14 DAY TRIAL // Fallout: New Vegas is a post apocalyptic role playing game from developer Obsidian and publisher Bethesda, taking the player to a relatively intact Vegas area and in the middle of a fight for power between Caesar's Legion, the New California Republic and the Brotherhood of Steel.
I am playing this game using the Hardcore mode, which adds more realism oriented features, like heavy ammunition and healing which takes place over time, alongside a need for food and water.
Freeside is the poor suburb that lies just outside of the actual Las Vegas strip but it offers some of the most interesting quests in Fallout: New Vegas while also introducing the player to the band known as the Kings, united by their love of all things Elvis Presley, a man they actually do not know by name.
Obsidian managed to create an interesting dynamic between the Kings, who like the order they imposed in the area but fear a big influx of migrants, the NCR, which is trying to take control of the area by bringing people in, and the Followers of the Apocalypse, pretty much acting as hospital and detox center for the entire community and spreading their lofty ideals of humanity.
It's actually a peaceful story, which involves a lot of running around and talking to people to make everyone realize that the only way to make the community thrive in any way while caught between the Strip, the NCR and Caesar's Legion is to actually work together and purge as much of the egoism that is only human in such dire situations.
It's also a lot of busy work running around the rather uninspiring streets of Freeside and a lot of talking to some pretty unpleasant characters.
The dichotomy shows how New Vegas can be extremely good when it comes to the creative process and to the writing while failing to come up with game mechanics that match that brilliance.
And, after leaving taking the King's dog with me to the strip, I also believe that the Freeside section lacks a sense of closure, mainly linked to the fact that the main King lieutenant and “bad guy” is not directly punished by the player and only taken out of the picture when he's off the screen.