the “tower that cuts the horizon”. there’s a few towers, but i think i have my sights set on the right one.. the difficulty level here spikes, though. it looks as though we’re in some city center. there’s lots of verticality.. and crevices that are difficult to manage. some neat secrets too. a couple spots that fill in some lore, and the final moments the pre-war Divide. a snipers nest had a dead NCR soldier wearing veteran ranger armor. you know, like the guy from the pictures. i spent nearly the entire game trying to get this armor.. eventually finding it in the NCR hideout back in the Mojave. but that was like.. 80-100 hours in. i was pretty irked. i could have just played this DLC first.. ugh. anyway. after searching you’re meant to detonate one of the warheads. this was a mistake though as upon explosion one of the buildings collapse.. now i’ve gotta find a new way around. luckily (conveniently) within one of the collapsed offices, is a cave. navigating through here and fighting some new Tunneler variants, i pop out atop another building. i’m soo close.. i think by now i can recognize the building i’m meant to find.. just a little big longer.. but right as i was within reach..

Ulysses calls ED-E to his side. overriding his connection or something. he gives the usual Bear and Bull speech.. more exposition on our backstory. and i guess ED-E falls into his motives. his plan to enact.. something? i don’t know for sure yet. i believe the lesson and reality is meant to set in during my journey, and through his speeches. this really pissed me off though. not only was ED-E by my side at all times, but midway through i remembered you could store spare items in his inventory. bypassing the max weight limit. yeah well, now all my stuff’s all over the floor. and i don’t have room for a lot of it. i had to make some important exec decisions that i was not planning on making. discarding items in Fallout’s one of the most irking things. since safehouses/bases don’t have that much forethought put into them. meaning most of the time i’ve gotta carry all this stuff with me. discard it. or.. i could use the new “Mojave Express” mechanic.. placed in a few major locales throughout the Mojave are these mailboxes – distinct from the normal ones you’d see outside of a house. it’s fitting since you play as a Courier, yano? i think it’s rather clever. you can use these to ship items to any location or residence of your choice. these can rotate between, Goodsprings, Novac, the Strip, so on. i hadn’t exactly found permanent a place to call home.. usually i just defaulted between Novac and the Strip. even though i didn’t stay anywhere long enough, i was still relieved to know i had somewhere to place my stuff without them despawning.

with ED-E gone, i was now a(lone) on this.. (road).. now the DLC name makes sense.. this couldn’t have come at a worse time, cause here i was faced with some of the toughest enemies yet. the view however, is awesome. buildings jut everywhere. fused with rock in some cases. it’s just a giant ravine of wreckage. there’s crashed scaffolding everywhere, helping to create the only safe way to navigate outta here. the tower that cuts through the horizon is within view.. but first, i gotta deal with some Deathclaws (T_T). they’re obscured in a way that their appearance is sort of a jumpscare. if you aren’t out of reach, you might as well consider yourself dead. it took me countless tries before i found the most convenient way to cheese them. it’s made annoying by the fact that they always run away. when they do i cant shoot them. or the bullet drop-off makes my shots weaker.. unless they get stuck in place, it becomes a tedious game of trial and error. i eventually take them out with assistance from a group of marked men who’ve appeared. great. they’re not as tough as the Deathclaws, but i don’t get a chance to recover.. not yet.. i survive their onslaught and i’m finally ready to loot the area. my curiosity dooms me again as i’m face to face with another Deathclaw. and not just your average buffed to hell Deathclaw. this one’s some sort of boss Deathclaw, named.. “Rawr”.. lolol.. funny name aside, this thing is a beast. according to the Wiki, Rawr’s one of the strongest character’s of the entire series. just barely beat out by four other characters (3 of which are tied to this add-on.. Ulysses included.. they weren’t messing around here). Rawr’s domain is within a cave in this new area. upon entering the cave, the entrance will crumble trapping you inside. if you want to know what’s inside the cave, you gotta fight Rawr. this thing is literally one hits. pow. and you’re done. luckily Rawr can be stunned with the Super Slam perk.. if my memory serves correctly, i just spammed the shit out of my Red Glare rocket launcher (a really strong Lonesome Road exclusive weapon) and used my Katana to finish them off. i’m pretty sure there wasn’t even all that much to loot here. making it sorta worthless. but i got “Rawr’s Claw”. makes for a great souvenir.

there’s a Waste Disposal Station and a Treatment Plant to explore. they’re rather small. but the enemies here easy to take care of, and the pre-war/Divide lore makes the search worth it. these spots, and the tunnels leading to them have a really tranquil feeling. well, once you take out the enemies. they feel disconnected from the rest of the world.. almost like you’re transported to another time and place. the damage isn’t too extreme, even making for a great hideout. evident by the remains from previous wanderers.

by now i’ve finally reached the building Ulysses spoke of. some Marked Men guard the doors. taking them out’s not so bad, but i know i need ED-E back. ASAP. facing back i’m left to see the path i’ve traveled. this Divide.. it’s a sad state. to think this was one of the Wastelands more prospective communities.. reduced to this. it remains eerie. it’s a whole bout of complex emotions. the trek was a few hours long.. my recounting was brief. but this add-on has great pacing. each section has a distinct feeling too. a different atmosphere. the smoggy, turbulent winds of Hopeville. the dark underpass. crawling with enemies.. the relieving presence of the sun while the dust clears along the High Road. the drab military silos.. i love it. i’m nervous before i enter Ulysses silo. i felt like i’ve come a long way. considering everywhere i’ve been. but i’m not sure what to expect. at this point i don’t even know what Ulysses looks like. or what i’m going to face. this series has a consistent track record with these omnipotent.. faceless.. voices. not sure if he’s going to be aggro, or receptive to me. none of this matters though, i need to find ED-E.

“Ulysses Temple”, as it’s known, is just another pre-war missile silo. but it’s my last destination. there’s some more marked men strung up across the walls. and a few hostile sentry bots guarding a very conspicuous room.. no.. it can’t be.. – through the stained glass i spot ED-E! interacting with the terminal just out front confirms my suspicions. it’s an eyebot maintenance system. after clearing out a few more sentry bots, i’m able to release ED-E. even though he’s only been briefly MIA, it still felt like an eternity. i’m glad to be able to finish this journey with him. we’re determined.

approaching Ulysses is a very daunting culmination. he’s presented in front of this missile, in a huge room full of other warheads. the same ones we’ve been destroying all throughout the Divide. it feels as though at any second i could fall into a trap of his. but nothing seems to happen.. getting closer to Ulysses only initiates a conversation. his appearance is striking. he’s got dreads. something no other character possesses. giving meaning to his roots in the “Twisted Hairs” tribe.. he wears a breathing mask and a duster with pre-war symbolism. he never removes the mask, so his face is almost completely obscured. he’s not as menacing as i thought he’d be. he’s still intimidating, but honestly his presence doesn’t feel evil. he feels like another Wastelander. i think he’s one the best developed characters in the entire game.

chatting him up, his plan becomes evident. he intends on launching the Divide’s remaining nukes at the Mojave. he’s bitter (rightfully so) about the Divide’s destruction. the erasure of it’s potential. the erasure of a future naught of Bear, or Bull. a new world taking it’s first breath.. finally it clicks, he does intend on vengeance. tit for tat. his disillusion towards the Legion, the Courier, the Mojave as a whole – and realization of the fact any one person holds the ability to change the world for all, feeds his disdain. and his frustration with us. he’s now deemed it fair to destroy the Mojave. while as compromised as Ulysses was, being a former Legion member and all, and the fact he wants to eliminate the Mojave.. i don’t feel like he’s completely misguided. from my own interpretation of things, that is. the Couriers destruction of the Divide perpetrated by the NCR gives fair reasoning to his cause. everything’s all sorts of messed up. everyone vying for control of the Mojave just feels so wrong. the Courier can cry it was accident.. but what’s done is done. it’s still been solidified.

though that doesn’t mean the killing of innocents is justified. on either side. this is what makes this story so interesting, and the Courier so polarizing. karma induced or not. in the good karma case; did i deserve to die at Benny’s hand? does all my heroism count? does it repay everything destroyed at the hand of that one small package? my second run into the Divide.. setting off more nukes.. eek. how insensitive of me.. it can’t be undone.. it’s stuck to the Courier. this is what makes New Vegas so strong as an RPG at moments. being a fanfiction, that also has some blanks filled in for you. roleplaying as your own character that allows you to interpret those blanks how you so chose. i know that’s every RPG ever, i just find it done really well here. though i’ll say i’m not an RPG aficionado.. so. take this as you will. back to Ulysses.

as the conversation prolongs our tension becomes muddled. you can either stop the chatter early and end things violently. you can use your rep and attempt to coerce him into certain directions. et cetera. talking to him i feel that some of the Couriers points drill a small hole into his stance. he’s not entirely wrong.. but he’s not entirely devoid of reasoning. as i just described above, Ulysses makes some of the most sense out of everyone. sometimes characters can be too convenient, and the holes in the fractions dichotomy becomes obvious. but the way they alluded to him in the previous add-ons (Sierra Madre, Zion Valley, and Big MT) and his presence in our ultimate showdown just feels so right. he’s not nearly as cruel and controlling as Father Elijah, or as confusing as Joshua Graham. he toes the line shown perfectly in our final dialogue.. based on my interpretation and understanding of him, i decided to talk him down. i wanted to solve this peacefully. the Divide is not out of the question, and there are ways to both save and unite the Mojave. i think the way i navigated the Wastes show that this can be done, and that the right choices can be made (i’m still mixed on how the Yes Man ending effects the Mojave’s future). New Vegas’ speech skill is notoriously busted. a lot of conflicts can be resolved with a high enough skill level. sometimes it’s bizarre, and unrealistic.. with Ulysses it also feels this way.. but it also feels genuine.

we aren’t in the clear though. Ulysses agrees to fight by my side. “Two Couriers, together, at the Divide”. but the Marked Men are waiting for us outside the silo. he makes mention that this was part of his plan. if he was unable to kill me, they would finish the job.

fighting alongside ED-E, Ulysses, and his small army of eyebots made for the best culmination yet. i’m not sure if Fallout has any proper “boss fights”, General Jingwei & the Super Mutant Behemoth from Fallout 3 come to mind, but the battle inside of Ulysses’ Temple was my favorite of them all. Marked Men begin flooding the silo. their tankiness makes for a long, fulfilling fight. it doesn’t end in the blink of an eye like most. since there’s waves upon waves of them. it feels like this was meant to be a means of conclusion for the Divide, and towards the Mojave. both Legion and NCR unknowingly fighting together.. the sounds of battle.. the explosions of the warheads blur with the energy and plasma shots from the eyebots. there is no sense in this heat of battle. it’s hard to make out anything..

after the last of the Marked Men are taken out, there’s a sudden moment of silence. even with the threats still present. i take a headcount and it seems we lost an eyebot or two.. at least Ulysses and ED-E are still standing. once again though, it’s not over. the Marked Men were just a distraction from the true threat. the missile is still primed for the Mojave. ED-E’s a lifesaver as he can hack the machine, allowing you to reach the controller. you’re given the option to terminate the launch cycle. or you can redirect it; to the Dry Wells (Legion) or the Long 15 (NCR). or allow it to maintain its target. here i’d have to admit i think i lost sight. i wanted the downfall of the Legion. i don’t want them to surpass the NCR in the upcoming Battle of the Hoover Dam (part two). destroying the Dry Wells would be a major hindrance for the Legion.. my ultimate goal.. but the whole point – the wielding of these weapons – nobody should have to. nobody should be able to. i’d be undoing all i’ve learned.. all Ulysses spoke for, which i’ve agreed with. i shouldn’t launch this.. i can’t launch this.

i re-routed the missile to aim for the Dry Wells.

and with that the DLC comes to a conclusion. i’m not sure what feels canonical to my heart. i remember hearing mention that cancelling the missile was canonical.. according to the show, or something. i can’t remember. either way.. it’s inclusion ties into the Mojave as a whole. i think it helped me feel less bad about earning the Yes Man ending. who really is capable of dictating the future, or leading an entire force or country? it certainly won’t work for everyone. i feel there’s no true way to go about this. but i still feel on the fence about nuking the Dry Wells. in the ending dialogue Ulysses doesn’t show true disdain for my action. even in-game he had no reaction.. guess he didn’t know at the time. if you decide to nuke the Dry Wells you’re given a new location on your Pip-Boy. a location to travel to its irradiated remains. traveling there you’re met with a grim visualization of the nukes abilities. it’s permanently stained with a green hue. smoke plumes reach the sky.. inching any closer and you’re met with a fierce strike from the surviving, ghoulified Legionaries. Gaius Magnus, a Legion centurion, also appears in Ghoul form. he’s one those scarce 10/10 S.P.E.C.I.A.L stat characters i mentioned before – “Gaius Magnus, along with Colonel Royez, Frank Horrigan and Ulysses are the only characters in the series that have 10 points in all of the SPECIAL stats. Rawr is close behind, with all stats at 10 except for Charisma at 7 and Intelligence at 5.” (somehow the Legendary Bloatfly in Old World Blues doesn’t make the cut. no idea how. that was the toughest enemy in the entire game). they’re still pretty tough to fight. even though you enter this spot through the Mojave, i’m certain they still possess DLC stats (evident from Gaius Magnus’ fully maxed out stats). there’s a giant crater north of your arrival. it’s hard to miss. this is one of the biggest craters in all of Fallout. it really speaks to the length of destruction these nukes allude to.. your radiation spikes once you get close to it. i would’ve searched it if i could.. even though this was a Legion encampment, i still felt extremely wrong for it. i guess i let my curiosity take control of me. and ultimately, this choice doesn’t seem to impact the ending of the base game. though i’m not 100% sure..

this concludes my recounting of the DLC. overall, i was thoroughly invested and i enjoyed it hella. i held off on it in my latter segments, but i’ll be drawing comparisons to Fallout 3 again.. in the cases of The Pitt, Mothership Zeta, and Point Lookout, these felt sporadic. they weren’t intertwined into the overarching story of Fallout 3. Operation Anchorage & Broken Steel don’t count for purpose of this comparison since they do in fact contribute to the story of Fallout 3.. imo. nevertheless, i enjoyed them (all but Point Lookout, fuck Point Lookout) but these all just felt like one off adventures. i know in New Vegas characters also choose to remain in their respective DLC. but in something like Mothership Zeta, you’re telling me these people.. some who’ve been cryogenically frozen for years, would rather stay inside an alien spacecraft, thousands of miles away from Earth, than return home? huh.. i doubt anyone would choose to do this. no matter how epic the spacecraft is.. New Vegas’ add-ons have a sense of connection. i’ve mentioned that a million times by now. but that’s what make them so strong. Honest Hearts was disappointing, but that’s its worst crime.. well, maybe it’s a little dull. but that’s it. the story they all tell are important to understanding the factions of the Mojave. you could skip all of Fallout 3’s DLC and you’d still get the picturee. the ones in New Vegas offer some important insight to the overall story. and this is definitely necessary to note. they’re probably much stronger when played in order. i was a little out of sync, but Lonesome Road’s ending felt solid. it felt like a proper climax. maybe if i’d played Honest Hearts first it’s mediocrity wouldn’t have stood out so much. maybe it’s intentional.. who knows for certain. they all provide an interesting concept that relates to the world in post-nuclear fallout. even Honest Hearts, the sub-story of the man in the cave was intriguing as hell. considering those immediately impacted by the nukes and survived to tell their story (that aren’t a Ghoul) is a great detail. the Sierra Madre. the story of a pre-war casino stuck in limbo. it’s very nature giving life to rumors around the Wasteland. but there’s more than what meets the eye.. even Big MT and all it’s experiments and secrecy. it’s fun roleplaying as someone capable of solving their untold natures. they’re daunting at first. i haven’t even solved the Mojave, now i have to solve an entirely different chunk of it a few times over. that’s the mentality i had at first. but on a second play-through you’ll get a chance to breathe. and a real understanding of their scope, and plan of action. all the weapons, armor, and mechanics are fresh and utilized well. the weapons hit hard and they’ll be ones you find yourself pulling back out in the base game Mojave. uh though, i should mention that a large amount of guns are exclusive to the Gun Runners Arsenal DLC.. it wasn’t completely clear to me at first. so i’m doing my due diligence, grab this too if you intend on playing.

back to the base game.

phew.. never thought i’d get through that. i honestly forgot that i hadn’t finished discussing the base game. god this is more than i expected.. while recounting my experience with the DLC i found a lot of details i forgot to mention, or still wanted to discuss on top of end game. welp, let’s get back into it. for the next few paragraphs i’d like to discuss certain missions, locations (the Strip especially), vaults, some randomness, and a few gripes that i have. i don’t even remember where i left of.. nevertheless.. let’s goo..

while talking about the DLC i found a lot of enjoyment recollecting the absurdity of what i got myself into. one off characters.. missions.. small notes, terminals, easily missed details.. there’s just so much going on all around you. that’s why this game is such a huge charmer. i discussed weapons, and factions.. but so much happens outside of all of this. immediately upon embarking on your journey to find Benny. New Vegas has this perk you can pick at the start called ‘Wild Wasteland’. apparently it makes the Mojave all sorts of le funny random. after i finished my play-through i often found myself wishing that i’d chose the perk. but i was worried it’d alter the narrative and world in a way similar to how mods do. i wanted a “pure vanilla” play-through, i guess. Wild Wasteland probably wouldn’t’ve made a difference, so i regret not picking it. all this to say that i didn’t pick it. all this is just normal Mojave..

a major incentive right out of the gate are these ‘Sunset Sarsaparilla’ star bottle caps. Sunset Sarsaparilla’s sort of the Nuke-a-Cola of the Mojave. Nuke-a-Cola still exists, but to a far less extent than in some place like the Capitol Wasteland, where not a trace of Sunset Sarsaparilla exists. this gives the west it’s own flavor (literally..) an early encounter early on explains to you that some Sunset Sarsaparilla bottles have a special star bottle cap, a relic of some old pre-war promotion. these star caps have become a novelty to the Wastelanders and are considered extremelyyy valuable. noting some sort of.. secret treasure tied to them. but nobody’s solved the mystery, or acquired enough of these caps. it’s shown that people are ruthless and will stop at nothing to swindle you out of your caps. looting them off your dead body if need be. unfortunately all mention of these bottle caps wanes to complete stop after a few run-ins early on. it isn’t obvious at first since you’ll be too busy handling everyone elses problems to even remember the mere mention of them. but every now and then you’ll come across the bright blue caps and remember their existence. always satisfying to pick up.. but rare as hell. attributing to their scarcity and why some would choose to fight over them.

i took my time before i even began considering Vegas itself. i wanted to make sure i was adequately geared up. and i didn’t want to spoil myself, since yano.. Vegas and the Strip are the epicenter of activity here in the Mojave. when the time came i sorta circled the Strip. making sure i fully explored the outer confines and worked my way inside. just south of the Strip is the Sunset Sarsaparilla factory HQ. apparently here in Nevada. i lowkey feel kind of stupid because i didn’t spot it on my first walk through, but left to permanently reside in the HQ is Festus. an old pre-war animatronic who acts sort of as a mascot for the company. he sits in a dilapidated little box, somehow still active.. 200 years later. i won’t question it. i also won’t question the fact that nobody else has put two-and-two together and decided to search the HQ for clues leading to the ‘treasure’.. ah well. Festus creeped me out at first. but the stories he had to share were neat. Festus also has the ability to count your star caps for you. he never tells you how much you have, or how many more you need.. but after talking with him it is marked as a quest. i often made sure to check my quests which led the hunt for these caps ring more often in my head. problem is though.. this quest kind of sucks.

finding these are rare. add to that their small size.. i’m sure i overlooked a ton of them. getting these was gonna be hard. you have the chance of getting them by drinking the sodas. stocking up on them was dually useful as they replenish HP, and they give you a chance at getting more of the coveted star caps.. but those were pretty low chances. this is made harder by the fact that 99% of the bottles in the Sunset Sarsaparilla factory HQ (you know, where they make the sodas) are empty. unlucky.. they’re pretty common though, so. anyway. i googled “where can i find the most blue star bottle caps?” and found there’s a sunken Sunset Sarsaparilla truck in Lake Mead. by now i’d already collected a handful (after talking to Festus), and this guaranteed 3. i returned to Festus with my fingers crossed..

..and rejoice! i finally had enough. even though this mission often faded from my mind, i was still extremely curious to see this “treasure”. be me when i realize there isn’t much of a treasure to speak of. Festus tells you of the beverages origins, which like i mentioned is an interesting tale to hear about. especially due to it’s morbid curiosity. that’s.. that’s the prize. the fabled treasure. wat. it was cool but i could’ve read about this in a terminal to be honest. i’m thinking this is bullshit.. i actually bothered to this quest (well i mean i bother to do every quest possible, but that’s besides the point). before i can leave though Festus makes mention that due to this prizes crappy nature, a new prize was introduced to satisfy winners of this contest. in that instant i made the connection. in my first tour of the HQ i found a door i was unable to open. no key, no terminal. i went straight for the door in an attempt to see if it’s revealed it’s secrets. this time it was open..

i’m still reeling from the effects of the disappointment. obviously you can tell.. beyond another set of double doors is a room holding all the secrets. guess i anticipated something.. more. the room’s chock full of Sunset Sarsaparilla sorts of memorabilia. like.. lamps? lots of lamps. there’s about 1.5k caps scattered about some Sunset Sarsaparilla crates. i guess this is the compensation..? no, no.. wait.. the true rewards are the ‘Sunset Sarsaparilla deputy badges’. i can’t believe i almost forgot the deputy badges.. technically these were the true rewards. back in pre-war times. some dinky little badges.. i’m not really interested in this. they don’t even have a resell value in the Mojave. nope.. the true reward though, is something i can appreciate. there’s a body in the back left corner. this is the corpse of ‘Allen Marks’. i’d forgotten, but apparently Allen’s name was dropped way back in the start. he’s one of the few you were warned about, those who’d kill for the caps. seems like Allen was crazed, obsessed even with the bottle caps. hunting down and killing anyone he’d heard possessed them. seemingly meeting his demise. inside a coffin made up of that he was so obsessed with.. surrounded by the “treasures” he’d desired so.. okay, i guess it wasn’t that disappointing. another one of those lessons New Vegas loves to make you face. i just don’t think this was built upon all that well. it could’ve been reiterated more throughout. reminding you why you’re looking for these. putting more emphasis on the caps and the deranged nature of those searching for them. could’ve added more to the Mojave’s twisted nature. not like it’s not twisted enough. just the idea of a bottle cap arms race, being hunted by these unique fiends. and it be intertwined into the main story. duno about you, but that’s a cool concept to me. all in all probably the biggest miss i think.. even if there’s meant to be a lesson here. i’ve had plenty of those at this pointtt..

another picture i’d like to paint. for this one we need to visit Primm. by design you’ll be visiting Primm quite early. after clearing out the loose inmates that were attempting to take it over, you can visit the Vikki & Vance Casino (dubbed after the criminals of the same name) and alert the residents that all’s clear. this is before appointing anyone sherriff. investigating the casino you’ll notice some Vikki and Vance memorabilia. their death car, a plaque where Vance’s gun should be.. hrm. chatting with Primm Slim (the legend) you can point out to him that Vance’s gun is missing. you can handle this in a few ways, like hacking Primm Slim to retrieve a recording of the thieves before they took out Slim and stole the gun. Slim tells you to keep an eye out for it. from here the case goes cold (well, in my case.. heh.. case..) it leads you to wonder. how long has the gun been missing? in the 200 years that’ve passed someone must’ve taken it. i mean, realistically. how in the hell am i supposed to find it now? it must be long gone. or have the residents of Primm kept it under lock and key? maybe in some dialogue i’m unable to remember they said this was the case. but i don’t recall that happening. okay.. well i’ll keep an eye out for it.

fast-forward to when i began closing in on the Strip. situated near the remnants of a pre-war Las Vegas is a lone house. entering it i expected the typical abandoned shack, or a one off NPC with maybe 1 or 2 lines of dialogue. instead i’m greeted with Sammy and Pauline Wins. of Sammy and Pauli-.. wait. technically they haven’t made a name for themselves yet.. they seem to be super fans of the infamous duo, and aspire to be outlaws just as they were. problem is.. they’re a bit timid. they’re confrontational. talking with them further they share their plans of robbing all the Strip’s casinos. just as Vikki and Vance once had. that’s quite the plan..

