Rank the DLC's
- Thread starter Akratus
- Start date
Akratus
Bleep bloop.
Sabirah said:
I concur. Best religious character in any videogame. Also, Keith Szarabajka's voice over is phenomenal in my opinion. I hope he's got some good character(s) in skyrim because I've only heard him do this unimportant companion npc. I also hope he can one day do a main character like commander shepard.
1. Honest Hearts
Could've used some more content and some more situations where you could use your skills in meaningful ways.
Other than that, it was to me extremely enjoyable to get away from the more "high-fantasy" ideas and play Fallout where the technology isn't a huge part of things. Found it great that it was more classic post-apocalyptic in a sense (well, a lot of that feel was from the Survivalist journals), but with the twist of it taking place in beautiful Zion.
The spiritual themes were well realized and unusual for a game. Joshua Graham was extremely well done, the other characters were pretty good as well (though Daniel could've really used something... more). Good choices at the end of it all. Great backstory to it all with the Survivalist. Plus, I think Honest Hearts is the most pleasant to replay of the bunch.
2. Lonesome Road
Will depend a lot on if you like Ulysses or not. I found him to be pretty interesting, though not at all in the way I expected.
This DLC is the one where I admit that the atmosphere pretty much won me over completely. The note of finality to it all, and the "hell on earth" feel was really nice I think.
It's rather linear, and the gimmick of blowing up bombs was really dumb. On the other hand, I actually enjoyed the combat and encounters in LR which I didn't expect.
3. Dead Money
Definitely the one that had the most impact on me in terms of the story. Very good writing throughout, with three very interesting companions. And Father Elijah, while being very much a classic villain, was really well done in terms of writing and voiceacting.
I enjoyed the idea of making Fallout a bit more "hardcore" I suppose but I don't think they quite succeeded in it. A lot of times it just became annoying instead and it occasionally felt like I was in the Gladiators, running through some stupid gauntlet with radios and toxic clouds and whatnot. Feels a bit too contrived at times.
4. Old World blues
A fun way of looking at Fallout through the Science! angle... But I fully admit that I prefer Fallout when it is just lightly sprinkled with it instead of having it full-on. A lot of Old World Blues is funny, unusually funny for a video-game. But, it went beyond the "dark humor" that Fallout does.
There is an underlying, darker context to everything in the Big Empty but I personally found the humor to be overdone to the point where I couldn't take anything to heart really even if I saw the reality of it. The story of the doctors is pretty tragic in reality for example but... Couldn't really get into it.
If you take Vault 11 in NV for example, that really hit home for me. The tragedy side of it all was pushed a bit harder than the humor of it. Nothing in Old World Blues made me feel like that, even though there was a lot of potential for it. It's also such a break in tone with the other DLCs, even though they are all related story-wise, that it just feels like the odd one out.
Also, the gameplay was bullshit. The encounter design in the Big Empty is some of the absolute worst shit NV has to offer and the whole repeating of quests in the labs and the "go out and fetch the personalities" was a groaner (even though the personalities were fun in themselves).
Could've used some more content and some more situations where you could use your skills in meaningful ways.
Other than that, it was to me extremely enjoyable to get away from the more "high-fantasy" ideas and play Fallout where the technology isn't a huge part of things. Found it great that it was more classic post-apocalyptic in a sense (well, a lot of that feel was from the Survivalist journals), but with the twist of it taking place in beautiful Zion.
The spiritual themes were well realized and unusual for a game. Joshua Graham was extremely well done, the other characters were pretty good as well (though Daniel could've really used something... more). Good choices at the end of it all. Great backstory to it all with the Survivalist. Plus, I think Honest Hearts is the most pleasant to replay of the bunch.
2. Lonesome Road
Will depend a lot on if you like Ulysses or not. I found him to be pretty interesting, though not at all in the way I expected.
This DLC is the one where I admit that the atmosphere pretty much won me over completely. The note of finality to it all, and the "hell on earth" feel was really nice I think.
It's rather linear, and the gimmick of blowing up bombs was really dumb. On the other hand, I actually enjoyed the combat and encounters in LR which I didn't expect.
3. Dead Money
Definitely the one that had the most impact on me in terms of the story. Very good writing throughout, with three very interesting companions. And Father Elijah, while being very much a classic villain, was really well done in terms of writing and voiceacting.
I enjoyed the idea of making Fallout a bit more "hardcore" I suppose but I don't think they quite succeeded in it. A lot of times it just became annoying instead and it occasionally felt like I was in the Gladiators, running through some stupid gauntlet with radios and toxic clouds and whatnot. Feels a bit too contrived at times.
4. Old World blues
A fun way of looking at Fallout through the Science! angle... But I fully admit that I prefer Fallout when it is just lightly sprinkled with it instead of having it full-on. A lot of Old World Blues is funny, unusually funny for a video-game. But, it went beyond the "dark humor" that Fallout does.
There is an underlying, darker context to everything in the Big Empty but I personally found the humor to be overdone to the point where I couldn't take anything to heart really even if I saw the reality of it. The story of the doctors is pretty tragic in reality for example but... Couldn't really get into it.
If you take Vault 11 in NV for example, that really hit home for me. The tragedy side of it all was pushed a bit harder than the humor of it. Nothing in Old World Blues made me feel like that, even though there was a lot of potential for it. It's also such a break in tone with the other DLCs, even though they are all related story-wise, that it just feels like the odd one out.
Also, the gameplay was bullshit. The encounter design in the Big Empty is some of the absolute worst shit NV has to offer and the whole repeating of quests in the labs and the "go out and fetch the personalities" was a groaner (even though the personalities were fun in themselves).
I've only really played two, Honest Hearts and Dead Money and only finished one, HH.
