» Wed May 23, 2012 2:54 am A few months ago (it was January, I believe), I posted a thread asking whether I should start playing Fallout New Vegas or Fallout 3. Due to a lack of availability of FO3, FO:NV was the obvious choice; however, it took me until last weekend to actually start playing the game properly, since I finally am starting to get burned out on Skyrim. In my original thread, it turned out some people were interested in the game from a noob's perspective (hey, that'd be me), so I decided to make this thread. Please, please, leave FO3 vs FO:NV discussion out of this topic, this has been discussed before, without any real results. Also, I ask you to leave out spoilers when possible if you respond; I assume most of you will have completed the game at least once before, but just in case, I will probably be posting spoilers too, so you are warned (hypocritical, I know).
Anyways, the purpose of this thread is not to write a novel (in that case I would have written this in the Fan Fiction section), but instead make it a sort of document from my open point of view (though I will perhaps make a comparison to Skyrim every now and then, excuse me for that). Don't expect a lot of detail, but instead an independent look on the game, discussing the game mechanics and the Mojave Wasteland. Input from readers is, of course, always welcome. I hope you will enjoy my view on the game. Here goes;
Getting shot in the head doesn't look like the best way to start of a journey, but then again, I didn't expect the Mojave and its inhabitants to play nice. Anyways, time for character creating! I didn't have any good ideas for a name, so I settled with Zohan Dvir, after the main character from the movie You Don't Mess With The Zohan. Got a nice goatee going on.
I'm pleasantly surprised by the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. system, it looks like you can shape your character more than in Skyrim (see, there's the first comparison). Not like I have any idea how the system works, so I decided I'd just settle for something that seemed kind of average; 7 Strength, 5 Perception, 6 Endurance, 4 Charisma, 7 Intelligence, 7 Agility, 4 Luck, or something along those lines. My main plan is to use regular guns and sneak around, so I went with the Trigger Discipline trait, and, since I was feeling adventurous, with Wild Wasteland - it hasn't done much for me so far, except a skeleton in a fridge along the road. I don't even.
The people of Goodsprings seem nice enough, especially Victor and Sunny Smiles seem like nice people (or robots, in Victor's case). I have no idea who these Powder Gangers are, but since the people of Goodsprings helped me getting up and running, I decided to drive the Gangers out. Starting to develop a little reputation here.
I cleared Primm's casino of mobsters and picked up a nice Incinerator in the process, which is really fun to use if you ask me. Anyways, I considered making Primm Slim, the robot over at Vance & Vicky's, major of Primm, but I decided this was something better left to the NCR. I arranged an extra squadron at the Mojave Outpost, picked up a side mission from Ghost, and headed for Nipton.
I'm not really sure if the Legion will play like that all game, but I must say that what they did in Nipton was quite disgusting. Burning down the place and crucifying the inhabitants? Nipton may not have been the nicest place out there, but this was pretty cruel, if you ask me. Luckily I'm quite the hypocrite, so when I leveled, I took the Bloody Mess perk (besides some perks that give more exp and skill points every level). I don't know if that was a wise choice; on one hand it's quite fun to make enemies explode by merely killing them, on the other hand it takes away every bit of realism. At least it makes picking up loot from enemies easier, since their limbs are usually spread in a 20 foot radius. Fun!
In Novac I heard of weird stuff going on at the REPCONN test site, so I decided to check it out. The ghouls in there seemed nice enough, so I decided to help them on their mission to the far beyond. I liked the idea of painting the moon pink, and carving Lenin's face in it. Helping them also netted me the space suit, which is now my armour of choice.
After REPCONN, I headed over to Helios-One, where I wanted to help out the NCR, whom I now deem my friends (though my reputation with them is still neutral). It was quite annoying to break through the ARCHIMEDES security system, as those American patriot robots kept two-hitting me with their annoying laser beams. Good thing I'm starting to get used to my weapons (That Gun, Cowboy Repeater, Hunting Rifle, and .357 Magnum, mostly) and V.A.T.S. is a lot of fun to use as well, so after a few deaths on my side I finally laid those securitrons to ashes. Blowing up my NCR-partners didn't seem that great of an idea, and I want to play as a nice guy (more or less), so spreading the energy and sparing the NCR was my best option. This netted me some respect with the Followers of the Apocalypse (whoever they may be), and a nifty book (what the hell kinda reward is a book anyways?).
This leaves me at were I am now; halfway between Novac and Boulder City, practicing my marksmanship on scorpions. So far I'm really enjoying my travel through the Mojave; I like the branching dialogue, characters that show personality, and the beautiful sights of Nevada.
This concludes my first update in my adventure, I hope you enjoyed. If there are people interested in my shenanigans, I will keep updating, otherwise I'll just let this thread die a silent death. Any questions and advice on proceeding my journey are of course welcome!
- Navelpluis
