OWB Micro Review

kaelef

kaelef

First time out of the vault
Positives: Loved the scientist characters and the location. The new item and NPC additions were interesting. Voice acting was generally very good. As many have noted, the sense of humor is excellent here.

Negatives: Exploration of the area was unsatisfying because there was very little of interest to find. Plenty of the usual ammo and useless misc items (plungers, ash trays, etc., etc.), but few instances of story-expanding holodisks, computer terminals, or random NPC conversations. Too many cases of finding something that *looks* like it should be really important or revelatory, only to find it's not (e.g. the village model at the weather testing station). [This is an area where I think New Vegas overall feels weak compared to FO3.]

For shame: The usual technical problems.

This DLC is *so* close to being amongst the best additions to the Fallout universe. As it is, it falls short of that. I think another few months spent filling-out the locations in Big MT would've made a big difference.

Grade: B-
 
My favorite DLC for New Vegas so far though.

A decent deal of new content I fell and the environment is vastly superior to Zion Valley in my opinion, much more interesting.

It also gives good insight into how a lot of things came to be in the wasteland.

Got to love the over-powered to hell LAER.

My face when I came across the artillery guns:

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kaelef said:
Negatives: Exploration of the area was unsatisfying because there was very little of interest to find. Plenty of the usual ammo and useless misc items (plungers, ash trays, etc., etc.), but few instances of story-expanding holodisks, computer terminals, or random NPC conversations. Too many cases of finding something that *looks* like it should be really important or revelatory, only to find it's not (e.g. the village model at the weather testing station). [This is an area where I think New Vegas overall feels weak compared to FO3.]
Grade: B-
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That mostly sumarizes the Fallout3 exploring experience. Actualy it sounds like it has more content than FO3 exploration.
 
Walpknut said:
That mostly sumarizes the Fallout3 exploring experience. Actualy it sounds like it has more content than FO3 exploration.
Click to expand...

I don't remember it being as consistently bad in FO3, but I haven't played it since it came out. I do remember feeling that way occasionally, though.

I noticed it right away in NV. Maybe it's been an issue all along, and I've just become more sensitive to it.

I really hope this is an area that sees improvement in FO4.
 
Four Suited Jack said:
Got to love the over-powered to hell LAER.
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The damn thing breaks down the moment you hold it, though. With Built to Destroy and Max Charge ammo after firing a single clip it already needs repairs.
 
Stanislao Moulinsky said:
The damn thing breaks down the moment you hold it, though. With Built to Destroy and Max Charge ammo after firing a single clip it already needs repairs.
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Not Elijah's LAER, which can also be modded just like the regular one.
 
kaelef said:
Negatives: Exploration of the area was unsatisfying because there was very little of interest to find. Plenty of the usual ammo and useless misc items (plungers, ash trays, etc., etc.), but few instances of story-expanding holodisks, computer terminals, or random NPC conversations. Too many cases of finding something that *looks* like it should be really important or revelatory, only to find it's not (e.g. the village model at the weather testing station). [This is an area where I think New Vegas overall feels weak compared to FO3.]
Click to expand...

Actually, this is something I think New Vegas handled far, far better than FO3, and OWB is a quintessential example. In FO3, the world was full of pointless locations with pointless McGuffins. New Vegas makes you kiss a few frogs to find your prince. It's more realistic, it's more fulfilling, and it makes you feel a lot more like an actual explorer/scavenger. Besides, their environmental design tells stories of its own, stimulating your imagination and really making you think about the purpose of what you're seeing or what brought it about. There's not always an answer, either, just like in real life. I really appreciate the loose ends and the lack of instant gratification. It's not often that game designers are willing to deal with gamers like we're adults, even (especially!) in M or AO games.

(And as far as that weather station does go, there are a few pertinent facts about it: first of all, I'm sure you noticed that activating it washes away the pile of dirt beneath the scaffold, exposing a cache. Also, activating the simulation turns on the fountain in Higgs Village, for whatever that's worth. I also found it exceedingly odd that the village itself had skeletons with cameras placed just about everywhere, as well as the fact that it so closely resembled Tranquility Lane from FO3. Maybe we'll get some answers in Lonesome Road. Maybe we'll have to wonder forever. The feeling I think we're meant to come away from OWB (and this sort of NV encounter in general) with is something like Twin Peaks or LOST (before they started to suck).
 
Courier said:
Stanislao Moulinsky said:
The damn thing breaks down the moment you hold it, though. With Built to Destroy and Max Charge ammo after firing a single clip it already needs repairs.
Click to expand...

Not Elijah's LAER, which can also be modded just like the regular one.
Click to expand...

Actually Elijah's LAER is even worse. It has only 50 HP, which means that with BTD and Max Charge ammo it goes from perfect condition to broken in just...84 shots. And the magazine has 15.

The normal version can fire around 125 shots before breaking. Yuppie!

A steady supply of Weapon Repair Kits and Raul with Full Mainteneance are great if you plan to use it often.
 
The LAER is a piece of shit compared to my pimped-out holorifle. Even when I apply both mods to Elijah's version, it's still shit compared to my holorifle. I don't even know why they put this thing in the game. To show that there are other pulse-type weapons???
 
Well, it shoots faster than the Holorifle and holds more shots before it has to reload.

It's pretty much just another high power energy weapon to make up for the fact that energy weapons sucked until the patch.
 
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