Fallout: New Vegas

Lore & Background

Fallout: New Vegas is set in 2281, 204 years after the Great War between the United States and China. The player controls a courier who survives an attempted killing and seeks to find the assailant, eventually becoming involved in a war for control of the Hoover Dam and the Mojave Desert. Three major factions dominate: the New California Republic, a democratic republic; Caesar's Legion, a totalitarian army of tribal slavers; and Mr. House, a reclusive businessman who rules New Vegas with Securitron robots. Minor factions include the Boomers, Powder Gangers, Great Khans, Brotherhood of Steel, and Followers of the Apocalypse.

The game features a freely explorable open world with locations from small settlements to the Hoover Dam and New Vegas. The player uses a Pip-Boy 3000 wearable computer to access items, stats, quests, and maps, and can fast travel to discovered locations. Combat includes firearms, energy weapons, melee weapons, and explosives, with a VATS system that pauses the game to target specific body parts using Action Points. Some NPCs can be recruited as companions who assist in combat.

Role-playing mechanics include customization of the courier's appearance and allocation of points into seven primary SPECIAL attributes (strength, perception, endurance, charisma, intelligence, agility, luck) and 13 secondary skills. The player earns experience points to level up and can select perks at even-numbered levels. Dialogue trees allow responses that affect reputation with factions, and some options require sufficient skill points. Hardcore Mode adds survival mechanics such as eating, drinking, sleeping, and permanent companion death.

Reader's Guide

Fallout: New Vegas was a commercial success, estimated to have sold 11.6 million copies worldwide. Critics praised the writing and quests but noted a lack of significant gameplay changes compared to Fallout 3 and criticized numerous glitches at launch. Six pieces of downloadable content were released, including four story-based add-ons that added new areas. Since its release, fans and journalists have re-evaluated the game, and it is now regarded as one of the best games in the Fallout series and as one of the greatest video games ever made. The game was developed by Obsidian Entertainment under contract from Bethesda Softworks after the release of Fallout 3 in 2008. Project director Josh Sawyer wanted the story to focus on greed and excess, inspired by the history of Las Vegas. The map was designed using data from the United States Geological Survey and reference photographs taken by Sawyer. Bethesda gave Obsidian 18 months to develop the game, a very short time for a AAA title according to several journalists. The game's setting in Las Vegas and the Mojave Desert was chosen to evoke 1950s imagery and the post-apocalyptic feel of Mad Max.

Did You Know?

• Fallout: New Vegas was developed by Obsidian Entertainment in only 18 months.
• The game's map was designed using data from the United States Geological Survey and reference photos taken by project director Josh Sawyer.
• Hardcore Mode adds survival mechanics such as eating, drinking, and sleeping, and companions can permanently die.
• The game is set 204 years after a nuclear war, in 2281.