Honest Hearts
So far, this is the better of the two, the story was abit short and seemed too one sided on good (I wanted to fight against Josh as I was playing for Ceaser) but it does link well with the main quest and was fun to play. Defentially had re-play value
7/10
Dead Money
I'm so far up to the bit where you have to put all your followers in their rightful positians. Dammit this DLC is hard. I've given up on it... TWICE due to the fact I can't find any stinpaks (and I'm shit) the story is pretty good as it shows a true brotherhood elder (except instead of technology, he wants money) Not much to say about this so
6/10
Honest Hearts
So far, this is the better of the two, the story was abit short and seemed too one sided on good (I wanted to fight against Josh as I was playing for Ceaser) but it does link well with the main quest and was fun to play. Defentially had re-play value
7/10
Dead Money
I'm so far up to the bit where you have to put all your followers in their rightful positians. Dammit this DLC is hard. I've given up on it... TWICE due to the fact I can't find any stinpaks (and I'm shit) the story is pretty good as it shows a true brotherhood elder (except instead of technology, he wants money) Not much to say about this so
6/10
brandonhart61
It Wandered In From the Wastes
My favourite is Dead Money due to it's intense atmosphere and the intriguing history of the Sierra Madre, and the fact that I love Gold.
1.Dead Money
2. Old World Blues
3. Lonesome Road
4. Honest Hearts
5. Gun Runners
6. Courier's stash (pathetic add on tbh)
Of course, I love all of the main add-ons for New Vegas and they are way better than 3's in my opinion.
1.Dead Money
2. Old World Blues
3. Lonesome Road
4. Honest Hearts
5. Gun Runners
6. Courier's stash (pathetic add on tbh)
Of course, I love all of the main add-ons for New Vegas and they are way better than 3's in my opinion.
T
TorontoReign
Guest
The problem with Honest Hearts is they killed all of the Mormons off before the quest begins. I wanted to see a Mormon community in the wasteland, not a bunch of retarded Tribals that hardly have anything interesting to say. I did enjoy it besides those complaints though. Joshua Graham was my favorite character on this one.
Dead Money was a good story in my opinion, but I hated the damn mist with a passion. I liked the concept of the mist, but not the execution. I liked how you had all the gold in the world, but you could only carry out a little. It really used the greed theme, and the overall message of New Vegas. I loved Christine on this. She felt like the only character that bonded with the Courier. She is one character I would like to see in future titles somewhere, along with the Circle of Steel.
Old World Blues blew my mind! The story was classic 1950's Sci-Fi, and I loved every fucking minute of it. The BigMT was my favorite location in the entire game. The robo-butler is the richest trader in the wasteland, so I tend to go there a lot anyway. I loved the Sink with a passion. If Fallout 3 had half the content of New Vegas and it's DLC content, it wouldn't have sucked as much balls. Old World Blues knocked it out of the park. The dialog was great between the "brains", and I loved every minute of it. I actually wanted to see what they said next, instead of just skipping through and speed reading. I could go on and on about this one though. Mobius was the most interesting character for OWB.
Lonesome Road was a love hate with me. I loved the story. I loved the Divide. I hated the way it held my hand. I hated how quick it was over. I ultimately loved the end outcome. It closed the story up good for my character. At the end of Lonesome Road he had kicked the NCR and Legion out of Vegas for the most part. At that point I diverged to a House Wins, or Independent Vegas scenario. I personally think the House Ending is best. Ulysses was pretty interesting, but his insane ravings were a bit confusing.
With the Gun Runners Arsenal being added the game totaled about 500+ hours of game time for me. That is the most I have put in a game since Duke 3d and Doom2 back in the FPS heyday. I think New Vegas had superior DLC when compared to Fallout 3.
Dead Money was a good story in my opinion, but I hated the damn mist with a passion. I liked the concept of the mist, but not the execution. I liked how you had all the gold in the world, but you could only carry out a little. It really used the greed theme, and the overall message of New Vegas. I loved Christine on this. She felt like the only character that bonded with the Courier. She is one character I would like to see in future titles somewhere, along with the Circle of Steel.
Old World Blues blew my mind! The story was classic 1950's Sci-Fi, and I loved every fucking minute of it. The BigMT was my favorite location in the entire game. The robo-butler is the richest trader in the wasteland, so I tend to go there a lot anyway. I loved the Sink with a passion. If Fallout 3 had half the content of New Vegas and it's DLC content, it wouldn't have sucked as much balls. Old World Blues knocked it out of the park. The dialog was great between the "brains", and I loved every minute of it. I actually wanted to see what they said next, instead of just skipping through and speed reading. I could go on and on about this one though. Mobius was the most interesting character for OWB.
Lonesome Road was a love hate with me. I loved the story. I loved the Divide. I hated the way it held my hand. I hated how quick it was over. I ultimately loved the end outcome. It closed the story up good for my character. At the end of Lonesome Road he had kicked the NCR and Legion out of Vegas for the most part. At that point I diverged to a House Wins, or Independent Vegas scenario. I personally think the House Ending is best. Ulysses was pretty interesting, but his insane ravings were a bit confusing.
With the Gun Runners Arsenal being added the game totaled about 500+ hours of game time for me. That is the most I have put in a game since Duke 3d and Doom2 back in the FPS heyday. I think New Vegas had superior DLC when compared to Fallout 3.
I'm playing through these for the first time. Finished DM and working thought HH. I'm a little surprised at the love of DM. While the writting was good, it felt like I was playing Bioshock with the retro survival horror and all. It just felt a bit out of place with me...
LoneSpektre
First time out of the vault
1. Honest Hearts
2. Lonesome Road
3. OWB.
4. Dead Money
Dead Money was fun for a bit, but it was like a chore I couldnt get out of. I really wanted to get the fuck out of there by like half way through. Maybe that was the idea, make it seem like your actually trapped there and wanting the player to want to get out ASAP. I love HH, finally getting to meet the Burned Man in person was amazing. Lonesome Road is a close second, then following OWB. I love the satire-ish comedy with the brains. And becoming a cyborg is bad-ass.
2. Lonesome Road
3. OWB.
4. Dead Money
Dead Money was fun for a bit, but it was like a chore I couldnt get out of. I really wanted to get the fuck out of there by like half way through. Maybe that was the idea, make it seem like your actually trapped there and wanting the player to want to get out ASAP. I love HH, finally getting to meet the Burned Man in person was amazing. Lonesome Road is a close second, then following OWB. I love the satire-ish comedy with the brains. And becoming a cyborg is bad-ass.