so you may be asking: why am i mentioning this here, in close relation to the mystery of the Sunset Sarsaparilla caps? well.. Vance’s gun goes unmentioned the remainder of the game. that’s fine. i’m pretty sure it’s an unmarked quest. the issue is that if you have a high enough speech check you can talk them out of their plans. despite their bravado, it’s clear they have cold feet. if you talk them out if it, they’ll give you the code to their safe which houses Vance’s gun. boom. just like that. perhaps if i didn’t use the speech check i could’ve obtained it another way. maybe i’d have to sneak around and steal the gun from them without them noticing – or they’d try and fail at shooting up the Strip, leaving the gun behind on their corpse. who knows. all i know is is that the speech skill can ruin the thrill. but it can be so hard to resist at times.. i mean i invested tons of points into this skill, i’m allowed to use it! the temptation of seeing the outcome can be too strong sometimes. ah well..

while writing this though, i realized i never turned in the gun to Primm Slim.. maybe that would’ve been more rewarding? i thought the gun itself was quite novel, so i kept it. i’m going to try and return it and i’ll be back with the results. — well, that was a waste of time.. i forgot that Slim wanders about Primm once you appoint him sheriff. so i had to take a minute to find him. talking to him doesn’t give a new option to turn in the gun. even though speaking with him before always elicited a “you find that gun yet” response from him. i went to the casino to see if could put it back on display. this too didn’t work. either i already spoke to Slim about the gun, and i forgot. or there truly is no conclusion. not that it matters in the end. i just felt it ended on a really lame note. just something that stood out to me in a very sore way.. but you know, it’s not all bad. there are plenty of other side-quests that do build up into something incredible. i’ll continue below..

funnily enough, on the day of writing this i watched a video about the North Sentinel Island, something i wasn’t privy to until now. i mean, the concept and news about it is something i knew of. one of the last remaining civilizations untouched by the modern world. inhabited by a more primal bunch, the Sentinelese. no outsider has ever been allowed to ingrate themselves within their tribe. rarely ever even allowing brief moments of contact. if deemed a threat, the Sentinelese are not afraid to murk them on sight. similar to the Boomers stationed at the Nellis Airforce Base, just outside Vegas. yeah yeah i know.. video game vs. real life. but i think the comparisons are valid. anyways. i’d grown really accustomed to the various train tunnels, and metro tunnels found about the Capitol Wasteland. long, winding, often ravaged with Ghouls.. or some other icky creature. i was pretty sad to find that New Vegas had next to none of these. this left me really sore. at least they toned down the amount of freeways.. those things were soo ugly. anyways. it took a ton of waiting.. and patience. but finally.. i found one i could enter. my magazines really came in clutch here as it was required 100 lockpick. geez. venturing inside i felt a huge wave of nostalgia flood my senses.. i missed ’em soo much. heh.. and to think i thought they were a little tedious in Fallout 3.. i guess they’re right when they say you only miss them once they’re gone.. erh, anyway – i killed some Ghouls, avoided some traps, and emerged out the other side. alright, sad that it ended so quickly, but i’ve got a whole new location to explore. continuing on like usual, i took note of these warning signs scattered about. “meh”, i thought. just your typical copy paste signs. so be me when i hear the distant whirring of missiles overhead, and hellfire begun to rain upon me and my companions. frantically i rushed to the only cover i could find. not sure what kind of explosives they were using, but whoever was shooting that shit had aimbot or something (probably scrip–.. oh whoops, i meant.. uh.. interestingg.. for sure) anyway a million thoughts were going through my head. was i not meant to be here? was this some sort of fail safe? my health was so low, i’d need a miracle if i wanted to get out of here. i followed the route behind the cover i’d sought out.. missiles still falling just out of distance. until.. it stopped. huh..

i took a quick peek around the hill i was hiding behind. nothing. no more missiles. this was my chance. i rushed for the closest building, coming face to face with a man holding a rocket launcher. an airport control tower visible in the background. i’d made it to the Nellis Airforce Base, home of the Boomers (as in boom, like yano.. bombs).

the Boomers are a faction i only mentioned briefly. their sudden appearance was not something i was anticipating. they’re a society of former vault dwellers with an obsession with explosions (self explanatory). they don’t take in nor do they trust outsiders. anyone caught within their confines is murked on sight. sounds familiar. they’re suspicious of my ways, and they’re a bit awkward at times. though their sincere, naïve ways was cute. i found them to be the most tolerable faction, even if they were always preoccupied with the mere idea of a bomb.. for such a secluded group, the Boomers have got a lot of manpower. seems like they could prove useful for a certain war on the horizon.. well, that is once i’ve earned their trust.

similar to the Sentinelese, the Boomers aren’t too keen on leaving their domain. the abandoned hangars, and wide open space has served them well enough. though they reiterate that it’s been decades since they’ve taken a single step outside the base. this is hard to believe. there must’ve been a scout, or recon. right? i’m highly doubtful that their pre-war provisions have lasted them this long.. they must almost be out. whateverr. the Boomers aren’t just into bombs though. they’re aspiring pilots too. Nellis’ hangers seemed to have survived the Great War, only showing minimal signs of damage. meaning the pilot training simulations inside also unscathed. i’m guessing you can fill in the blanks. bomb.. aircraft.. bombing aircraft..

hesitant at first, the Boomers seem to have a sense about the Courier.. for some reason they let me enter. at first i’m made to do some odd jobs. repairs, pest control, et cetera. there’s this silly Nellis Boomer Museum and you can listen to a brief history lesson, and how the Boomers came to be. if you have Veronica as your companion, she adds some really insightful commentary about her struggles with the Brotherhood under their current lockdown. she makes good points. the Boomers have this way about them. their encampment is sturdy, and quaint. wayyyy above i made mention about my issue with Fallout 3’s civilizations and how their scope felt so limited. clearly New Vegas improved on this, and i think the Boomers are the best example. they’re sufficiently there. yano? an open array providing them with plenty of space to live. and with an interesting backstory and valid weariness. of course there’s the alternate route of ‘taking care of’ the Boomers. but earning their allegiance was rewarding. it felt genuine. more than any others.

at some point early on you’re given a vague lead on a pre-war bomber plane that had crashed into the depths of Lake Mead. this was nearly 100 years before the Great War. so like 300 years ago. apparently it’d been left there to rot. beats me as to why there weren’t any rescue efforts, or an attempt to recover the plane. but it’s still there.. i kept this in mind for most of the game, but there wasn’t much i could do now. reaching the bottom of the ocean would be impossible without drowning. i’d have to find a way to circumvent that.. eventually i stumbled across Lake Mead. cool place. but without any distinct co-ordinates, i knew i wouldn’t be able to find it. so this remnant, like the bomber plane, sunk to the farthest reaches of my mind.. until i met with the Boomers. left with pre-war piloting simulations, they new fascination with flying, and love of bombs merged. Loyal, one of their most elder members, shares this dream too. with years of research he was able to deduce the crashed bombers approximate location. even though by now i’ve gained their trust, the Boomers are still hesitant on leaving.. this makes the Courier the perfect mule. and luckily for them i’m up to the challenge. but how am i supposed to retrieve a sunken plane?

Loyal gives me it’s co-ordinates, his detonator, a proto-rebreather, and ballasts. according to his plan i’m to attach the ballasts to the underside of the plane and then remotely detonate them. hoping that the plane would rise to the surface. honestly it sounds like a nutty idea. i mean.. this thing must be so frail from hundreds of years of slow decay. i feel like it’ll snap into a million pieces. and then be expected to float? it’s crazy, but by now we’re in too deep (heh). we’ve got nothing to lose. except the plane, that is.

after a few detours i finally embarked on my journey to reach the plane. swimming about Lake Mead is surreal.. it’s peaceful.. besides the random piles of rubbish, and the odd Mirelurk cave, it’s almost untouched by the horrors that plague the world above. beautiful .PNG fish roam freely.. somehow the water’s not irratiated. coupled with my rebreather, i’m safe from any threats. it takes a few minutes before i reach the bomber. the waters murkiness causes it to slowly fade into view. it sits there, nearly fully intact. i have no idea how.. it’s a sight to behold and something i wish could’ve been explored further. New Vegas has a bigger emphasis on water, so the presence of boats isn’t too surprising. unlike Fallout 3 though, you can’t enter them.. there’s nothing to loot in or around them. too bad.. i thought it was a really cool feature. anyway.. the bomber is a sight to behold. i sat there maybe 5 minutes admiring it.. to be honest, i didn’t even want to raise it. it’s sitting here untouched. ruined, yeah, but unharmed. something’s telling me to leave it where it is. to not disturb it. i tried rationalizing it. the Boomers aren’t dubious. they made their intentions clear. flying this thing is their dream and all. and i’d be doing them, and possibly the Mojave a favor, by linking up and recovering the plane. that is if this goes to plan.. looking at my screenshots, you can see both the Hoover Dam and Fortification Hill (Caesar’s domain) in the background. it strikes an interesting perspective to this war.. i don’t remember what pushed me to do it. probably just the sake of completing every quest.. or to appease the Boomers, but i finally attached the ballasts and rose to shore.

on the docks overlooking Lake Mead, i cleared out any remaining enemies and pulled out Loyal’s detonator. i was stumped at first because it wasn’t working. after a few minutes of confusion i finally found the spot i was meant to be positioned at, and set off the bombs. the ground shook.. and the blast reverberated all throughout the Mojave. this was going to cause a lot of attention. thankfully the Boomers had a plan to distract any Wastelanders, scouts, or raiders, and retrieving the plane in the midst of their distraction. saving me in the process. and with that, the Boomers are finally able to achieve their dreams of flight.. and bombing.. i make sure to ask for their allegiance in the Second Battle of Hoover Dam, which is soon approaching. they agree to fight for on my side. and for my efforts, i am inducted into their faction as an honorary Boomer member.. initially i wrote about this quest since it stood out so much to me. something that wasn’t built upon much, just like the Sarsaparilla caps, or Vance’s gun. only very vaguely pointed at. culminating into more on this attempt i think it’s great. another one of those easy lay-ups i described before with the crashed UFO. it’s fitting for the post-apocalyptic world.

real quick i’d like to point out a silly bug i stumbled onto. when i swam back into Lake Mead in search of that sunken Sunset Sarsaparilla truck i thought i’d check on the bomber. see if they collected it, and how it looks if so. the bomber wasn’t there, but diving back below i found that a rough model of the plane still existed. i’m not sure if it’s a bug i’d created through use of modss.. or something. but i thought it was too funny to mention. canonically i like to consider it the soul of the bomber.. remaining in it’s final resting place. bound to the confines of Lake Mead. a new soul given to it through exchange with the bombers. just thought it was funny to mention. concludes one of my favorite side quests..

before i make my way into the end game, i’m gonna discuss New Vegas’ individual vaults. Fallout’s vaults are literally it’s most defining feature. at least i’d believe them to be. the mere thought of Fallout evokes.. vault. Fallouts mascot, Vault Boy. so on. as someone who was blissfully unaware to more recent Fallout happenings, i thought he was what the game was about.. like you played as him or something. i’m being a little facetious, but still. vaults are it’s bread and butter.. you could say. of course the open world is it’s other major aspect. even something like Fallout 3 (i know i know, sorry) had a huge emphasis on vaults. you start in one, you progress the story through them. you are a vault dweller. through and through. not sure if it’s a generational thing, passed on through each Fallout, but the vaults have different ‘gimmicks’. different attributes that make them unique. Fallout 3’s take on them are clever. i will say in very small instances they can be overwhelming.. at times monotonous, to explore. their themes are rather dark. like Vault 87 with it’s nasty experimentation through use of the FEV.. Vault 112, with it’s focus on simulations, or 108 with it’s focus on.. Gary. so on. they’re strong. the storytelling aspect to them made for an engaging (and at times, dangerous) trek. long since abandoned, yet somehow still expressive and “poignant” (blegh..). they’re attraction rides themed around Vaults. starting and ending in the same spot. taking you through it’s history/downfall. instead here, you’re left with more insight into this new world you find yourself in.. and a pit in your stomach. they’re cool. weirdly though, i think New Vegas abandons this emphasis. let me explain..

New Vegas’ vaults aren’t as “horrific” as it’s predecessor’s. you know, like the ones i listed. they’re still odd.. the experiments ran on them are still out of the ordinary. i just think the concepts are more varied, lending to New Vegas’ less frightening approach. 87, 112, 108, were all.. freaky.. even the ones i didn’t mention like 106 & 92. ironically enough 101 (yano.. the vault the game hinges it’s story on) doesn’t fit in this group. maybe it hadn’t had enough time to befall to the same fates as the others..? i can’t say. either wayy.. New Vegas’ aren’t as grim. they still have great environmental storytelling though.

think back to the games intro.. no vault. you’re provided with a vault suit under Doc Mitchell’s excuse that it’ll help you maintain neutrality out in the Mojave (i think). just this fact alone reduces the vault’s emphasis. exploring the Mojave you’ll encounter them sort of intermittently. Vault 19 was probably the most surprising of all. found below a manhole beneath a parking lot ticket booth, even the entrance to the vault was distinct from the others. the vaults gimmick was: red & blue teams. eventually becoming red vs. blue.. the vault was split between two groups. by it’s very nature a divide was caused, and the teams became paranoid of one another. it’s unknown the fate of the original inhabitants.. but by the time i encountered it it was overran by the Powder Gangers. escaped convicts, if you recall. ironically, the powder gangers find themselves in the same rut that the vault dwellers did. split between the head of the prison breakout, Samuel Cooke, and another member Philip Lem. Samuel wants the Powder Gangers to remain as they are. hoping to use the untapped sulfur in a cave below the vault to craft more equipment. Philip on the other hand, wants the Powder Gangers to turn themselves in.

either way i’ll still have to navigate the caves. it’s pretty standard. overrun by geckos.. at this point in time i didn’t have the Animal Friend perk, so i had to kill ’em all.. discussed to no end earlier, the caves are a bit bland in New Vegas. making your way through them is no issue. the cave leads you out to this interesting structure, and a ladder leading out onto outer Vegas. actually a useful spot for sidestepping the local Deathclaws. i liked this part of it. the idea of multiple ways in, and out. v good. v good. just before that is the fabled sulfur deposit.

in order to suffice Philip i’ve gotta destroy the sulfur. giving the Powder Gangers no means of further success. pushing them into submission, and turning themselves into the NCR. the Powder Gangers aren’t developed all that much.. and their rep was useless to me. so obviously i nuked the sulfur supply, evactuating the Powder Gangers. to my surprise though, the quest doesn’t end with the Powder Gangers being imprisoned. instead they seek entry to the Great Khans. hoping to become part of their clan. i was amused by this, and kinda glad. the Powder Gangers suck, but if i could team them up with the Great Khans, maybe i could dissolve any beef between us, and also boosting the Khans (before i realized my route didn’t exactly favor the Khans.. whoops..)

reading the terminals and finding hints of the former vault dwellers succumbing to insanity was probably the most clear to understand. it’s extremely dramatic, and i just love the idea. red vs. blue. the Powder Gangers replicating this behavior, feuding between each other was funny too.. probably they never bothered me since they’re just nuisance criminals. inept mostly. honestly, converting them to Khans was probably a much better fate.. considering the vaults odd location, and novel entrance made it stand out for me. which apparently is out of the norm in the Fallout fandom, as many found it entirely forgettable. i don’t think it’s the best.. it just stood out in a weird way. a common feature of New Vegas’ vaults.

Vault 34’s actually one i’d learned about before stumbled onto it. this was the same one the Boomers emerged from decades earlier. this one stacks up with some of Fallout 3’s more grim vaults. well, they’re all grim. visually though, they’re toned down slightly. you enter it through a cave door. in and outside of the cave are signs of radiation. an abandoned truck carrying vats of hazardous materials. more of these vats are scattered around the cave.. alongside some mutated geckos. trekking deep into the cave you’ll eventually spot the vaults door. is eerie.. the door’s already open. the cave’s dim, and creaky.. dull and colorless. the fact that the door was wide open made me worried for what creatures would come pouring out of it. or what monsters lurked within. even going back to recounting some details for this section i was on edge.. Vault 34’s gimmick is the right to bear arms, so to speak. the vault came with access to an armory, chock full of weapons and open to the populous. and by open to the populous, it’s literally open to them. no locks. no hi-tech security. no impenetrable door blocking it’s entrance. it’s unique in this aspect to any other vaults where security’s the only provided that privilege. it’s an interesting experiment i suppose.. it’s bare for the most part. one of the more empty vaults i’d say. but the storytelling’s still strong. throughout the vault are these Ghouls in security armor getup. clearly this adds interesting depth to the Boomer’s escape, which was depicted in that history mural i’d explained earlier. housed in their museum. i don’t recall certain specifics being mentioned, nor the radiation.. or Ghouls.

it’s a little cramped here. lots of backtracking .. walking around a lot of vertical passages and corridors, which in-turn made it tricky to navigate. i remember getting a little frustrated. plus the Ghouls are actually kinda strong. i didn’t anticipate that. layers of the vault are burned through completely. like that one part with the bathtub in Breaking Bad. it may be one of the most decrepit vaults i’ve been in, period. everything is destroyed. total opposite of Vault 19.. it’s long at times. this is one of the few vaults that opens up into a maintenance section, where tech and supporting infrastructure is housed. to be honest, this part was murky to me. apparently there’s a handful of surviving vault members.. trapped somewhere. i hope it’s become clear so far but i make sure to check everything i possibly can. but i somehow missed these guys. in one of the control rooms.. or reactor room, i was given a prompt where i could either save the NCR sharecropper farms, or the remaining inhabitants of Vault 34.. i was confused because i didn’t remember seeing any inhabitants. unless they meant the Ghouls? do they count? i thought they were already goners (they were Feral Ghouls i should specify, lol). assuming they meant it in an introspective sense, that the Ghouls were still people.. or they once were, and that by repairing or destroying the reactor i’d be doing them a favor? in like a bittersweet fashion? i don’t know. turns out i was wrong though as there were actual inhabitants.. uh.. awkwardd.. luckily for me i got no karma penalties, and i was blissfully unaware of my actions. if i knew where they were i would’ve saved them. maybe i just needed to choose the option to save them, then i’d get the chance to see them. if that’s the case.. it wasn’t very clear.

apparently the vault went through a sort of rebellion. overpopulation.. disagreements.. et cetera. the story goes that once the Boomers broke off from the vault, it grew into a state of chaos over the years. piling on those original problems with more such as radiation poisoning and leaks. reading the Wiki it says the vault door got locked shut.. which is frightening to think about. those within the vault wanted nothing but to escape.. but with the door broken they couldn’t, and they’d be forced to succumb to whatever cruel fate that’d been waiting for them. a lot of issues also stemmed from the armory, and the Overseer blocking access to it. removing the vault’s initial experiment basically. i guess this frustrated them.. and more rebellion ensued. this vault has the added benefit of clear repercussions to it’s inhabitants. unlike Vault 19. you basically kill the everyone that remains trapped here, the ones who became Ghouls. or even the ones trapped near the reactor.. i said it already but it’s eerie. these vaults all have this uncanny attribute. they feel more surreal.. i like it. much better than “evil experiment”.

every room is effected by the radiation. piles of it flood the floor, doors and equipment are completely incinerated. having a stock of Rad-X/Rad-Away is imperative if you wanna navigate this place fully. getting down to it’s core it’s far livelier than i would’ve expected. troops of Ghouls guard the entrance to the Overseer’s office. surprisingly, that same Overseer i’d read about in terminal entries.. on the Wiki.. and in the Boomers own retelling, is still present in the vault. though, he’s transmogrified into some nasty orange colored Ghoul. the first of it’s kind i’ve ever witnessed. he sits atop his desk seemingly using the other Ghouls as minions. he’s tank-y as hell. luckily in my encounter he seemed to get stuck and couldn’t move.. i may took advantage of this and cheesed his fight.. eh.. with him out of the way, traveling through his secret Overseer passage will bring you into the aforementioned reactor and control chamber, where you’ll encounter a few more Ghouls and choose to either save or sacrifice the last vault dwellers..

all in all, it was interesting. another one of Vault-Tec’s social experiments gone haywire. who would’ve guessed an overpopulated vault, loaded only with weapons would go so wrong.. it’s layout was a bit unintuitive at times, and mostly linear. having lots of pointless dead-ends. not much in terms of loot, and crap load of enemies. but it’s visual storytelling, creepy atmosphere, and coupled with the Boomers origins i believe makes up for these irks. it sounds like i’m hating but i’m not. in terms of everything the vaults are always so interesting to dive into. you never really know what to expect. and they make you think about the state of everything. the fact that people willingly entered these.. and the horrible fates each and every one of them always met..

vault 3’s located just outside Vegas within the Fiend territory. this part of the map was genuinely confusing. i guess loading in the entire area would’ve been too demanding, so they sectioned off pieces of the pre-war ruins into the east/west entrances..? it’s like a maze almost and it’s hard to remember where you came and left from. it wasn’t that big of a deal, but i almost missed this vault on my first way through here. this too isn’t a big deal since i’m suuure the game would’ve directed me here eventually. just the fact that i almost missed it bugged me. like, what else did i miss that was right in front of me?

another new take on a vault, this one’s situated in an old factory sorta. but by now more or less resembles a slaughter house. the Fiends are depicted as these addicted psychopaths. looting and pillaging, killing and raping, just for the fun of it. so of course their domain would have bodies strung up everywhere. they reside in the entirety of Vegas’ southern ruins. with tiny encampments here and there. this is like their HQ though. and it’s not a bad joint. entering the vault isn’t your standard affair. instead of the long-ass door opening animation you just pull a lever and then you’re transported in. a couple other vaults share this characteristic. immediately you’re confronted by some Fiends which aren’t hostile towards me. somehow.. i’ve killed a lot of them by now, without even being asked. i lie to them saying i’ve got a shipment of chems (drugs) and they let me slide, but i’m told to make it quick. Fiends are posted up everywhere. they’ve got these quirky messages written on the wall by some edgy 12 year olds. messages like: “You Suck!”, “Like I Give A Shit”, “Keep Out”, and who can forget.. “SMD”. there were some more tasteful murals depicting broken hearts, and lovers.. holding hands.. sighh.. oh, u-uh-.. anyways – it’s very intimidating. i made sure i’d get the hell outta there as quickly as i could.

Motor-Runner is the leader of the Fiends. cool name. i’m told i can find him in the maintenance wing. all the items in the vault belong to the Fiends and i’m already on thin ice, so i made sure not to do anything to disrupt our peace. things of note: in some corner leading back towards the vault entrance is an NCR soldier named Bryce Anders. my guess is he found himself stuck while trying to stake out the place. he set landmines, which seems to have caught one of the fiends. it feels like there’s only a matter of time before the Fiends discover him and kill him. he’s extremely confrontational and difficult to get along with. even once you rescue him and he returns to Camp McCarran, he’ll still go on about how he could’ve handled it. he’s annoying, but i made sure not to snitch on him, hoping to help him if possible.

in the living quarters are a group of captive caravanners. one of them gives you a hint on where to find the key. this little quest opened up the possibility to do a little stealthing, something i feel is so rare in this game.. it was neat. i guess due to some developer oversight, after retrieving the key and freeing the captives they just.. leave. in plain view of the Fiends. they didn’t seem to care at all. i duno. it was awkward, but as long as they didn’t aggro it didn’t bug me.. luckily for the vaults original inhabitants, this one was considered to a “control vault”, so no experiment was performed on them. making it easy living. at some point they found themselves making frequent contact with the Wasteland’s inhabitants. working together and setting up trades to sustain their living. unfortunately Fiends caught word of this and stormed the vault killing everyone inside, and making it their new home. so there’s not much in the way of story here.. making it necessary vault purely by the Fiend’s presence. kinda sucks i suppose.. sad story i guess.

