Fallout: New Vegas - Honest Hearts Released on Steam, First Reviews

A few readers wrote in to say Honest Hearts was released not long after I posted about it yesterday, so head to Steam if you are interested. A bit from the blurb about the game:

An expedition into the unspoiled wilderness of Utah's Zion National Park goes horribly wrong when your caravan is ambushed by a tribal raiding band. As you try to find a way back to the Mojave you become embroiled in a war between tribes and a conflict between a New Canaanite missionary and the mysterious Burned Man. The decisions you make will determine the fate of Zion.

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Eurogamer has the first review we've seen and the score is a mediocre 6/10, apparently because the story is "thin":

As a side story to the main event, Honest Hearts is forgettable and predictable. Where it justifies its asking price is in the takeaway benefits it supplies to the long-term wasteland wanderer. More levels, more perks, new weapons and new enemies - this is what really benefits the game, and Honest Hearts delivers more than enough to make it a worthwhile diversion for players of all levels. It would just be easier to recommend if the story wrapped around the gameplay additions was more compelling.

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More information.

I would agree with "sparse." Considering the names, you might have expected "Dead Money" to lack dialogue and character development and "Honest Hearts" to be a soap opera.

The characters (except the macguffin that is your caravan of course) are reasonably well voice acted. The first conversation you have with the overcooked legate himself is pretty good and you get some tasty hints at deeper character traits and behaviors that explain how he can seem so brilliant but have made the mistake he did at Hoover Dam. Unfortunately you don't get the same character development after that point (either by holotape or conversation) as you were able to in Dead Money. Granted its not really supposed to be happening within what should seem like a very long time-frame.

A nice touch that reminded me a lot of the original fallout games was finding and collecting a series of holotapes left behind by "the survivalist." I won't get into details though since it's a nice little story (well nice certainly isn't the word for it.) They also explain quite a bit about the history of the canyon and some history relevant to past fallout games. I do wish they were voiced over though since it was some of the best writing in the expansion and a decent actor could have done a lot with it.

So anyways, it's decent and the exploration and scenery is pretty rewarding since the story told by the dead is the most compelling narrative. At the same time the plot and quest chains are very short and almost as soon as you've exausted the 3-4 interesting living character's first dialogue trees you've pretty much got all of them that you're going to get. It's worth playing, but if you have to chose between a couple beers when you're out with your friends and this DLC package - go with the beers. They may last longer.

10$ for a couple of hours of thin story?

No thanks.

If it's any comfort to you, it's 9.99 euros on Steam.

*runs and hides*

Pibbur, who won't tell anyone where he's hiding