So I've almost burned out on vanilla NV, and am contemplating the two DLC's... for those who have played them, are they worth it? Do they 'make the cut', quality-wise? Or are they less than stellar follow-ons that seem like they were made by the intern staff? The DLC after FO3 was a really mixed bag, so I figured I'd ask the knowledgeable folks here what they thought of DM and HH.... feel free to rate them separately on a 1-10 scale as well, with 1 being utter garbage and 10 being best FO DLC evah! Thanks...

I have yet to do Dead Money, but I loved Honest Hears.

Story 9/10
Likable cast of NPCs 10/10
Hours for cash 10/10 (10 bucks for 6-7 hours of game play well worth it in my book)

While the story gives you at least 2 ways to complete most quests you still have to follow the main quest line without deviation. Not as bad as it sounds, but if you are hardcoe Legion RPer it may be a problem. I still enjoyed this DLC on all of my characters sans my energy girl. Just not a lot of upgrades/perks for energy players. I even looked the other way on my Legion character while I did these quest because of the plethora of new melee, thrown weapons, and poisons. I can also honestly say I felt more attached to characters who did not last more then 5 minutes in the story line then I did with 50% of the companion NPCs in the standard game.

All in all I am very happy with Honest Hears, and I will now buy Dead Money because of it.

my first time through dead money, i was less than impressed. i was level 15, playing on hardcoe/very hard, with all my points in guns/speech. needless to say, i turned the difficulty down, turned hardcoe mode off, and still BARELY made it through, cursing the entire time that i had wasted my money.

then a couple weeks ago i decided i'd do it *properly*. i went in at level 27, all implants, beefier Melee and Energy skills, and with a good idea of what was expected of me (sneaking, problem-solving). and i completely LOVED it! took me 10 hours to complete, combing over every inch of it, i barely even had to use ANY stimpacks/doctors bags AND did it all on very hard/hardcoe. oh yeah and managed to get all the gold bars too :celebration:

so, when i did it properly, i absolutely loved it.

onto honest hearts, i *HONESTLY* haven't even beat it for the first time yet! i've been SAVORING every moment, and trust me, there is LOADS to savor. best landscape i've ever seen in a Fallout game; colorful, fresh water, trees, cliffs, rocks, and the sky at night is WONDERFUL. not to mention the rainstorms. I've been spending the majority of my time just hunting, exploring, and SMASHING tribals with a mutated bear fist :toughninja:

so i love them both, in my opinion they are both more unique and better than any of the DLC for FO3. both of the DLCs got some pretty mediocre reviews from magazines/websites, but I'm convinced thats because the people they choose to review the games are not *true* fans of this. they aren't completely consumed by the narrative and the ideas like we are, and so they tend to look at it as just another stand alone piece of electronic entertainment rather than an extension of the AWESOMENESS THAT IS FALLOUT. :fallout:

anyways, i love them both, i think if you love fallout you will too. thats my long-winded opinion!

edit: on a scale of one to 10:

Dead Money 8/10

Honest Hearts 9/10

In dead money you don't have that much options because there is a greedy old man watching your moves and if u break his rules he will blast your ass and make the moon cherry pie red,funniest thing I've heard in dead money btw. Back to topic dead money has no side side quest very little to explore and annoying ass speakers.

Ok, most of the sentiment is more or less positive, so far- I know DM came first, and it added another 5 character levels (up to 35) and some new perks, etc... do you get the same levels and perks if you skip DM and just buy and play Honest Hearts?

i enjoyed dead money...it has a creepy factor..the companions were interesting....hopefully you can carry more than 4 gold bars like i did out of that place...haha

No Smokeyman you don't get the same perks. Honest Hearts has its own perks the best in my book is Sneering Imperialist. Beyond just the awesome name it gives a good bonus vs fiends/tribals/and others of there ilk. There is also another perk that does the same for NCR/Legion.

While it does give you + 5 more lvls letting you lvl to 35, if you have DM the + 5 lvls stack thus letting you adventure to lvl 40... I think.

Dead money just seemed like a chore the whole damn time. Got a little annoying having to go back and forth.

Honest hearts on the other hand is a nice piece of work. It has a great cast of characters. Great guns. Great story. Great setting.

Dead money:
7.5/10.

It was ok but seemed very tedious and annoying. Its not bad but gets repetitive. You should get it, its worth the money.

Honest hearts:

9/10.

Like i said great characters, etc. I love talking to Joshua graham and learning about him.

Dead money

Dead money was annoying to say the least, but it was a challenge like none I've ever experienced in a fallout game before. I love the story line between Father Elijah, Christine, and Veronica, it broke my heart and sort of brought me back to the sadness that i experienced in Fallout 3 (KICKASS SADNESS!!!!) But I don't know if dying all of the time is worth it to you. Make sure you go in with high perception, high speech, and high melee or unarmed. I usually build my characters like that so it wasn't that bad for me. Be warned, YOU CANNOT COME BACK!

Honest Hearts was a huge let down. Joshua Graham was built up from day one, with the slaves spreading stories of the burned man. Turns out, even though the ads for the DLC were based around him, the DLC isn't really about him at all (at least not until the end). The landscape is beautiful and lush and the survivalist caves are very interesting, it gives you a background to Vault 22 as well. You can finish the main quest in about a half hour depending on how you decide to play the game :wink_smile: but there is much to explore afterward. You can come back at the end of this DLC, but really for what? all of the main players are gone.

So it's really up to you. I don't know what you're into or what you like. Hope this helped!

Yes it was! It was actually gorgeous, like going on a rl camping trip. :flamethrower: :frog:

Dead Money can be dull at times, but the characters (and gear) certainly made it worth it.

I thought DM was quite good but very hard as I went in quite early. A a couple of times I nearly pulled out entirely by reverting to an earlier save so I could go back a little more prepared, but I stuck with it and it was good.

I'd play it again no problem.

I don't believe in a numbered rating system so I'm not going to do that, but here's my little summary/review of each.

Dead Money - A slower paced add-on with interesting characters, story, and equipment. If your looking for a guns blazing action add-on this won't be your cup of tea. You'll have to watch your pace keep your eyes and ears open if you want to survive the Sierra Madre Casino and it's residents. I personally loved this piece of content and am glad I purchased it the only real negative I have on it is you can't return and they strip you of all your stuff at the start. Your captor makes for a intriguing individual along with the rest of "guests" you'll encounter at your stay at this lovely little paradise just try not to let the fog ruin your sun bathing.

Honest Hearts - Do you like Fallout? Do you want more Fallout? If so this is for you. Come down to the beautiful forests of Zion with the Happy Trails Caravan Company to get away from the boring desert that is the Mojave, commute with the locals, and see some of the wild animals that inhabit the area. Seriously if you want a change of location and even more story on top of the massive book that is Fallout New Vegas you'll enjoy this. You can explore different places meet new and mentioned people and get some new equipment that will make your experience in the original game a blast too.

Both - Add a great deal of perks and a +5 level cap for each which makes them almost worth getting for that alone.

EDIT: If you couldn't tell I recommend both of them, but like others have said they're not for everyone.