1. Old World Blues. The humour was just brilliant, and the setting was great too.
2. Lonesome Road. Not sure why, I just liked the whole completely ruined setting, and for some reason reminded me of the Mad Max films.
3. Dead Money. The feeling of scavenging throwing spears and eating radroach meat just to stay alive was very engaging. The atmosphere was quite spooky, especially when you fired a loud weapon - as the ghost people are apparently attracted to sound.
4. Honest Hearts. Story was quite weak, really. Joshua Graham was a very interesting character. Man I'd love to have his voice. Characters didn't serve any purpose other than main quest. Lots of side quest potential.
I did enjoy all of them though.
2. Lonesome Road. Not sure why, I just liked the whole completely ruined setting, and for some reason reminded me of the Mad Max films.
3. Dead Money. The feeling of scavenging throwing spears and eating radroach meat just to stay alive was very engaging. The atmosphere was quite spooky, especially when you fired a loud weapon - as the ghost people are apparently attracted to sound.
4. Honest Hearts. Story was quite weak, really. Joshua Graham was a very interesting character. Man I'd love to have his voice. Characters didn't serve any purpose other than main quest. Lots of side quest potential.
I did enjoy all of them though.
1: Old World Blues - Great characters, great gameplay, interesting location, excellent enemies, but with a kind of linear story. Amazing DLC.
2: Dead Money - GREAT characters, average gameplay, interesting location. Dead Money was amazing, but it did get tedious at times, which is why it is ranked as 2. DM and OWB are far above HH and LR in my opinion.
3: Lonesome Road - It had a great location, but the gameplay was pretty weak, the enemies were boring mostly, although the deathclaw bridge and Rawr were interesting. The main fault of this DLC was the weak characters.
4: Honest Hearts - Atrocious quests, they were all fetch quests and really boring. Good characters, although it could have been better. Amazing location, but it didn't get the love it deserved. The Survivalist's story was amazing and one of the only reasons, I actually enjoyed this DLC.
2: Dead Money - GREAT characters, average gameplay, interesting location. Dead Money was amazing, but it did get tedious at times, which is why it is ranked as 2. DM and OWB are far above HH and LR in my opinion.
3: Lonesome Road - It had a great location, but the gameplay was pretty weak, the enemies were boring mostly, although the deathclaw bridge and Rawr were interesting. The main fault of this DLC was the weak characters.
4: Honest Hearts - Atrocious quests, they were all fetch quests and really boring. Good characters, although it could have been better. Amazing location, but it didn't get the love it deserved. The Survivalist's story was amazing and one of the only reasons, I actually enjoyed this DLC.
SnapSlav
NMA's local DotA fanatic
To start, I need a disclaimer that, like my "Favorite Fallout Game" list, JUST because one is close to another doesn't mean it's ANYWHERE on the same level. Yes, Fallout 3 is besides BOS on my list as the worst 2 games of the series, but FO3 doesn't suck NEARLY as much wampom as BOS, nor is FO3 anywhere CLOSE to the greatness of the next one on the list. I feel the same way with my least-liked DLC and the other 3...
1) Dead Money.
This was a close race for first, but ultimately, the inability to return to the Villa or the Sierra Madre after you left them, and the intense desire to do so- the finality of it all -pushed this one above its closest competitor for my Favorite FONV DLC. Honestly, the setting is stellar and unrepentantly immersive, the characters are fantastic, well-acted, and intriguing, and the pace is perfect, with the unnerving Ghost People and traps-around-every-corner scariness making you take just the right amount of caution, while your desperation amidst all of the Villa's dangers make you rush just the right amount that you're willing to risk. This is the ONLY part of the entire game that really felt DANGEROUS to me, and that made me appreciate my explorations of it all the more. I wanted to take my time here, but I couldn't. I wanted to come back, but that was impossible. Considering this DLC's core themes of "Greed" and "Letting Go", emotionally, Dead Money was simply perfect. That it was the "most balanced" (read: Marked Men are BROKEN!) of the DLC was simply icing...
[spoiler:cb8bf227d2]
2) Lonesome Road.
The build-up to the Courier's confrontation with Ulysses and their shared history that repeat over the course of the game and the anticipation for this part of the story make this DLC one of the best. Ultimately, its lackluster pacing is what led me to decide it deserved second place, and not first. This DLC characterizes "loneliness" perfectly. You feel like being immediately partnered up with an ED-E clone at the start conflicts with the loneliness theme, but once you find yourself torn away from him, you really do feel genuine LOSS! The landscape is quite possibly the most amazing setting ever portrayed in any of the Fallout games; it's like the ambiance of Necropolis, on ster... erm, on buffout! If the Marked Men held a smaller role akin to the Tunnelers, I would've considered them much more intimidating, but for a brief while during their introduction, they certainly were scary! With great set pieces to navigate, perfectly spooky atmosphere, fascinating and engaging backstory to uncover, and culminating in the confrontation with the most epic villain in Fallout History (just shy of Frank Horrigan), Lonesome Road is an amazing add-on. The freedom to come and go as you pleased and the ridiculousness of the enemies fortitude and deadliness ultimately killed the pacing, but other than that, it was phenomenal!
3) Old World Blues.
I stress that this DLC just doesn't compared to the other 2, at all. It was not fun to play, and once completed it took a game with laughable difficulty and just made it even more pathetic, which is ironic, considering how grueling the DLC ITSELF was. The atmosphere was incredibly lacking, because despite the horrors that befell the Big MT, it still looked pristine and clean. As pointed out in the Jimquisition, "ugly is scary", and that was never more apparent than with this DLC. However, the characters were wonderful, and when you "unveil the curtain" and learn the secrets of this place and its handful of "survivors", it's masterfully immersive, bone-chilling, and jaw-dropping. The backgrounds of the characters and their involvements with many of the atrocities you experience throughout the game really is a brilliant twist, of sorts, but it's a shame that these revelations largely take a backseat to the quests and main story of the DLC itself. If the road traveled in Old World Blues was more enjoyable, then it would've ranked as one of the best in all of New Vegas. But while much of the DLC was fun to obtain, fun to utilize, and the themes were very enjoyably and fun to experience, still, it doesn't change that the end doesn't justify the means. The ends were great, the means not so much.
