Fallout

I've spent some time thinking about Fallout 3 and New Vegas. I've come to the realization that, while both games are enormous in scale, deep in story, and full of action and drama, I'm going to have to say that Fallout: New Vegas feels much more like a true action-RPG than Fallout 3. New Vegas has a deeper storyline with higher replay value; in Fallout 3 you've essentially got the same story path with alternate endings. In New Vegas, you've got alternate story paths each with their own alternate endings within. Every choice you make, every bond you form, affects the outcome of the game.

In Fallout 3, good and evil are rather well-defined. There are good characters that you kill to gain negative karma, and bad characters that you kill for positive karma. However, in the Mojave there is no clear-cut good and evil. You've got three different factions fighting for control of New Vegas and its riches, or you can ignore them and become the dictator yourself. To me, it's more about the choices you make, as almost every quest somehow affects your relationship with different factions and towns.

As for the gameplay in New Vegas, I think it is more balanced than in 3. In Fallout 3, I would have been able to get my character to have 100 in all stats by the time I reached level 30. My character was very rich, and had weapons and armor up the wazoo. Most of the weapons, ammunition and caps were gained by killing random shopkeepers and looting their inventory. As far as I know with New Vegas, that isn't possible. You're even so tempted to kill Mick and Ralph after seeing the special inventory- a room full of ammo and guns- just to steal the inventory. But there's no such ability. You need to earn everything by buying it, looting it off enemies, or randomly finding it.

You can manually aim your weapons down the sights. You can craft your own ammo. You can make your own stimpaks, food, chems. To me, there's just so much about the game that just makes the RPG element shine through a lot more. Perks are more meaningful, because you don't get as many, and they don't directly affect your stats.

New Vegas is a vast improvement over Fallout 3. This had been on my mind for a while, and I realize that New Vegas just flows better. At first I thought 3 was better, but I had a good command over 3, I knew exactly where to go with 3, I knew what I was doing and who to talk to and everything. I guess after the unfamiliarity wore off with the Mojave wasteland, I came more fond of it, and found it more enjoyable than DC.

If you've played Fallout 3 and enjoyed it, get New Vegas. That's all I can say. It is definitely a must-buy.