Fallout: New Vegas — Sixteen Years Later, I’m Still Wandering the Mojave

Getting shot in the head and buried in the desert was merely character creation.

On 19 October 2010, Fallout: New Vegas arrived in North America for PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360, bringing another massive post-apocalyptic adventure to the Fallout universe.

After Fallout 3, New Vegas was an automatic pre-order for me. There wasn’t much debate about it. I took the day off, fired up my Xbox 360, and the next thing I knew, I was waking up in the middle of the desert with the worst headache I’ve ever had.

And that was the beginning of a journey I never expected.

I’d thoroughly enjoyed Fallout 3, so naturally, I had high expectations for its follow-up. What surprised me was how New Vegas managed to feel so familiar while simultaneously offering something completely new and exciting.

And I’m not just talking about the environment.

War. War Never Changes. But the Scenery Sure Does.

I’ve loved cowboys and the Wild West since I was a kid. The dusty frontier towns, gunslingers, outlaws, gamblers, and that particular kind of lawlessness where everyone seems to have their own definition of justice. Throw all of that into the Fallout universe, and you’ve pretty much got a recipe for something I’m going to enjoy.

New Vegas traded the devastated streets of Washington, DC, for the sunbaked Mojave Desert. Instead of the Capital Wasteland, we had a frontier full of prospectors, casinos, roaming gangs, military outposts, and settlements trying to survive between rival powers.

And towering over everything was New Vegas itself, a neon-lit monument to humanity’s remarkable ability to keep gambling even after civilization has been reduced to radioactive rubble.

The setting was fantastic. It had that unmistakable Fallout mixture of grim post-apocalyptic survival and ridiculous dark humor, but the Western atmosphere gave it a completely different personality.

I loved it.

A Familiar Game with a Different Kind of Story

Developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Bethesda Softworks, Fallout: New Vegas used the same basic engine and gameplay foundation as Fallout 3.

There was an interesting connection here, too. Several members of Obsidian’s team had worked on the original Fallout games, bringing some of that earlier RPG design philosophy back into the series.

The familiar SPECIAL attributes, V.A.T.S. combat, perks, dialogue, exploration, and scavenging were all present. But Obsidian made some adjustments that helped distinguish the experience.

Weapons could be customized with modifications, aiming down iron sights made gunplay feel a little more natural, and the expanded crafting system offered additional ways to survive. An optional Hardcore Mode introduced more demanding survival mechanics, including hunger, thirst, and sleep.

But the biggest difference wasn’t necessarily how the game played.

It was how the world responded to your decisions.

In Fallout 3, the main story largely followed a central path. New Vegas put competing factions front and center, letting your relationships and decisions determine who might ultimately control the Mojave.

The New California Republic wanted to restore its vision of civilization. Caesar’s Legion offered a very different interpretation of order. The mysterious Mr. House had his own plans for Vegas, while an independent path offered the possibility of upsetting everybody’s carefully arranged plans.

And naturally, everyone was convinced that their particular collection of heavily armed lunatics was the best hope for the future.

For the record: Your decisions could affect not only the game’s major ending but also the eventual fate of individual settlements, factions, and characters. The game kept receipts.

I remember my first playthrough particularly well. I initially leaned toward the NCR. They seemed like a reasonable choice, at least compared to some of the other options wandering around the Mojave. But as the story unfolded, I found myself reconsidering my position.

By the time everything was said and done, I’d thrown my support behind Mr. House.

And that’s one of the things I appreciated about New Vegas. Your choices weren’t simply a matter of picking the good guys or the bad guys. You could change your mind, question your allegiances, and discover that the future you originally envisioned for the Mojave wasn’t necessarily the one you wanted by the end.

The People, the Places, and That Amazing Soundtrack

One of the things I remember most fondly about New Vegas is the sheer amount of personality packed into its world.

From the sleepy town of Goodsprings to the casinos of the Strip, the Mojave was filled with interesting people, strange stories, and places begging to be explored.

And, of course, there were the companions.

Like a lot of players, I gravitated toward Boone on my first playthrough. A former NCR sniper with a tragic past and a talent for putting enemies down before I even realized they were there? What’s not to like? And maybe ED-E come along for the ride?

But over the years, and through multiple playthroughs, I’ve grown to appreciate some of the others as I’ve gotten to know them better. Veronica, Cass, Raul, and the rest brought their own personalities, histories, and perspectives to the adventure.

That’s another thing New Vegas did particularly well. The companions weren’t just extra guns following you around. They had stories worth discovering, and sometimes it took another playthrough to really appreciate them.

And there was always something else to discover.

It was easy to start with a particular objective, stumble across something interesting along the way, and suddenly realize you’d spent the last three hours doing absolutely everything except what you’d originally intended.

Which, as any real role-player will tel you, is exactly how a good open-world RPG should work.

And then there was the music.

What an amazing soundtrack.

Marty Robbins singing “Big Iron,” Dean Martin’s “Ain’t That a Kick in the Head?,” Frank Sinatra’s “Blue Moon,” and Peggy Lee’s “Johnny Guitar” all helped establish an atmosphere that was distinctly Fallout and distinctly Western.

There was something wonderfully absurd about wandering a radioactive desert, dodging giant scorpions and raiders, while listening to classic country and lounge music.

It shouldn’t work nearly as well as it does.

But it does.

And with Wayne Newton providing the voice of Mr. New Vegas, even the radio announcer felt perfectly suited to the setting.

Sixteen Years and Several Couriers Later

I’ve returned to Fallout: New Vegas multiple times over the years, creating different characters and choosing different paths through the Mojave.

That’s one of the things I appreciate most about the game. It isn’t simply a matter of replaying the same adventure with a different weapon. Different allegiances, decisions, character builds, and approaches to quests can make each playthrough feel like a different story.

There’s always another choice to make, another corner of the map to explore, or another way to handle a situation.

And despite all those trips across the Mojave, there’s one path I still haven’t taken.

I’ve never completed a Caesar’s Legion playthrough.

I’ve sided with other factions and explored other outcomes, but somehow the Legion has always been the road not taken.

Maybe next time.

Looking back sixteen years later, Fallout: New Vegas remains one of those games that delivered exactly what I needed from a sequel while surprising me with things I didn’t even know I wanted.

It had great characters, memorable stories, a fantastic setting, an amazing soundtrack, and an enormous world that encouraged exploration. It took everything I enjoyed about Fallout 3, made some changes, and wrapped the whole thing in a Western atmosphere that seemed tailor-made for me.

Was it perfect? Of course not. But perfection isn’t what keeps me coming back to an RPG.

It’s the opportunity to experience another story, make another set of decisions, and see where the journey takes me.

Sixteen years ago, I took a day off to play a new Fallout game.

I wound up getting shot in the head, buried in the desert, and dragged into a war over Hoover Dam.

I’d call that a pretty successful vacation day.

What about you? Which faction did you side with in Fallout: New Vegas? And have you ever gone all the way with Caesar’s Legion?