Fallout: New Vegas - Old World Blues Review @ GameBanshee

Dhruin

Dhruin

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GameBanshee has been able to kick up a review of Old World Blues. They liked it a lot - but the author notes the humour won't suit everyone:
Why do I bring this up? Well, one of New Vegas' most-praised points by the original fanbase was the return to the franchise's roots, casting off much of the absurdity that crept into Fallout 2 and more so into Fallout 3. With that in mind, it's worth saying it straight out: Old World Blues is just plain ridiculous. It's silly, it's hilarious, and often winks at the fourth wall. It grabs hold of those 1950s underpinnings the original series had, and inflates them to the point where Old World Blues feels about as tongue-in-cheek as a game can be. And this, really, is the deciding point on whether you should pick up Old World Blues, because right from the moment you start it, it doesn't let up. As good as it is, I have no problem telling some players that they simply might not like it, because of how close to heart they hold Fallout and how strongly-conceived a vision they may have of it.

At the same time, all the absurdity is handled with a certain amount of class, a degree of intelligence - for every unexpected joke about "hand penises", there's another five or ten obscure references, innuendos, wordplays, etc., and it's all brilliantly well-implemented, tying in with the main characters in a way which brings them well beyond mere comic relief. Upon first visiting the Big Empty, I was a little bewildered at just how off-kilter it all was... but after spending a little longer, I began to realise what a finely-crafted world it really was, the underlying logic behind all the absurdity. By the end, the silliness gave way to a degree of poignancy and reflection, just tragic enough, and it made me appreciate the characters on a level above what I initially took them for. Funny though it may be, Old World Blues' biggest success isn't that it got me to laugh more than any other game in a long time, but that it did so without undermining its own integrity, and did so in a way that was respectful both to me, as a player, and to itself.
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Very much looking forward to this, the huge list of fixes and the amazing mod content coming from the fans! :party:

I've talk to some people whom have been turned off by all the choices. They are simply overwhelmed. Just seems having a huge world of choices and consequences make things too complicated for so many of the current actiony console crowd.
 
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I posted my mostly spoiler-free review here and I reach a similar conclusion. Awesome expansion in gameplay, the humor won't suit everyone however.
 
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@Acleacius, I assume you are refering to FNV in general and not Old World Blues correct?

I just finished this DLC and really quite enjoyed it and agree with most of this review. I picked up Honest Hearts during the Steam sale and just finished that and decided to pick this up after it getting good reviews.

I found this DLC to be reasonably good value for the money at about 10 hours for $10. I was pretty thorough and visited nearly all of the sites and read all of the screens. I really struggled with the many robot encounters as my character just can't do much damage and they do a lot at least at my level (40-46).

It is definitely a throwback to the Fallout quirky encounters and is slightly improved with having the Wild Wasteland perk by the way. I also agree with the review that it doesn't feel like force humor and is integrated really well into the rest of the Fallout story. It also gives good backstory to the first DLC which I also liked.
 
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After finishing the three I do agree with the gamerankings average; Dead Money 72.14%, Honest Hearts 68.50%, Old World Blues 85%.

Dead Money have some strong flaws, I can't deny that. My greatest concern is the first area of the game that consists of so generic streets and walls that you can't navigate by them. You get lost all the time. It's like a labyrinth that was fine in Eye of the Beholder but not 2010 and the overland map doesn't work. There's very little unique content there, just a bunch of tapes to be found for the vending machines. Also you can't go back again to this place once you are finished which was a bad decision (can be modded though, which I did). That said, it do comes with a very strong story, an extremely gritty environment, plenty of gameplay changes that force you to play in a new way, and very fleshed out and unique companions.

Honest Hearts was open and beautiful to look at, but very empty in terms of both story and content. Following the Survivor was actually it's highlight for me, the quests were mostly meaningless fetch quests. HH felt a bit like Oblivion you know... beautiful landscape, nothing exciting in it.
 
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JemyM said:
Honest Hearts was open and beautiful to look at, but very empty in terms of both story and content. Following the Survivor was actually it's highlight for me, the quests were mostly meaningless fetch quests. HH felt a bit like Oblivion you know… beautiful landscape, nothing exciting in it.
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Totally agree. Its hard to recommend that one even at the $3 I got it for in the sale. The Survivor story was the standout in that game Joshua and Daniel just wasn't that interesting to me. I found most of his locations in order which also really helped and was really heartbreaking to read his journal but was satisfying to find his final resting location. Almost felt guilty looting him to get his final journal entry. OWB had far more interesting locations and quite a bit of diversity in them.
 
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I always loved Fallout 2's humor and style, even if it went over-the-top at times. Looking forward to OWB for that alone, not to mention the added content.
 
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