Fallout: New Vegas is on my gaming agenda, probably this winter. I'm playing other games right now because I plan on sinking at least 200 hours into it. Having played The Elder Scrolls IV, V and Fallout 3, I know how to play...and I don't fast travel. I recently savored the heck out of Dark Souls in an epic 120 hour exclusive romp. I'm casually playing Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow until highly anticipated Dishonored. Then Assassin's Creed III. After that, I'm heading towards Fallout: New Vegas. I understand its developed by Obsidian and has more emphasis on story. I also heard they streamlined weapon skills, which I'm not sure about. But I heard lots of good and can't wait to sink my teeth into it. Is the all-included dlc worth the price? How long are these dlcs? And I heard this was extra buggy...how are things looking with all patches in order? Thanks!

Yes, there is no emphasis on story.
No, weapons are not streamlined. In fact, I'm quite puzzled who on earth would say that. You've played Fallout 3 so you know how the weapons were there. Expect more depth with these: there is no "best" weapon as the "best" weapon for your character depends on your stats, there's various perks tied to different weapon types (shotguns, pistols, rifles, lever-action rifles, revolvers, "modern" firearms, plasma, laser) that make them all quite distinguished from one another. The only way the weapon system has been simplified from FO3 is that you can't create your own weapons using schematics, but you CAN modify weapons using weapon mods.


And the Ultimate Edition is worth it. Fallout New Vegas is the first game I've ever bought DLC for where I actually felt like I got my money's worth. Old World Blues won DLC of the Year for 2011 and all the DLC have an inter-connected storyline between each other. Play them in order and you'll love it. Each DLC is probably an average of 8 hours quest-wise, though all of them include perks, traits, weapon and armor types that are truly unique and add to potential character depth. They also raise the level cap by 5 levels each.

Bugs are mostly dead. If and when you buy the game, come back and ask about what bugs still exist. There's three big ones that CAN be worked around/avoided completely without hurting your gameplay, and besides those three, others aren't common. Best if I tell you the three once you've started playing though.

HOWEVER!

Avoid buying it for the PS3. Bethesda's engine and PS3 don't play nice together, so typically PS3 players report that by the time they complete most of the main game and 2 of the four DLC, they get crippling lag that forces them to start a new character.

Hardly notice any besides ground scorpions. Id say nearly all the glitches are fixed
As for content itself....yes its very worth it. If you actually do exploring and missions you can probably spent 2 full gamer days per DLC (3 on Old World Blues) not to mention the awesome weapons and extra challeges. definitely worth my 40$

I bought the PS3 version and that's basically where I'm at, but my character has completed 3 of the 4 DLC. This is partially true, at times there will be some serious lag that will force you to turn off your PS3 and turn it back on again, but once you turn it back on it'll be totally fine. But take that with a pinch of salt, as this is coming from someone is basically blind to bugs in games.

And to answer your question, yes it is absolutely worth it. The full game is fantastic, and the DLC are pretty great too. So far, my favorite has been Honest Hearts but Dead Money and Old World Blues are pretty great too. Currently playing Lonesome Road.

If you love plot in games, mixed with some heart pounding action and open world goodness, get this game.

Yes, New Vegas is completely worth it! Just don't treat it like a TES game and you will be sure to love it. Heck, I'd say buy it before AC3 and let any bugs be fixed. Then play Fallout 1, 2, and Tactics