Vault 22 is the most visually distinctive vault of all, of any game possibly. trademarked by it’s lush overgrowth that expels through the front of it. it’s like one of a handful of places with true nature in the Wastes. like Oasis in Fallout 3. this is obvious if you’ve played. it’s illuded to by a few people who are complete bewildered with it’s state and how it got that way. it actually has ties to the Honest Hearts DLC, being name-dropped a few times. i made the connection near instantly, perking me up a little and lifting me out of my disinterest a little. i guess this vault was inhabited with the sole purpose of doing experiments. like.. experiments within experiments. woa.. one word i would use to describe the vault is botanical. i’m a little tired of going in order of events, but to make a long story short:

finally tasked with entering it while doing some scientific research and recovery for scientists at Camp McCarran, it also doubled as a rescue mission for a scientist who’d been sent out, but never returned. guess i’m not the first to make an attempt out there.. how worrisome. Vault 22’s situated in the rocky hills west of the Strip. i was very underwhelmed by this area while trying to reach one of the NCR stations. i went into it in length earlier, but the whole northern part of the map is trash.. these hills included. there’s no easy way around, and i spent countless attempts trying to reach the other side. to no avail. meh. this place is neat though. flowers, leaves, and growth stick out of it. forming it’s own ecosystem. there’s warning signs all over though. i ignored them and ventured into the vault..

conveniently, Vault 22’s is provided with an elevator. it’s got 5 levels, and it’s pretty expansive. inconveniently though, the elevator’s busted. guess i’m gonna have to take the stairs.. but wait; re-conveniently my repair skill was high enough and i was able to fix the elevator. rejoice for busted skills ദ്ദി( °ᗜᵔ).

scouring each level the vault’s catastrophic mistakes are evident. these evil plant monsters are formed in the brush that’s taken the entire vault over. same ones from Big MT. i won’t add the typical “interesting”, cause i hope by now you can piece together that the many inventions found in the post-war world were somehow brought to the locations found in the add-ons. showing their intertwined nature. there are spore monsters that appear out of thin air, growing out of the grass perhaps. they’re laughably easy to take out. if you’re privy to their existence and you notice them, their spawning animation takes too long and you’re able to get the jump on them. paired with my Super Slam Katana, they stand no chance. literally. the Venus Flytraps are cool. they shoot some weird goo at you. static enemies, so they’re also easy to kill. the mood in this vault’s different than the others too. overly green, and overtaken, it uses blue lights too. it’s like a vault greenhouse. i don’t mind it. it’d be hella cool if there was like a dome roof. imagine? that’d be silly though, since this is a vault.. and no building has working windows.

quick aside – there is one building in the entirety of Fallout 3 & New Vegas (that i could find) that was clearly provided a perfect answer to Fallout’s window problem. this random fuckass house in outer Vegas. it’s destroyed, you know like how one would be in the aftermath of a nuclear explosion. it doesn’t teleport you to any interiors, no facades. nothing. you can enter it, while also being able to access the outside. huge tears formed in the sides and roofing of the building. i was stunned. this was the very first time (nix some special cases that maybe i can’t think of right now) that a house felt like a true answer to a world in nuclear fallout.. imagine if these had been copy and pasted throughout the Mojave.. perfection. i’m being a little dramatic, but it was genuinely stunning to see. Fallout’s lack of windows, while granted is the fault of the generation it found itself released in, is one of, if not the, most immersion breaking things. just thought i’d note this here. back to the vault.

examining remaining notes and evidence of the scientists existence, i began clearing out each level. of enemies, loot, et cetera. i finally make it to my intended goal, some weird data archive or something.. that can be used for “science”.. or something ദ്ദി(⎚_⎚). but i didn’t forget about the scientist who i’d also been tasked with finding. well it should be noted that the scientist who sent me, Thomas Hildern, could not give a single fuck about her fate, and basically considered her dead without further thought. his assistant, Angela, is sort of the true brains of science at Camp McCarran, with Hildern taking her credit.. long story. but Angela’s the one who sends me to retrieve the lost scientist. not Hildern. he’s an asshole..

in the vault’s bowels is a cavern system. i had a strong inclination that i’d find that scientist here. and was right. after fending off some enemies i’m surprised that she’s a Ghoul. one of the creepier ones might i add.. eh.. anyway, her name’s Keely. and she’s done good work for the NCR, and in-turn the greater Mojave. i have a vested interest in saving her as i’m really for the future of the Mojave.. and the understanding of it’s creatures. she’s a bit standoffish.. but she has a plan. a plan to remove the evil infectious plants. fine by me.

to enact this plan i’ve gotta reach the very very bottom of the vault to find an air duct that’s spewing some sorts of gas. this took a little bit of trial and error. every time i’d attempt it i’d die.. zzz.. but then.. eureka! my C-4 was cherished since if you recall it’s pretty useful in so many different scenarios. reverse pickpocketing, stealth kills, tough enemies, so on. problem is, they’re scarce. and expensive. so i made sure each and every use was well worth it. using any other sort of explosion or incendiary didn’t seem to work. if i placed a C-4, went for the elevator, and detonated it i’d be able to leave while still setting it off. perfect. i blew up that level of the vault, recovered the data needed for the scientists back at Camp McCarran, rescued Keely, and destroyed the remnants of the spore creatures, hopefully killing them for good.. i think. suffice to say my time in that vault is done. honestly, my time spent there was just as quick as my recounting. the enemies were quick to fend off, and elevator made allowed me to be in and out. it’s a sight to see though. the tidbits of Keely’s studies scattered about the levels of the vault gave for a good read. allowing us to see her thoughts, and the foes she and the other scientists faced while they’d been there. i’m not really sure how she got stuck here.. like the cave’s not all that big. granted the elevator was damaged.. with her thanking us for repairing it before she makes her escape to the upper levels. still.. some of these NPCs act as if they have no agency. maybe i’ve just got plot armor. only god knows why they behave this way. it’s fine cos i like Keely. she contrasts well with Hildern’s overly dubious agenda, and a believable cohort to Angela.

maybe some consider it’s insides to be lacking. also maybe not very conducive of a “Wasteland” but the missions are good and i like how it has greater implications built upon in Zion Valley. vaults seem to have this tendency to them, building onto the world more than any kind of dialogue. it was fresh in my mind as i’d been there and to Vault 22 in recent succession. the spore creatures are cool imo. accompanied by the destruction of the Vault. those random set-piece QTE moments offer a great diversion from the free-form gameplay and are also just really awesome.. even if they come and go rather quickly. the sheer fact there’s a spot in the midst of the Wastes that’s sunlit.. orange, and green. lush with life. it’s bewildering.. it’s not something you often see here and it’s unique in that way..

Vault 11.. geez this one was weird. and if i’m to be honest. i hadn’t known of it’s existence towards the tail end of the game. before i visited the Divide, and went continued working with Yes Man. i think i was researching about vault suits and stuff (explained later..) and i read there were 6, and i was like.. i only count five. hm. the vaults in New Vegas are for more lowkey and off the beaten path. most of them either came as a surprise, or i didn’t find them until my second way through, 11 being one of the worst culprits. which is so disappointing since Vault 11 is hands down the best one. i wish i could’ve experienced it sooner, honestly. i’ll explain why.

it’s actually situated in one of the most convenient spots in the entire game. just north is the 188 Trading Post, where you can find Veronica, and talk to the Forecaster. besides these being both pretty interesting footholds in the story, the Trading Post is a pretty comfy spot. as you progress i believe it begins to fill out. NCR.. Brotherhood.. Gun Runners, and some miscellaneous NPCs. when entering DLCs all your companions are sent back home, so after beating the DLC’s i’d have to travel back here to pick her up, and back to Primm for ED-E. just south of it is HELIOS One & Novac. both huge landmarks story-wise. and somewhere you’ll end up reaching early to mid game. these spots too. i walked that road leading from Novac to the Strip soo many times. in order to immerse myself i made a rule of not abusing the fast travel system. this road was usually most convenient and it branched off to the most important spots. it was usually most reliable.. and pretty safe too. the Trading Post.. the Strip ahead, Novac and the Hoover Dam close by too. so how in the hell did i miss the vault..?

in between HELIOS One and Vault 11 is the El Dorado Dry Lake. i think the lake is cool.. it shares the same weather effect as the Brotherhood Hideout in Hidden Valley, and the Ivanpah Dry Lake, where a sandstorm will kick in obscuring your vision. it’s easy to avoid it if you can see it coming. though other than my initial discovery of it, there’s no reason to ever walk back through it. there’s no loot and it’s swarmed with ants. the right side’s far more interesting too. soo.. naturally i’d avoid it

as you can see in the screencap it’s tucked between an easily missed gap in the cliffs that separate HELIOS One and the Strip. plus, the initial door to the vault isn’t one of those giant geared up ones. it’s just a crappy wooden door. there’s nothing to indicate that there’s a vault here.. i guess maybe.. that’s the point? stillll.. i thought i was thorough enough.. makes me wonder how much i’d missed. i don’t say it as a knock against the game, i guess it’s just placed sorta inconveniently. like i said, it’d make sense to hide a vault away here.. so no evil commies can reach it. it’s rightfully unassuming.. the perfect camouflage. perhaps i’m just coping with my crappy navigator skills, i’ll admit. either way, it was such a.. perplexing vault. i’m disappointed i saw it so late. since the initial thrill of the Mojave waned a little. not muchh, just a little.. at least this vault made the wait worth it.

i wasn’t ranking these, but if i were; this one would be no. 1. it’s just soo good. at first it embodies unassuming (like i said). first thing you’ll notice walking in are these campaign posters. you know, “vote blank for the role of Overseer.” things like that. guess they had elections in this vault. interesting. investigating further though, they seem to be overly slanderous. as a matter of fact, they more or less say; “i hate blank, so vote for them to be Overseer”. sounds like a ringing endorsement.. why would you want someone you hate to be the Overseer? wouldn’t that suck? it’s a little confusing.. other posters say things along the lines of “blank is evil, vote them”, or “blank is innocent, so vote for blank (someone else)”. geez. seems like being an Overseer in this vault sucks. typically it’s a position of honor. a role filled by only the most capable. huh.. seems like being an Overseer in Vault 11 is some sort of.. death wish..

the rest of the vault is your typical affair. left in a state of lonely disarray. ransacked.. not a soul in sight. well, except for their corpses. clearing your way through’s no problem. it doesn’t seem like it was ravished by an extreme opposition, like Ghouls or geckos. there’s only a couple mantis’ and some rats.. the rats and i are chill though, i’ve got the Animal Friends perk. the lack of enemies is convenient since there’s so many different stairwells to keep track of. a lot of other vaults are like butterflies; they have maybe 1-3 levels, but they always have a sense of bilateral symmetry. not perfectly, of course. and the ones that don’t have this are typically shorter.. consisting of a specific standout feature. there’s usually a sense of direction. Vault 11 felt so much more winding. if you looked at it in free-cam or something it’s probably not that confusing. but trying to remember my route.. and where i have and haven’t been was a bit tricky. there are many utility tunnels and hallways. a large portion of it is flooded, and there’s some underwater sections. luckily that rebreather i got from Loyal came in clutch here (*evil smirk*). unluckily, there’s nothing of note. well, except for this “differential pressure controller.” doubly unlucky is that this is required for a different quest.. one involving Caesar. by now i’m “in damnatio memoriae” to the Legion (“enemy of the Legion in perpetuity” apparently..), so, this thing is basically scrap metal for all i care.

so what gives? what’s the point here? what makes this vault so different? well, i guess now i should mention it’s gimmick. hinted throughout in clues and writings. and as one of the few to retain holotape recordings, something extremely uncommon in New Vegas, is the discussion and mention of political candidates. for the role of Overseer. like explained before. but it’s extremely hostile. and even mentions of death. it seems the role of Overseer is not one dwellers of Vault 11 were keen of applying for. sabotaging others into receiving votes. Vault 11’s experiment goes like this; each year they’d have to select someone to assume the position of Overseer. by the end of the Overseer’s term, they’d be executed. and a new one would be chosen to re-fill that role. and so on. if they refused, they’d all be killed. of all the vaults i’ve visited, this one felt so much more intriguing. it doesn’t clue you in immediately. i hadn’t paid those posters any mind. my brain auto-corrected the texts to be the same old campaign slogans i’d seen depicted all the time. the story begins to unravel as you progress through the vault. mentions of coup’s.. and a slow dissolution of intentions. the idea began to show the inhabitants true colors. sorta proving the experiment to be a success. eventually chaos completely ensued and nearly all it’s inhabitants wound up dead. all but 5.

after retrieving the necessary passcode, i unlocked the Overseer’s desk and descended below. typically all Overseer desks came installed with a tunnel. some provided easy access to the control rooms, or an escape route. so on. Vault 11’s came installed with something a bit different.. just below the desk is an expansive tunnel. standing at the entrance i can’t even see out to the other side. it looks infinite. it feels burdened. like it’s still grieving. there’s no windows, but the there’s a haze that fills the hall. it reflects off the metal stronghold creating the illusion of light.. honestly. it’s calm. untouched by the world. i feel like i’d enter and never emerge back out.. be walking for the rest of time. but i’d never give out. there’s a sense of eternalness here.. i duno. would it be so bad? it’s nice here.. here goes nothing.

the trip to the end’s pretty short. i guess i’m not yet ready to give in.. instead of freedom, or lasting luminosity.. i’m given a message over the intercom telling me to proceed to the light. reaching it, the “light” is just a facade cast by a set of work lights. the music here edges on angelic, but it still has that bitter chord present in most Fallout ambience. it almost wants to be soothing. but it’s not. a huge cast from the impression i’d had. reaching the end of the corridor, is just a room. a quaint one at that. there’s only a chair, and two tables. a vase of flowers and a couple bottles of whiskey adorn one, while a projector adorns the other. the voice in the intercom prompts you to sit, and that show will begin shortly.

the projector flicks to life and a film starts. the reel calls you a “martyr”, and explains how sacrificing yourself is an honorable way to go out, and that your death is required for vaults continued success. seems like this this is the ritual the vault’s past Overseer’s had faced.. melancholic. cartoon-y image of the Vault Boy are shown, where-in he’s depicted sitting on the beach.. or getting a massage. examples of time’s one may have been at peace. the final reel tells you to close your eyes, and to imagine the afterlife. abruptly the film cuts out. next thing i hear is the click clack of mechanical components and gears whirring. i rush out of the chair anticipating the worst. and i was right.. instead of a peaceful way out with something like euthanasia, the sides of the room open to reveal a robot hit squad. before i can even react the robots begin firing and a massive firefight breaks out. luckily i had both ED-E and Veronica with me as backup.. in the chaos of the fight the robots begin firing at each other. it was quite insane. in the rooms that housed the robots were skeletal remains. probably those of Overseers past.. by all accounts the experiment was a success. as the vault went into total chaos, and as the last few survivors defied the vaults parameters, it’s true intentions became clear. explained in tapes found in the vaults mainframe; unbeknownst to them, if they refused to kill anyone the vault’s doors would open, in-turn saving everyone’s lives. for years they kept up the tradition in fear of risking the lives of anyone.. but in the end. they still died. and apparently, this all happened over a century before the Courier ever showed up. just showing just how early Vault 11’s demise was. but how could they have known?

granted a lot of Fallout’s vaults are twisted, demented, watever.. but this one in particular? it’s just so striking. i’m not sure why. probably cemented by that climactic final fight and walk through the tunnel. who’s to say. the rest of the vault’s uninteresting, besides the parts that clue you in to it’s storytelling. other vault’s have a more distinct feeling to them usually. Vault 92 had the mind controlling aspect. reading those logs where they complained about the shrill sounds, and it’s effects on them had my stomach in knots. Vault 87’s FEV experiemtns.. or the virtual reality pods of Vault 112. where they found themselves stuck in simulation after simulation at the behest of an evil German Overseer. stuck in the nightmare that was “Tranquility” Lane. wherein reality there was no tranquility to be found.. and possibly being executed (depending on your choice) by Chinese Communists. prompting the old adage; u die in a simulation.. u die in real life.. gaaaaaaghhaaagh.. anyway. i’d say Vault 11 is New Vegas’ answer to Vault 112. sticking with you not just cause of it’s grim and twisted nature, but also because of it’s striking awesomeness.. the intentions, the execution, and circumstances all felt so.. so Fallout-like. like this is the best representation of it’s vaults. and everything that proceeds. it has the DNA down on lock and i urge you to note it’s existence and travel to it when you get a chance.

lastly.. is Vault 21. which technically counts for the purposes of this list.. i guess. it’s gimmick.. – gambling. maybe this one’s popular within the Fallout community? i duno. there isn’t much to say about it. honestly i’m only using it as a seg-way to talk about the Strip, which is where it can be found. Vault 21 acts a modern day hotel for the inhabitants of the Wastes. a clever concept. apparently actually getting it’s start as an actual hotel in pre-war times, with souvenirs and all. so it acts basically how it did 200 years ago. i like it. it’s also in perfect condition, something striking as you rarely see a vault in such good circumstances. like i said.. it’s cool.. it’s neat.. allat.. but that’s really it. apparently in Mr. House’s takeover of the Strip, he wanted to demolish the entire thing. but some put up a protest, with them eventually negotiating. they’d be able to keep the vault, open and running, but Mr. House would section of the deeper trenches of it by filling it up with concrete. resulting in these random corridors being blocked this awkward concrete debris.. idk. doesn’t feel all that clever, making the vault extremely bare. i never bothered to figure out why Mr. House had a hate-boner for the vault, but i honestly don’t care enough.. it’s alright. i just wish it had more.. oh that does remind me though; you can have sex with one it’s original members and current owner, Sarah. if you collect enough vault memorabilia (suits) for her, she’ll offer to.. yano.. le epic. tha’s really all.

i’m finally making it to the Strip. New Vegas’ biggest attribute and seller. phew.. about time. i know i already mentioned this a few times here and there, but i purposefully avoided the Strip until about.. 60 ~ 75% of the way through. why? well, cause i didn’t want to spoil myself with all the fun to be had there.. i had the expectation that this is where the epicenter of happenings was. which, it sorta is, but not completely. the Mojave is extremely spread out. action can be found everywhere. though most of it originates from the Strip, and outer Vegas. so i visited the eastern, southern, and western parts of the map before i even stepped foot into Vegas. also due in part by those goddamned Deathclaws.. ughh.. i’m glad i did this though. it felt earned for me. you gotta be a psychopath if you turn on New Vegas and beeline straight for the Strip. where’s the fun in this..? plus, working up your rep with (insert your faction of choice here) pays off extremely. you’ve already built up that reputation, garnering more rewards and respect. but also, you don’t have to come and go as much*. you’ll still have to come and go. by the end of the game my quests were about 90% related to the Strip, and 10% to the greater Mojave. which is fine of course.. but since Vegas is sorta cramped and everything’s in close relation to each other, i could finalize each mission in quick succession by talking to whoever i needed to talk to. there’s a lot to do here. guess i’ll start from outside going in. mostly counting locations from it’s main districts, but i’ll start with a couple misc. buildings and standout locations from the surrounding ruins.

H&H Tools is a little factory just north of the Strip. it’s depicted in one of the loading screen images, and many of the Wastelanders will warn you about it.. telling you to heed their warnings about what you’ll find in there. it acts like an urban legend. it’s strong-ish presence was really confusing to me. i randomly stumbled upon it one day and i was like “oh that’s the place from the loading screen”. finding myself inside, it’s just another pre-war factory. very reminiscent of Fallout 3. there’s a loot of robots to take out, and even more terminals to read. the emails in the terminals clue you into what kind of dystopian antics occurred here. they all revolve around heightened security.. paranoid tendencies.. and this guy. “Mr. H”, hm. this mystery man is extremely peculiar from the looks of things.. and most his employees are extremely irked by his recent reappearance and new rules. some of them even have hidden entries on their terminals, depicting their paranoid states. heading to the top office you’ll find a terminal belonging to “Anthony House”.. House.. where have i heard that before.. coincidence? i think.. unlikely.. trying to hack his PC was near impossible. even semi-cheesing it (something fixed between Fallout 3 and New Vegas), it still wouldn’t budge. eventually i gained access to it but i felt so guilty about how i obtained it that i reset my save and let the terminal take the win. though i didn’t search it’s files, there was a “Lucky 38 executive override” prompt. i hope it’s clear now. we know Mr. House is Robert House, but obviously the last names aren’t a coincidence, since this is a video game. clearly these two are related.. maybe his dad? brother? son? i can’t say for sure.. all i know is it’s an interesting look into the state of things pre-war.. and worth noting here.

second i’d like to mention the New Vegas Medical Clinic, and Crimson Caravan. both of which are situated next to each other. the Clinic doesn’t have much to note, i just wanted to name drop here as it’s a quaint little spot.. just outside the Strip, Doctor Usanagi was a surprisingly simple and refreshing character. no dramatics.. i liked the setup they had there. it’s also worth noting the fact that Usanagi offers neural upgrades of sorts. like Deus Ex augmentations. i’m kidding mostly since these will just boost your S.P.E.C.I.A.L skills by one point.. but the idea of it is cool and something i wish i took advantage of earlier.. so yeah. just noting that. onwards to the Crimson Caravan. a place that gets its name dropped as far back as the first Fallout. one of your potential companions, Cass, makes mention of it early on in the Mojave Outpost. even Ringo from Goodsprings, even earlier in the game. a common occurrence around the Mojave are these ransacked caravans. marked by their dead Brahmin, scattered loot, and dead Merchants. apparently the caravan game is tough on these streets. a lot of different people have stakes into these caravanners as it’s a very contentious debate. lot’s of bitter feelings.. i wasn’t totally invested, but i can appreciate their appearance here. i think the Crimson Caravan’s location is a bit out of the way.. and neglected. especially with how it was tied into the story. one of the missions even bugged out for me.. leaving it permanently unfinished.. giving me unfinished business of sorts. sad. it plays a large enough role to the overall Mojave, but i don’t have much at all to say about it..

*checks list*.. let’s see.. hrmm.. ah.. here.. another place i was.. erh.. disappointed with; Aerotech Office Park, situated east of the Strip. it functions as a makeshift refugee grounds. also very quaint. it’s a nice spot. sometimes i wish you could choose where you reside, like you could turn some of these spots into a home of your own. that would’ve been awesome. just like Crimson Caravan it’s situated in a way where i’ll never visit it, or it’s just so inconvenient. a big issue with the Strip as a whole. obviously done so as a fix for loading times or whatever on older generations.. blemishes like this haven’t aged that well though. i’ll look into seeing if there’s a mod that fixes this, but for now i suffer.. Aerotech genuinely has little to no presence. there’s a stilted mission where you confront a local scam artist and drug dealer, Keith, and catch him in the act. accompanying you is Captain Parker, an NCR soldier who kills him once Keith insults his wife.. or something. it wasn’t a good look for him, or the NCR. especially since this was an area for rehabilitation.. and recovery. i felt like i was in part responsible for the murder of this guy. i mean yeah he was evil, and i ultimately i didn’t care whether he lived or died. but the way Parker just murked him on-sight.. i dunoo.. it was like “that’s that”. other facts that left a bitter taste in my mouth where the possible refugees that can appear here throughout the game. e.g. the surviving Vault 34 dwellers, and Alice Hostetler. as explained before i misunderstood the assignment and ended up sacrifice the vault dwellers.. so they never got a chance to arrive at Aerotech. and Alice Hostetler was mistakenly killed by my companions when she got hostile.. and i think i quicksaved in a way where i couldn’t resuscitate her. i was locked into that choice. so the protentional expansion of Aerotech never occurred to me cause of these mistakes. maybe if i hadn’t screwed up this place would’ve stood out more. had maybe a small, but still significant role, in my journey.. o well..

you’ll find that the strip is split into a couple parts. we just discussed some notable locations from the ruins that surround it. south ruins = Fiend territory. a huge chunk belongs to the NCR, e.g. Camp McCarran, and the sharecropper farms. there are other specific districts though. least notable has to be North Vegas Square. there is not a single thing worth noting here. there is a hotel called “the Gray” which was where i got that screencap of the dinosaur fighting the teddy bear. that waz dope. besides that though.. i got nothin’.. i don’t even blame people for missing it. it’s got one of those makeshift doors that are difficult to spot. just another missed opportunity.. same with Westside. but since i’m being genuine here – Westside is one of my favorite spots in the entire game. i done said it like 20 times in the past couple paragraphs, but it’s the definition of quaint. it has it’s own side-quests and persons of interest.. a standout detail is it’s self-sufficient ways. pretty far off from the hotspot that is the Strip, the residents of Westside have their own crop farms.. and co-op shops. it’s amazing to see function, with them all idly participating. something that startled me originally was the presence of this Super Mutant, Mean Sonofabitch. despite that name he’s not all that mean.. i even read on the Wiki that both he and Marcus (easily the most based Super Mutant) are the only Super Mutants with Good Karma. in the entire Fallout series. that’s a pretty interesting detail. Mean Sonofabitch (or Mahsohfabish, in his pronunciation) protects Westside from any bad guys. acting as a personal bodyguard. you’ll find him roaming from business to business.. i almost thought there was a Super Mutant militia in Westside, since i kept spotting him in front of different shops. but nopee.. just him. i liked him. in fact, besides their home bases (e.g. Jacobstown) which are kinda crappy, i think the Super Mutants are done extreme justice here. they’re no longer the bland hulking monsters like how they were in Fallout 3 (a far cry from their Fallout 1 & 2 iterations). here they’ve become fleshed out. showing they’re more than what they’re assumed to be. i like their new designs and the Night Kin variation. it’s cool.. if only the Super Mutant companion was as good as Fallout 3’s.. sigh.. (okay she’s not that bad, i just really miss Fawkes).

another major note is Westside’s hotel.. which has actual prostitutes.. there’s a sexy lady, an old lady, and even a guy.. this is awesome. you can even have sex with them :B so make sure to visit.. there’s also some weird side-quest that ties into the Aerotech Office Park from earlier, with these guys who were trafficking refugees. even children.. so they’re like.. refugee sex traffickers. they stayed in the hotel. it was pretty nasty to read about, and the fact i don’t find these refugees. it’s just presumed they’re long gone, or dead. i don’t know.. bittersweet (like usual). i wish there was an option to give them their deserved comeuppance, but killing them is satisfying enough i suppose. i’ve got a message for all pedos out there – “╭∩╮(◣_◢)╭∩╮”.. i just wish Westside had more presence. there’s a chance that in a different run of the game my choices and my affiliations would lead me to different places more often. i understand that. it honestly feels like there’s an entire half of the game that i don’t know about.. i’m just hoping Westside’s part of that.