4) Honest Hearts.
If I had that much to criticize about OWB, you can imagine how disappointed I would be in a DLC I ranked BELOW that one... While I loved the environment (why can't the REST of the game periodically RAIN?????) and appreciated some of the backstory it added to the main conflict of the game, it really felt like pointless filler. You could have heard about the White Legs from Ulysses' logs, never encountered them in person, and lost nothing from it. If Joshua Graham was kept shrouded in mystery and legend, he would've maintained his deific level of epicness, but his in-person introduction made him feel underwhelming. He was magnificently characterized, as many users have already pointed out, and believable! Yet I couldn't help but feel let down once I finally met the legend, and found just a man standing before me. Elijah, by contrast, while equally as enthralling to learn about, when encountered, was STILL just as frightening and inspiring to watch in action (albeit, mostly from behind a series of his own "curtains"). I couldn't feel any attachment to the Dead Horses or the Sorrows, and the most endearing character from the whole DLC was dead CENTURIES before I came across any sign of him. In short, this DLC is just a host of irritants and disappointments, and its best parts were the memories of an old man that no one remembers, whose legacy seems long-since lost. The final nail in the coffin is how out-of-place the whole DLC is. The other DLCs feel interwoven, with this one lazily tacked on, with only Graham and the Vault 22 "survivors" to give it any relevance. At least it was more fun to play that OWB...
1) Dead Money.
This was a close race for first, but ultimately, the inability to return to the Villa or the Sierra Madre after you left them, and the intense desire to do so- the finality of it all -pushed this one above its closest competitor for my Favorite FONV DLC. Honestly, the setting is stellar and unrepentantly immersive, the characters are fantastic, well-acted, and intriguing, and the pace is perfect, with the unnerving Ghost People and traps-around-every-corner scariness making you take just the right amount of caution, while your desperation amidst all of the Villa's dangers make you rush just the right amount that you're willing to risk. This is the ONLY part of the entire game that really felt DANGEROUS to me, and that made me appreciate my explorations of it all the more. I wanted to take my time here, but I couldn't. I wanted to come back, but that was impossible. Considering this DLC's core themes of "Greed" and "Letting Go", emotionally, Dead Money was simply perfect. That it was the "most balanced" (read: Marked Men are BROKEN!) of the DLC was simply icing...
[spoiler:cb8bf227d2]
Well, no. Not at all. At the time of your message, you hadn't played through Dead Money, so maybe by now you've learned that this isn't the case. But if you still hadn't... Elijah IS out for technology, in the most literal of senses, anyway.[/spoiler:cb8bf227d2]Millim said:
2) Lonesome Road.
The build-up to the Courier's confrontation with Ulysses and their shared history that repeat over the course of the game and the anticipation for this part of the story make this DLC one of the best. Ultimately, its lackluster pacing is what led me to decide it deserved second place, and not first. This DLC characterizes "loneliness" perfectly. You feel like being immediately partnered up with an ED-E clone at the start conflicts with the loneliness theme, but once you find yourself torn away from him, you really do feel genuine LOSS! The landscape is quite possibly the most amazing setting ever portrayed in any of the Fallout games; it's like the ambiance of Necropolis, on ster... erm, on buffout! If the Marked Men held a smaller role akin to the Tunnelers, I would've considered them much more intimidating, but for a brief while during their introduction, they certainly were scary! With great set pieces to navigate, perfectly spooky atmosphere, fascinating and engaging backstory to uncover, and culminating in the confrontation with the most epic villain in Fallout History (just shy of Frank Horrigan), Lonesome Road is an amazing add-on. The freedom to come and go as you pleased and the ridiculousness of the enemies fortitude and deadliness ultimately killed the pacing, but other than that, it was phenomenal!
3) Old World Blues.
I stress that this DLC just doesn't compared to the other 2, at all. It was not fun to play, and once completed it took a game with laughable difficulty and just made it even more pathetic, which is ironic, considering how grueling the DLC ITSELF was. The atmosphere was incredibly lacking, because despite the horrors that befell the Big MT, it still looked pristine and clean. As pointed out in the Jimquisition, "ugly is scary", and that was never more apparent than with this DLC. However, the characters were wonderful, and when you "unveil the curtain" and learn the secrets of this place and its handful of "survivors", it's masterfully immersive, bone-chilling, and jaw-dropping. The backgrounds of the characters and their involvements with many of the atrocities you experience throughout the game really is a brilliant twist, of sorts, but it's a shame that these revelations largely take a backseat to the quests and main story of the DLC itself. If the road traveled in Old World Blues was more enjoyable, then it would've ranked as one of the best in all of New Vegas. But while much of the DLC was fun to obtain, fun to utilize, and the themes were very enjoyably and fun to experience, still, it doesn't change that the end doesn't justify the means. The ends were great, the means not so much.
4) Honest Hearts.
If I had that much to criticize about OWB, you can imagine how disappointed I would be in a DLC I ranked BELOW that one... While I loved the environment (why can't the REST of the game periodically RAIN?????) and appreciated some of the backstory it added to the main conflict of the game, it really felt like pointless filler. You could have heard about the White Legs from Ulysses' logs, never encountered them in person, and lost nothing from it. If Joshua Graham was kept shrouded in mystery and legend, he would've maintained his deific level of epicness, but his in-person introduction made him feel underwhelming. He was magnificently characterized, as many users have already pointed out, and believable! Yet I couldn't help but feel let down once I finally met the legend, and found just a man standing before me. Elijah, by contrast, while equally as enthralling to learn about, when encountered, was STILL just as frightening and inspiring to watch in action (albeit, mostly from behind a series of his own "curtains"). I couldn't feel any attachment to the Dead Horses or the Sorrows, and the most endearing character from the whole DLC was dead CENTURIES before I came across any sign of him. In short, this DLC is just a host of irritants and disappointments, and its best parts were the memories of an old man that no one remembers, whose legacy seems long-since lost. The final nail in the coffin is how out-of-place the whole DLC is. The other DLCs feel interwoven, with this one lazily tacked on, with only Graham and the Vault 22 "survivors" to give it any relevance. At least it was more fun to play that OWB...
