I hate to be a whiner.

I really enjoyed Fallout: New Vegas. It's probably my favorite game of all time (narrowly edging out, appropriately enough, Fallout 3). However, Dead Money was just an exercise in frustration for me. Maybe it was because of the fact that I did it at 25th level as opposed to 35th level or so. It may also be because I'm actually quite fond of my comfort zone (Guns, Repair, Science, Speech) and don't particularly like moving out of it. However, all of the stealth gameplay and the lack of ammunition for my characters firearms really hurt my enjoyment of the game.

I love the IDEA of the Sierra Madre, the whole idea of a "haunted" hotel (with holograms replacing ghosts) is just creepy awesome. The idea that this was assisted by the "greed is bad" theme of Elijah's insanity only made it better (though I wish he had been directly after the gold. I would have thought that much more interesting to have a "petty" motivation as opposed to a supervillain-esque one). It's just I didn't feel like I got to do nearly as much interaction with NPCs as I wanted plus the puzzle-solving element was not all that fun for me.

I don't enjoy Splinter Cell games either.

Am I being ridiculous here?

No. Just different preferences. I enjoyed DM the first time but i'm going through it again right now. not as fun as the first time. it just seems repetative.

i loved it the first time, wanted to play it again. and then i did. and then i stopped, lol.

itll be a while before i can do it again, its so slow and empty, and i hate that cloud, cant friggin see.

Nope, sounds reasonable.

Seems like a legitimate and reasonable gripe, instead of the usual "BAAAWWWW COLLARS ARE ANNOYING".

Thanks, with that out of the way I do think this module could have been better.

Fallout allows you to envision dozens of different kinds of characters and I just felt that you were effectively punished for not playing a melee and stealth proficient one. I'm not at all good at stealth gaming and Sam Fischer's games sent me running for the hills. I managed to make it all the way to the Sierra Madre casino before simply, I couldn't go any farther - the enjoyment factor had simply bottomed out for me.

I think part of the issue is also that I don't have access to any of my companions for substantial portions of the game. Most of the combat I was involved in that really bothered me (like after the Belltower works were done) was handled with me all by my lonesome self. To be frank, they're not exactly inspiring much in the way of likability either. God and Dean Domino are flat out considering murdering you (and one will without a doubt) while Cynthia isn't able to talk with you unless you have the exactly right build of Skills and Stats.

I guess I prefer Point Lookout vs. Mothership Zeta in that there's much more to do than just the main quest and a lot of interaction.

Like others have said, not wrong to not enjoy Dead Money. It is a rather uncompromising DLC in many ways. I think some animosity towards people who have disliked the DLC comes from many posts in which people just utterly failed to grasp that you need to take it a bit slower in DM and so forth. Like they completely missed the fundamental parts of it.

That said, I don't really agree with people that you need stuff like melee, unarmed or stealth. The Police Pistol is immensely useful (even if you don't have points in Guns) and ammo for it is rather plentiful, and there are plenty of pistols to use for repair jobs as well. The throwing spears can be tricky to use but also work wonderfully (again, even with lower skill sets). But yeah, typically I find myself handling combat in DM rather differently. I'm *much* more careful in approaching the enemy and make sure that there are plenty of things that I can take cover behind before engaging. Stealth would be immensely useful in the outside areas, but again, not really needed.
For the part after the Belltower though, you *can* run past the Ghost People. I remember doing that part, seeing the red markers on the compass and thinking "screw this". Made a mad dash for it and whaddayaknow, made it to the casino and probably saved a lot of resources in the process.

The companions are definitely a subjective thing though. Personally I find the DM companions very intriguing and I loved that there was always that tension. And you don't have to fight any of them if you play your cards right. It will depend on your choices.

DM's design decisions aren't things I usually like it normally. I often dislike sections where I'm "trapped" and have to fight my way out in games. Just in terms of design goals, I prefer more open experiences. But I found the quality of DM to be so high that it really won me over and I think it far surpasses the F3 DLCs in terms of how inspired it feels, even though I might've preferred something like Point Lookout in terms of it being a bit more open.

