New Vegas: Ain’t That a Kick in the Head

Setting the Scene:

Fallout New Vegas is a spin off game of the popular Fallout series. The series takes place in the nuclear wasteland of America after a nuclear apocalypse consumed the Earth. As the name implies, New Vegas takes place in the nuclear wasteland of Vegas and around inside the Mojave desert. You are a courier, paid to deliver an unknown package to the mysterious overseer of the Vegas Strip, Mr. House. He saved the Vegas Strip from the nuclear bombs a few hundred years before and has since reopened for business. However, you got intercepted by a well dressed man and a group of thugs. They steal your package and shoot you in the head. By the help of a doctor and a robot, they dig you up from your grave and fix you up. You awake with only one goal in mind: to find the man that shot you. In your quest to find the man who shot you, you begin your journey that will shape the future of the Mojave wasteland and New Vegas. 

Finding the Fink Who Killed You

This is a warning that from here on out, there will be major spoilers for the base game. Once you awake from your first nap, you begin the

 journey to track down the man in the checkered suit who shot you and stole your property. Your journey takes you to the nearby town of Novac, a homely little settlement a little South of New Vegas. There you meet a man by the name of Many Vargas, one of the two snipers in charge of protecting the town. You can talk to him and complete a dangerous task for information regarding Benny’s whereabouts. You could also 

bypass this quest sequence by going into his room and looking on his computer for the information. The information on his computer or from him, tells you that one of Benny’s collaborators is in the ruins of Boulder City. It is here that you can interact further with a faction known as the New California Republic, a.k.a the NCR, and the Great Khans. The NCR and the Great Khans have a hostile relationship and are in a stand-off at Boulder City when you arrive. It is up to you how you deal with the standoff, but you figure out that Benny went to the shining lights of New Vegas. Upon confronting Benny you can ask him questions about the package he stole from you and get some more general answers. How you deal with Benny is up to you, but be careful. He has his angle to play, and he won’t hesitate to bail on, or double cross you.

Complexities Aplenty

After confronting Benny you now have the opportunity to interact in depth with the major factions of New Vegas. One of them is the

 aforementioned NCR. The NCR is the closest thing in the wasteland to a country, based on the values of the old world America before the nuclear apocalypse. The NCR practices democracy, has a standing military, and functioning transportation, but they are over extended and suffer from internal corruption. On the exact opposite side of the spectrum, we have Caesar’s Legion, a band of slavers and organized marauders who base their society on ancient Rome. Their leader called Caesar is a dictator and rules with an iron fist. The Legion and Caesar, as they are often referred to, are hell bent on taking the 

Hoover Dam from the NCR and taking over the Mojave wasteland.  Another major player in the fate of the Mojave desert is Mr. House, the man who hired you to deliver the mysterious package Benny stole from you. He wishes to use this mysterious package to aid him in kicking both the Legion and NCR out of Vegas and  the Mojave and take control for himself. He believes independence for New Vegas is the only way to save the wasteland. Finally, the last faction is well, you! If you so choose, you can talk to Yes Man and get Benny’s plan for taking over New Vegas. You can be the sole proprietor of New Vegas.

To End On 

In short, this game still has much to offer to the average person. I cannot do this game justice in one article. I haven’t even reported on the various smaller factions or choices: Like the Casino owners on the Vegas Strip or the various groups in the wasteland; the beautiful atmosphere that the developers took much care in setting; the multitude of loot, companions or side quests. The sheer amount of player choice and variety makes it so no one play through is ever truly the same. It is this amount of choice and variety that makes New Vegas arguably the best Fallout game and even one of the best video games of all time. Like I said I cannot do this game justice in just one article, so I encourage you, if you have any interest in video games, even in a good story, to pick up a copy of the game and start playing.