Here goes.
1. Lonesome Road
To me, playing Fallout is to experience the horrors of the post-nuclear world and LR surely delievered. The ruins of cities in the Divide, the Marked Men, the atomic missiles (not those small ones you can blow, that was kinda ridiculous) and this dirty, yellow sky above. First look on the Divide and you know you're heading straight towards the nuclear hell. Great atmosphere and some pretty sweet additions to your equipment (Riot Armor? Armor of the 87th tribe? NCR Look-I've-Got-A-Motherfucking-Bear's-Head-On-My-Arm Armor? Loved them all).
Of course it had some downsides. Like Tunelleeres who made me realize there's something more annoying than Cazadors and more dangerous than Deathclaws. Speaking of the latter, they were pain in the ass in this DLC. But that's not the thing, the plot is. I feel like the plot was a bit underdeveloped, a cool concept that crashes on a few occasions. I still love it, but sometimes the idea behind LR seemed like an action movie with a good FBI agent and an evil terrorist wanting to use some lethal weapon. Also - Ulysses, the Courier's nemesis, a man who seeks to annihilate the region you're actually putting some effort, no matter which side you're on, to develop. At first I've been intrigued and impressed by his speeches through ED-E but as time went by I started to view him as a lunatic, whom he partially is. The reasons behind him bombing the Mojave could also be exploited better, but still I like that idea of "You made me say goodbye to my home, now say goodbye to yours". Despite these flaws I still view Lonesome Road as the best DLC of New Vegas, a nicely constructed tale of seeking your way in the ruins of the old world and of changing the land around you. And I dare to say THIS is how I'd like future Fallouts, should there be any, to look like.
2. Honest Hearts
Despite being pretty single-minded when it comes to the plot (if you side with the Legion why can't you help the White Legs? duh?) I quite enjoyed this DLC, mostly thanks to beautiful sceneries, adding rain, tribal climate and of course Joshua Graham, whom I consider the best constructed character in New Vegas series. I'm not religious at all, I find it impossible for myself to believe in any diety, yet I envy people with such self discipline who are able to believe in something and apply to certain self-developing rules. Also, the religious themes here were presented in an interesting manner, with Graham being the Parable of the Lost Son embodiment. Honest Hearts is a beautiful lesson on how to tame your inner demons, how to deal with the past that keeps reminding of itself, and finally how to abandon the legends that arose around you or coin them into something new.
3. Dead Money
Call me a whiney bitch, but I almost shed a tear during the ending. This DLC has the best NPCs of all four, with their mental and inner problems. Dead Money is all about greed, a lust for something, and if you look closely you'll notice everyone there has one: Domino wants the gold, Dog/God seeks the control over himself, Christine wants freedom and Elijah wants revenge on NCR. All of them are prisoners of Sierra Madre, a casino that was supposed to be a new beggining, a trap and a sanctuary at the same time, and eventually became a tomb for everyone found there when the bombs dropped. Great plot, great NPCs, great ending and great atmosphere of survival horror. Why lower than Honest Hearts and Lonesome Road then? Because the first two can actually teach you something, while Dead Money's purpose is only to survive. Yes, it gives you some lesson on greed, human nature and creates a certain motive of desperation and misery (discovering Vera's fate and her body made me really sad, no lying here), but all of this gets lost in between hiding behind pillars and shooting Ghost People when you're low on stimpaks and ammo.
4. Old World Blues
Cool weaponry (protonic axe, aww!), nice sense of humour (arguing light switches and that seed machine hitting on you, hell yeah) and charming atmosphere of 1950's scientific dreams. Yet it still seemed to me a bit too light-hearted for this kind of game. I know it was supposed to be this way, but still. The quests were mostly a typical "fetch me this and that" or "check this new stuff out a couple of times", the enemies were rather irritating (fucking roboscorpions, why won't you die?!), the Think Tank was annoying and I felt sorry for Mobius when I met him, which disqualified him as a villain in my eyes. Not saying OWB was a bad DLC, it was actually rather nice, but if it never happened, the New Vegas franchise wouldn't lose anything.
1. Lonesome Road
To me, playing Fallout is to experience the horrors of the post-nuclear world and LR surely delievered. The ruins of cities in the Divide, the Marked Men, the atomic missiles (not those small ones you can blow, that was kinda ridiculous) and this dirty, yellow sky above. First look on the Divide and you know you're heading straight towards the nuclear hell. Great atmosphere and some pretty sweet additions to your equipment (Riot Armor? Armor of the 87th tribe? NCR Look-I've-Got-A-Motherfucking-Bear's-Head-On-My-Arm Armor? Loved them all).
Of course it had some downsides. Like Tunelleeres who made me realize there's something more annoying than Cazadors and more dangerous than Deathclaws. Speaking of the latter, they were pain in the ass in this DLC. But that's not the thing, the plot is. I feel like the plot was a bit underdeveloped, a cool concept that crashes on a few occasions. I still love it, but sometimes the idea behind LR seemed like an action movie with a good FBI agent and an evil terrorist wanting to use some lethal weapon. Also - Ulysses, the Courier's nemesis, a man who seeks to annihilate the region you're actually putting some effort, no matter which side you're on, to develop. At first I've been intrigued and impressed by his speeches through ED-E but as time went by I started to view him as a lunatic, whom he partially is. The reasons behind him bombing the Mojave could also be exploited better, but still I like that idea of "You made me say goodbye to my home, now say goodbye to yours". Despite these flaws I still view Lonesome Road as the best DLC of New Vegas, a nicely constructed tale of seeking your way in the ruins of the old world and of changing the land around you. And I dare to say THIS is how I'd like future Fallouts, should there be any, to look like.
