DLC Review/Retrospective - Fallout: New Vegas - "Lonesome Road"

"If they matter... if history matters... we'll see at the end of the road."

The opening moments of Fallout: New Vegas see you shot in the head and left buried in a shallow grave somewhere in the Mojave. Somehow still clinging to life, you're rescued and brought to the town of Goodsprings, where Doc Mitchell cares for you until you've made a full recovery. This is not the beginning of your story, the Courier's story, nor is it the end - but it was meant to be.

Enter Ulysses: the original Courier Six. The man who was supposed to deliver the Platinum Chip in the first place, but backed out of the job when he saw that you were next in line. Aware of what he'd be carrying, and knowing full well that the job was very likely a suicide mission, he stepped aside in the hopes that you would be killed before you even made delivery. Obviously, this didn't happen, much to Ulysses' disappointment.

But who is this other courier? Why does he want you dead?

Throughout Fallout: NV and it's subsequent add-ons, this story arc quietly builds in the background. A throw-away comment here, an oddly-named item there, until eventually it comes to a head. And it all begins with you sitting in a cave somewhere in the Big Empty, hearing Ulysses' voice on a holotape, the contempt he has for you and everything you've supposedly done. And in the closing seconds, he makes a solemn promise:

"At the Divide, he and I... there, we'll have an ending to things."

And he would be right.

Lonesome Road has you tracking down Ulysses through the Divide: a massive fissure that's formed in the middle of a once-thriving city of the Old World. Here, the wind is strong enough to tear the skin from your body, irradiated soldiers from both sides of a dead conflict wander in a haze of insanity, and mutated creatures lie in wait just below the surface. It's very unlikely that you'll find your happy place here. This is a depressing, emotional, and heart-breaking road you must travel, but I couldn't think of a better way for this game to come to an end.

This is your story. Your road. You're here because you want to be, and you can leave at anytime. But if you keep walking... you're gonna see some things.

The Divide ain't what it used to be.

The first thing you're going to notice about the Divide is, well, that it's pretty damn big. You begin on a cliff overlooking the whole of it, and it's just an amazing sight to see. I just sat there staring for a bit, and eventually said to myself, "Shit, I gotta walk through that." The Divide ain't pretty like Zion; it's a very intimidating piece of real estate. This is made even more interesting by how it was designed. Unlike the other three DLC hubs - The Sierra Madre, Zion, and The Big Empty - The Divide is actually one long road, winding through ruined cities, collapsed tunnels, across highways, and down into the giant fissure. You're still free to come and go and explore as you please (and there are still a ton of places to poke around), but since you're always moving forward through the landscape, you're never quite sure where you're going to end up next.

In this sense, Lonesome Road definitely has the most variety out of all the add-ons. Each of the locations in the Divide are unique from each other in some way. They're very competently-designed, and clearly show that Obsidian intended to go out with a bang, throwing as many eggs into that proverbial basket as they could. Buildings collapse into the fissure, earthquakes will knock things off of shelves, and debris constantly blocks your way. But wait! You can remove that debris by seeking out discarded warheads and setting them off with your trusty detonator. Time the explosions right, and you can take out some advancing enemies, too.

There are new armor sets, new items, new achievements, and new weapons, such as the "Red Pulse," which is pretty much an automatic rocket launcher. (It's as awesome as it sounds.) The only real downside is that since the Divide is an undesirable place to be, there isn't a surplus of NPCs to talk to. In fact, besides Ulysses, you'll only have your companion to talk to, but I'm not sure if I should spoil who that companion is. Not a big deal, but it was fun to discover who you'd be traveling with (and also figure out said companion's backstory.)

So what can you expect from the ending? Well, I can say that it was definitely a satisfying one, and will have vastly different outcomes depending on your decisions, a few of which were pretty tough for me to think through - and one of which can draw direct comparisons in terms of severity to the infamous Megaton decision from Fallout 3. So severe, in fact, that the Mojave Wasteland itself will be affected in some way: a first for FO DLCs.

And what of Ulysses? Again, I can't say much about him or his vendetta against the Courier. But rest assured, he has a very good reason to hate you, and it's not a reason that will sound completely out of the realm of possibility either. (Actually, I found myself thinking that I probably would've done the same thing in the Courier's shoes.) As Ulysses once said, "Couriers sometimes don't know the messages they bring."

