MEDIA MEDITATION NUMBER FOUR: Where'd Old Vegas Go? (M-RATED BLOG)

Are you ready for a blast from the past? Well, too bad.

Oh, boy, another Video Game...

Don't fret, because this is a fairly popular title.  More importantly if you played its predecessor, Fallout 3, you should feel right at home here.  

FALLOUT: NEW VEGAS, just like the rest of the series, takes place in post-apocalyptic America, in the year 2281.  Just like the rest of the series, you'll find that the atmosphere has a unique 40's/50's vibe -- seen in both technology and the game's music (I'll get into it a little later).  Developed by Obsidian Entertainment, this game is not a direct squeakquel to FO3 nor does it make any mention of the 3rd installment's plot.  And, just like most of Obsidian's games, it's pretty buggy.

STORY: The game starts pretty bluntly; you are a Courier who has been ambushed on delivery across the Mojave desert.  A unknown figure in a checkered sport jacket hints that your delivery was rigged for you to die... right before he pulls out a 9mm and, to put it simply, pops a cap in your dome.  Luckily, you are dug out by a robot (with the face of Vegas Vic) and brought to a nearby town to be healed up.  After you are patched up (in the form of character creation -- your gender and race (Caucasian, Afro-American, Hispanic, Asian) are all customizable) the doc leads you through the steps to customizing your initial stats for the game before you are shoved out the door into a wide open world.

GAMEPLAY: The gunplay in New Vegas is not much improved from FO3, with only slight touch ups and some new weapons added.  However, the key theme of this game does open up for plenty of gambling (which, unfortunately, takes a while to get to).  Blackjack, Slots, Roulette are all here.  No poker though -- a shame.  And, just like in real Vegas, the better you do -- the more Casinos will bribe you with food, hotel rooms, and so on.  Get too lucky, however, and you'll get banned from gambling in a specific casino.  New Vegas also brings a new element to gameplay: Factions.  There are nearly two dozen factions in the game, some of which you can join through working for them.  However, aid one faction and its rival will turn against you -- even hunt you down.

GRAPHICS: If you bought this game, it wasn't for the graphics.  In comparison to current "Next-Gen" titles out on the market, New Vegas is a step down -- looking exactly like its 2 year old predecessor.  Remember my mention of bugs? You'll find that models will occasionally glitch out, even to the point where a dog's eyes will float outside of its head. Nice goin, programmers!  Plenty of the gun textures are also very iffy, if not worse than the previous title.  

SOUND: I brought up the game's music earlier.  The game's tricked-out watch (called a Pip-Boy) not only allows you to check your inventory, stats, and quests, but allows you to tune into two separate radio stations -- each with a unique vibe to it.  The "Mojave Music Radio" station plays strictly western music, while "Radio New Vegas" (hosted by none other than Mr. Las Vegas himself, Wayne Newton (who voices himself in-game)) plays both news going on in-game (mainly, your character's exploits) and popular Rat-Pack Era music (including Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra).  Although the music is nice, you'll find that the game's system has a bad habit of repeating the same songs a little too much.  

Fun as the game is, I wouldn't recommend buying it until it comes cheaper (and, if you read my last blog, you'd know a special place where you can get good deals, in the future).  

Well, ain't that a kick in the head?

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Where will Jeff tread next? Will it be another game review (God, let's hope not) or will he shake things up with a thought-provoking blog focused on today's corruption of the media?!

Nah, it'll probably just be the Matrix.  Yep, The Matrix.