2. Honest Hearts
Despite being pretty single-minded when it comes to the plot (if you side with the Legion why can't you help the White Legs? duh?) I quite enjoyed this DLC, mostly thanks to beautiful sceneries, adding rain, tribal climate and of course Joshua Graham, whom I consider the best constructed character in New Vegas series. I'm not religious at all, I find it impossible for myself to believe in any diety, yet I envy people with such self discipline who are able to believe in something and apply to certain self-developing rules. Also, the religious themes here were presented in an interesting manner, with Graham being the Parable of the Lost Son embodiment. Honest Hearts is a beautiful lesson on how to tame your inner demons, how to deal with the past that keeps reminding of itself, and finally how to abandon the legends that arose around you or coin them into something new.
3. Dead Money
Call me a whiney bitch, but I almost shed a tear during the ending. This DLC has the best NPCs of all four, with their mental and inner problems. Dead Money is all about greed, a lust for something, and if you look closely you'll notice everyone there has one: Domino wants the gold, Dog/God seeks the control over himself, Christine wants freedom and Elijah wants revenge on NCR. All of them are prisoners of Sierra Madre, a casino that was supposed to be a new beggining, a trap and a sanctuary at the same time, and eventually became a tomb for everyone found there when the bombs dropped. Great plot, great NPCs, great ending and great atmosphere of survival horror. Why lower than Honest Hearts and Lonesome Road then? Because the first two can actually teach you something, while Dead Money's purpose is only to survive. Yes, it gives you some lesson on greed, human nature and creates a certain motive of desperation and misery (discovering Vera's fate and her body made me really sad, no lying here), but all of this gets lost in between hiding behind pillars and shooting Ghost People when you're low on stimpaks and ammo.
4. Old World Blues
Cool weaponry (protonic axe, aww!), nice sense of humour (arguing light switches and that seed machine hitting on you, hell yeah) and charming atmosphere of 1950's scientific dreams. Yet it still seemed to me a bit too light-hearted for this kind of game. I know it was supposed to be this way, but still. The quests were mostly a typical "fetch me this and that" or "check this new stuff out a couple of times", the enemies were rather irritating (fucking roboscorpions, why won't you die?!), the Think Tank was annoying and I felt sorry for Mobius when I met him, which disqualified him as a villain in my eyes. Not saying OWB was a bad DLC, it was actually rather nice, but if it never happened, the New Vegas franchise wouldn't lose anything.
Makta
The DICKtator
Mameluk said:
I agree with everything except HH. Honest heart was boring and it didn't really feel Falout'y in anyways besides reading the logs and finding all the survavialist crap. Sure you got "the best" armor but with LR it's not that great anymore. The only "good" character is Graham and the rest are close to not worthy even a slight mention.
SnapSlav
NMA's local DotA fanatic
I would say it's simple ignorance, or the inability to comprehend, that's what makes people look upon Mobius as the villain of OWB. Either you don't know, or once you learn, you don't grasp the concept. The true villains ARE the Think Tank, and it's the fact that they're manipulating you so that they can free themselves of their confines to spread their morally-unhinged scientific atrocities to every corner of the wasteland that makes them so frightening (oops, spoilers). No empathy for humanity, no recollection of who they ever were (which has its side of tragedy, on Mobius's end, since he was the once who had to do it... but for the greater good!), and no boundaries to what means they will utilize to further their nefarious goals; they're ideal villains for their DLC.
I also think you just can't overlook the terror and disturbing scenery or backstory of BigMT, which more than offsets the lighthearted atmosphere of The Sink. Everything's all sunshine and smiles, but once you take a walk outside, you see nothing but devastation and nightmarish abominations. Even worse is when you learn from the vanilla New Vegas or Dead Money DLC just what other unspeakable horrors were unleashed upon the world thanks to this place. It's a frightening scene to find yourself, and I don't consider it lighthearted by any means, because of it.
But still, as I mentioned above, LR and DM are still WAY better, in many ways. So despite my praise, that's why it remains #3 on the list.
I also think you just can't overlook the terror and disturbing scenery or backstory of BigMT, which more than offsets the lighthearted atmosphere of The Sink. Everything's all sunshine and smiles, but once you take a walk outside, you see nothing but devastation and nightmarish abominations. Even worse is when you learn from the vanilla New Vegas or Dead Money DLC just what other unspeakable horrors were unleashed upon the world thanks to this place. It's a frightening scene to find yourself, and I don't consider it lighthearted by any means, because of it.
But still, as I mentioned above, LR and DM are still WAY better, in many ways. So despite my praise, that's why it remains #3 on the list.
That's true and that's also something you learn at the very end of the DLC. But, even knowing that fact, the Think Tank are still a ridiculous villain when compared to others in the series (imo even more ridiculous than Colonel Autumn) - they're a group of semi-retarded brains in floating jars, with only Klein showing any kind of maliciousness. But perhaps that's what makes them terrifying at the same time - they're insane and thus dangerous.SnapSlav said:
Personally I found it very lighthearted because, despite all the facts you mentioned, I still felt as in some cartoon from the sixties, fighting my way through mutated animals, Lobotomites and colourful Roboscorpions while Mobius roars above with his "I'm-such-a-comicbook-villain" voice messages.SnapSlav said:
There were a few scary/creepy places in Big MT (like Little Yangtze or that lab where Cazadors were created) and the mountain itself is indeed a cradle of many abominations haunting Mojave, that's all truth. But it gets lost somewhere between smashing Roboscorpions with your shiny new toys or listening to Dr Gala's getting wet upon hearing you breath. This DLC is humorous and that's what blurs the view on the horrors of Big MT.