Lonesome Road marks an end for the story of the Courier, a story that I've been following with much enthusiasm for the better part of a year. In that year, I've seen Obsidian create what I believe to be a masterpiece in the RPG genre: a game that not only aspired to have a great story, but great characters, locations, sidequests, world-building, and a level of immersion second to none. And then they decided to take things a step further, by creating a set of add-ons that could be collectively seen as a sequel in its own right.

Bethesda may have continued and updated the Fallout property, but Obsidian Entertainment refined it to the point of near-perfection, creating a product that trumps its predecessor in nearly every way. The franchise simply could not be in better hands, even if Bethesda decides to make the eventual sequel themselves. Obsidian know the lore, inside and out, they know what works, what doesn't, and how to tell stories within the universe that pack the hardest punch. I don't think I've played a game where a developer has had such a tight grip on such detailed lore and knew exactly how to wield it.

Fallout: New Vegas, along with all of its DLC - Dead Money, Honest Hearts, Old World Blues, and Lonesome Road - has been one of the best gaming experiences I've ever had. It will most definitely go down as one of the best games I've ever played, up there with Knights of the Old Republic and Dragon Age: Origins.

Obsidian (and Chris Avellone, especially) should be proud of themselves, and it's my hope that they're allowed another crack at the property. My dream would involve Obsidian, Fallout, and the Skyrim engine, but only time will tell.

This is an end for the Courier, but I hope it's not the end. Either way, all roads lead home, and for now, the Courier's right where he needs to be.

DLC Review - Fallout: New Vegas - "Old World Blues"

Yes, you've lost your brain. Don't think about the medical inconsistencies; you lack the equipment for it, anyway.

Let's face it: the Courier's had a rough time of things. Getting shot in the head wasn't enough, neither was getting caught in the middle of a war between three very powerful factions, nor was getting gassed and taken prisoner and forced to crack open a vault in a mythical casino whilst wearing a bomb collar. As the saying goes: things are gonna get worse before they get better.

And in the case of our respective Couriers, things are looking to get much worse.

"Old World Blues" marks a significant jump in quality for Obsidian. Whereas "Dead Money" had a brilliant story and "Honest Hearts" had a place worth exploring, this new add-on tries to do both - and do them both better. Influenced by science fiction of the 50s and the classic Fallout titles, the opening for "Old World Blues" involves a crashed satellite, a ruined drive-in, and a science fiction picture show. Very fitting.

Eventually, you'll end up at the Big Mountain Research Facility, commonly referred to as "The Big Empty" amongst Mojave residents. You have no idea how you got there, why you're there, and, oh yeah, your brain's been removed. This is all explained to you buy a group of five disembodied scientists collectively known as the Think Tank. It seems in their blind rush to progress Science, your brain was removed and you, unlike many others, did not die a horrible death during the removal. This makes you special... for some reason. The Think Tank don't come by many answers easily, if at all.

Because you're special and because you did not die, the Think Tank decides to send you on a mission to recover various technologies around the Big MT facility. They've since lost your brain, apparently, and the only way to get it back into charge headlong into the facility of the mad scientist, Doctor Mobius. These technologies will both allow you to fight his army of atomic robo-scorpions and give you an entrance into his facility so that you might be reunited with your brain.

If it all sounds a little convoluted, that's because it is. The Think Tank aren't all that they appear to be; in fact, they're much, much less than that. They're all manner of crazy and confused about everything, but they do have a flair for dramatics, which you will get a taste of during your initial introduction. To be blunt, these are some of the most entertaining and hilarious video game characters I've come across in quite some time. They had me in stitches pretty much every time they spoke, and it never got tiring. These are characters who fully embody the corny (and awesome) science fiction of the 50s. Everything must be atomic, everything is forbidden, and Science will save us all from the darkest of futures.

Communism, of course.

In any case: thus begins your journey to recover your brain, which will have your crisscrossing Big MT and all of its fantastic locations. The Big Empty isn't as claustrophobic as the Sierra Madre, nor is it as barren as Zion National Park. The place is simply a joy to explore aimlessly, and there's a lot of it. Every facility houses information about Big MT's questionable past and further insight into the minds and "work ethic" of the Think Tank. The place is thick with history and expands the lore of the Fallout universe greatly. I was genuinely compelled to check every nook of every facility I came across. You never know what you're going to find.

One room that I almost passed over housed a robot/human splicing machine. It's as crazy as it sounds.

