Upon hitting the 30th hour of gameplay in “Fallout: New Vegas,” you can’t help but feel a part of the world you’re playing in. While Mr. House goes on at length about how you are to be his successor if you play your cards right, it’s just so much fun to play as many sides as humanely possible.

And boy, are there sides to play with. After getting your feet wet in this game, it feels weird that there is little to no Brotherhood of Steel presence. That all changes once you come across their bunker and start working alongside them. While they do seem a bit hostile at first, they have their reasons. Not nearly as strong in the West as they are in the East, these guys have been observing and surviving. Once you help them realize the NCR isn’t as a big a threat as they thought, the BOS are back in business. While we haven’t played the game long enough to learn the ramifications of helping them, we’re waiting anxiously.

This kind of participation, in so many different communities is definitely a selling point in this game. In Fallout 3, you got to pick sides, but it was usually Enclave vs. BOS or simply good vs. evil. If you’re a good character, you’ve now come across a myriad of small gangs like the Jackals, the Kings and the Great Khans. If that wasn’t enough, you have the three families of New Vegas, as well as the BOS, the Legion and Mr. House. As a result, there’s so much more of a real world here than in the last game. However, as stated before, it feels like your character doesn’t have the same purpose as Fallout 3 did.

Well, you can’t win them all.

Another great element to the game is the huge map and bevy of locations. While there isn’t much to do in many of them, the exploration of the map is one of the most enjoyable elements of the game.

The same thing goes for some of the added weapons, which range from rifles, machine guns, swords [one named the buster sword, obviously an homage to Final Fantasy VII] and clubs made out of slabs of cement. While the guns are all cool, this game has been enjoyable for us due to mainly all of the new melee weapons, which encourage hand-to-hand combat. The Love or Hate, a pair of spiked brass knuckles obtained from a leader of the viper gang, is incredibly strong and can be carried into any casino unnoticed, making it one of our favorites thus far.

All in all, this game is a fungus that in spite of its bugs [we haven’t been able to find Boone for over 15 hours of gameplay after sending him to the Lucky 38], continues to grow on us after every second we spend in front of it.

Related posts:

1. Review Fix Exclusive: Audrey Leprince Interview Review Fix chats with the Game Bakers’ Audrey Leprince, who discusses the inspiration behind their smash-hit game on the iPad, “Squids,” which is currently the top game on iTunes in...
2. Review Fix Exclusive: Interview with The Game Bakers’ Emeric Thoa Review Fix chats with The Game Bakers’ Emeric Thoa to get the skinny on “Squids,” their new RPG on the iOS, Android, PC and Mac. Scheduled to be released in...
3. Fallout New Vegas: Lonesome Road Review: A Lonesome Road Indeed I spent over 100 hours playing Fallout New Vegas since its release in the fall last year. It was a sort of salvation, a way to escape the rigors of...
4. Fallout New Vegas: Old World Blues Initial Thoughts After a month of delays, it’s obvious why “Old World Blues,” Fallout New Vegas’ newest DLC never hit the 360 in June. It’s a bug-riddled mess. With entirely too much...