(also some guy had a Pip-Boy. just wanted to throw that screencap in here. pretty cool)

before moving onto Freeside & the Strip, i’d be remiss if i didn’t mention the underground sewer system and “the Thorn”. basically, the sewers are where the ultra impoverished Wastelanders reside. it’s dark.. dingy.. infested with Ghouls and rats.. it’s not fun being down there. there are some more habitable spots (thankfully) where those creatures can’t reach. a chunk of it being the Thorn. the Thorn’s a makeshift communal spot with it’s most notable feature being an arena. think like Pokémon. creatures battling it out. Deathclaws vs. Rad-scorpions. stuff like that. you can even bet on them. it’s not as lucrative as the casinos, but the idea is novel. you can also have sex with the leader, Red Lucy.. as long as you do some tasks for here. honestly her quests were probably the most tedious.. with all of them making me go back to caves i’d already explored. it was kind of monotonous. but i suppose the reward was worth it.. uehuehhu.. anywayy.. the sewers weren’t that fun. they were looong. like very. Fallout 3 had a lot which i used to dread. but as i became more familiar with it, i found them to be a lot of fun to navigate. New Vegas doesn’t have all that many. the system below it and the Strip was only one of a handful. it was too large for it’s own good. though, it did have manhole entrances to prominent locations. like the Strip, Freeside, or Crimson Caravan. this seems useful. not that i ever used it.. i will also say, it was better than Deus Ex’s (HR). i’ve drawn comparisons to it a few times, and i know they aren’t that apt.. i just remember that sewer system being the worst.. it’s just funny how New Vegas outdid it in every way.

lastly before the Strip.. is Freeside. Freeside is hella awesome. i spent more time here than i did in the Strip being honest. it suffers from the frustrating loading zone issues, and there’s no easy access from it to the Strip. or other places around Vegas. i already mentioned that and i don’t want to complain about it.. it’s not so bad sense at least here you can fast travel in and out of zones, even though you’re in a designated area. v useful. Freeside has a few main areas of importance. the Followers of the Apocalypse fort, the Atomic Wrangler, King’s School of Impersonation (where the King’s reside), Mick & Ralph’s, Cerulean Robotics factory, and the Silver Rush. opening the door to many more factions.

the Followers of the Apocalypse have a very strong presence right from the jump. before i’d met them i assumed they were a tribe of some kind. based on the name. and their more neutral, genuine goals. the Followers are similar to the Brotherhood in their goals of finding tech, weapons, and materials of any sorts. that’s where the differences end. the Followers work for the common good of the Mojave. being a balance between the NCR, and the Brotherhood. taking their best attributes and rolling it into one. they’re weaker than these two. and their manpower isn’t much.. but they have the passion. if they had these two they’d be a power player in the Mojave. fortunately though, you can use their assistance in a multitude of ways. most importantly they can back you up in the Second Battle for Hoover Dam. people of note; Julie Farkas is their leader. she’s a bit awkward but it’s clear she cares.. assisting her felt free from obligation. i didn’t mind doing her tasks. “Arcade Israel Gannon” is one of your potential companions. he’s got a crazy name.. i’m not.. even sure.. why is this his name.. maybe.. there’s greater.. meaning.. only.. intellectualists.. would.. understand.. but.. i’m not.. one.. so.. anyway.. Arcade actually makes for a great companion. like i discussed before i never got to experience all of them. only Boone, Veronica, ED-E and eventually Arcade.. but only right at the tail end of the game. he grows on you. at first i thought he came on too strong, and it wasn’t clear that’d he could be a companion. i just felt he was far too developed and it stood out ..weirdly? not bad. just confusing is all. eventually it clicked and that made me like him more. his arc of reuniting with the Enclave Remnants (For Auld Lang Syne) was kinda gloomy. his dejected tone as he recollects his time with them from when he was a kid.. the way they all went into hiding.. their glory days long in the past. but Arcade has really interesting insight to share. even in rapid succession it felt genuine.. and eventually when the Enclave Remnants come together one last time for the battle, and he dons old Enclave armor.. it was so endearing. easily one of the most heartful quests with a more sweet than bitter ending.

the King’s are another case of something growing on me. they’re originally described to be Freeside’s local thug organization. i thought they’d be bullies. taking advantage of the vulnerable Wastelanders.. manipulating them out their money for protection. but they weren’t at all like this. they’re confrontational, sure. they stand to be intimidating.. but as the Courier gains positive reputation with them, they started to soften on me. obviously if you go a different route they’d act differently. i like thinking my actions allowed them to feel truly towards me. their HQ is the School of Impersonation, a pre-war location dedicated to Elvis. a faction really fitting of the Vegas theme. even though they don’t know his name (i guess no pre-war records of Elvis where left behind there), they copy his style. hair, voice, et cetera. they all sound like Elvis. it can be a little funny. they become a little timid towards the Courier as he works up the ranks for “the King”, their leader.. in the end it seems like their protection of Freeside is necessary. and they aren’t evil. their HQ is a little bland and boring to navigate.. but besides that they’re inclusion makes this side of Vegas more lively. and the King is a v cool character. and his Cyberdog Rex. another potential companion.

the Atomic Wrangler is the only casino in Freeside. it’s one of 3 that can be found outside of the Strip. it’s kinda trashy. i liked how lively it was though. the owners are sleazy, and the missions they make you do are a counterintuitive to the Courier (my version of the Courier.. that is), even though they gave me positive rep. but i’d be remiss if i didn’t discuss one in particular.. apparently some customers have been pestering them for some.. action. some.. fetish actions.. so they task you with recruiting 3.. employees. a smooth talker.. a Ghoul.. and a.. robot.. you can find them all around the Vegas. after you find ’em you can have sex with them. well all except the smooth talker (guy). idky. i could have sex with guy prostitute. *shrug* either way my dreams of robot and Ghoul sex has been fulfilled.. rejoice.. i’m just realizing how horny this game is at times. ohohoh (the robot can be found in Cerulean Robotics factory.)

i don’t got much to say about Mick & Ralph’s.. they’re one of Freeside’s obligatory shops. feeling like the local vendor than an entire store, they provide some gadgets of use.. weapons.. and such. it’s cool. the autonomous Mick and Ralph are good characters. many times vendors or caravanners end up as bland passerby. other NPCs also have this strange way to them. so it’s always a relief to get some grounded, easy-going shopkeepers, which is seemingly common in Fallout games. once you’ve progressed some Strip affairs, you’ll have the opportunity to get the Pimp-Boy 3 Billion from Mick. it’s pretty ugly, but also dope as hell. i wish they tapped into Pip-Boy customization more in these games. it’s feels rather rewarding.. moreso than caps or measly discounts. though i eventually traded it back in since it became a bit of an eyesore, resembling New Vegas’ orange flesh-y tone more than a gold plated Pip-Boy. it also looked really ugly in screenshots. there’s a few miscellaneous run ins with Mick and Ralph but nothing crazyy.. they make Freeside much more lively.

last of note is the Silver Rush. my relationship with this place is a bit iffy. it was a casino converted into a shop specializing in energy and plasma weapons. it’s heavily guarded and has gained an odd reputation out and about the Wasteland. you can see pre-war advertisements for it in the Vegas debris. and it sits in it’s pre-war state. it’s wares don’t really pertain to junkies of Freeside. the owners, a brother and sister duo named the Van Graffs, seem to be a force not to reckon with.. with the Van Graff merchant company stretching far and wide. luckily, by being the Courier we’re able to ingrate ourselves with them by doing a couple missions. i’ve been warned about them by many of Freeside’s residents. they’ve got a habit of hostility. the grasp of their notoriousness even reaches outside into the greater Mojave where even Wastelanders tell you to steer clear of them.. to be fair, i didn’t really learn their whole story; they felt like a nasty group to do business with. the Van Graff sister, Gloria, was the more reasonable of the two.. though surprisingly the friendliest face was the guard out front. Simon. he takes my weapons, making future confrontation a problem.. but for the time being i make sure to only resort to that when necessary. you can do a few missions for them, netting you some Freeside rep. the most notable one was assisting Simon in guarding the shop. it’s a scripted event where you have to reasonably deduce who is and isn’t welcome into the Silver Rush. confiscating weapons, or turning them away at the door. it was neat.. i weirdly felt bonded with Simon. i was almost hopeful for my future relations with them. maybe possibly morphing their reputation and restoring peace.. that wasss until i had to make a “collection”. Jean-Baptiste, Gloria’s brother, needs me to confront and lure a certain “Rose of Sharon Cassidy (aka Cass), back to the Silver Rush. under the guise of “business”.. Cass is a downtrodden caravanner (and potential companion) that you bump into at the Mojave Outpost. i remember at the time i had Boone as a companion, so she couldn’t tag along. but her dialogue and demeaner cemented her in my mind throughout the game. so i knew immediately who he wanted. there was no way in hell i’d lead her here.. presumably to her death. around this time i was also completing missions for the Crimson Caravan, who Cass also has dealings with. let’s just say it’s best that she’s not around.. as Jean-Baptiste and other caravanners don’t see eye-to-eye with her. tensions rise as i defy Jean-Baptiste, refusing to lure her over here.. i’m not sure what caused it, but the next time i came across the Silver Rush i did a full “extermination”. for some reason i was compelled to rid Freeside of the Van Graffs. luckily for me i gauged them right, as you don’t lose karma for killing them. since they’re technically categorized as evil.. wooot.. my write-up here feels really dull but i didn’t have much to mention. i didn’t get all that far with them, and their deaths were just a footnote in the Courier’s story within the Mojave.

before i get to the Strip.. i’ll discuss Camp McCarran. i really like it’s inclusion. a great aspect of the Strip is it’s NCR presence. it feels full, busy. you’ve got the NCR Embassy and the monorail both inside. then you’ve got the sharecropper farms and Camp McCarran. their being surrounds Vegas. feels like you’re protected by them, in a way. even though sometimes the soldiers are inept, inattentive, and so on. the majority aren’t like this. i feel at eaaseee.. Camp McCarran suffers from the inconvenient location problem as so much of the Strip does. it really perplexes me at times. even with the technical limitations in mind. the fact the “Welcome to Fabulous New Vegas sign sits out front of McCarran, and some dingy pre-war rubble, instead of like.. by the entrance to the Strip. the entrance isn’t very grand. i just expected a more compact sense of cohesion. what there is a million empty buildings.. a long walk in between actual places of note. and entrances to all other locations where walking to becomes a pain. i’ll save more of the rant for later in the Strip sector.. but Vegas itself is lackluster in design. a really frustrating fact. and Camp McCarran sits just outside of it. there’s access to the sharecropper farms, and to outer Vegas. but there’s no quick access to the Strip. no back-alley door.. or second entrance. imagine if there was just another entrance? would that’ve been so hard? aughh..

Camp McCarran was an airport turned into NCR HQ, based on the real world counterpart – which was recently changed and is no longer named as such. the world’s so overly complicated at times.. for no real reason.. – it’s a great idea. and i think it’s executed well. it provides great defense and it’s close proximity to the Strip is practical.. strategic wise.. far better than the Legion’s crappy little hill fort. the outer part features rows of tents and acts as a makeshift encampment. it’s got radio posts, a kitchen, armory, everything really. some of the NCR Rangers here will offer you bounties. retrieving the heads of notorious Fiend leaders for compensation.. and reputation. neatt. it’s satisfying to kill ’em and collect their heads as trophies. sadly i’m not too enthusiastic on the next chunk of Camp McCarran.

most notably is the airport itself. which houses the would-be queues.. snack bar.. boarding areas. miscellaneous offices, concourse, and more. Camp McCarran ends up suffering from what i’d like to call the “Rivet City effect”. an epic as hell idea, that isn’t implemented (fleshed out) very well. lemme elaborate. in Fallout 3 we had Rivet City, a pre-war aircraft carrier turned city. that was literally a lay-up in terms of ideas. the mere idea already fits so well into Fallout. like in the past with the Enclave Oil Rig. it just makes so much sense. they’re visually distinctive. something you can see in the foggy distance.. even before rendering completes. huge and once full of life.. now the rest abandoned, marking the wars chaotic and world-ending consequences. despite it’s gargantuan appearance, Rivet City only houses a small community. composed of maybee.. 30 people? at most. this is where the phenomenon’s name is derived from. it’s design lends well to creativity (which Rivet City does of course have) but it’s vast in/ex-teriors aren’t utilized to it’s fullest extent. so much of it feels underdeveloped.. in Rivet City’s case, the cramped corridors made it feel less like a city. and into more of an apartment. and it’s empty topside just felt wasted. not to mention the fact that they were so close to the Jefferson Memorial.. yet the whole game hinged upon it. this is a different story. i hope this is coherent and it makes sense. Rivet City was easily my favorite spot in the whole game. but that didn’t stop me from feeling like it’s concept hadn’t reached it’s ultimate form. so to an extent this is how i feel about Camp McCarran.

the inside is so liminal and boring. instead of building upon the airport’s layout, most of the NCR soldiers are posted up in random spots. Col. Hsu, a very major player of the NCR, sits in a room doing fuck all. it’s not designed like a proper barrack for a high ranking official. it’s just a room with pre-war crap and a chair and table. there’s no flair to it.. no novelty. the rest of the airport is the same. not much to even note. there’s no creative twist with the gift shop.. or the queue. there is an interrogation room which actually is neat. it looks like a screening room. maybe that’s what it was in pre-war times? having it double as an interrogation room is a cool detail. the concourse is moody.. during the day it casts a bright glow. the dust caught in it’s beams.. and it looks similar to when i was “heading into the light” back in Vault 11.. tragically it loses it’s footing quickly. the concourse leads into this large.. boarding area? sorta. like where you wait for the plane, get food, have luggage checked further, et cetera. more aimless NCR soldiers that have nothing to provide. i’m pretty sure i can recall everything of note in here. there’s a chef who’s a pretty good character. i don’t remember him.. though, his quests are unmarked and i forgot about him soon after. upon returning i couldn’t remember anything that he’d tasked me with finding. food related stuff.. there’s a sad case of a soldier looking for her husbands corpse, who was killed in action.. this one was actually interesting. his body becomes a marked location on my map. but it’s been booby-trapped by some Fiends, making it a risky play. the other NCR soldiers are too scared to retrieve his body. so it’s up to the Courier. at first i was confused since i went to the body.. and i killed the Fiends.. i returned to the grieving wife but the quest didn’t complete. turns out i had to drag his corpse to a nearby barricade of NCR soldiers. the fact that these soldiers, who were stationed only a minute away from the body, couldn’t be asked to retrieve the body.. beats me. after an unlucky Legion raid appearance (and quick reset) i gave the body to them and avenged his honor. i guess. and that’s the quest. lastly in one of the quadrants is a named scientist NPC. i forgot what dialogue i got from him, or what his purpose is. all i remember is talking to him. again it’s just so bare.. it has a good atmosphere, of course. it feels bleak and signifying of it’s time. with great colors.. it just doesn’t reach for the same levels of which Fallout is highly capable of.

continuing past the concourse is another empty corridor. one of Camp McCarran’s biggest flaws is it’s tediousness. there’s a looot of walking.. not that i hate walking, but after so long it impacts me irl and i get a little bored. plus, with no easy access or fast-travelable locations, you’re made to walk the entire way in order to get the other half. at the end of this corridor is a single door leading to a supply shack. this place is pitifully bare, and i often forget it’s existence. an NPC named Sgt. Daniel Contreras occupies this area. he has some tasks for you, but since they’re unmarked and reaching this spot is a chore i typically forgot to do them. unless i left with the expressed purpose to complete it. he was some cool wares.. but that’s really all (quick intermission while i was writing this.. i learned there’s an upstairs level to the shack which somehow i missed the 4-5 times i was here. this is embarrassing. luckily there was nothing but a terminal up here, and a door leading outside. this door is worth mentioning since it’s bugged, and trying to re-enter the shack is tricky cos the “Press E” prompt only appears for a split second in some specific co-ordinate of the door.. so.. just thought i’d note).

heading out onto the airport’s tarmac, there’s even less for you to do out here. this wouldn’t be such an irking thing if i could access this spot back at the camp’s entrance. like a door off to the side. but noo.. to get here, and back, you’ve gotta walk through the whole thing. T_T what the hell.. this is so tedious and for whattt.. like there’s cool planes here.. and crates and stuff.. and a control tower used in a later side-quest (figuring out the identity of a spy sabotaging the NCR), but lemme remind you that that’s it. all this open space.. and nothing.. no way to go in and out. or return to the start. it’s one big circle with the airport prominently in the middle. i must be missing something here. looking at Camp McCarran’s concept art, the vision seems clear. and i think it was translated moderately well. obviously the concept art’s cooler.. but in the picture it doesn’t seem to be sectioned off like how it was in the final product. yeah yeah.. i knooooooow.. technically limitations.. i’m just so sad thinking about what could have been if it hadn’t been burdened by this.. it sticks out so often. especially in Vegas. it didn’t exactly have Fallout 3’s clever metro system to use as a facade, since it’s so much more open.. i guess the scope was too big. and it ended up getting translated weirdly. i still think Camp McCarran is cool. and those one of missions – interrogating the Legionary captive.. assisting the scientists and helping to rescue Keely.. retrieving the Fiend’s heads to complete bounties.. finding clues to discover the identity of the spy.. and talking to that one bounty hunter/merc (who i think might’ve died by accident in my playthrough..) he was pretty funny.. honestly i’m surprised he wasn’t a companion. and not to mention the monorail that leads to the Strip (which i’ll discuss more in the Strip segment) anywaay – all of these were great, and it’s concept alone saves it from being all that bad. maybe i come off as harsh. i guess it didn’t stack up to my expectations. i like to be appreciative of the little things and i know this isn’t a big deal. i think i went so hard in the paint as to emphasize Vegas’ frustrating structure.. Camp McCarran being a victim of this. moving onn..

finally we’ve arrived at the Strip.. segment.. (҂⌣̀⌣́) i know you’ve been waiting with baited breath.. so let’s..

the Strip is made up of 3 parts, with a total of 8 unique locations. of course they’re split up like this as a result offff.. you guessed itt.. technical limitationnnn.. once again.. i don’t think it’s as egregious as i once thought. the Strip does have an amazing sense of business, especially at night. even when split up it feels like districts of a city. just on a much, much smaller scale. it’s something i would choose to live with. i attempted a mod that removed the doorways in between. but it was basically solving a problem that wasn’t even there in the first place. without the doors it felt muchhh shorter.. i guess they also work as a facade making it seem bigger than it really is. plus the cracks and debris felt off without ’em.. so i reinstated the doors. the charm of it grew on me.

by nature of it being split up, the casinos are paired up into groups of 2. the Lucky 38 & Gomorrah and the Tops & Ultra-Luxe. with the rest of the attractions residing in the 3rd sector. the 4 casinos all have a different story to tell. i should mention that the casinos are owned by the “Three Families” together with Mr. House. they own and have full reign over the Strip. each family also has a story to tell, and they’re all different sides of an extreme. Gomorrah, owned by the Omertas (1/3), is the sex crazed.. sex ring.. prostitute spot. this has given it a reputation of degeneracy and closed door style management. the leaders are sleazy 40’s style mobsters and run the joint with a tight grip. exploring Gomorrah you’ll discover cases of sex abuse, weapons and drug trafficking, and girl abuse drugging and trafficking.. how awful.. it’s corrupt.. but most are too afraid to confront them. even the other casinos can’t stand them. at the very least completing different quests nets different outcomes for the casino. you can help some of the mistreated prostitutes escape with the help of a former Omerta, Carlitos. you can even help and restore peace and order by overthrowing (or offing) the Omertas, putting an end to their schemes.

i think Gomorrah is the most in your face of the bunch. the sign.. the building.. the quests you partake in. it’s easy to grasp, it’s the most generic of ideas i feel. not in a derogatory way it just feels like “that’s how mafia works” style. yet, i still liked it. actually, i think it’s the most lively of all the casinos. safest, and chillest. you’ll probably come to understand as i explain.

Gomorrah’s layout is a little tacky. it’s got this weird outdoor oasis sex area. trees and vegetation, mixed with tents and heart shaped beds.. v kinky.. even the inside is decorated like this. cages hang from the ceiling and strippers line every room. one of the funniest moments OAT was when i entered one of the lounge rooms, where there was one stripper on the pole, a man tending the bar, and a sole woman sitting in the crowd. yet, “amb_gomorrah_mm_01.ogg” was still tryna convince me that the place was popping.. it was not. it was such a sorry sight. sometimes the casinos were extreeemely dead. there’s nobody in them.. so who are they stripping for? much to ponder.. (nate-style). the upper levels feel like a drug induced haze. the overbearing red lighting mixed with the weird touch of décor.. i always wanted to get to safety, and into the comforting arms of a semi-filled room. all in allllll.. probably the most neutral, surface level casino. but one that more often than not felt like a safe haven. onto the nextt..

the Ultra-Luxe was pretty wack. the most pretentious of the casinos, they pride themselves on their etiquette and good manors. they’re the trope-y “rich snobs”. the employees of the casino are known as the White Glove Society. they’re technically a faction as they earn themselves a spot in the faction reputation section in your Pip-Boy. i’m not quite sure why, to be fair. my stay in their casino was pretty short-lived. i did sort of screw up a couple of the quests, leaving them kind of open ended. and locked into a more neutral reputation with them. as the name suggests, they wear white gloves. but even more distinct than that are the masks they adorn. those fancy ones you’ve seen worn at ritzy galas, or something. it muffles their speech and gives an ominous feeling. from the jump it’s suspicious. clearly something’s up here. a lot of the Wastelanders, Strip frequenters, and even the families of the other casinos remind you to be weary of them and their antics. obviously there’s more than meets the eye with them.

investigating the disappearance of a notable VIP’s son, you’ll unravel the truth pretty quickly. the White Glove Society are very much prideful of their cuisine. visiting the kitchen you’ll hear discussions of how this is better than anything found in the wastes.. and how many aren’t capable of feasting on that of which they do.. it’s fine-dining obviously. confronting the Gourmand hostess and pressing her on some.. tasteless.. accusations, she gets extremely frustrated (i think my speech skill was too low n so i failed). so i’ve gotta dig further. after i bypassed the White Glove guards i snuck down into the low levels of the Ultra-Luxe, and straight into their extended kitchen and chilled freezer. it’s starting to piece itself together.. i take quick action in taking out the roaming guards, and a man named Philippe. in Philippe’s pocket are notes on recipes. it elaborates how some have been revised.. but there’s brief mention of making the food taste like.. “human flesh”. sealing the deal is the fact that using this recipe, you can craft an item called “imitation strange meat pie” (strange meat being code for human flesh 9/10 in Fallout). ooh.. now it makes sense. this fancy, well-off, and profligatory community are knowingly (or unknowingly) eating human flesh. apparently in the White Glove lore, they were at one point cannibals. and this is an attempt at getting them to return to their ways.. by a couple of unsavory individuals. thankfully in one of the freezers is the guy we were looking for, still alive and intact.

i like the buildings architecture. especially from the outside. inside’s your standard affair. extravagant and le fancy.. it does probably hold the title of the least decrepit looking building yet. there’s not a shred of evidence to show that it survived a nuking. it makes me wonder.. much to ponderr.. it’s very sleek. i didn’t factor this at all for my play-through, but your potential winnings are highest at the Ultra-Luxe with a limit of 15,000 caps. not bad if you’ve got a high enough luck S.P.E.C.I.A.L and cheese it. there’s not much else to share.. it’s got a suite you can earn and reside in. it’s nice.. though none of the items are yours and it drops your karma if you steal.. so it’s not really possible to decorate. it didn’t really feel like my room, yano? it’s got a great mystery to solve, and the other families distrust of them is silly, since they’re all technically partners together. running the place.

the Tops is Benny’s casino. the man in the checkered coat. for a good portion of the game this is where you’re intended to head, eventually. his family is known as the Chairmen. they’re classy, but tastefully so. they’re meant to be cool and ‘lax’.. reminiscent of a classic Vegas. and kinda like the Kings in a detached way. they’re suave and got a way of sweet talking you. their casino feels a bit dingy. it’s not as spectacular as they’d make it appear. the lights are dim in some sections.. there’s clear debris wreckage visible on the casino’s exterior. they’re making due with what they’ve got i suppose. even their ultra impressive suite feels effected by the ruins.