Over the course of your journey, you might come into possession of various holotapes that contain, get this, personalities for your household appliances. One of the perks of doing missions for the Think Tank is having your own base of operations called "the Sink", which contains a bed, plenty of storage, soda machines, your own personal auto-doc and market. But plugging these personalities into the appliances around the Sink will net you some hilarious results. A gardening machine that sounds like Issac Hayes and constantly demands your "seed," a toaster bent on destroying the world, and an obsessive-compulsive securitron named Muggy who's programmed to clean coffee mugs - to name a few.

So, "Old World Blues" has character in spades, a great sense of humor, and a great zone to support it all. The story? It's pretty good, too! Like "Dead Money," a lot of the story is in the details, and it rewards those who take in the sights. But overall, your goal is to stop a mad scientist and steal your brain back. That should be enough for most people. (It was for me.) But the story does try to make you care about what's really going on. As I said, nothing is as it seems, which results in a few decisions that you'll have to make in the end that, in my case, had me sitting there thinking for a while.

And as for the "War of the Couriers" story arc, it's definitely continued here. You'll get a better understanding of just who this Ulysses is, what he wants, and why he carries the flag of the Old World on his back. You'll have to do a little digging though. But if you do, you'll uncover answers to some of the many mysteries surrounding the Sierra Madre, hear the voice of an old friend (who has since lost her voice), and get an idea of how things might come to an end in the next/last add-on.

"Dead Money" was brilliant, but had problems in the combat department. "Honest Hearts" was enjoyable, but its brevity and lack of a compelling storyline made it touch and go for a while. But "Old World Blues"? That's a no-brainer. If you have Fallout: New Vegas, this is a must-buy. No question about it. There's good humor, plenty of role-playing opportunities, a fascinating world to explore, rich lore, and the entire thing is one big celebration of early science fiction. The thing's not short either. I did a little exploring, but I still haven't finished all of the sidequests, and it took me a little over ten hours to finish.

Obsidian really pulled out all of the stops for this expansion, fully displaying that they are in possession of some of the most creative individuals working the RPG scene these days. With "Old World Blues," they've raised the bar very high, both in terms of what a DLC add-on should be and for the last add-on due to be released a some point in the next few months. If "Lonesome Road" doesn't disappoint, Fallout: New Vegas in addition to these add-ons may end up being one of the best video game experiences I've ever had. (Yes! Potential hyperbole! Deal with it, World!)

I still have some exploring to do, and I'm very grateful this ride isn't over yet. For the Courier, there is still one more road left to travel.

The Courier and the Big Empty

"Save us all - in the name of Science!"

Two more days until Obsidian's next add-on for Fallout: New Vegas arrives. "Old World Blues" will lead your Courier to a secret research facility where the chances of losing your brain are abnormally high. This will be the third of four planned add-ons, with the final entry, "Lonesome Road," estimated to be released at some point within the next three months. Yes, ambiguity.

Just in case you haven't given these add-ons a try, I recommend every single one of them so far. It'll be sad times when Obsidian is no longer producing Fallout content, though I have high hopes that they'll make another one in the near future. Maybe even using the Skyrim engine!

Maybe.

"Old World Blues" will be available across all platforms on July 19th.

DLC Review - Fallout: New Vegas - "Honest Hearts"

"Honest hearts produce honest actions."

To its credit, the second add-on for Fallout: New Vegas has a lot to say - it just doesn't give itself enough time to say it. Whereas Dead Money had much to throw at you about greed and deception and trust, Honest Hearts kinda just throws you the Spark Notes. That's not really a bad thing at all, considering what you end up getting, but it does mean you might be able to brush off the story a lot sooner than you'd hoped.

Even then, it still ranks very, very high on the list of Fallout DLC, possibly even above Point Lookout. Maybe.

It begins with a radio signal, as they always do, and an invitation to join the Happy Trails Caravan Company on a trek through Utah, and a place called Zion. Apparently, the company has fallen on hard times, and this will be their last run if they're unable to unload their goods. They're not taking any chances, so you're hired to go along for the ride as security.

But you'll quickly find that your efforts were all for naught and things go terribly, terribly... terribly wrong for the caravan, just before you're thrown into an unstable conflict between three warring tribes in Zion. Yeah, didn't see that coming either.

The rest of the story will have you picking sides and deciding the fates of the native tribes, all the while being prodded by the mysterious Burned Man, Joshua Graham. And while all that's going on, you'll become privy to even more details on how the DLC storyline is going to eventually end up playing out. This, I thought, was the most interesting part of the add-on.

