Fallout New Vegas News

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Info regarding the next installment of the Fallout franchise, dug up from Ign.com/GI.

*NOTE: Do Not Post Anything Other Than News Or Info You Find Out. Other Related Content Like Discussions Can Be Posted On The Fallout: New Vegas Thread Created By A Fellow Member. Thank You For Your Cooperation.


February 16, 2010 - The USA Today is running a little story on Fallout: New Vegas which contains some new extra snippets of info on the upcoming role-playing game. From the little information given, it doesn't sound like Fallout: New Vegas will break the mold and be a drastically different game from Fallout 3, but that doesn't mean changes are not in store.

Rather than beginning with a nameless survivor in a vault, New Vegas begins with a bang. According to USA Today, it starts with your character being shot and left for dead in the middle of the desert, forever unable to complete his delivery mission. Thankfully, a robot (seen in the teaser trailer) digs you out and takes you to Doc Mitchell to be patched up. There you'll be able to customize your character in a way that sounds similar to Fallout 3.

Once ready, you'll be able to explore the area around New Vegas. The game takes place several years after the events of Fallout 3, but that storyline does not continue in New Vegas. Pete Hines, VP of Marketing for Bethesda, told USA Today, "Vegas is up and running. It is not a ghost town. It still exists and thrives. There are casinos, and you can go down onto the Strip. It will have a very different feel from that standpoint." The area to explore is roughly the same size as what you got in Fallout 3 and Bethesda is promising that it will take hundreds of hours to explore.

 

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First things off..

Bethesda Softworks the team behind Fallout 3, isn't handling the development of New Vegas. While this deserves a moment of pause for some, it never passed my mind during the demo. The new developer, Obsidian Entertainment, is using the same tech, and would appear to have a stranglehold on it. From my brief glance, New Vegas looks like Fallout 3 with considerable refinement. Whether the writing is as clever remains to be seen, but having Chris Avellone as a senior designer on the project is a good sign.  

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How the story begins:

You've been shot and left for dead on the outskirts of New Vegas, Nevada. Drifting between blurred reality and a soothing blackness, your mind wanders from thoughts of the afterlife to questioning why you've been shot. You've wronged nobody. You kept yourself out of trouble and found a way to survive in this harsh world as a courier. You were carrying a parcel at the time of the shooting. Was the assailant intercepting the package?  

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More info on the beginning:

Your character's stance in the world is largely shaped by the answers you provide (during Doc Mitchell's test) much like school tests in Fallout 3. I chose an evil path for my courier, saying that mothers make ggreat human shields and commenting that the inblot looks like a mushroom cloud (I actually saw a bearded man). Mitchell hands over a device called the Vit-o-Matic to determine your skills, and in turn, infliences. The choices include cult leader, peevish librarian, and old hermit. And yes, you can now alter you age to reflect that of an old hermit.

The choices you make in this introductory section also dictate the weapons, armor, and items with which you begin the game. On your way out of the door, Mitchell also gives you a Vault 21 outfit. At this time you are asked if you would like to play the game on Hardcore mode.  

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Hardcore mode:

Contrary to what you may think, Hardcore mode isn't a new difficulty level. It works in unison with your difficulty level of choice - meaning you could play the game on Very Easy Hardcore or Very Hard Hardcore.

The two big alterations Hardcore mode employs are a realistic approach to healing and the addition to a hydration meter. The effects tied to stimpaks and RadAway are gradual. This subtle change has a huge affect on how combat plays out. The strategy of retreating to the Pip-Boy to replenish your health will no longer work. Stimpaks won't heal limb injuries, either. You'll now have to visit a doctor or carry a doctor's bag to mend these wounds.

If you don't take the time to drink water or eat specific foods during your quest, your character will become dehydrated. Much like Fallout 3's rradiation poisoning, the affects of dehydration are tolerable at first, but increase in severity the longer you suffer.  

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Weapons:

Admire a sunset for too long, and you'll end up in the gut of a man-sized gecko. Should you choose to fght back, you can now put style into your kill, thanks to the addition of firearm modification. You can add scopes, alter the clip sizes, and apply effects like bonus limb damage to any gun. All alterations are represented cosmetically.

Melee weapons, like the 9 iron, are now incorporated into V.A.T.S. Whether you choose to bludgeon a foe over the head or snipe them from far away, all weapons have special attacks in V.A.T.S. The 9 iron's is called "Fore!" - a tee-off shot that could potentially knock your opponent down if landed.  

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Factions:

Like all Fallout games, player choice is factored into every aspect of the game. However, this time around murderous rampages and good deeds are judged more closely. In addition to your overall karma, you'll now develop a reputation with factions in New Vegas. If you have a negative reputation with a faction, they may not give you a quest. Conversely, if you've gained a group's favor, they may be more inclined to give you additional quests.  

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Introducing the Grenade Machine Gun

That isn't a typo in the headline. In New Vegas, you have the chance to wield a firearm that spits out grenades just as fast as any machine gun does bullets. You can also attach a high-speed mod kit to it.

Of course this is a high level weapon. You start the game with varmint rifles, dynamite, and maybe a century old pistol. The grenade machine gun may sound like an overly powered tool of death, but its explosive assaults end up looking like mosquito bites compared to another of the game's weapons, the Helios One orbital strike.

Seeing a laser beam the size of a house torch everything in sight is a treat only James Bond villains have been able to enjoy.  

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The Strip

The casinos in the Strip are an eclectic bunch, just like the actual Las Vegas. While there aren't any real-world casinos in the game, the small bunch I saw each had their own personalities.  

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Lucky 38

Mr. House, the mysterious man in control of the Strip, owns the Lucky 38. The casino can be seen from everywhere in the game world, but nobody has been inside the building for as long as anyone can remember. That doesn't stop House from keeping track of everything through his vast network of helpers and assistants.  

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Gomorrah

If sex and vice are what you're after, be sure to check out Gomorrah. The game is going for an M rating, but we'll have to wait to see exactly how far Bethesda is willing to push things. They don't call it Sin City for nothing, but you know how it goes.  

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Vault 21

"A lot of [the vaults] were social experiments, and they had a concept behind them," says Jason Bergman, the games producer. "The Vault 21 experiment was that it was the gambling vault. All conflicts would be resolved through gambling. House decided he wanted to have Vault 21, so he bet them for it, and House always wins."  

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The Ultra-Luxe

The Ultra-Luxe is where folks go to eat, drink, and be merry. This luxurious casino features the best in dinning and an appropriately swanky setting. If you're going to walk away broke, you may as well do it surrounded by nice things.