it’s most defining features are it’s theater, and once again Yes Man, as he’s found above in the hotel sector. the theater is fun enough. the fact you get to hire the talent from around the Mojave is pretty awesome. i found 2/4 before i made it to the casino, and i knew instantly what it was setting up for. i like how the performances will change on one of the displays in the Strip, telling you what act will be playing. it’s sectioned off so unless you’re looking for it, you’ll probably avoid it. i sorta wish there was a detached part exclusive to the theater, so it could have more presence. or simply just a theater itself on the strip. it’s cozy inside, and you get to see them perform too.. o hell yaehh.. i already elaborated on Yes Man at length in the factions segment, and intermittently throughout. so i’ll probably save the rest of the info for the end game explanation.

the last casino is imperative to the story as well.. and especially for the games ending. so i’ll just quickly touch on the end of the Strip where the rest of the miscellaneous locations are found. one of the Strip’s coolest features is the monorail, which connects to Camp McCarran. you can ride it to and from both directions, providing a speedy arrival to each.. and without the usage of fast travel. the monorail has the added benefit taking you into Camp McCarran, instead of out front it. useful if i need to get there but i can’t be asked to walk. i didn’t find myself taking full control of the monorail for most of the game since it’s specific to these locations. i used it mostly for it’s novelty, or to get to whichever location. but if you recall my mention of the NCR spy quest from a few segments before, the way that mission plays out dictates the future of the monorail. as if you figure out his identity and to tell Col. Hsu, he’ll mention that he had that soldier working on the monorail. praying for the worst of his sabotage to be simple intelligence leaks, you rush to the monorail.. to find that there’s no time, and it activates the monorail, setting off bombs in the process. this was a punch in the gut.. i feel like i let the NCR down. i’m not sure if it played out differently or it was always scripted to explode. all i know is that that thing is now inoperable for the remainder of the game. it’s a great QTE, and worldbuilding. but it was sad that they chose to murk one of the neatest new mechanics.. and only form of transportation (outside of fast travel). it’s a heavy wake up call for the NCR who’ve been struggling to maintain power along the Hoover Dam. their lack of resources and communication, coupled with the countless attempts at sabotage have worn them down extensively. talking to the NCR NPC’s now initiates reference to their weariness.. and wavering devotion.

but that isn’t the only NCR structure, as their Embassy can also be found in the Strip. it’s pretty lowkey, but it explains the heavy NCR presence in the Strip. you can find them cheering on the Strippers or getting drunk and stuff. like i said, the Embassy isn’t all the notable. it works as an official post in the Strip, housing NCR ambassador Dennis Crocker, and doubling as a mini prison. you really won’t be coming here often. i will say though; i very much like it’s design, and placement in the Strip. the contrast of the Ultra-Luxe’s dark regality towering over the small, ground level Embassy makes it feel so tight and compact. it really pops at night with all the lights. it feels like a proper Strip. and it makes me all fizzy inside.. meheeh.. the latter half of the Strip is probably my favorite part.. highkey.. what elsee.. there’s a couple people you can play caravan with here, Dennis Crocker being one of them.. and this guy named Jake.. who everyone refers to as a “prankster”. major respect..

the aforementioned Vault 21 Hotel sits to your right across from the Embassy. i discussed it earlier in the vault section if either you remember or skipped.. i already discussed every notable attribute for it there, so.. but one feature i held off on was it’s sign. it’s got a good sign. as do the other casinos. it’s a perfect chance to add another bright, and flicker-y light to the Strip. making it feel more alive. it’s prominent in New Vegas photos and artwork, since it’s a really impressive sign.. i wonder who made itt..

also across from the Embassy is Michael Angelo’s Sign Shop. this place is amazing and it houses one of the best missions the entire game. it’s the very last building featured on the Strip, and it’s hard to acknowledge at first. the entrance isn’t welcoming and it’s the most industrial looking thing there. but it’s enterable. once inside it’s your standard factory affair.. assembly lines and so on. by the name of the place you can figure out this is where all the signs for the Strip are designed. tucked away in an office is the Michael Angelo.. (apparently just an alias this isn’t his real name). he’s meek seemingly, and his dialogue and mannerisms were the perfect kind of quirky.. but he’s the mastermind behind the Strip’s amazing signs. and i say this for real, these signs are awesome and are fitting for each casino they inhabit. almost instantly he became one of my favorite characters. there’s something so charming about those who have no ill intent. probably harbored by their good karma (i’d assume). their refreshingly casual conversation and easy going ways. him.. Ignacio.. Marcus the Super Mutant. gang..

unfortunately Michael Angelo (now revealing his real name to be Sheldon) is sorta tied down to his shop. i suppose his contract with Mr. House after the repo-ing of the vault, and his tiresome work hours make it difficult him to leave for extended amounts of time. he also seems a bit awkward and afraid of the outside world.. and he’s also suffering from artist block.. poor fella.. ;_; but he’s got an idea. looking for inspiration and with having the Courier’s outstretched hand, he’s tasks us with collecting photos of notable signs from around the Wasteland. pleasantly rejoiced with this mission, i accepted. Michael provides us with a Codac R9000, an actual working camera. the mission’s perfect and it gives me more motivation to backtrack and conclude old unfinished business from all over. plus, i already know where to find the signs. i bid farewell to Michael and make my back to the Strip. over the course of the upcoming chunk of the game i made sure to cap the photos for him.

1. my first stop was the Sunset Sarsaparilla HQ. i’d become closely familiar with it around this time, so it was fresh in my mind. it’s got that pre-war charm. pretty clever making the entrance a Sunset Sarsaparilla bottle.. though i know his talents far surpass the design of this.. with it capped and out of the way, the next most convenient location would be Camp McCarran.

2. Camp McCarran’s sign is a bit dingy. i was surprised to find that it’s existence even circled the mind of anyone since i barely noted it. but this makes sense as he’s obviously got an eye for things.

3. it would be awhile before i made it to the site of another landmark i needed to cap. eventually my travels brought me back around to Novac, giving me a chance to get a photo of “Dinky” Novac’s dinosaur mascot. probably New Vegas’ second most notable landmark after the Lucky 38 and other casinos, i’ve seen pictures of the dinosaur before i even began playing. it’s hella awesome, and i can see why he wanted a picture.. more specifically of the thermostat motel sign that he holds..

4. next was the HELIOS One sign, conveniently located near Novac.. another very good design.. the HELIOS sign stands out even if it’s attached to a less unusual location, like an industrial solar power plant.

5. okay i will admit i may have blanked on the location of the last one.. the bison sign at the Bison Steve Hotel alll the way back in Primm. the sign stands out especially in early game, being your first glimpse at something of this scale. it’s not out of the way, i just had trouble pinning it at first. this one is reminiscent of sign you could find in the Strip. it spins too.. doope.

and with that, i returned to Michael Angelo’s sign shop and turned in all the photos i’d accumulated. i was happy to have restored his inspiration and dually allow him to see things he’s been unable to.. easily the best mission in the game ! these missions that add variety to the Mojave, and are different than just killing people, n are novel for their sheer audacity to do something weird, are the best kind. it picks up the bleakness and injects it with levity and quirkiness. enhancing the entire experience, character, dialogue, and so on. this will for sure stick in my mind going on, and was such a great way to re-visit the Mojave. so yeah. that’s the last of the Strips non-casinos that i wanted to discuss.. meaning now it’s time to explore the Lucky 38..

⭓ END GAME ALERT ⭓ — we’ve finally made it.. after all that.. pheww… obviously warnings for spoilers go here too, make sure ya acknowledge that and don’t read further. we catch glimpses of the Lucky 38 as far back as the games intro. our very first sight into the game is of this casino. it’s presence cannot be understated. it’s clear they want it to linger inside your head the entire game. alllll throughout it’s visible. the tower reaches heights no other building does. acting as the landmark location of the whole Mojave, similar to how the Washington Monument acted in Fallout 3. an obelisk almost always visible in the distant vista.. for me, it acted as a reward. i managed my excitement and made sure to wait before i explored the Strip, as i knew it’s mysteries were preeminent. i just couldn’t fathom what they could possibly be. all throughout the Mojave i’d heard utterings of it’s mysterious ways. acting as an urban legend. owned by Mr. House, stories of his reclusiveness spread throughout. apparently, nobody ever goes in. or comes out. guarded by his militia of Securitrons, nobody dared to find out for themselves.

entering the Strip for the first time, i’m greeted by a familiar Securitron. if you recall, interspersed throughout key moments a Securitron named Victor would appear. each time being more suspicious than the last. even though he’s the same Securitron that rescued me after my near fatal encounter with Benny, and has been a friendly face all throughout.. i didn’t trust him. how convenient that he appeared as i slowly closed in on the Strip.. i think it’s meant to be clear that he was observing me. and even with all that i made sure to keep things cordial between us, never dropping the mask just he did. so back to the Strip – upon entering Victor greets us telling us that the Mr. House would like to see us.. but why me (the Courier)? i felt weary about this. i (the Courier) would be the first person to enter the Lucky 38 in a long long time.. just what were they planning..

i made sure to experience the offerings of the other casinos before i stepped foot into the Lucky 38. fearing unexpected story progression.. recalling my first steps into it.. there was an odd sense of permanent stillness. intrinsically because of it being closed so long. but it’s still intact. not the stillness that hinders the rest of the Wastes be it because of it’s state of decrepit-ness.. it’s well maintained. the lights are dimmed low.. Victor guards the elevator in the center of the casino. there’s not much in the way of loot. so i make my way up. before going Victor reminds me i can’t take any companions. i’ll have to go alone.. it’s a daunting task.. it made me wonder if i’d ever get to see them again. while defiant, i still agree to the rules of the arrangement.

after reaching and stepping off the elevator i’m faced with another Securitron. this one doesn’t have the typical Securitron face tho.. it’s a girl Securitron. talking to her i find out her name’s Jane and she’s one of Mr. Houses.. ladies.. seems he’s one of those robot fetishists mentioned back at the Atomic Wrangler. glad to see someone else gets it.. ahem; anyway she gushes about Mr. House, and tells me that he’s waiting for me in his office. i take a peek around and accidentally catch a glimpse of Mr. House himself..

it’s hard to remain “surprised” or unspoiled when it comes to a game like this. it’s already been out a decade and a half, i’m bound to be exposed to it at some point. unknowingly or not. it’s the most frustrating thing getting bits exposed before i reach that point, be it games.. or shows. so on. i have a bad habit of googling while in the midst of something. even when searching for something innocuous like an understanding of a skill, or an important tip, i somehow always spoil myself. i don’t know how i haven’t realized this habit and stopped it, but it’s inevitable. and i’m not even one of those people who cry spoiler, cos it comes with the territory. like how can anything be shared without the risk of spoiler. there isn’t really a way around it. plus i consider there to be a threshold of when something can or can’t be spoiled. like a maturity status.. at a certain point you have to understand that it’ll happen to you. i’ve agreed to these terms.. so. and 16 years? that’s more than plenty of enough time. you can either look at spoilers as a glass half full or glass half empty type thing. i like to think of it as something to look forward to. something i can keep in the back of my mind that keeps me engaged.. and curious for how something can possibly go from here. since, you know.. i already know. Mr. House’s appearance was one of these things for me. it’s a little deeper than that but i won’t be the one to spoil it (i mean if you chose to keep reading then you’ve agreed to these terms.. anyways). especially with the Fallout show being so popular, i was bound to see some things against my own will.. i say all this just to say that; it’s still a compelling thing to be face to face with.

Mr. House appears to be a computer screen. a static image of a man (presumably Mr. House) appears as he speaks, broadcasting through a permanent green tint. many smaller terminal screens surround him, including still feeds from the Strips security cameras. next to him to Securitrons stand idly by.. the display the same police screen showing they have the capacity to take out any threats if need be.. Mr. House screen encompasses most of your view, appearing as an intimidating force. not helped by the fact you’re in his domain. you’re at the behest of him and whatever he’s going to ask of you.. honestly, his whole gimmick feels like a clever evolution of Fallout 3’s President Eden. i liked President Eden’s role a lot. and the progression of the latter of half of the game, and the Enclave’s growing opposition. though i just felt like the entire Enclave HQ section was stilted and weirdly contrived. meeting (and beating) President Eden was extremely brief.. and it’s possible by the time you come face to face with him you’re skills are strong enough to pass many different checks. so you’re given many different ways to deal with him with many ending the confrontation early. especially in the case of a good karma run.. orghh WRONG GAME, sorry. back to Mr. House.

he’s waiting for me intently. initiating conversation at first appears cordial. he’s only a tad bit condescending.. he proposes some interesting dialogue.. like my journey here, and that of my original goal – the platinum chip. he makes it clear this is his main priority. he seems to already have an idea about Benny’s antics, dismayed at his betrayal. talking with Mr. House is mostly an exposition dump. we’ve come all this way, it’s only fair we’re compensated with some answers. the more you explore the dialogue options, the more harsh he becomes. that’s fine since we’re overly curious, and maybe i pressed too hard.. looking back, i realize i was blinded by my distrust for any and all factions that had been shaped by my earlier integration into the Mojave. what i’m trying to say is, the constant tales about Mr. House and his lack of empathy and firm grasp of the Strip had put a sour taste in my mouth. i went in with a disdain for him, which may have been a little off target. this was best exemplified thru how i handled the missions he tasked me with.

friendly reminder that this is all tied to the ending i got.. order of events do vary depending on player actions.. of course there are spoilers, but not one-to-one to every experience.. i mean this whole write up has been that. but i deemed it fair to mention here since the endings are all soo different. so.. yeah. before i leave Mr. House, i’m given permanent residency to the Lucky 38. that’s pretty awesome. before i played the game i just knew you’d get the option to reside in the Lucky 38, based on its stature and prominence. i’m sure everyone fantasized about living here. it’s close proximity within the Strip, busy atmosphere.. and safeness compared to the rest of Mojave. the Lucky 38’s presidential suite also comes with another added benefit; a place to store all of your companions. at this point in the game you’ve for sure curated a n entourage. though of course you can only bring two with you.. a humanoid anthro-like character, and one.. not. e.g. ED-E (Eyebot) & Rex (Cyberdog). of course i had ED-E with me most of the game. i discovered Rex too little too late, so i had no emotional tie to him and just kept ED-E.. plus ED-E’s strong as hell. i had Boone by my side for a majority of the early game.. until i met Veronica. both her and Boone were charming partners.. unfortunately Veronica is bae and her motivations were just a little more pressing to me. plus the Boone & ED-E combo was far too busted and made the game a snooze at times. so i had to sacrifice him for her. with the presidential suite’s new mechanic, this feeling of guilt is alleviated. unfortunately i didn’t utilize it for the longest time as i couldn’t be asked to go around re-recruiting them to send them back to the suite, but also cos it became a hostile zone (more on that soon..) it’s spacious.. all your friends can hang out here. there’s really no downside to prioritizing this safehouse over any others, outside of Novac. though i will say.. this is the one time no windows really bugged me. it’s really cozy, especially with all your friends there. but this is a suite within the tallest building of the whole Mojave T_T it’d be so cool to see the other casinos, and the distant horizon.. there should be working windoowsss.. is that too much to askk.. so i dl a window mod.. it broke my pure vanilla playthrough.. but i’d already installed multiple QoL and framerate fixes.. so.. though by the end of the game i found myself chillaxing here very often (Lucky 38 Presidential Suite Strip View Windows mod is installed in the screenshots..)

and completed snow globe collection.

back to the platinum chip – erh, i mean Mr. House – well, actually.. i mean; Mr. House wants the platinum chip. buuut like i’ve said.. i’m acting mostly alone. i primarily sided with the NCR. i understand the inspirations that are drawn, truly i do.. but something felt more fitting about them. still they’re on thin ice whenever they go on a tirade about taxes.. or for their drunken behavior on the Strip. well.. that’s not really such a crime. just not a good look. anyways. neither Mr. House, the Legion, nor the NCR can sway me much. i’m aiming for Benny who just so happens to be carrying the chip. so by happenchance i may just obtain that chip for him. but it’s not so clear-cut. Mr. House makes mention that he’d been grooming Benny into being a stand-in for the Strip. a second hand man of sorts.. in a physical form, since he does not appear as one. but Benny’s own motivations of the chip and (unbeknownst to him) his ploys with Yes Man became a greater urge to him than whatever Mr. House was planning. this doubled my weariness of him. why would someone as skeevy and criminal as Benny be disillusioned of him.. i was being pulled in so many different directions. never ever have i felt this pressured this early into a game. those ‘your choices matter’ games usually play out the same.. sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t; but when the penultimate moment nears is when you’ll finally get your impacting choices. i’m far from the end but my choices are already starting to show. though my conversation with Mr. House cements my contempt for Benny. the fact that bastard thinks he can get away after attempting to kill me is nuts.. it’s time to enact revenge.

entering the Tops casino i’m faced with a problem i didn’t consider. when going into the casinos you’re asked to give up your weapons. as a safety precaution, of course. initially i was led to frustration, because my mind led me to the option where Benny could not be killed, since i’ve got no weapons. fortunately, my sneak skill was upgraded just barely enough to where i could utilize “holdout weapons”. smaller weapons hidden somewhere on my persons. i’m not quite sure where.. >_>” something like a pistol, be it silenced or not. luckily i’ve carried a suppressed pistol with me as early as i can remember. and the guards to the casino are none-the-wiser. Benny should bide his time.. i don’t have much time to explore before i bump into the man himself. he’s idly hanging about the casino, surrounded by all his goons. also facing away from me at the wall, for some reason. appearing before him, he’s stunned to see that i’m still walking. after all, he believed me to be in a some ditch outside Goodsprings, with a bullet in my head. the fact i’m still walking is a miracle, even to me. Doc Mitchell sure knows his craft.. Benny’s dialogue is very misleading to me. and in hindsight, well.. i don’t really know how to feel. his dialogue felt like a last ditch effort of pleading with me. to convince me that he didn’t really want to kill me.. and that he’s grateful i’m still alive. he’s still flustered even around his body guards who could just as easily take me out. the Wasteland isn’t known for it’s orderly peace.. so maybe he’s being honest. but at the same time, that grudge i’ve held.. this man shot and killed me. even stating a quirky one-liner; “truth is… the game was rigged from the start”, before shooting me. he’s such a bastard. his words come off as strategic rather than true contrition. i’m frustrated. i don’t know how to gauge the interaction. what i didn’t anticipate though, was his refusal to talk out in the open. Benny incessantly mentions that he’d like to keep the peace, and go somewhere private in order to talk. the dialogue ends here. and nothing happens unless you agree to talk in his suite. a surprising factor is that with a high of skill, you can pass a speech check agreeing to talk on the condition it’s just us, no bodyguards. he accepts this order, and i’m left in a befuddled manor.. he does know what i’m planning to do, right..? maybe he does know. maybe he wants his dignity to remain intact.. showing he’s not afraid. ionkno.. but i can see it in his eyes.. meeting him in his suite he sits facing away from me. that is an insane power move. his rouse isn’t going to fool me though. talking to him he reveals some vague infos about the chip. it works as a storage device, instead of a literally poker chip. maybe it works as both. the chip controls the Securitrons.. making them stronger.. seems that this is a pretty strong tool in the hands of whoever. before hearing out his final speech, i put a bullet in the back of his head. marking the beginning of the end of one of my earliest missions, as well as the man who shot me.

on his corpse was the platinum chip. you know for some one enacting a plan of usurping control of the Strip you’d think he would keep it safely hidden. another fleeting thought i’d had was why didn’t he go through with finding the proper computer to is it in? my in-world hours accumulated into a couple months.. by now he could’ve accomplished his goal.. but i’ll come to realize soon why he couldn’t. anyways. since this was my first time in the Tops, i made sure to explore everything i could as i always do. and this is how i stumbled upon Yes Man. someone i’d been eagerly waiting for after i’d seen him in clips and screencaps.. i mistakenly assumed all Securitrons would be an entangled incarnation, but it was actually the reverse. Yes Man is a rogue Securitron of Mr. House’s infantry. after an EMP of sorts rendered him inoperable. this was actually a blessing as Benny was able to scoop him up, and with the help of the Followers of the Apocalypse, had him repaired to a state of use. outside of Mr. House’s control. this would make him unaccounted for. he’s also coded to be utterly compliant (i.e. Yes Man). i like him.. his intonation conflicts with his uncanny appearance, and possibly malicious motives which are ultimately dictated by those with the chip. his smile’s distant and vacant while he’s posed in a ruined crevice of Benny’s personal suite. talking to him, he pledges allegiance to you after you’ve taken out Benny. since he’s only capable of speaking with sincerity he spills a lot.. even about the ploy to have you killed. whoops..

finishing with him he makes a point that in order to go forward, we need to settle scores in and around the Strip. in theory.. what we basically do is the usual micromanaging and solving problems that make you think; “why couldn’t they just do that?” boosting your rep and ultimately becoming idolized (or vilified, depending on how you feel). mainly within the Strip, and the three families. these reputations factor in when returning to Yes Man to tell him either this faction is no longer a problem, or that they’re going to help in the upcoming war.. by working with Yes Man you are also betraying Mr. House. Yes Man’s motives are completely opposed to his, and you’ll have to take him out in order for these plans to go through.. now initially i was could also see through Yes Man. he’s curious because he has dual inclinations.. naturally he’s good by fact of being impartial. cos he’s gotta be honest n all that.. but also theoretically.. like.. ambiguous because of this. he’s a double-edged sword. i’m not sure if his plans are the best fit for the Mojave either. at this point my emotions were strung everywhere and i wasn’t sure of the best way to navigate it. fitting back into that theme of “one to rule them all”.. should anyone even have the ability to make that choice? returning to the Tops, i finalize my choices with Yes Man. telling him that the Omertas aren’t an issue.. that i took care of the White Glove Society’s cannibalism problem, and that the Boomers will aid in our cause. with them all cleared out of the way the next step is to finalize. with platinum chip finally in hand, i exit the casino. only to be confronted by a “Vulpes Inculta”, the very same man that’d done a full scourge on Nipton.. way early on in my ventures.

since that very encounter i was determined to seek vengeance on his Legion ass. but i’m not stupid enough to percept what may happen if i do. he’s in disguise appearing as just another Strip-goer. killing this man, right on the Strip i’d be shunned.. they’d be none-the-wiser. and i’d be either; murked by the Securitrons (so i thought..) or have to kill all them all, souring my reputation and ruining all possible outcomes. no.. i was forced to engage with him surprisingly though.. he was here on behalf of Caesar. he tells me that he’d like to speak to me. and all my transgressions against the Legion would be forgiven for this instance. this is extreeeemely surprising to me as i’d gone out of my way to be vilified by the Legion. i’d killed dozens of their hit squads over the course of the game. that’s a lot of lives to absolve.. i’m more hesitant to this than anything i’d heard yet. under the guise that they come in peace. what’s to say that Caesar won’t just shoot me up once i arrive? i’d be totally out numbered. i mean, the Legion isn’t the weakest faction.. that’s for sure. it’d be just as easy to lure me in, take me out. and without me fiddling in the Mojave they would be sure to win the Second Battle for Hoover Dam.. no i knew this was a trap. Vulpes Inculta tells me to consider the offer and that there’d be a raft waiting for me in Cottonwood Cove. that was the same spot where i’d infiltrated the Legion.. and eventually eradicated. they’re still utilizing a fallen Legion camp for docking. i hope that sends a message. anyway, in my head i’m saying hell no. that this is one of those choices you’re able to make. Vulpes Inculta walks away, blending into the crowd of other Strip-goers. i had to bite my tongue so hard it hurt. i wanted to send another message to Caesar that i could not be reasoned with. and what better way to relay this than by killing a trusted ranking member of his Legion. but no.. for no i’ve got to proceed. with the chip i cross to the other side of the Strip talk to Yes Man one final time. the reason they’re all so receptive to me becomes clear. the computer that the chip works on is located in a pre-war bunker built by Mr. House. the location of the bunker? beneath Fortification Hill. Caesar’s camp. seems like either way i’ve got to go.