Unlike those of Fallout 3, all of the add-ons for New Vegas are connected in some way, quietly building up a scenario in which you will eventually cross paths with another courier. Who this courier is and why he means trouble is still (kind of) a mystery, but I think that's an amazing thing to try and pull off with downloadable content: to essentially give you a whole other game with its own underlying narrative.

But that's neither here nor there. The truth of the matter is that you're mostly paying for access to Zion National Park, since the story, and all of the characters (excluding the Burning Man) are largely uninteresting. People who are aware of the Mormon tradition of sending missionaries to "uncivilized" countries will get where Honest Hearts is coming from, and it really doesn't try to do much more than that.

Unlike Dead Money, though, it's a much more cohesive experience. You might die, but nowhere near as much without that collar around your neck. You might get strapped for ammo, but you won't be scrounging for it in every box and dresser you find. So, long and short, it's a more relaxed add-on. The lack of compelling characters was a turn off, as was the laid back story, but it was, overall, a satisfying expansion. Zion will always be waiting for you when your quests come to an end, though what state its in when you leave will ultimately be up to you. For that reason alone, it's definitely worth the purchase.

DLC Review - Fallout: New Vegas - "Dead Money"

"You can check out anytime you like..."

I left the Mojave Wasteland as the benevolent-ish dictator of the New Vegas Strip, having repelled both the New California Republic and Caesar's Legion from gaining control over the Hoover Dam. I took it upon myself to wander aimlessly for a time, snooping out sidequests and items that I may have missed during my ride toward revenge. When I was satisfied in my travels, and finally in possession of the armor displayed prominently on the box art, I returned to my home in Novac and logged out for what I knew would be an extended vacation from the wasteland.

Personally, I thought that was a damn fine way to wrap things up at the time. The chances were slim that I'd be returning anytime soon, since, for some reason, something about the DLC being released just didn't click with me. Maybe I was just opposed to all DLC in general when I was finished with Fallout: New Vegas. Just not sure.

But what I can say is that, after finally caving in and buying the first add-on, Dead Money, I am absolutely convinced that Obsidian Entertainment is the heir apparent to BioWare in terms of writing, story, and characterization. Maybe an odd conclusion to come to after a DLC pack, and maybe (definitely) a little random, but I just cannot deny the intense swirl of emotions that my travels through the Sierra Madre Casino evoked. As I assume they say in Vegas, "We have a winner."

Dead Money begins, as most Fallout DLC has, with a new radio station popping up on your Pip-Boy. When you track down the source of this new signal, you're led underground and into an abandoned base that was once owned by the Brotherhood of Steel. You'll notice a few clues as to where you'll be heading as you enter, but before you can process anything, you walk into semi-obvious trap and down you go. Eventually you wake up in the middle of a villa at the base of a hill where the infamous Sierra Madre Hotel & Casino sits, looming over you, as pristine as it was when it was originally constructed.

For as long as I've been traveling the Capital and Mojave Wastelands, it was unsettling to see something that wasn't destroyed.

And, again, before you can process what's going on, you're accosted by a man named Father Elijah, speaking to you through a hologram in the middle of the villa. He very indifferently lays the situation down on you: There is a bomb collar strapped onto your neck, and it's electronically linked to the collars of three other unfortunate souls out there in the villa. If one of you dies, you all die. This failsafe is in place so that the four of you will presumably work together to break into the vault of the Sierra Madre, which will then surrender its treasures unto you.

In any case, you don't really have a choice in the matter. Any move to resist Elijah's demands will result in your collar going boom, taking your three mystery companions along with you. From the start, you're made to understand just how expendable you are, and even though your circumstances are unfortunate, you're not the first to be enslaved in this way. Elijah can always find someone else.

Okay? So, let's break into a casino!

"Like this, but with ghosts and mutants."

What follows isn't merely a story of "the big heist," though it's certainly meant to resemble and celebrate one. The Sierra Madre has a dark history to it, and as you progress you'll find yourself stumbling onto bits and pieces of information that shed light on just what you and your unfortunate predecessors have gotten into. Many people, possibly even yourself, have been lured to the Sierra Madre with the promise of riches in mind. But nothing is as it seems, which seems to be the greater point of the story at hand.