And that's, unfortunately, true - apart from Graham the rest of NPCs was more or less mediocre.Makta said:
SnapSlav
NMA's local DotA fanatic
Nah. Elijah and Ulysses were AMAZING, and blew Graham away. By no means was Graham a forgettable characters, but he was simply so much more imposing and unreal BEFORE you met him. Playing the game before any DLCs were released, I was eating up every bit of dialog and background info on Graham, because it was so fascinating. Everyone admitting to his existence, that he was indeed not a myth, and yet all of his exploits were mythical. Having multiple confirmed kill shots by NCR snipers, taking on war parties by himself, not even making a sound while he was burned alive and thrown down the Grand Canyon. He embodied epicness on a scale that few other characters did. But then you met him... and he was nothing like the dreams you could hold in your imagination. He was imposing, yet nothing about him felt ominous, frightening, or at all legendary. He felt like a genuine, flawed, human being. In the sense that he was an amazing character BECAUSE he came off as so genuine... I suppose that's a prospect that doesn't quite register with me regarding Graham.
TheDudeOfGaming
First time out of the vault
1. Old World Blues
2. Honest Hearts
3. Dead Money
4. Lonesome Road
5. Gun Runners Arsenal
6. Courier's Stash
Old World Blues is one of the things that made Fallout - Fallout. The 40's and 50's SF, with all the weirdness and awesomeness that followed. It had the best humor of all the DLC (and the entire game), it was pretty long for a DLC and it had an interesting setting and some interesting characters. Muggy <3
Now Honest Hearts, for me is a flawed gem DLC. We get Joshua Graham who is one of my favorite characters from New Vegas, and Fallout in general, but we don't get him for long enough. Honest Hearts really feels rushed. I also found the vast canyons of Zion very beautiful. It's a shame more effort wasn't put in it, but Joshua is awesome, so the DLC is awesome.
Dead Money, see Honest Hearts. Not enough dialogue and lore, too much combat. I get that survival is the name of the game (especially on Hard Core mode), but they could have added a lot more talking, and maybe even the possibility of bringing Veronica along? I also like the plot of Dead Money the most, and Dean Domino may have been a sleazy bastard, but he was a likable sleazy bastard.
Lonesome Road. On one hand The Divide is one of the best locations in the entire game, on the other...everything else is not. The plot wasn't that great. And the meeting with Ulysses was, weird. The dude was way to philosophical for my taste. He was kind of the point of the DLC, so they really should have tried a lot harder with the character.
All in all I love New Vegas and all the DLC.
2. Honest Hearts
3. Dead Money
4. Lonesome Road
5. Gun Runners Arsenal
6. Courier's Stash
Old World Blues is one of the things that made Fallout - Fallout. The 40's and 50's SF, with all the weirdness and awesomeness that followed. It had the best humor of all the DLC (and the entire game), it was pretty long for a DLC and it had an interesting setting and some interesting characters. Muggy <3
Now Honest Hearts, for me is a flawed gem DLC. We get Joshua Graham who is one of my favorite characters from New Vegas, and Fallout in general, but we don't get him for long enough. Honest Hearts really feels rushed. I also found the vast canyons of Zion very beautiful. It's a shame more effort wasn't put in it, but Joshua is awesome, so the DLC is awesome.
Dead Money, see Honest Hearts. Not enough dialogue and lore, too much combat. I get that survival is the name of the game (especially on Hard Core mode), but they could have added a lot more talking, and maybe even the possibility of bringing Veronica along? I also like the plot of Dead Money the most, and Dean Domino may have been a sleazy bastard, but he was a likable sleazy bastard.
Lonesome Road. On one hand The Divide is one of the best locations in the entire game, on the other...everything else is not. The plot wasn't that great. And the meeting with Ulysses was, weird. The dude was way to philosophical for my taste. He was kind of the point of the DLC, so they really should have tried a lot harder with the character.
All in all I love New Vegas and all the DLC.
Ilosar
Vault Fossil
Disagree. Elijah was a pretty classic villain. Utterly ruthless, mad with ambition, the works. He very much served his purpose, but there was nothing formidable about him. A crazy old man with too much dangerous technology in his hands.
Ulysses was a bit of an hypocritical loony, if you ask me. His dialog looks more like mad ramblings and vengeful slurs than any coherent ideology. He blames th Courier for destroying everything in his way, but he blows up parts of Big MT and willingly sends the White Legs to raze New Canaan without a second thought. He blames our hero for the Divide, which was completely unwittingly done, and as a revenge he forces him to set off a nuke, and himself nukes the two most powerful civilizations in the Mojave seemingly out of spite. It seems like the destruction of the Divide completely broke his mind, yet the writing suggests we should actually listen to him. He doesn't really have a point to me. He just wants to make the Courier suffer as he has himself suffer, but it's buried under ramblings and dubious philosophy.
As for the ranking;
1. Dead Money. The atmosphere is top notch, gameplay is hard without being impossible (it does get a bit ridiculous by the end), great writing, great gear, great message at the end. Story was a bit contrived as to how all those hazards came to be, but that's not a big minus.
2. Old World Blues. A bit too light-hearted, yeah, but it barely covers the atrocities that happened on Big MT. Mobius was a great character, and not at all a villain in the end. The robo-scorpions did get incredibly annoying (I ran out of ammo for all my favoured guns quite fast, and had to use the K-9000 which I don't really like) so I ended up just running past them. But, I'm a sucker for self-aware, hammy voice acting (The FORBIDDEN ZONE! the ZONE that is, yes!, FORBIDDEN to YOU!), the humor was generally well done save for the penis jokes, the rewards were useful save for Guns characters and the Giant Robo-Scorpion was a nice boss fight.
3. Honest Hearts. Three things made this DLC: Graham, the Survivalist, and Zion itself. Graham was a wonderful character, a force of nature that had tamed itself and was learning nuance without becoming neutered at all. He was just as badass as I imagined him. The Survivalist was absolutely top-notch storytelling. It's a textbook example of how to write a great story without it geting into the player's face. Locating another cave was a joy in itself, since it meant one more Survivalist cache and terminal. Zion was beautiful, and the rain was a welcome touch. The rest is so-so; I didn't care much for the Tribals and Daniel both, the quests were basically excuses to go out and explore, it had too many melee enemies that could hide and suddendly pop out of the terrain to insta-kill you (Giant Cazadores, Yao Guai, Green Geckos, Mantises...), story was bare-bones, no option to side with the White Legs, but the loot was the best out of all 4 imo. Graham's armor looks awesome, so does the Desert Ranger armor, and the Survivalist's Rifle is my favourite weapon in the whole game.