Fortification Hill is always visible in the distant horizon in the northeastern part of the map. places like Hoover Dam, Lake Mead, so on. it’s proximity to the Dam seems to be an opposing threat towards the NCR. while i used to think having a camp vs. an entire operation backed by the the Mojave was silly, i came to realize the Legion has a large operation themselves.. and with the NCRs mismanaged and sorry state, they may even have the upper hand. the ferryman that brings you to the fort, Cursor Lucullus, has a more timid personality than other any other Legionnaires i’ve come across. the skybox and gold-pinkish hue that covers the screen at this moment gives it a melancholic feeling. i’m both on edge by fact of where i’m going, but i’m also at ease. fortunately i’m accompanied by ED-E and Veronica. my squad. paired with the other factors.. i had a better feeling about where i was going. i made sure to create a permanent save in case this really was all just a rouse, and we set sail to the fort..

arriving, it turns into a much bleaker affair. all the colors bleed out and you’re left in a dull brown. there are skeletons pegged to crosses, and frail slaves lug around heavy bundles and crates on their back. immediately i’m remember where i am. and the disdain that i hold for them. they confiscate my weapons (i’ve got my secret ones secured) and the chip. i’m then left to find Caesar on my own. there’s another peculiar man at the entrance of the fort though, a merchant by the name of Dale Barton. he seems to do trade with the Legion on a friendly basis, which is weird. it’s another instance of a rare foreigner gaining access to an area restricted for most others. he’s not the most pleasant, nor does he really have to be. you can talk with him and play a hand of caravan.. a good stress reliver before continuing on. the fort has a lot of dead-end trenches.. long stretches of unused station. climbing up the hill you can encounter young Legionary soldiers frolicking and laughing. who of course you can’t kill T_T it rubbed me a weird way knowing they’re grooming soldiers to be a part of their force.. as well as conquering defenseless tribes. hm.. before entering the main guild of the camp, you can turn around and see a vast expanse of tents. it really shows to the scale of their force. the Legion’s rigid and precise.. focused, training shows itself to be an intimidating sight when i’m at their mercy. still i think they’re stupid and i want them to lose.. but for now i keep to the same page as them. a drawbridge acts as the entrance to the rest of the camp. and mainly where Caesar resides. you can tell that you’re on all the Legionary’s radars. i’m crossing through here on borrowed time. my visit coalesced into a dark, almost stormy looking atmosphere (duno if scripted or not). things just felt soo.. heavy. they all make annoying quips and say things about how i should be dead n whatever else.. but i’m not worried. with my entourage and my importance to the Mojave as a whole, i soon came to realize this wouldn’t be where my story stops.

i’m filled with a weird sense at kinda hits me; i’m going to be face to face with the Caesar.. yano of Caesar.. Legion.. fame.. ooh.. up until now i’ve been able to avoid spoilers so i was genuinely curious.. i even cut my obligatory exploring short cos the anticipation began to kill me. plus there wasn’t much else to explore.. just more tents.. a 1v1 pit, though you could only fight slaves and not Legionary soldiers. maybe you’d face them after taking out the slaves but i didn’t want to wait to see.. i felt wrong for this.. so i didn’t bother to entertain it. there’s also this pre-war building.. can’t enter it, so.. i don’t know what purpose it serves. all this out of the way, i finally enter the tent, looking for Caesar.. and answers to my summons.

of course sitting on a throne at the center of the tent is Caesar.. he’s pretty old.. i mean he has grey hair. clearly a man of much wisdom. not all that daunting to be honest. of course his measly appearance is accompanied by an entourage of his own. Frumentarii or whatever they’re called.. high ranking Legionaries.. Vulpes Inculta, and this guy Lucius. i don’t know. i made sure to attempt to kill them all by reverse-pickpocketing them with live C-4 n seeing what happened.. they’re pretty strong.. as some of them survived the blast. Caesar kept detecting me so i chose to give him the satisfaction of a fair duel.. remember all i have are my holdout weapons.. so.. he was tough. unfortunately this route was less satisfying as all other Legion soldiers became aggro.. and i was worried this choice would render the rest of the game devoid of fun. cos the Legion’s dead. what now? so i reloaded the save, and heard him out. i wasn’t allowed to bring anyone with me. Veronica and ED-E had to sit outside. i’m on my own. returning to his spot on the throne.. our dialogue goes something like this;

at first it doesn’t seem to go well, with him basically denoting the gall that would have to appear before him.. i’m thinking teh worst; it was a trap. i should have known.. (҂⌣̀⌣́).. what fool i am.. but i’m honest with him. just the sheer fact i bore witness to this “Caesar” i’ve heard so much about was enough to convince me. as well as story progression.. bzz.. but luckily for me, he seems to reciprocate. he says that my motivations.. my transgressions.. impressed him. explicitly making mention of tracking down and killing the man who attempted to kill me. i basically rose from the dead to find answers.. and more importantly, put a means to an end. he applauds that.. i guess effort like that would suit the Legion very well. they at least aren’t blind to a man’s passion. i’m still on thin ice though. i make sure to keep it blunt; i want the chip back. as it’s still in their possession from when i arrived. so i can just mess around here. i’ve got to keep Caesar docile. with that chip i’m basically a hostage. unless i’d like to take the tough way out.. which i have little interest in. i ask him what he wants me to do. if you recall a little before.. there’s this pre-war building that i’d thought wasn’t of much importance. turns out, it’s one of the most imperative buildings of the entire game. second to the Lucky 38.. Caesar shares that a level below there is a door. the door is imprinted with the “sigil” of the Lucky 38. and there’s a coin shaped slot beside the door.. putting it all together; this is what the chip’s been meant for all this time. throughout it’s 200 year existence. gaining access to this.. bunker, is what it’s all been for. Caesar makes a proposition though; (not a proposition.. it’s an order at the threat of death.) ahem – Caesar makes a demand though; he wants me to destroy whatever’s down there. as he correctly assumes it’s something Mr. House can wield. from a distance or not. nobody knows what is down there. i’m unable to challenge this as he gives me back the chip and i can’t talk with him further. seems i got no other option. with chip in hand i return to the bunker i previously gave no forethought to.

hey.. i can see the Lucky 38 from here. neat.. and Camp Golf. in all it’s low-res glory.. this gave me a second to recollect my thoughts. i am going down to the depths of a pre-war bunker.. to destroy whatever’s there? i’m at Caesar’s mercy basically. going thru with this i am disobeying Mr. House. i don’t think there’s any ending to this where he understands where i’m coming from. clearly this is also what he wanted the chip for, i know that. but i don’t know what i’m going to find.. is this choice also going to impact my relation to Yes Man? no no.. iirc he also made mention of finding and securing whatever’s here. not exactly the same as destroying.. but i’ll gauge that once i see what’s down there. i’m pretty sure this was also a part of Benny’s plans. i don’t know. my head is spinning.. so many.. factions.. so much power.. to wield.. ergh.. guh–..

..after i recovered my recollections and woke up i continued to play. the bunker, which is code-named, the “Weather Monitoring Station”, is free to access. strange name.. guess that was it’s guise back in pre-war times. upon entering i’m permitted to my weapons. double strange.. that’s something i wouldn’t have expected Caesar to do. probably assuming i’d see to it to further his goals with the added trust and security that giving these weapon back grants me. i mean, what’s stopping me from offing these guards and going on a killing spree? nothing.. it seems that the game got it a little backwards, though. to reach the doors with the Lucky 38 insignia, i have to put the chip into a device without any Lucky 38 branding. maybe it’s implied but not shown on the texture, as it’s just your standard machinery. i duno. just something i noticed.. with the gate to the staircase opened i’m free to venture down, unsure of what truly awaits me..

andd to my surprise.. i’m face to face with Mr. House. well, not “Mr. House”. it’s him through a computer screen again. right below the Legions base. that’s an interesting dilemma.. they’ve planted their forces atop a bunker that Mr. House still has access to. by this point i don’t think i’d ever returned to Mr. House. he’s intimidating. and having to go from Freeside to the Strip, to the Lucky 38, to his penthouse was an undertaking. he himself was like “rara avis” to me. i hope i’m using this right.. ^^; it was just more surreal. the entire time i’d spent here was leading up to my encounter with him. nobody else has had the right to enter the Lucky 38.. or even reside here. so it only felt right to not linger. it’s hard to explain.. i just felt my presence was contradictory – like it wouldn’t feel right canonically. i know the game is yours to mold and navigate freely, but this felt right for my timeline. that’s really all.. uh anyway; he tells me i’m here ahead of schedule (since i never bothered to continue aiding him.) this is alright though, as this is where he intended on sending me. i’m taken aback at first. this was all right below their noses? i feel like i’m digging myself into something deep. something that i may not be able to climb back out of alive. Mr. House knows Caesar wants to destroy this. so he hopes i’d assist him. i don’t give the game away.. but i’m not so keen on doing as he says. like i’ve said a million times by now.. i work on my own volition (and slightly of the NCRs). maybe not the best choice, but i was in too far to favor someone else. i am thinking of the NCRs interests, or of interests as neutral as possible. i had thought the NCR was – that my route was. so, i was gonna sabotage whatever was down here. Mr. House can’t have the upper hand, nor could the Legion. even if i was following Caesar’s orders, this was still a choice i made myself. the dialogue’s just as brief as Caesars. certain paths end the conversation early. by the end i’m still not convinced to help him. though he does warn me of the foes i’ll face ahead. i guess “conveniently” he has no control over the Securitrons and other bots that guard the bunker.. so i’ll have to fight my way through. or hack. at least he warned me..

a weapon that i’d found back in Vault 34 (the Pulse Gun), made quick work of these robots. i really mean it. for the rest of the game this became my go to weapon for any robot encounters. i’d seems to fry their circuitry in just one shot.. it’s also the base variant of the Sonic Emitter from Big MT (throwback). which surprised me cos the Sonic Emitter had a huge drop-off in utility after coming back to the Mojave. the thing was useless.. there were also security terminals that i could hack, making it so the robots no longer targeted me. convenient also.. hacking’s not as busted as it was in Fallout 3, since a new QoL change made it so it wasn’t as easily abusable. plus the point from where they become easier to hack feels far later into the game than it’s predecessor. with the turrets and Protectrons deactivated i carry on. business as usual.. until it’s not. entering i’m presented with easily the most daunting corridor of the game, and i’m given the prompt to either A; install the chip and upgrade the Securitron army – or B – destroy the bunker, and the Securitrons with it. the end of the hall is obscured. behind the windows on each side is an array of blank, vacant Securitrons. peering behind the window there are loads more. all at the ready.. to be activated. i get shivers. even though they aren’t alert, their imposing stature still induces nerves within me. i felt like i was being watched.. not made easier by the still roaming Protectrons and turrets. all just.. faceless automatons. it makes me realize that no matter the cost, i cannot render this Securitrons operable. this is not the right future for the Mojave. yeah, maybe i appointed Primm Slim as mayor of Primm.. but he was just a one time case. i know he sees the world in black and white without any nuance.. but i was charmed by him. here, i am not charmed. i am revolted. i cannot; will not facilitate their rise. so, i chose to destroy the bunker.

it was easier than i thought. with C-4 in hand, all i had to do was destroy the generators prompting the entire place to blow up. Veronica made an acute observation, stating; “[be] careful, someone could trip on that” when planting my C-4.. so i make sure to plant it above the generators, to ensure the safety of anyone else down here. the Protectrons are still alive, trying to escort me out. with the last one planted, i still go on to the system room.. just to entertain the idea of what would happen. more Securitrons stare expressionless. a machine with a bright red bulb appears to the right. this is where i need to place the chip. for awhile i pause. it’s not like i don’t know what to do.. i don’t have second thoughts of anything.. but i just wanted to think. this is for the best, right? i can’t possibly predict the outcome. but guaranteeing the destructions of these robots is a must. i don’t think any bad could come out of that. i take one final look. going back to my inventory. though, this time.. i pull out my detonator. ◺˰◿

alarms wail.. explosions going off.. Protectrons still standing idly.. the radiation shoots up to 5+, and i need to make a quick getaway lest i want to die here. going back through that daunting corridor, thankfully the Securitrons are still off. they crash through windows causing them to shatter.. their corpses lining the display. they’re even creepier this way. they aren’t living. yet it still feels wrong. but i have no time to waste as my radiation level spikes and more explosions can be heard. somehow Mr. House is still intact. though i can’t speak with him.. bummer. i exit through the Lucky 38 elevator just in time to hear one last eruption. you’re denied re-entry to the elevator, sealing off the bunker for good. i hope i left no loose ends in there. my heart is rushing. i just hope i made the right choice.. ultimately obeying Caesar. something i would never have expected.

Caesar’s happy to find that i carried out his plans. he doesn’t waste time before telling me my next task. kill Mr. House. by now all my quests have piled up, becoming a mess of this and that. kill/disable Mr. House.. assist Mr. House.. return to Yes Man.. kill/disable Yes Man.. and previously, explore the bunker. follow Caesar’s demands, destroy or upgrade the bunker.. so on. honestly, i think the first time i was compelled to disobey him. i told him no, even though i was unsure of how to handle Mr. House. this resulting in him yellin at me, n saying if i ever disobeyed him again it’d be on sight.. stuff like that. still though, i’m able to walk out alive. and my chat with Caesar is finished. this would be the last time i would have to listen to that sorry excuse of a man.. i may or may not kill Mr. House. but that choice will be mine to make. and it definitely will not coincide with the rise of the Legion. for now, it seems i’m going headfirst into Yes Man.. and hopefully the NCR (if you’ve read above then you know how this already plays out). exiting once again i’m reminded of the Legion’s large status. this won’t be for long though. i’ll be sure of it. with that i head out.. somehow back into the arms of safety. i made it out of Fortification Hill.

2/16 – 23:47: okay blegh so i was a bit early on one detail. it’s late and i don’t feel like rewriting.. now i went back to Yes Man to finalize my decisions on the factions (e.g. Omertas, White Glove Society). he didn’t give me any other tasks. but, when i finish up with him i’m given 2 new quests. “Beware the Wrath of Caesar” and “Don’t Tread on the Bear”. typically this wouldn’t be anything of note as you do hundreds of quests throughout the game, but by their titles i think you can tell they’re ultra important. the description of them read similar to each other. if you continue working with Yes Man, either faction (Legion or NCR) will take note, and will no longer work with you. now the Legion i couldn’t care less about. that quest is null to me. but the NCR.. this hit like a truck as the only way i thought to navigate the ending was through Yes Man. i don’t want to side with the Legion. and my last stunt just made an enemy of Mr. House. sadly i wasn’t privy to the NCRs route.. i that would’ve been through Yes Man. i duno. i need to make sure to stay on the NCRs good side. if that means seeing Yes Man less, so be it. i make sure to heed this warning for the time being. besides these new quests, the other ones all read the same; kill/disable Mr. House. if i must..

ugh but now the Lucky 38 is now hostile.. something i eluded to earlier. the Securitrons go aggro once you enter. even Victor. the seemingly “friendly” Securitron. unlike the other bots he’ll still chase you out forcing you to kill him. this doesn’t seem to bother the other Securitrons though.. maybe they didn’t spot me killing him. i don’t know. all i know is i can’t stay here. rendering the suite, it’s perks, and amenities useless. that’s alright. even though it feels cold and disquieting.. i can still make temporary housing about the Mojave. the Courier doesn’t need sleep. carrying onn.. equipping a stealth boy and stealthing my way in doesn’t seem to solve the problem either. for some reason the Strip Securitrons aren’t hostile, but the ones within the Lucky 38 all are. this includes Jane, and the ones who guard Mr. House’s monitor. taking out these robots stealthily (or not) changes nothing. either way he has no dialogue and his screen will change to show “connection lost”. i think im left with one option.. to be sure that i’d face no opposition, i took out all the Securitrons. on my first trip to the penthouse i found a terminal. this terminal was securely protected, and if used would detect an unknown user causing an alarm. alerting all the Securitrons. this time, i was back for the terminal. this most likely alerted Mr. House to my arrival. that didn’t matter though since he’s nearly omniscient. i’m sure he knew i was here. throwing all caution to the wind and opened the “antechamber”. i snuck past the last of the Securitrons to find two more terminals. one overrode all security. the other unlocked an elevator door. with the Securitrons all disabled and the elevator open, i made sure to see if i could speak with Mr. House one last time. he didn’t appear. i entered the elevator and began my descent to the control room.

the room i find myself in is straight out of Dead Space’s Ishimura.. a maze of pre-war pipping and constructs fill your peripheral view. all brown and dull. steam pouring.. a bare teal glow strikes across the containments. the geometry is pretty jank here. it’s pretty easy to break free and clip through.. the rooms floor doesn’t seem to have a kill box n soo i was able to reach the bottom of it, softlocking me.. i mean, sorta. i’ve got a quick save from 20 seconds before. so no worries.. it’s a really odd room. that grungy pre-war architecture is already so rarely found around the Mojave. and so it stands out for that fact. but also, for it’s contents. crossing the perforated metal bridge and straight in the center is a pod. surrounded by more pre-war apparatuses. and a terminal. inching closer to the pod, my suspicions become a reality. inside the pod is the shriveled corpse of Mr. House. actually, corpse isn’t the right word. he’s breathing, probably by help of the tubes found inserted into him. so more like, the mortal soul of Mr. House. oddly enough he’s quite detailed. his beard is long and scraggly.. and a helmet is connected to the top of his head by way of more wires n gadgets. he isn’t a ghoul, a misconception i first had. he’s just as decrepit, but in a different way. you’re given a prompt to talk to him, but nothing happens. this is clearly not the same man depicted in the monitors.. or that’s just an extremely old photo. i’ve been catfished even in the age of the post-apocalyptic Wasteland.. the only thing left to do is interact with the terminal. doing so you’re given a single prompt; “unseal the ls chamber”. probably the first to do in hundreds of years. before opening it gives a warning. “warning! microbial infection risk. proceed?”.. i clicks yes.

the chamber unseals itself. years of dust buildup and steam come pouring out. the (still somehow) living being of Mr. House is raised up and out towards the Courier. his limbs move in a really limited manor.. you’re able to get a better look at him. his eyes open revealing yellowed, unseeing pupils. his legs look completely and utterly useless. as does the rest of him. unable to support himself, he has to rely on multiple apparatuses connected to his groin, heart, stomach, and brain. these are most likely all that’s giving him life. he looks like one cough away from sudden death. which may be the case.. given the “microbe” warning i got before opening the pod. but, i’m able to talk to him. his voice is raspy.. he’s barely able to manage a few words before almost giving out. but he’s still just as patronizing. i will say though; some of his words may have rang true. he makes mention that years of work leading up to this moment have been ruined. i heard this a few times in my gameplay and post-game research. that he had been planning something.. important. i’d assumed this would be total control of the Strip.. and then the Mojave. using an army of Securitrons to fuel his demands. this is what i’d feared. i didn’t expect to have to kill him.. or render him inoperable to see this through. i thought there would be a way where he could sustain himself, while also teaming up with the NCR or something. guess not. i’m given a prompt to tell him why i chose to go through with this. either at behest of Yes Man, or the Legion. or the true answer; “i don’t like you”. this stung at first cos.. it’s true. i did all of this simply because i didn’t trust him. i didn’t like his demeanor. all of a sudden it feels really petty. his omnipotent ways may have just been a bluff. clearly, since he needed a corporal being like me.. or Benny.. to exist on behalf of him. the Securitrons, while imposing, are still just unintuitive automatons. they don’t have the correct grasp that he needed. could there have been a better ending to this? i didn’t have a chance to see as the conversation ends shortly after, and i’m left with two choices. either let Mr. House suffer without cerebral control.. – or – kill him. all ways seem to lead to death, as eventually he’ll succumb to the germs that his brief release had exposed him to. and disabling the cerebral control seems to power him down.. not kill him, but i doubt he can sustain life like this. these all coincide with the failure of many Mr. House based missions, and a loss of karma. this stumped me before.. i didn’t want to believe it, but maybe Mr. House wasn’t 1000% evil. and another case of misguided efforts. i expected him to be neutral at most.. but it seems he was.. good? to this day i’m still unsure. and i have to leave with this bitter taste in my mouth. that maybe somewhere along the way i lost sight of what was “good”.

this was cemented by a note that’s given to you upon his death. titled; “A Tragedy Has Befallen All Mankind”. geez. Mr. House – Robert House – was the CEO of RobCo. the very same that was prevalent in Fallout 3. there, we were only given a taste at it’s bizarre, dystopian existence. a lot of Fallout 3’s Capitol Wasteland was littered with references to RobCo, much without tangible progression from the lack of Mr. House. but it was always there in that oppressing theme of corporate mega-conglomerates. obviously in New Vegas the exploits of him and RobCo are of bigger importance. the note lists his accomplishments, like being the sole proprietor of RobCo. the second paragraph of the note reads as such; “Generally recognized by Mr. House to be mankind’s only hope of long-term survival, Mr. House’s passing may well sound a death knell for the entire human race”. naturally i was very weary about this. members of factions like the Followers of the Apocalypse also make mention of his technology. if they could get their hands on the tools it could benefit the entire human race. and it’s true. meeting face-to-face the technology to prolong human life does seem to exist. but i was hesitant on if he’d share or not. this is why i did what i did. yeah he may be.. disabled.. now. but can’t we still exhume the technology? the knowledge just dies with him? the note goes on to list his forces and most beneficial traits. in the second to last chapter though, it makes mention of his “master plan” to rekindle mankind’s evolution through technology. sorta like Brotherhood. but also similar to them is their standoffish ways. the note mentions how beneficial this could be. and how humanity is currently at a standstill. in the Fallout universe, we’re returned to a primitive (by in universe standards) forms of technology. terminals.. electricity.. robots. so on. if Mr. House would be to share his knowledge.. everything could change. i do understand that. but like i said, maybe he could’ve made this intention clearer!? it frustrates to know that this was his ultimate plan. he only ever eludes to “making the right choice”. i felt like i was doing his bidding. not working to restore the future of humanity. maybe this is all a bit ramble-y and disjointed. i just hope the main point is felt.. Mr. House was a misaligned character, not evil. i admit i was biased, but i keep an open mind. i think if i didn’t prioritize Yes Man’s route i would’ve had a better understanding of him. maybe i could have seen this possibility play out.. next play-through i suppose.

with my tail between my legs i return to Yes Man, who commends me on taking out Mr. House.. with him out of the picture, and platinum chip in hand, we are set. the Securitron army bunker’s destroyed, but Yes Man doesn’t see that as a setback. erh, what’s awkward tho is that i have i meet up with Yes Man at the Tops.. but then he says he’d like to meet me at the Lucky 38. so i left the Lucky 38 to go to the Tops, to go back to the Lucky 38. eh. i mean there is this hallway behind Yes Man’s room.. so i guess maybe he used a secret underground tunnel or ionkno.. on the subsequent trip to the Lucky 38 the camera fades to black. Yes Man now can be found in front of what was Mr. House’s monitor.. which is still displaying connection terminated.. with him now at the helm, he’s able to jack into his tech. after a few bleeps and bloops Yes Man’s Securitron helm falls to the floor.. and his face is transferred onto the monitor. it’s been explained before, but the Securitrons are just a catalyst for the computer programming inside of them. their body may take the brunt of the pain, but their mainframe is unharmed.. they can be transported to and from different housing. so it makes sense for Yes Man to be able to switch from one to another. that’s how his failsafe is explained anyway. i’m given a weird demonstration in the Lucky 38’s basement.. now that we’ve got the chip, the Securitrons can be upgraded to their “full potential” so to speak. with upgraded weaponry, like missiles n stuff. this.. this isn’t exactly what i signed up for when knocking Mr. House out of the race. tbf this is what i thought Mr. House would’ve done.. i’m irked. yeah, great. the Securitrons are now stronger and more combat efficient. how will this help? we don’t more oppression.. this feels so totalitarian.. or something.. not at all what i’d expected with Yes Man in control.

this is the point of no return. actually, the point of no return was really after destroying the bunker.. at this point i fail all quests tied to Caesar. this is further drilled into the ground after the events at the Divide (which i discussed earlier..) so it’s safe to say i’m utterly vilified by the Legion. but didn’t it also mention that working with Yes Man would also tarnish my reputation with the NCR..? yes.. it did. by now i’m all in on Yes Man. there’s no other way out. so wut now.. Mr. House is gone.. i’ve quelled issues between the families.. i’ve prevented total and utter chaos from befalling the Strip (for now). where does it go from here? well, this is where the end of the game comes in – and where i can finally discuss Hoover Dam.

i hope i don’t come off as too harsh.. n snarky.. n whatever. in seriousness, this was one of my favorite games ever. most of my complaints are minor. all except one small thing; the Mojave can feel bare at times. and i don’t mean with things to do. compared to Fallout 3, i had more active quests at one time than the entirety of that game (not really but it felt like it). this was a notable difference since things tended to become static at times. here, there’s a million billion things to do at any given moment. plus after doing research and some re-playing, i accumulated a whole 50 more hours than my Fallout 3 total. so like.. the replay value is high as hell. double plus – all of this was my first noob, neandering play-through. just one.. i’m sure it’d double on my second, or third. but the thing is.. there’s just so few pre-war interiors. like factories, or office spaces. by design this makes sense. Fallout 3 takes place in a dense, overly-populated metropolis. it makes sense that it’d feel endless, especially in the D.C. part. even though the rest is slightly more barren. i saw an interactable map of New Vegas showing locations, items, gear, NPCs, et cetera. one of the button toggled all pre-war factories/offices. there were so feww. obviously every building is a pre-war one. but i miss that feeling of navigating an almost endless office space.. or factory. it just feels lessened. this goes back to my cave complaint. they’re made less winding and complex. the reason i mention all of this; is because i think Hoover Dam let me down the most of all.