History is what has made the Fallout series work so well for me. Walking into random houses will sometimes show you how their occupants once lived, how they died: little windows into how the survivors of the apocalypse have pressed on. Dead Money maintains that feeling the whole way through. Frantic scribblings on the walls, stockpiles of ammunition, journal entries, a skeleton in the corner with finger bones still clutching a pistol aimed at its own skull. You can experience the entire rise and fall of the Sierra Madre Casino third-handedly, amounting to one of the most haunting gaming experiences I've probably ever had.

The whole experience is elevated by the moot fact that you'll be stripped of all your weapons and armor upon waking up in the villa. This add-on makes one of the truer attempts at falling within the "survival horror" genre in some time. I found myself checking every drawer, every box, every nook and cranny looking for that much coveted stimpack or ammo clip.

Despite all of this, Dead Money isn't as perfect as I'd like to say it is. Sometimes that survival horror aspect works against it, turning a very immersive experience into a test of patience. Your collar will explode if it comes in close proximity to a speaker that gives off a certain sound. These speakers are sometimes well hidden. I can't tell you how many times I died trying to find those stupid things and cut off the signal. And there will also be times when it just seems impossible to find health and ammo, which ended with me either resorting to stealth or loading up an earlier save. This might be a gripe of extreme relativity, since I'm certain some players will welcome the challenge. But still - my head exploded many times.

Setting the difficulty aside, Dead Money will have you coming into contact with some great characters and a superb story. It ends on a high note, and sets up future add-ons. In fact, as I type this, the second add-on, Honest Hearts, has been released. Depending on how L.A. Noire treats me, I'll likely be diving into that one very soon, as well.

I'm sitting here, still in awe of the impression the Sierra Madre has left on me. It's not too often that a game developer sets out to tell a story that doesn't stop at the cutscenes. The Sierra Madre is a place of high extravagance frozen in time, where the ghosts of the dead still live on in artificiality, and nothing is ever what it seems.

Yeah, it was pretty good!

Knight's Game of the Year: Twenty-Ten Edition

It was a pretty good year for gaming, especially for fans of RPGs and FPSs. We saw the release of Bungie's "final" entry in the Halo franchise, Halo: Reach, the redemption of Obsidian Entertainment with Fallout: New Vegas, and Rockstar make a valiant effort in making American westerns cool again with Red Dead Redemption.

And let's not forget BioWare's major release for the year: Mass Effect 2. Can't forget that.

I had a lot of fun this year, though 90% of all the games I bought were released in Autumn. Needless to say, my holidays were busy - not to mention rewarding. Some truly masterful games were released in 2010, a year I thought was surely going to end up being a little dry for the most part. So, I figured I'd go over the best of them, the worst of them, and lead up to the game that, in my opinion, was the Best of 2010.

Hence the title of the blog.

Call of Duty: Black Ops

What's this game doing here! I can hear you asking yourself that from here, but don't worry, I'm not going to sit here and tell you Black Ops made this list because of its enthralling story, its amazing level design, or Sam Worthington's flawless American accent...because that would be a great way for me to lose the few strands of credibility I still cling to.

No, this game is a runner up because I had a great deal of fun with it. Call of Duty has become an annual event all its own, and because Activision is so afraid of dropping the ball, they throw a metric shit-ton of cash at whoever happens to be developing the next game; in this case, it happened to be Treyarch. The result is a game with an action-packed campaign and a very, very addicting multiplayer mode. It's no Bad Company 2, and just a short step below its predecessor, Modern Warfare 2, but it's definitely fun while it lasts.

MASON!!! I SAID IT'S FUN WHILE IT LASTS!!! ALL CAPS, MASON!!!

Dragon Age: Origins - Ultimate Edition

I know DA:O technically wasn't released this year, but this new edition certainly was. Buying it was a good excuse to replace my original broken copy and to play all of the DLC that was released for the game over the course of the year. On the whole, I mean, most of the add-ons were, ah...negligible? They really didn't serve any sort of purpose other than to earn BioWare some easy money. (How else to you explain a repackaged zone with no voice acting and no story as DLC?)

But the few add-ons that really did work for me did A LOT to make the whole DA:O experience much more enjoyable and, dare I say: complete. It was great returning to Ostagar, helping out the Dryden family, and giving my Warden a heartwarming ending on top of the one he already got. If you've never played the game, this version is the one to own.

I'm not buying Dragon Age II to watch how Hawke's story turns out; I want to see what happened to my Warden, plain and simple.