But yeah, it's certainly not for everyone.

I'm saving Dead Money until last, because the impression I get from people is that it's very much an Anchorage experience ie you can take it or leave it, doesn't really add anything to the overall story arch aside from some closure for Veronica. Now Honest Hearts and Lonesome Road are going to be different, more integral to the overall New Vegas plot. Not sure about Old World Blues.

Definitely going to play DM, but only when I run out of other DLC to play.

I didn't think DM was particularly restrictive. Guns, Melee and EW are very well catered for, the only combat skill that i think might have been left out is Explosives.

As for having to fight alone, yeah, after you drop off all companions you can pretty much leg it to the casino without taking out any more ghost people.

I feel that the companions had a lot of interaction to them, but more is definitely better. As for the way they treat you, that depends entirely on you. Well, except for Dean, if you don't bend over for him you'll bruise his ego and as much as i tend to avoid killing characters i'm not willing to kiss his ass. I don't think that's a bad thing either, tough-ish decisions are a part of what makes NV's story so great.

Hm. It does add a little to the story, aside from Veronica. Old World Blues is probably set in the Big Empty. Two characters in DM have already been there, and tell some things about it. There's also a little more information about the other Courier, who'll likely appear in Lonesome Road.

I wouldn't do that if I were you, I don't think the DLC is meant to be played out of order. Based on what I've personally seen it looks like the DLC is following an episodic format. Each DLC has its own stand alone story, but there's an overarching plot going in the background that will culminate in the final add on. I think it would be strange to confront Ulysses in Lonesome Road, and then go back and play Dead Money only to talk like you have no idea who Ulysses is when certain characters mention him.

I agree, i get so frusterated. I run out of ammo and cant do crap. it makes me so mad sometimes i want to throw my contol through my TV. i have yet to complete it yet.

The first time through was a bit frustrating because to me it was something outside of the norm for the most part but that's me. I did finally chill.

Once I had a little time in I started to figure it out and made good headway but the save-save-save rule was in full effect.

Second time through it was a bit more enjoyable I suppose since knowing the ropes helped alot.

Third time through I was there to get everything I could, get as much money out of the merchants as I could, and try to get all of the bars out.
I had to give up the allthegold quest but I have a save I work off of every once in a while to try to get it. Sure wish I had a stealth boy. I managed to get it to the hallway behind the energy screen but the elevator doors wouldn't open.

The ominous background music was pretty grating on the nerves though. That was the worst of it for me. Now I just play music.

didn't care much for it first time through, but am liking it a little more each subsequent visit. i like the casino proper, best part of the dlc no question. what got to me was the exterior, the village, and how it was constant tension. it needed a little break, or better pacing. it was very atmospheric and perfectly conveyed the feeling of claustraphobia and suffocating. i just needed something to relieve that feeling about halfway through the village as it starts to really wear on me and i find myself no longer enjoying but rushing to get into the casino.

i understand why people don't like it, and while i find it a solid dlc, i prefer just about everything in the main game to dead money.

Yeah, I didn't really like it at first, like many of the other people. My opinion changed over time, though.

I found certain areas with speakers so frustrating that I had to go do something else for awhile before going back to it. Still, I enjoyed the architecture, the backstory, and the companions(convincing God to come out of the cell without turning him into Dog was satisfying).

seems like a waste of money if i cant return to it the dlc and walk around. if i had know that i would of never downloaded it. i want replay value with the same character im using


you listening bethesda

People whined when OA came out, then we found out how to get indestructible weapons. In my opinion, once you get a Gauss Rifle that never breaks with a Chinese stealth suit that tends to equal godmode.

This is interestring as i hated it the first time through, not really hated but i did not enjoy the experience as much as i had hoped. I have to be honest when i made my next character (which was character number 5) i dreaded the obligatory trip to the SM. I vowed to go in different this time, so i built the character with some minor traits, perks and invested in some character implants to assist in the SM.