4. Lonesome Road. Incredible atmosphere, good challenge, but apart from that I wasn't impressed. As I said, Ulysses flat-out didn't work for me, the Marked Men were a bit of a contrivance to have shoot something else than Deathclaws, and goddamnit they recycled the Trogg model yet again in the Tunnellers. Some sequences (the descending elevator with the swarm of Tunnellers) were good in theory but in practice the engine just isin't made for that sort of set-piece and my squishy, careful character almost had to cheat to go through it. Having Ed-E along for the ride was fun, but the whole ''scanning and replicating'' stuff was a bit too much. Just have him follow you or somesuch. It also made the decision to blow him up or not fairly meaningless, it's not the ''real'' Ed-E. The rewards were also fairly lackluster, save for the nice-looking armors.
ramessesjones
It Wandered In From the Wastes
1. Dead Money
The best balance of combat and non-combat skills, best use of companions, best writing and dialogue.
2. Honest Hearts
I take a different approach to Honest Hearts, for me the main story in the story of Zion itself, told from the combination of the survivalist logs and the other environmental story telling, in turn this makes the main quest exploring Zion itself, which is a great looking environment. To me the stuff with the tribes is essentially a side story, a temporary blip in the larger history of the park and the tasks they give you are basically just little things you do along your way of the exploring.
As for the characters, I like how Graham was humanized after being portrayed as the larger than life monster and like how his and Daniel's religion was presented in a mature way. Daniel and Waking Cloud were both ok, but unremarkable. Jed, Stella and Ricky were interesting despite being minor characters. Follows Chalk is completely terrible though and perhaps the worst character in the game.
I also liked a lot of the perks and crafting recipes.
3. Old World Blues
OWB has a lot of content: perks, traits, writing, loot, combat, exploration. Overall it is decent in most aspects, but not the best in any other than shear size; its not as fun to explore as Zion, the combat and loot isn't as good as LR, the writing isn't as strong as Dead Money.
4. Lonesome Road
This really comes down to how much you buy into Ulysses. I don't really but I can see why some people would. It does however provide the best high level combat and gear, which is something the game needed.
GRA and CS are both fine as far as inexpensive item packs go. I like that GRA also has the perk, challenges and crafting recipes to go along with the items and it has a pretty broad range of items. It also helps rebalance energy weapons at the start of the game, as the Laser and Plasma Pistol variants you can buy from Chet are much better than the previous early game options. CS is really cheap and gives you broader range of options at the start of game; the grenade launcher and throwing weapons fill gaps in the original early game weapon lineup and the armored vault suit just looks cool.
The best balance of combat and non-combat skills, best use of companions, best writing and dialogue.
2. Honest Hearts
I take a different approach to Honest Hearts, for me the main story in the story of Zion itself, told from the combination of the survivalist logs and the other environmental story telling, in turn this makes the main quest exploring Zion itself, which is a great looking environment. To me the stuff with the tribes is essentially a side story, a temporary blip in the larger history of the park and the tasks they give you are basically just little things you do along your way of the exploring.
As for the characters, I like how Graham was humanized after being portrayed as the larger than life monster and like how his and Daniel's religion was presented in a mature way. Daniel and Waking Cloud were both ok, but unremarkable. Jed, Stella and Ricky were interesting despite being minor characters. Follows Chalk is completely terrible though and perhaps the worst character in the game.
I also liked a lot of the perks and crafting recipes.
3. Old World Blues
OWB has a lot of content: perks, traits, writing, loot, combat, exploration. Overall it is decent in most aspects, but not the best in any other than shear size; its not as fun to explore as Zion, the combat and loot isn't as good as LR, the writing isn't as strong as Dead Money.
4. Lonesome Road
This really comes down to how much you buy into Ulysses. I don't really but I can see why some people would. It does however provide the best high level combat and gear, which is something the game needed.
GRA and CS are both fine as far as inexpensive item packs go. I like that GRA also has the perk, challenges and crafting recipes to go along with the items and it has a pretty broad range of items. It also helps rebalance energy weapons at the start of the game, as the Laser and Plasma Pistol variants you can buy from Chet are much better than the previous early game options. CS is really cheap and gives you broader range of options at the start of game; the grenade launcher and throwing weapons fill gaps in the original early game weapon lineup and the armored vault suit just looks cool.
1. Old world blues - good story, dialouge, setting and everything . The doctors in the think tank were hilarious
2. Lonesome road - more shooter than rpg but sometimes its fun just to shoot shit and play with weapons like the red glare and shoulder mounted machine gun. Plus the story lines from ulysess and ed e were very interesting
3. Dead Money - hated it on the first playthrough, played it again about a year later and liked it a lot more. The story is very good it ties up the loose ends with elijah and christine and if you get the gold out of the vault your courier is set for life
4. Honest hearts- it was fun, it had a good story but it was too short, the setting was nice and its about time they introdced rain into fallout! the 45 smg is great weapon. The one thing I wish they would have done is let you have Joshua Graham as a companion against the legion in the battle of hoover damn. That would have been very cool.
They were all good in my opinion
2. Lonesome road - more shooter than rpg but sometimes its fun just to shoot shit and play with weapons like the red glare and shoulder mounted machine gun. Plus the story lines from ulysess and ed e were very interesting
3. Dead Money - hated it on the first playthrough, played it again about a year later and liked it a lot more. The story is very good it ties up the loose ends with elijah and christine and if you get the gold out of the vault your courier is set for life
4. Honest hearts- it was fun, it had a good story but it was too short, the setting was nice and its about time they introdced rain into fallout! the 45 smg is great weapon. The one thing I wish they would have done is let you have Joshua Graham as a companion against the legion in the battle of hoover damn. That would have been very cool.
They were all good in my opinion