every single aspect of it feels haphazard. even it’s location. you have to travel some diverged path that i’d forget even existed, just past Boulder City. which is another place i often forgot existed. i didn’t reach it until around 60% of the way through, just before i reached the Vegas Strip. there’s glimpses of it in loading screens.. mentions of it around the Mojave.. and in the Steam community page. i even saw a couple clips of it. so be me when i unceremoniously show up.. n i’m bored out my mind. i spied it early on, while i exploring the eastern border along the river. it’s one of the more apparent examples of LOD & model struggles due to crappy generation hardware. it sits there.. with a low-poly glare. not like i care, it’s just really rough around the edges. literally. and you can’t even explore those parts of the Dam. at least not during my playthrough. i like the top =, ground level of the Dam. they’ve got mounted artillery weapons.. and NCR soldiers keeping guard. you can only go so far before it’s locked off, presumably to the Legion soldiers on the other side. it’s a clear tug of war which i really like the addition of. like most wars where they fight for a hill.. or town. it shows how it could escalate at any moment.. there is a sense of tension. which i applaud. but for the rest of it i was.. unimpressed.

starting with the welcome center. here i don’t count any flaws. really it feels right for a welcome center. it has less pizzazz than how i think Fallout 3 would’ve handled it’s entrances. usually they got it down right.. here it’s a bit plain. but it works well as a hub for soldiers, engineers, and higher-ups. some NCR rangers even tote some power armor. it looks a bit silly on them. they’ve got this version that’s thinner on the torso, which just looks weird. still, it feels like an actual operation is going down here. even though it could’ve been a bit more populated. but this is something the entire game could stand to benefit from, another target of hardware limitations.. a story as old as time. after the welcome center i lose most appreciation for it. the Hoover Dam is big. liek. huge. big. same as it’s irl counterpart.. who knew. unlike a monument, you’ve gotta make space for the hydraulics, pumps.. maintenance tunnels, passageways, and vessels of many kinds. this results in a lot of dead space. most of the time seeing a large landscape is redeeming. since that means so much to explore. that isn’t the case here. expendable NCR engineers and soldiers are scattered about. a handful per power plant. and there’s 4 power plants to walk through. getting from one end to the other takes a lot of time as each door is a loading zone. you can bypass these loading times if you go underneath the power plants and into the maintenance areas. but it’s still long AF. and there is nothing to do. *sighs* again this could be due my route.. i know there’s a handful of necessary NPCs posted up here who i’ve read about in the other endings. you can find them here but they don’t offer much dialogue. in total i can think of.. 3-4 total interactions that actually result in something. the head engineer of the Dam, Mike Lawson. Brandon the quartermaster, and Col. Cassandra Moore. Mike provides some insight to the resurrection of the Dam. gushing about the work he’s done. Cassandra Moore doesn’t really do much, aside from telling me to fuck off.. Brandon’s probably provides the most utility since you can buy a lot of goods from him.. and he’s really nice. there is a mission here which i’ll talk about after. it’s the mission that comes directly after programming Yes Man into Mr. House’s security system. this mission does actually present more NPCs. tho i don’t recall them being there on my first visits.. or if they were there, you couldn’t talk to them. i’m leaning towards them not being there. i’ll get to them after i discuss the Dam as a whole, since it’s imperative to the end of the game..

i walked the entire length of the Hoover Dam, front to back. above n below. it doesn’t help that this place feels like a labyrinth at times. you can only reach certain spots by going certain routes. and routes you would expect to take you somewhere, take you somewhere else completely (i’m being a bit dramatic as later on it became more familiar..) there are paths in all parts of the power plant rooms, but not every plant leads back to somewhere else. oh, i forgot to mention; since we only have control of half the Dam, we only have control of half the turbines. i assume the others are destroyed, or in Legion control. this means only the left side of the Dam is ours. in one of the power plants you can exit outside onto a landing bay, in front of the dams out-take.. or something (i don’t know anything about how this works). it’s cool to be outside looking up at the looming dam.. but with the lack of anything to do, and poorly textured buildings.. and seafloor, it ends up feeling “meh”. i mean the novelty is there.. but i didn’t catch myself staying long. as it’s a looong walk back to anything else. exploring the Dam is necessary to immersing yourself. i would never ever skip it. but i’d be lying if i said it wasn’t a time waster. each room quite literally has nothing of note. even reaching the end of the plant. there’s a sign saying “Oliver’s Compound”. i wasn’t sure who Oliver was. and the door was locked. later i’d learn that Oliver was NCR General, Lee Oliver. but the door was still locked. orgh..

lastly is the office area of the Dam. this part i can get behind. it’s still mostly of limits and nothing to loot, since it’s under NCR domain. taking anything would be “stealing” and i’d lose karma. whateverr. it’s got that same tunnel/bunker vibe as so many Fallout 3 locations.. these interiors aren’t uncommon in the Mojave, but they’re still a sight for sore eyes. i don’t mind it. it’s got all the necessary spots. of course offices, but also a rec room, Col. quarters, supply room, barracks, and even a chapel or sermon looking thing. neat. that’s really that is here.. some ways lead back to the surface of the Dam. out onto some balconies. i liked to be here. overlooking the Mojave. seeing the Strip in the vast waste-scape.. the Legion’s fort just above. Camp McCarran straight across. it’s nice.. it eases my harsh feeling of the Dam. i think it’s cemented like this to me because of the emphasis that is put onto it later into the game. the overarching goal is the upcoming war over the Dam. that’s what this is all for. seeing it so dismissed in design.. it hurts me. a bullet straight thru my torso.. ouch.. sorry, venting over.

the NCRs very own president, President Kimball, will be touching down soon at the Dam to give a speech. okay.. there’s big talk about President Kimball. i haven’t seen the guy. he’s an extremely high priority target for the Legion. and according to Mr. House’s projections, his death wouldn’t be good for New Vegas. so i gotta save him.. or somethin. well, it’s up to me whether i save him. i consider it a necessary deed and i accept it with pleasure. luckily my rep is still high enough, and the NCR still gives me the pass to assist them. Ranger Grant gives me a breakdown; we are to protect the president at all costs. and to sniff out anything suspicious. i assume there’s gotta be something. so i begin to search. talking with one of the engineers in the welcome room results in her mentioning that her friend, Ben, was supposed to accompany her. but he hasn’t shown up. this quest is interesting as it feels really open-ended. problem is; i end up searching the entire Dam for a hint or something. iirc there’s like a barrier that if you pass it considers the mission failed, and the president isn’t saved (i could be mixing this up). this is frustrating as i couldn’t figure out where it was, but i knew i had to save the president. i was so irked because who wouldn’t search the Dam? i feel like by fact of it being here you’d go there.. i don’t know. after painstakingly searching for like 15 minutes i reloaded my save. i caved and googled to see if i was in the right direction. i was not. the clue was in the welcome center, a spot i’d seen before but for some reason this time completely forgot about. in the supply closet is a pool of blood and gear. supply closet.. supply closet.. missing engineer.. supply closet.. ooh.. it’s clear; Ben has been murked on sight (literally) and now someone’s impersonating him. i will find and kill this son-of-a-bitch ∠(u_u)

good thing i found this clue.. as the president’s arriving. just in time. Kimball shows up in style inside a Vertibird. something i’ve only ever seen Enclave use.. i keep my eyes both on the Vertibird.. and the crowd. which i should mention only consists of 3 people. this guy is coming from who knows where, to give a speech to a total of 10 people. respect. he touches down and emerges seconds later. a liberating soundtrack begins to play as he nears the stage. nothing seems out of the ordinary so far.. i carry an Anti-Material Rifle so they know i’m not playing around. at first i’ve got my eye on the soldier stationed behind the stage, on one of the balconies. he’s got a good line of sight of the president. it would make sense.. also in my peripheral vision is the path from the Legion occupied side of the Dam. i doubt they’d try an assault as obvious as that. so i wait. i’m frantically trying to catch a glimpse of every possible angle. the soldier on the balcony, the stage, the 3 people in the crowd. and then i turn around. there’s someone new walking towards me.. an engineer. this must be my man. i immediately question him. he’s extremely confrontational asking “is there a problem?” and like a boss i tell him “you’re the problem”. then i offer we go somewhere private.. i guess this was a cheat code as he drops the mask entirely, wishing death upon enemies of the Legion. before he can retrieve a weapon i put a bullet straight thru his torso. and then all hell broke loose.. everyone’s yelling and somehow there’s dead NCR soldiers. i thinkk they got hostile and starting shooting their own. i got no idea. the president stops his speech and returns to the Vertibird. i felt the whole thing was so scuffed, and this ruined something important.. so i reloaded and tried again. this time, i pickpocketed him. finding a failsafe detonator. this turned out to be a safer route. i alerted Ranger Grant of this and he went to investigate the Vertibird. somehow it’s been sabotaged with C-4. as they go to apprehend the “engineer”, he starts to fight back. this time they take him out, and the mission is a success. the president is safe, and he even finishes his speech.

if you recall from before.. in my perplexity with Vault 11 and the El Dorado Dry Lake, i made mention of a building sandwiched in between Vault 11 and HELIOS One. i probably wrote that it was useless. this is the El Dorado Substation. when i entered it for the first time an NCR soldier warned me to leave. if you ignore their warning and enter for a second time, they become aggro. and so do my companions. this in-turn causes an all out war tanking my NCR rep. so i made sure to steer clear of there, assuming it was off-limits. now it finally has an expressed purpose. before i left to save the president, Yes Man gave me an “override chip”. install this chip and reroute the power to the Lucky 38 for his needs. bleh. seems i’m forced to do this. even tho i sidestep killing any NCR, the act alone drains my NCR rep. this sucks. the entire game i’d worked so hard to get that to idolized. naturally i think most players do this, as the NCR is probably the first faction you can assist and gain rep with, by killing Powder Gangers n all. i felt crappy about this. but this is a result of my choices, and i couldn’t let it bug me. my rep was still kinda high, so guess the effort was worth it. it’s the dead of night and i’m in and out before any NCR soldiers realize. now to make the final preparations.

easily my favorite part of the entire game (besides hacking n slashing with my Katana..) is cozying up to and gaining rep with all the different factions. this is introduced as early as Goodsprings and was probably the best change between 3 & New Vegas. i love the karma system already, but now it varies for each community. rather than just being entirely good or bad. there’s so much you can adapt to now. different characters will react to your affiliations differently. some even refusing to work with you based on them. doing quests (dirty work) for some will drop your rep for others. it’s so friggin awesome. tho i think i played it rather safe. for others it may be like walking a tight rope, since some choices can seriously impact the outcome. for me, the Legion were the bad guys and i guess the NCR acted as the good guys. but as i’ve reiterated i understand the nuances, and that independent Vegas may not be the worst ending.. the rest were either neutral, pro-NCR, or misguided. i bring all this up cos at the end you can kinda sorta recruit them to help you in the Second Battle for Hoover Dam. it’s not explicit in every case. and clearly it’s dependent on who you assist. helping some may null your chances with others. yano? the Boomers, the NCR, the Legion, the Great Khans, Enclave Remnants, Brotherhood of Steel, and the Followers of the Apocalypse. everything coalesces here. of course the more minor factions can play a role. (e.g. Vault 19 Powder Gangers, or the Fiends) impacting infantry numbers or allegiances. but they won’t appear. i don’t know whether the upcoming battle would skew more towards the Legion (or whomever), if you choose not to bother assisting them. all i know is i had lots of fun gathering them.

1. the Boomers
one i’ve already mentioned at length, and possibly the easiest is the Boomers. if you want more info i suggest reading about them in the factions section. the boomers are an interesting group. for over 50 years they’ve been isolated to the Nellis Airforce Base, by their own volition. by this nature they’re untrusting to outsiders. but on the other hand, they have this “wide-eyed” innocence about them. gaining their trust is surprisingly easy. well, once you’ve survived their bombardment upon arrival. most of their tasks are fun and aren’t at the behest of some villainous leader. like recovering a crashed B-29 Bomber Jet, or helping one of them in their quest for love. things like that.. i found my rep with them became idolized with no real effort. their conscription felt genuine, even though they’re an independent settlement. unaware of Caesar’s wrath. i anticipated their help, be-it however they planned to.

2. the Brotherhood of Steel
arguably my biggest fumble.. the Brotherhood’s had a fall from grace since the events of previous Fallouts. at first i didn’t even know they were here. hidden away in they aptly named Hidden Valley, are a handful of pre-war bunkers. situated close-by to Goodsprings, the games starting point, the doors have a lockpick requirement of absurd amounts. i couldn’t get in until much later.. all but one of the bunkers are a bust as they’re caved in or cemented. successfully picking into the last one you’re greeted by Brotherhood soldiers. they’re originally hinted at by Veronica, one of the possible companions. she’s a special case as the Brotherhood has been on lockdown. forbid from leaving the bunker for the foreseeable future. she acts a scout, but for more than your typical pre-war technology. there’s a bit of a division in this sector of the Brotherhood. after failed battles against the NCR, they’ve been forced into hiding. their presence is much smaller than in spots like the east coast’s D.C. Wasteland. it’s a sad sight. Veronica is at odds with the current Elder of the faction, Elder McNamara. his dismissive, shortsighted disposition made him an unfavored leader, in the eyes of a few. other soldiers obey his orders by virtue of the Brotherhood code, viewing other members like Veronica as defectors. it’s a reeeeallyyyy interesting spin. they were basically the good guys (erh, sometimes) in games past. here, they’re down on their last leg. harsh and bitter because of the NCRs victory over them. with soldiers who’ve slowly begun to weaken and fatigue, with a loss of foresight. with Veronica as your companion you’re able to explore the issue further (or yano, you can just break in early on if you’ve got a lockpick skill of 100.. eheh). i did both. investing their turmoil you can find a second in command soldier, who’s vying for control to get them out of their current predicament. his name’s Paladin Hardin. to me, his interests were for the best of Brotherhood. i don’t think they could sustain themselves in this hold they find themselves in. he could make the difference. the way Elder McNamara treated Veronica really put me off. i vowed to her that i’d fix this. going through some miscellaneous missions (and by abusing the Brotherhood’s codex) you’re able to veto out McNamara. hooray, they Brotherhood’s been reinstated and i saved the day- erhh.. not exactly. removing McNamara from his post is the deciding factor in if the Brotherhood helps you in the Second Battle for Hoover Dam. not purposefully. if you choose to remove him you’re locked out of increasing your rep to any higher than “liked”. this really bummed me out.. and on top of that Paladin Hardin (now Elder Hardin) won’t hear out Veronica either. dismissing her in any of her attempts to plead with them. she begins to fret, unsure if she should even stay a part of the Brotherhood. other if you convince her to leave, other Brotherhood soldiers threaten her. vowing to kill her. it’s all really crappy for Veronica.. turns out the right path would’ve been to keep McNamara in place, with him eventually coming to his senses. unfortunately i didn’t see it this way, and screwed myself out of their help in the war.

3. the Great Kahns
this section will be brief. i had no vested interest in the Khans as they’re just barely above the likes of the Fiends, or Powder Gangers. honestly i should give them more credit. they’re civilized, while slightly berserk. the idea of persuading them to assist the NCR was appealing to me, of course. but due to some choices (taking out the Fiends) i was unable to get any farther with them. which was the biggest punch in the gut. really early on at Cottonwood Cover you can find a man pegged to a cross by the Legion. his name is Anders. i wanted to help him really badly, but for some reason i couldn’t. i wasn’t given the option to. i had to leave him there, to die.. turns out he’s tied to these missions. which i locked myself out of.. by killing the leader of the Fiends. so i couldn’t recruit them for the upcoming war.

4. the Followers of the Apocalypse
like the Boomers, the Followers are more straightforward. they’re the only ones you can explicitly mention to Yes Man to aid you in the war. literally, since they’ll provide assistance with healing supplies. out of all the factions i think they’re the most chillaxed. and their cause is admirable. unlike everyone else they’re devoted to helping those in need, in Freeside. those neglected by the Strip.. i.e. Mr. House. they provide a safe haven for addicts, refugees, and any one in need of help. one of the doctors here, Arcade, is a potential companion. and aid in the war.

5. Enclave Remnants
taking on Arcade as a companion is something i highly recommend. bumping into him at the Followers fort was dazing. i didn’t realize at first he’d be someone i could recruit to assist me. but i was already devoted to Veronica.. and Boone before her. so i didn’t bother. it wasn’t until the end of the game that i read about there being Enclave Remnants.. this piqued my curiosity. the Enclave are no good. the only references to them are their armor and an abandoned bunker. there’s no other mention of them. this is a major change from their state in Fallout 3, like the Brotherhood. but unlike the Brotherhood their presence is completely non-existent. until you assist Arcade. increasing trust points by taking him to locations like the site of a crashed Vertibird or REPCONN, he’ll initiate a quest. a quest about his ties to the Enclave. Arcade was a child of an Enclave soldier. because of his young age, and the Enclave’s ousting, he never became devoted to their cause. eventually winding up in the Followers. his quest will take you back through the Mojave recruiting the “remnants” of the Enclave. the last members of the group Arcade’s known since he was yay high.. it’s made up of a bunch of unassuming old people i’d already bumped into before. these few all stood out to me even before i knew they were Enclave. they were really charismatic but their dialogue was always cut short. tho they’re all different kinds of stubborn. he’ll add some sage advice between each encounter. slowly coming to terms with unresolved difficulties he’s faced since the Enclave’s dissolution. it’s really heartwarming. this gave Arcade so much more personality.. and depth to his cause. i felt like i really overlooked the guy. it would be an honor to have him and the remnants fighting by my side. for the cause of the Mojave. ù_ú

and those were the different factions (from my findings) that’re able to accompany you in the Second Battle for Hoover Dam. obviously nix the NCR and the Legion cos those are who you fight for. i was fighting on the side of the NCR. well, initially.. you’ve probably already read this from me by now, but that’s not how it went. we’re finally ready to discuss the Second Battle for Hoover Dam.

it’s the heat of battle when you saunter on into the Dam. a convenient pile of rubble appears at the entrance behind you.. blocking you from returning where you entered from. there’s no going back. that’s fine. i’m ready to face anything.. accompanying me is Veronica, ED-E, and a Securitron. i set off for the welcome center. there’s a firefight ongoing. seems like the Legion’s already made it inside.. fighting by my side are NCR soldiers. i notice some are in power armor. standing out in the crowd though, is Arcade. in his own power armor. seems like the Remnants pulled through and came to fight.. finding Arcade here was one of the biggest highlights for me. the dynamic-ness of him wearing his aforementioned Enclave Remnant armor makes this soo cool. unfortunately he doesn’t fight alongside you, as a companion. which he’s designated as. ah well. this works still.

with the welcome center clear i head back outside. the corpse of the previous Legion spy still remains here, and an explosion causes it to summersault into the air. they’re bombing the “howitzer“! a pack of Great Khans appear too. it was a sad affair havin’ to kill them, as i was mostly neutral to their existence. i worked to be idolized by them. but with choices i made amongst the Fiends, and other factions, i locked myself out of a fully idolized run.. with the Khans being my weakest link. but also the Legion’s as well, as only this small pack appears throughout the entire battle. killing them ruins the already little rep i had with them.. and we push forward.

more Legion assault from the front. we take a few casualties in the form of NCR soldiers.. the Legion appears to be a tough enemy. their health and fighting power increased. beads of sweat fall from my forehead as i clutched these battles.. seemingly endless waves of soldiers heading for us. there’s multiple places to take cover, and towers to enter, but i stay steadfast on the ground level of the Dam. we’re coming up on the halfway mark, the section of the Dam that’s been blocked off the entire game. maybe now’s the time i can enter? i hurry.. but before i can find out i spot a small blemish in the sky. it starts to get bigger.. watta hell.. a bird? no no.. it continues to grow in size.. a plane..?

swooping down is the B-29 Bomber Jet plane i helped recover from the depths of Lake Mead. it was the Boomers. they’d repaired the plane in full working order! the plane does as the name suggests. a hellfire of incendiary rains above the right side of the Dam. the whirring of the plane.. mixed with the explosion sends rattles throughout the Mojave. i’m sure everyone can feel the impact. especially the Legion. caught in a daze, i don’t anticipate the envoy of Legion soldiers who appear behind us. the plane finally leaves my sight and i turn my attention onto them. they’re easy to deal with. and before i know it, they’re all gone. i notice my quest marker makes a point to head on into the Dam.. oh right.. probably due in-part by my psychological repression i realized there’s something i forgot to mention.

war of attrition.. before heading out for the Dam, Yes Man notifies me of one last thing i must do to guarantee a complete victory. destroy Hoover Dam, using an override chip. obviously my reaction to this was udder disdain.. i don’t want to destroy the Dam.. well, i have to. since Yes Man is the Independent Vegas ending, in order to ensure an “independent” Vegas, i have to remove both the Legion and NCR. taking out the Legion is the easy part.. how do i get rid of the NCR? i can’t just wage war n kill ’em all.. even though i don’t want to.. no. Yes Man says you’ve got to destroy the only reason for their presence here. the Dam. destroying the Dam also destroys their urges for expansion out this way. without it, they have nothing to hold. and their entire objective is rendered futile.. i.. i guess it works. at least i won’t have to kill any NCR. truly i don’t want to.. but i’ve got no other choice.

the Dam is on high alert. NCR soldiers guard the hall, and anything of importance. Legionaries flood the entrances, starting firefights in the hallways. rushing to the control room to minimize any death, i’m faced with 2 NCR soldiers in full power armor get-up. with a speech check i’m able to troll the soldiers into thinking Col. Moore is in grave trouble. they fall for this bait, allowing me to waltz on thru.. installing the override chip. Yes Man begins a full takeover. his face appearing on all available monitors. it’s haunting as i make my way through. his smile.. beaming into my soul. i didn’t want this outcome. but maybe.. just maybe.. it’s for the best.. right? or am i just deluding myself.. there’s not time for theoreticals as now NCR soldiers have become aggro. i never thought i’d see the day.. i hurry outta there.

i’m guided towards the east side of the Dam and out onto the right side. where the Bomber released it’s contents. where i’ve never been before. my nervousness both peaks and subsides here. i had no idea what i was going to be facing. a Vertibird touches down.. dropping off reinforcements. aw geez, i’m in for it now.. but that’s when i notice; they’re not aggro towards me.. they’re aggro towards the Legion! phew.. i come to find it’s more Enclave Remnants. Cannibal Johnson.. Doctor Henry.. with Daisy Whitman presumably flying the Vertibird. my crew’s enhanced – i’ve got Veronica (Brotherhood) Arcade, ED-E and the Remnants (Enclave), NCR, Followers of the Apocalypse, and Securitrons (the Strip) all fighting beside me. all against those bastard Legionnaires. we’re in the homestretch now. i’ve got to finish this..

clearing out the remaining Legion soldiers i’m faced with a gate. a gate to the Legate’s camp. the Legate – aka Lanius – is Caesar’s second in command. a role previously held by Joshua Graham (of Honest Hearts fame). he’s meant to be one baddass son-of-a-bitch. said to be impossible to kill in battle.. there’s a reason he’s held in such ferocity, and in such high command within the Legion. i suppose this is his camp. a major critique i did have is; why aren’t we fighting on Fortification Hill? some place i’ve been, under the behest of Caesar. always sitting there in the vista.. taunting the NCR. imagine going back there.. with a leg up on Caesar. defeating all his forces, and slowly making it towards his tent. for one final showdown.. taking him out.. and putting an end to his reign. *drools* eh- but no.. we fight at the Legate’s camp. which is connected to the hill offscreen. this is whatever. maybe i’ll still face Caesar just beyond this gate.

i’m met with a fierce, but substantially weaker Legion force. i know the Legion initiated this battle but why do they feel so feeble? is this their last stand? i use a variety of weapons.. giving them all one last opportunity in the spotlight. using up my ammo reserves. which i have a loooot of xD. something i’ve realized while playing the Fallout games is that i’m extremely frugal. i hoard all my resources, and find myself hesitant to use any of them.. in fear that they’ll come in handy later on. this wasn’t the case for stimpaks, and magazines especially. but by the end i’d stocked up on so much that could’ve been so useful. but either due to my surplus of stimpaks, or lack of understanding, i ended up neglecting most everything.. bzz.. all types of ammo, foods and heals.. even the new Nuke-a-cola variants. this is something i need to work on as progression in the Fallout games always begin as a fight for anything. every fight feeling like i just barely survived.. and then hitting mid-game where the difficulty flatlines, due to an over-abundance of tools n shit. not that it’s bad but it just happens without you noticing and can damper the need to explore. a well.. back to the fight.