Fallout: New Vegas

I waited a very long time for this game, and it did not disappoint when it finally arrived. Obsidian have always been a company of talented individuals who find some little way, here and there, to improve upon the classic RPG model. Whether it was your influence over your party members in KotOR II: The Sith Lords, or the dynamic story line and the "intent" wheel in Alpha Protocol, Obsidian always finds some way to deliver...and then proceeds to shoot themselves in the foot almost immediately after.

Obsidian would be right up there with BioWare in terms of writing and immersion, if they didn't ALWAYS fuck up the quality assurance process. New Vegas was, in my opinion, Obisidan finally doing everything right. They were given all the exact same tools that Bethesda had used during the creation of Fallout 3, and still managed to turn out a game that throughly trounced its predecessor. The writing was superb, the lore was deep and well-defined, the world was beautifully depressing (depressingly beautiful?), and the amount of control that you had over the story was...well, that's Obsidian.

Don't wait too long to make another RPG, my friends. We need you on the frontline.

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

This game really took me by surprise. When UbiSoft announced they were releasing another installment in the AC series so soon after the stellar, involving, and masterful Assassin's Creed II, I was sure, you know, that was that. UbiSoft had decided to make the series their Call of Duty, to rush out a sequel once a year, which would arguably lead to a decline in quality.

Oh, and they're adding a multiplayer mode to it, you say? Well, shoot, there goes the series. At least it ended on a high note...

But imagine the shock I got when I actually played the game and found it to be BETTER than Assassin's Creed II, and by a very wide margin. The improvements were small, but they made all the difference. The storyline was just as long as its predecessor, but much more dramatic and immersive. Fixing up Roma and training up assassins made the whole journey much more personal, and the sidequests were many and most were unique enough as to not feel so repetitive.

And the much dreaded multiplayer actually turned out to be original as hell. It was fun, addicting, and frustrating beyond all belief. Whoever thought it up and refined it to this level should be given a medal. Definitely one of the best multiplayer experiences in a very long time.

However, I do hope that UbiSoft tries not to leave off on such a confusing cliffhanger for the next game. Does wonders for dramatics, but it definitely sours the overall feel of the story. Endings are important, UbiSoft. A bad one can leave a lasting impression that might actually bring down what was a flawless experience. Just ask Fable III.

Mass Effect 2

ME2 a runner up?! Blasphemy, says I!

For that, I'm sorry, but lemme defend myself here. The Mass Effect series is shaping up to be one for the text books. It has a well-defined universe, unique races, fantastic characters, and a story only gets better as it progresses. If people want to argue that it is BioWare's magnum opus, I won't be waiting outside your house the next day to throw bricks through your window.

But see, I buy BioWare games because they make RPGs, not because they make Gears of War. Mass Effect 2, to me, represented a big step back in what RPGs rightfully should be. Your decisions have little impact on the story, most of the tried and true elements of the genre were stripped away in favor of a streamlined experience, and, frankly, most of ME2 revolved around gathering your team - like a space-bound version of Ocean's Eleven.

Ugh, I should be talking about the good things. There were many. This game was beautiful, I loved the characters, and going to new planets for the first time was very exciting. I loved this game, I love this series, and I'll be in line to buy the final chapter at midnight at the end of this year. Definitely.

Game of the Year: Red Dead Redemption

Gah! What can I say about this game that hasn't already been said! I've sunk dozens of hours into Red Dead Redemption, and I've not regretted one second of it. The story, though flawed in a few respects, is absolutely amazing, not to mention emotional. The ending encouraged one of the few moments in my long history of gaming where I simply could not react. My jaw dropped, I stared blankly at the screen for a long time, and then slowly regained my grip on reality long enough to save my file.

But even setting the amazing story aside for a moment, there are just so many things to do in this game. You can do a whole lot of nothing and still feel like you're being productive; the world is just so vast, so beautifully crafted, and it seems to take on a life of its own no matter where you look. You can stand on a hill, look out into the distance, and watch as a storm comes rolling in, darkens the land, makes the trails go soggy. Sometimes I boot up the game just to do some sightseeing, that's how remarkable New Austin and the piece of Mexico it borders really are.

And let's not forget Undead Nightmare.

RDR is an intense and unforgettable experience. I can't wait for Rockstar's next release, LA Noire, nor can I wait for the other big releases this year:

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Mass Effect 3

Poke'mon: Black and White

Dragon Age II

Modern Warfare 3

Gears of War 3

The untitled Assassin's Creed release.