I went into the SM at level 26 with guns, science, and medicine maxxed, with survival, lockpick, and repair around 50 or 60 which helped tremendiously.

Light step is almost a must and it did exactly what i had hopped it would, it negated the bear traps and trip wires for me, unfortunately my companions still set off quite a few traps either killing themselves...reload or killing us both....reload. God i loved Christine's character but man was she the worst in this regard if there was any trap or trip wire with in the entirety of DM she set it off on us lolz, Dean was not as bad but it was probably more because after getting killed moving Christine around i took better precautions.

I did invest into some implants like rejuvination and iron skin which seems to help alot in damage mitigation. Rejuvination really helped in that i lost health just the same but at a way slower rate, it never was enough to over come the health drain but it did slow it way down. Iron skin helped me blow off damage as no matter how sneaky or prepared one is there is always that one mob from nowhere that gets in that lucky shot. The total expendature of 20,000 caps for the implants was the best investment as a player i could make in the Mohave but even more so when i figured in how well they worked my second time through SM.

I still this time as well only got out with a few bars of gold and i did not stress it because at level 26 my ability to earn caps due to my skill set, repair and survival, that the items i could craft were easy to make and profitable. (bighorners have alot of meat and the steaks sell well) Also if you took the time to clear the medical area of ghost people you could always duck back inside for a quick fix up combined with the implants allowed me to work longer before i had to rest, repair and rejuvinate.

I liked it more the second time, i am NOT sure if it was because i got more out of the story with the second telling, the preparation which began at character creation, or both, but when i left the SM and returned to the Mohave to continue the main quest, (i still had not been past the 188 at level 26) that the Mohave seemed almost cheery, bright, almost a happy place.

Asai

I personally did not like dead money at all. A little boring and very limited as far as exploration and freedom.

Really liked all of Dead Money, especially the dialogue and characters, and the foreboding atmosphere. My only gripe is how speakers were handled. Some of them had such arbitrary ranges and there was no real way to tell where the ones with no graffiti were without taking risks that make no sense outside of the metagame.

I just played Dead Money last week, finished it last night. I read some reviews that talked about how unarmed was important, how you had limited ammo, and so on. I just now read this post that talks about a lack of ammo, going out of your comfort zone, and lots of stealth.

I must be the weird one out. I had a massive surplus of ammo in this DLC. Sure, on starting out I was a bit low but there weren't many enemies either. By the end, I was an unstoppable behemoth loaded down with tons of stimpacks, tons of weapons, hundreds and hundreds of ammo, just running up and taking on 5+ ghosts at once and dispatching them all with a couple shots.

I didn't use unarmed. I used my guns, mostly the Holorifle and Automatic Rifle. I also used explosives, which I typically do. To step out of Dead Money, how else would you easily take on a camp of Cazadores without explosives? Gotta have some flexibility.

I loved Dead Money. I explored every inch of that place. Took me almost twice as long as any FO3 DLC. It had an awesome story, it was more challenging than the material I'm currently occupied with in the main game, and the setting was fantastic.

BTW, I very strongly disagree that this DLC punished you for not being melee + stealth. I had neither and I had no major difficulty finishing all the content. I honestly don't even see how you could say that. Just shoot off a ghost's arm or leg, which can usually be done with one shot of the holorifle, and then run up and start knifing their limbs off.

Different tastes for different people,

I personally enjoyed it, first time for a long time in a Fallout game where I must use my mind instead of my hand to shoot



No they arent :spotted owl: because Obsidian developed the game

Dead Money was a great premise poorly executed. Who ever thought it up didn't see it through. Passed it on to some peewit who screwed the pooch.

Fixes;
1) have a way to take off the collar, a puzzle to solve, but the screeching speakers now just cause damage ... until you find the cottonballs.

2) fix the ending ... how did I get that collar removed!!??

3) add raiders or fiends or supermuties that have wandered into the cassino ... like your the only one who heard the radio message ... like yeah!!

Um number 3 was explained wasnt it that Elijah and Dog would kidnap people to the radio message and woudlent the ghost people kill them