i push on. with, Veronica, ED-E, a Securitron, and Cannibal Johnson. by my side. i think Doctor Henry stayed back at the gate. initially i assumed he’d died somewhere along the way as he never made it past. but on subsequent replays it seems to happen every time. i leave my partners to take out the remaining Legionnaires so i can head up the hill.. turning up and around i’m faced with the Legate himself.. Lanius. with no Caesar in sight. Lanius is an imposing figure. he dons a full.. like.. roman helmet, obscuring his entire face. some Legion soldiers have an interesting mixture of pre-war armor and inspirations or even more pre-pre-pre-war designs.. but nothing to this level. talking to Lanius is brief as we both know what we’re here for. i banter with him mentioning a lack of Caesar. he flatly says that Caesar’s lead is shown through him.. the Legate. sending out his toughest to fight.. instead of himself. what a cowardice bastard. this battle has a somber sense of feeling. it’s been played up this whole time. it it hits you hard once you realize this is it. this pathetic tug-of-war. this disgusting display of humanity. it all ends with the Legion. and Lanius. i have to cast aside my emotions for a second.. since i gotta fight him first. he wields a heavy blade, and i reciprocate. pulling out my trusty Katana. this fight may have been nasty. the tactics used this entire game.. but it’s only fair i fight even. and prove who has the stronger will. of neither the Legion nor NCR.. but of the Mojave (҂⌣̀⌣́).

the duel only lasts a few minutes. but in the heat of battle.. it feels like an eternity. both Lanius and i have the Super Slam perk, paralyzing and sending our foes back, on a lucky hit. it can end up being one sided for a brief period of time. for each of us. i made sure to give him the dignity of not cheesing it. at one point (i’d say his second phase) he starts launching nades of some sort. and right here. right here was the most euphoric moment of the entire game. a beautiful chaos ensues. and time stands still. my companions, composing of multiple factions.. all fighting a separate enemy each. Legion soldiers flood the gate. bullets whir by your head. the distant sound of war is echoing in your head. plasma weapons and bombs send a flurry of luminous explosions, lighting up the sky in the dead of night.. targets getting confused. enemies going down. i remember i lost most of my squad.. Cannibal Johnson.. the Securitrons.. all the NCR soldiers along the way. i was never so briefly at ease ever before in my life. the past few weeks the battle replays in my head. i just think it came all together so.. nicely. while it’s a tiny bit stilted.. lacking a coat of forethought and polish.. it’s still grand. it’s still a lingering moment. i imagine that goes for the other endings too. i feel like i’m putting my might into the Katana, as i swing at Lanius. so many different moments flickering back through my head. all for this. all for right now. for everyone done so wrong. n the world as it’s been wrought into. eventually i get lost in the haze of war.. but i come out victorious. and everything’s still.

the Legate’s defeated.. it doesn’t click. but this is the end. i don’t know what to expect. i’m at a loss for words. real stumped.. i go to investigate the Legate’s tent, but i can’t enter. mkay. well.. only way forward is back. i (begrudgingly) give a sendoff to the downed Securitrons, and Cannibal Johnson. he was a bastard at first.. but i’m glad he clutched it up for us.. foreva remembrance.. the camp is completely still on my walk back through.. Legion bodies stacked high.. but just as i’m bout to exit a bomb goes off. completely obscuring my vision. out of the smoke walks General Lee Oliver. the Oliver.. the one i’ve heard so much about.

initially i’m ready to rejoice. i mean, the bad guys are done for. we’ve got nobody to look out over our shoulders for. an entourage of faceless NCR rangers fill out behind him. he congratulates the Courier on a job well done. evening shouting out that awesome as hell airstrike that the Boomers called in. but the accolades end short, as you can see a squad of Securitrons rolling up on behind Oliver and his soldiers. you’re given a dialogue option of saying something like; “i couldn’t do it without the help of my friends”. i meant my friends. yano, my buddies. ED-E, Veronica.. Boomers. so on. but what it was really referring to was the Securitrons. Yes Man appears behind Oliver, and this is where i was doomed to make a foe out of my earliest ally. you’re forced to turn Oliver away. stating that the Dam is won, but not for the NCR. with the Legion gone, it’s time to expel them.. this hurt my stomach since i didn’t want to do this.. really. but they forced my hand.. Oliver’s (rightfully) pissed, and confronts the Courier on his reasoning. it’s basically a match of an unstoppable force meets an immovable object. he’s quite stubborn. and i do think some of his points are fair.. the fact the Courier just waltzed on in, taking hold of a problem which neither he could tame. i’m forced to do so thru the route i’ve been locked into. but i’m adamant that there’s no right choice to unite the Mojave. the NCR is probably the closest thing to a viable authority. there are the higher ups.. but it’s not dictated by one man. but that there is the problem. the higher up you go the more it starts to thin out and the burden begins to sit on ones shoulders. now i’m not saying the Mojave’s gotta be this leaderless, communist hellhole. i just.. i’m not really sure what i’m saying. that overarching theme of “who is actually fit to lead” rears its head again. it’s certainly not me. or Caesar. or General Oliver.. i am capable of making one good, but somewhat flimsy, point; that i’ve put more thought into the safety of the Mojave than anyone in the NCR. and i stand by that. i only sought to do one thing during my entire playthrough; unite the Mojave. by all means. by taking out the trash.. or converting it. that’s all i’ve wanted to do. there’s a part of me that thinks i could steer it in the right direction. now that’s a lot of weight i’d have to carry, and i doubt i could navigate it without dying to the same pitfalls as the other factions. but i find myself caring.. unlike the rest. i don’t know if there’s a fate where the Mojave can be more than just a post-apocalyptic ruin, where only a few independent settlements can thrive. i don’t think it’s possible to start over. by the end of the game i’m in the same spot that i begun, just with a little respect to my name. did i even make a difference? in my fantasies i like to think so. but i’ll never know for sure.

after passing a speech check of 100 skill (the highest i’ve ever encountered), i’m able to turn Oliver away without a scratch. i wonder if would’ve had to kill him if i didn’t have the skill.. the rangers begin to retreat. making haste. in the commotion i’m sucked into convo with Yes Man, who once again congratulates me on a job well done. that was it. we won. he mentions he’s got a special upgrade which can make him more “assertive”. oh, great. just what i wanted. even more assertive Securitrons. he tells me he’ll be offline for a while.. and he’ll be making arrangements for Vegas. it’s finally safe and protected.. and whatnot. he tells me he had fun working with me and to take care, and then it cuts to black. the end. finito.

and that was Fallout: New Vegas (independent Vegas ending). before the credits roll, i’m given a brief synopsis of my actions and the fate of the Wastelanders. i’ll give you a brief summary of their outcomes below..

some places fared quite well, surprisingly. Goodsprings, the town where you first begin your journey, became an epicenter for travel to and from Vegas. while Jacobstown became a one for Super Mutants. a safe-haven of sorts. eventually coming to find a cure for the Night Kin’s schizophrenia, from their prolonged stealth-boy usage. Primm, under the leadership of Primm Slimm thrived, surprisingly. while not all thieves are caught. both literally because of his slow n clunky movement, but figuratively too. because of his black and white thinking. though, some other settlements didn’t fair too well. the NCR Correctional Facility was left abandoned. a reminder of both the NCR, and those that had resided there. the Powder Gangers.. who’s presence was wiped away, without a trace. and even the the NCR had to retreat, succumbing to a catastrophic failure, it wasn’t all bad for them. as a band of soldiers known as the “Misfits” would come to be example soldiers.. earning many medals, and showing just what the NCR could do. given proper training and morale.

soo.. what became of the Strip? basically total fuckin’ anarchy. exactly what i wanted to avoid. a battle waged between the Securitrons and the Wastelanders.. but after the fires settled.. and a fight fought perilously by those of the new modern independent Vegas, things begin to look up. and things naturally work themselves out. Freeside was still protected by the Kings, who grew to control with a neutral grip. providing focus to all it’s inhabitants. other settlements, e.g. Novac, also fell into total disarray. but luckily, with the help of returning Bright Followers, it was able to pick itself back up. uniting two factions who had once alienated each other. becoming independent once again. the Boomers proved to be formidable, and their sector of Vegas was not messed with. weaker factions like Fiends.. and raiders – while still hectic and present, were widely driven out. not faring too well in the new independent Vegas.

what about my companions? well there isn’t much to say.. some like Lily and Raul never got the closure they so desperately sought. this is my fault as i never took them on.. both decided to leave Vegas behind, finding a new life elsewhere. as for the rest? they all kept on keeping on.. Boone and Arcade, both satisfied with the closure they were given also went down this route. seeking new adventures. using their newfound knowledge, and changed world-views to provide a use to the Mojave, as they see fit. Veronica kept searching, possibly for a place of belonging. away from the Brotherhood.. mostly unsure of what awaited her. i like to imagine she remained by my side. ED-E, with his logs cleared and fully upgraded (thanks to the Followers) was said to have remained by the Courier’s side. even long after the war. his logs providing useful resources for those looking to improve the Mojave. and as one hell of bodyguard.. and after replacing Rex’s brain with that of the Fiend’s Violetta, he came to terms with his new.. more violent nature, while still retaining his old senses. ultimately faring quite well.

and that concludes Fallout: New Vegas. looking through my screencaps i feel as if i barely even made a dent into the game. or even what i wanted to talk about. for some reason while writing i feel the need to go into depth on every single random encounter, or happenstance. when i really don’t need to.. those are the small things that charm you. each instance that makes it a unique play-through for each individual. i learned to pace myself.. not giving away all the cards. but it needs to be reiterated one last time; this was just my play-through and ending. this will an entirely different game for others. n i think that is awesome. and why it stands out so much for me. re-reading my earlier paragraphs i feel it comes off as a little underwhelming. this was written over a period of a month and i only feel like i came into my element only like halfway through.. so uh try not to mind that-.. there’s just so much to talk about. neglecting things while writing this game is really hard to do. and i didn’t have nearly enough paragraphs to launder all my screencaps through.. oh well.

i’m considering calling this part a “tl;dr” no spoiler recap.. or something. for those who cba to read everything (which is probably everyone, now that i think about it..) so i think it’s necessary. the biggest point i’d like to drive home is New Vegas’ focus on QoL and overall strengthening. while Fallout 3 is initally more of a charmer in a conjectural way, New Vegas just.. has it. it’s only flaw being a lackluster showing of pre-war interiors slash industrial emphasis. but that’s completely subjective n just my opinion. and besides the obvious caveat of hardware limitations.. hindering it’s “true” vision. i’d say there’s no other issues. some other aspects are also subjective. like the voice acting, or locale. or the spread of vaults. but things like the story, and changes and improvisations to QoL are objective. and this is coming from a complete and utter neutral party. it is better. you could beat Fallout 3’s story in like 20 minutes. well scratch that; you’ll only beat it that quickly if you’re a speedrunner. but the point still stands. you can finish it pretty quickly if you know where to beeline for. the rest of the world can be neglected. New Vegas feels like there’s a reason to do it all. like, i’m sure you can complete it all within an hour. i’ve been getting recommended a video on how players reached the Strip in under 30 seconds. something made near-impossible due to those fuck-ass Deathclaws. but i think to complete it again, you’re more inclined to complete the rest. yano? i hope this makes sense. i have an open-mind to replaying each plot-point. and scripted event. re-exploring everything in a new lens, using new methods of prospecting. Fallout 3 takes a more daunting reproach. it’s variety is stifled (when compared to New Vegas, that is). the overarching story is actually lent from the Wasteland itself and i think it works amazingly. even if the NCR’s a tried motivator. but it’s not broken.. soo, why fix it? the story was gripping. there was a constant threat. it always made itself the forefront of your thoughts. this story is very much worth it. it’s a slow-burn at first. especially factoring in allll else you can focus on. but it’s nothing like Fallout 3’s pointless neandering, accidentally bumping into the next quest. brute-forcing progression by entering every conceivable building. going back and forth, back and forth. though, this brings me to my most retarded aside yet. skip to the next paragraph if you find you don’t want to read, but; i watched a 3 hour long retrospective video about Deus Ex: Human Revolution by Hbomberguy. feel how you will about him.. but i thought the video was aite. and he brought up some good points. one of them being how quickly word spread throughout the world. one second you’d be fighting a surprise assault from some augmented Belltower spec-ops, and upon returning all the NPCs somehow know the ins and outs of the entire mission. like.. wha.. it’s so unbelievable. and it shrinks the world. this is oddly something Fallout 3 got right. and New Vegas tripped and stumbled on. like i get the pressing matters at hand. Legion vs. NCR. who’s taking over the Dam.. what’s Mr. House’s say in all this? but just like in Deus Ex it becomes too one note. literally every single person has an opinion on augmentation. when there are other things you could talk about.. just saying. not every NPC from Fallout 3 felt the need to mention the Legion taking over some camp. or that i should be a decorated soldier for the NCR. how do they know all these things? it don’t make sense. anyway brief aside over. moving on.

another point i am totally in agreement over is how the Wasteland was considered. and developed around that consideration. Fallout 3’s Capitol Wasteland didn’t sit right with me. this didn’t feel like the remnants of a 200 year old America. it felt like the bombs just dropped. everything feels fresh, still in your mind. factions aren’t fleshed out. they all take temporary refuge in some half-baked location. not in every instance, but some. they’re living in a stone-age which i feel they would’ve broken out of by now. it’s extremely dangerous, and there’s no sense of cohesion. the Brotherhood have the most thought out form of fortification. but the describe at as a temporary, makeshift, housing apparatus. and not a true HQ. New Vegas does this perfectly. gone are the pseudo-towns, with next to no buildings. even spots like the Mojave outpost are fleshed out. standing like an actual outpost. there’s an improved sense of scale here. and if we had to sacrifice more interiors for that, i don’t mind. i think i’ve drilled this point in by now. especially if you’ve read the rest of my write-up.

the aforementioned changes to the weaponry and ammo variety too is a plus. like there feels like more of an emphasis on weapons. there’s too many to use at times.. all giving different perks, and even downsides at times. i think on your first play-through ammo won’t be something you consider all that much. you’ll notice vendors selling it, n find it in loot. but it took me awhile before the wires connected, and i understood. i even came across the keybind to change the ammo by total accident. it feels more like an “on replay” type of mechanic. but even if it’s not all that pertinent, it still adds something. weapon mods too, something i’ve barely mentioned. upgrading the look and feel of your weapon. keeping them handy at all times. spotting the mods makes your heart skip a beat.. like, in what ways does this change the gun? what new utilities does it provide? there isn’t a total bombardment of enemies unlike Fallout 3. so managing them is already easy enough. but the mods make it so you can have a designated gun for each form of wildlife. it was rewarding. now that i’ve familiarized myself i can face early game in a million different ways.. yes, things do cost more caps. way far and above any of Fallout 3’s prices. but if you play it smart, it’s hella easy to get beaucoup caps. nyeheheh.. i’ll leave that part up to you.

now given this was an extremely buggy experience, i would say some mods are required. it’s heavily recommended you make a Nexus Mods account and dl some straight away. if you plan on playing that is. this guide here – https://vivanewvegas.moddinglinked.com/ should help. it’s daunting at first i agree, but there is a section for pure vanilla mods. like i said before i like to keep my first play-through 100% vanilla. while Fallout 3 had some buffering issues and a bit of lag, it was nooothing like New Vegas. i couldn’t go 5 minutes without a crash. and the time in-between was made up of lag and performance issues. most of these fixes goes towards repairing all the severely broken aspects of the game. i’ve watched a lot of New Vegas vids lately n one of the most common comments is “i realize more everyday that New vegas really is held together with duct tape and prayers”. and it does sorta seem like it. it’s rough around the edges, and jank as hell. but that’s just a part of the classic Bethesda™ charm.. i think it’s cute. and doesn’t ruin much at all for me. other mods fix things like lighting.. LOD.. which can be rough.. since it’s so open. the Lucky 38 is almost always visible. i don’t know much about the intricacies of the game. but seriously, without these patches it’s nearly unplayable. all the other things aren’t as game-breaking. so those fixes would be on a case-by-case basis. something that bugged me was the numerous invisible walls placed on everything. trying to navigate the Quarry and earlier locations was friggin’ miserable. every rock formation, pile of debris, or climbable object had a damn invisible wall. you couldn’t go around anything. the mod i installed was “Ultimate Invisible Wall Remover” (https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/48511), just in case ya find this to be a problem too. there’s actually a lot of interesting mods i considered dl throughout my run. like mods that add new safehouses, in preferably better locations. or ones like allowing more than 2 companions at a time.. but the one that really caught my eye; A Tale of Two Wastelands. somehow merging both Fallout 3 and New Vegas. i have no damn clue how they could they get this to work, or even how they attempted to make it make sense. it sounds quite appealing.. TBF, any mod that brings over New Vegas’ QoL changes to 3 sounds like a great idea in my book. putting them together, it sounds like i’ll never need another game again.. and my blog dies here. i’ll probably give this a chance in the near future.

here’s a couple other tips; you can bind weapons to number keys 1-9. this small change makes all the difference. i didn’t even realize it until New Vegas. i wish i knew it before.. there’s a keybind for stimpaks too, but that i didn’t bother with. i felt like it’d lead to stimpak abuse.. but it comes in handy when in the heat of battle, remaining immersed instead of constantly goin in your Pip-Boy to switch. oh and, for me at least, the no. 2 key is what changes your ammo. you could probably bind this to somewhere more useful. for some reason i kept it here. guess it made no difference for mee.. another keybind you won’t immediately be privy to is the “Z” key. it’s default i think. simply pressing it puts your character into third person. like old-school Fallout. it’s really helpful for navigating tight areas, or for getting the jump on an enemy. what i wasn’t told is that if you hold it down, you can turn your screen 360°. and you can zoom farther in and out. it’s got the same utilities as just pressing “Z”, but it also helps when you’re feeling fidgety. when you need something to mindlessly press.. and when paired with HUD-dimming, this can make for great screencaps. honestly i could have adjusted my keybinds to be fit more conveniently, but i don’t think i ended up changing much of anything. though i changed quicksave to “J”. i’m a bit of a savewhore when it comes to games. a habit i’m really trying to break. i must have pressed this.. like.. nearly a million times. it’s extremely tempting in a game like this, where one choice (or mistake) can drastically change the outcome of the story. or undo hours of exploring, looting, et cetera. so i kept a quicksave handy.. but i made sure to create perma-saves too just in case.

i don’t think i have any tips for the game itself.. make sure to collect anything you can. like i discussed in Dead Money, cheesing the gambling system and cashing out in pre-war money was the way to go. so collecting these any chance you get may prove fruitful. another great change they made to New Vegas was in the weight system. it used to be so irking.. not being able to carry all that much. granted that is part of the “fun”, putting forethought into exchanging weapons and building a specific arsenal. but even misc. items counted towards the total. here, some items have no weight penalties. it’s rather unrealistic.. but i can’t think of a way where it wouldn’t be. ultimately it’s one of the best changes. i think if you max your strength skill it’ll end up being higher.. but with certain armors you can increase this (e.g. Courier Duster). mine maxed out around 300 lbs. but there’s a lot of useless crap that only applies case-by-case. so i was usually near full. but using the Mojave Express system and sending it to a different hub you can store items vvv easily. i’m a weapon enjoyer. so i make sure to prioritize them and the perks that fit them. others prioritize melee, plasma, energy, speech, sneak, or so on. so it’s really up to you and how you find your enjoyment, this tip may not be useful for everyone. V.A.T.S. is something i still struggle to find myself using. it can be useful for that final shot, avoiding all that unnecessary damage. but typically i just spray n pray. forgetting that V.A.T.S. even exists. and if you don’t prioritize it thru skills n perks, it becomes too spotty to rely on. though sometimes i toggled on the cinematic death cam. le epic..

the reason for writing this was to commemorate my time spent playing it. you ever go through something so impactful that you can’t help but somehow try and cement it permanently? this is that.. re-attempting the way i write about games, moreso as a way to remember, not review. this was just me blurting out whatever.. marking major points that i had. i did not rewrite anything and it’s remained a steady flow of consciousness all throughout u_u upon further research i do realize my explanations of everything.. and the deeper story within is a little surface level. i’ve tried to do it justice, but it can be daunting trying to explain it, or even understand it myself. it takes a lot of understanding of each faction to really get a grip on it. i plan to play over again, but i just wanted a way to recite my first playthrough. my first experiences. and i hope it was conductive. but i understand the DLC especially is a little complex.. and lots of the overarching aspects. but that’s alright. i’m happy with the understanding i have. i also realize that New Vegas shares a lot in common with Fallout 1 & 2. it feels a little like an homage at times. the aspects already built in those games are so interesting. and they build on it in such a way. i haven’t played them (only like an hour of Fallout 1) so my appreciation here.. or explanation of the lore may be false. or contradictory. or maybe it’s spot on. who knows. that’s why i gave a warning at the start about it being my interpretation, which i think i’ll use for any write-ups going forward. i really like to see differences in how someone understands things. it keeps the game less bland. i shot myself in the foot here because New Vegas is just soo varied, that any other write-up will feel straightforward in comparison. i just had so much to say.. and i wonder how much got lost in translation, or that i forgot to add. but i think i hit on the important parts. if you only read the “tl;dr” part on, my ending paragraphs may be a little lackluster.. but that’s cos i’m reiterating a lot of things i’ve already talked about at length. so i’d recommend reading up for a more intricate understanding. that may be hard to do as essential my write-up was a big ass spoiler.. but i think New Vegas is a special case where my story doesn’t account for everyone’s. it’s like a randomly generated seed. no one world is the same. obviously the percentage is reduced a little.. okay reduced a lot – but i think it’s a good descriptor. all the QTEs, all the random encounters.. all the different routes and dialogue options. all the different weapons and items. it just changes it so much. and i guess that’s why i like it so much. i think it’s an amazing open world RPG. i’ve never played a game that felt so open.. and endless as New Vegas (and 3 by extension). even though i used Fallout 3 as a comparison (usually doing it dirty in the process) i love that game to. side by side with my other gaming experiences.. it easily triumphs as the best. for so long i’ve neglected this franchise and i highly regret it. lately i’ve noticed the same pattern; something i’ve held off so long turns out to be pure fire.. n i regret it every time. if you haven’t given them a chance, i’d say you’d be missing out.. obviously it caters to a certain type of player, but i find it to be more diverse than people give it credit for. especially New Vegas. and i would like to preface (more like epilogue) but i do not come from the shows recent resurgence of it.. i have no interest in that. nor does it define my opinions. and that goes for the latter Fallout games.. i feel like they captured lightning in a bottle with the first person Bethesda (and Obsidian) developed games. there’s just.. something so capturing about them. i’ve really been charmed. they are a perfect blend of all aspects. a grit-filled, decrepit world.. bloomy.. with a hint of brightness to them. a world that still stands. inhabited by a diverse array of people.. all with interesting gripes that you could only build on in a world like this. sometimes i don’t think they go far enough with it. but most of the time.. they push it to the max.. i feel confident saying Fallout: New Vegas may just be one of my favorite games ever. my first play-through and additional research/replaying netted ~ 170 hours. hours which i consider necessary to who i’ve become. maybe this sounds a little dramatic but it’s left a large imprint on me.. on the same levels as franchises like CoD.. that Tale of Two Wastelands mod may just be my favorite thing ever.. who knowss.. sadly i feel this is coming to an abrupt end, but i this just about concludes what i have to say. the Mojave was a region i never expected to have grow on me. my first impressions crushed by the journey of the Courier. whatever that means to you. i know what it meant for me.. and all of the changes made for the better. the Mojave may have ended up in the same place that it began.. because war.. war never changes. but i hold tremendous hope for the Courier..

this ends my first write-up on this site. to anyone reading.. i appreciate it to no end. n i hoped this was cohesive n understandable. as well as not too grading. and if you didn’t read through it, i’m sorry it was so long and i hope that my screencaps sufficed. lastly i would like to reiterate that this page is heavily inspired by © wkduffy.wordpress.com.. so.. yeah. consider reading those if you enjoyed this. i’ll continue to add more write-ups.. i’d like for them to be as thorough as this one. i feel like i’ve got a major grasp on this game’s entirety. so i’m confident in what i have to say. others not so muchh.. but i’ll get there. anyways.. thank you.