This is going to be a great (and possibly better) year for gaming! I know it! MASON!!! THIS IS GONNA BE A GREAT YEAR FOR GAMING!!! MASON!!!

Game Review(s): Fable III & Fallout: New Vegas

I looked back over the "First Impressions" that I did for these two games, and I realized that I was mainly on point concerning what would end up being bad and good about both. Pretty much: I've said mostly what I wanted to say, but I've spent more time with both game and had a little to add here and there.

Just for the funnies, I'm gonna review these Kotaku-style:

****

Fable III

So, did P.M. do his over-hyping thing again?

Yes, he really did. Not so much that it feels like half the game is gone (i.e. Fable the First), but he promised quite a few things that, while actually in the game, are so ineffective and glitchy that they just don't work even remotely like they're supposed to.

Does this include the "touch expressions"?

It does. The premise, as it was explained by P.M., is that you will be able to hold hands with the ones you love and literally drag people to a less-than-satisfying fate...like slavery. His whole thing was to enable a connection with the world, and just a new way of interacting with it.

Unfortunately, this is impeded by the fact that ALL of the touch expressions are glitchy as hell. Holding hands with someone results in them following behind you, but your hands are never usually touching unless you're standing still. Plus, they forgot to mention that you will be holding hands with someone if you have to lead them anywhere. This means that escort missions involve taking a frightened and grown man by the hand and leading him through the forest. It's as odd as it sounds.

And I played the game for a little over 20 hours, and I was only asked to drag a few prisoners back to the guards. Even then, I didn't start dragging them until I was a few yards away. Until then, I was just walking hand-in-hand with a convicted criminal.

I can deal with that, I guess, but what about the other expressions? Are they still fun to use?

Not really. You don't have a menu from which to pick which expression you want to use and when. And you can no longer perform expressions for a group. You walk up to someone, click the "A" button, and you will transition into a "minigame" of sorts, where you have three expression options. Three, and they're usually always the same three, no matter how you're interacting with people.

That kinda sucks.

It does when you go to haggle over a price and have to do a very complicated dance to make him see things your way.

Okay, but what about all of this "It's A Revolution" business? Does that suck, too?

Actually, no, it doesn't. The expressions are a big flaw with the game, but they're only a small part of it. The story, the characters, the locations: all of them are improved over the last game. The revolution bit is fun and rewarding, and allows you to make more than a few tough decisions once you take back the throne. I will say from experience that every decision you make will have dire consequences. Dire.

I see. So, is this worth buying then?

I think any fan of the FABLE series will enjoy this game. It improves on most of its predecessor's shortcomings, but takes a few steps back in terms of things that didn't need improvement. The game is still absolutely funny, and the world is startlingly beautiful. It's FABLE II with a fresh coat of paint and a few surprises up its sleeve. I recommend it, with the caveat that there are still some bugs that need to be worked out, if bugs absolutely bother you.

****

Fallout: New Vegas

I hate your face.

Go fuck yourself.

So, is this pretty much FALLOUT 3 (2.0)?

If you want to look at it in terms of visuals and gameplay, NEW VEGAS is pretty much the same game that FALLOUT 3 was. But now that we have the actual creators of the FALLOUT series (Obsidian Entertainment) behind this one, the game feels much more entrenched into the lore of the series.

Stop being so cryptic.

Okay, it just really feels like Obsidian knew this property inside and out. There's so much more history in this game, so much more complexity to the way the world has been set up, and everything just makes much more sense. That, and the game actually involves the New California Republic, which made the game hit closer to home in my case. NCR Represent!

But what about the rest of the game? How has that improved?

The improvements are few, but they really make the game something special. There are a bunch of factions that you have the option of appeasing or destroying. You can now aim down the sights of your gun. The writing is better. The voice acting is better. With this game, its the little things that really add up.

I don't want to buy a game for the little things.

Then stop buying HALO.

But seriously, if you're looking for a game that's miles better than its predecessor, you won't necessarily find it here. You're getting more of the same, but this is a very good thing if you liked FALLOUT 3 as much as I did. You'll be getting a more refined world, one with a sense of humor laced throughout, and a few new gameplay quirks that really smooth out the experience. Add to that some very in-depth lore, and you've got a game that is to FALLOUT what OBLIVION was to ELDER SCROLLS.

So, final question: Is this worth the money?

If you were a fan of FALLOUT 3, then I cannot recommend this game enough. This is no expansion; this is a whole new world.

Sin City, baby.

First Impressions: Fallout: New Vegas (#1)

Fucking Fallout: How does it work?!

I had never heard of it before Bethesda was suddenly talking about how they'd bought the rights to make Fallout 3. I didn't even know there was a 1 and 2!

But, it comes out and I hear rave reviews for it, but I don't get it because: 1) I didn't have an Xbox 360 at the time, and 2) ???, 3) Profit.

Anyway! When I finally got an Xbox on Christmas of '08, the first game I bought was Mass Effect. I mean, literally, got home, jumped in the car, and bought it with a gift card I had gotten. It was the best Christmas ever. I messed around with that game for a good long time, but I soon needed something else. I held out on buying Fallout 3 until the summer of '09 (I think), which was longer than I should have waited.

I poured 80 hours into F3 and its expansions, all told. It still stands as one of the most immersive, compelling, and down right fun games I've ever played. It was a game that told you, pretty much, "Go do...you know...whatever. I don't care." So, I did. I walked out of Vault 101 and fucked around for 80 hours. When I could simply find nothing more to enjoy myself with, I was devastated. I couldn't wait for some kind of sequel. I just couldn't. I tried replaying with a new character, but it's never the same; it feels like you're reliving a good dream, but you already know how it ends.

Luckily, I only had to wait a year for a sequel, thanks to my procrastination in buying F3. But it's only a sequel in the sense that Obsidian were given all the tools Bethesda used to create F3, and nothing else. Everything else about it, though, is original. It's a stand-alone experience, and has almost no link between it and its predecessor.

This is Fallout: New Vegas.

The reason I labeled this as (#1) is because I'm only roughly 6-7 hours into the game, and as we all know, these games go on for a while. Because if you find that this game is your cup of tea, you will get distracted very easily. There are a plethora of sidequests, a MASSIVE map to explore and chart, and a whole lot of loot to sift through. This is in addition to a main quest that will probably take you the better part of 20-30 hours to complete.

Now that the introduction is out of the way (have to do it) here's what I think of the game so far:

Personally, I think this is Fallout 3 (2.0). There are very few things in this game that are a step above its predecessor, mostly on account of what I said before. They're using the same tools in different ways, and it shows. The graphics are in no way better or worse than those of F3, the gameplay has been tweaked, but not much, and you'll still be wandering a post-apocalyptic wasteland. That last one's a given, but still.

But! Even though Obsidian didn't change up the formula very much, you still get that "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" feeling as you play through it. Everything that was fun and absolutely game-changing about F3 is still here. It's still addicting, it's still beautiful at times, and you'll still be rummaging through soda machines.

At first, I wasn't getting into it. The "Mojave Wasteland" seemed a lot more barren than the "Capital Wasteland" as I was just leaving the tutorial. But then I was sent on a quest that had me walking for a while, and I started passing up a few old buildings and gas stations when, suddenly, that light in my head (that hadn't been on since Fallout 3) and told me, "Hey! You can go in there!" And so I did, which kicked off an hour long rummaging spree. The magic had returned.

I was glad. Obsidian didn't do anything to shoot itself in the foot. The game is fun, the quests are well-written and they're slowly getting darker as I progress, and the voice-acting is top notch (Mr. New Vegas is a fine replacement for Three Dog). One quest line in particular sent me through this town where an organization called Caesar's Legion (pronounced "kae-sar") had indulged in a little carnage at the town's expense: forcing them to participate in a macabre sort of lottery. I'm pretty sure you can fill in the blanks a little there. I was stunned by what I found. It was a little reminiscent of the end of the Dark Brotherhood quest. A little.

One moment in particular really hooked me even more, though. I live for those moments in games where they just allow you to achieve ultimate immersion. I was on my way to another town (forgot its name. The one with the dinosaur) when I took a slight detour through this farm. There were some crops that were ready to be harvested and a small shack at one end, which I took to be the farmhouse. I looked inside and no one was there. There was no one on the entire property. It was completely abandoned, as far as I could tell, and I reflexively thought, "Ah, must have been the work of the local bandits. Damn scum."

After a few seconds, I was like, "Wait a minute...I'm role-playing here!" It gave me so much hope for this game, and it's shaping up to be one of the finest games Obsidian has produced in a very long time. Look forward to more updates as I continue on through the Mojave Wasteland.

Seven hours in, and I haven't even gotten to New Vegas yet. I like.