A continuation of FO-3. I haven't come across anything which makes me think I'm playing a new game. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it feels more like an expansion than a new $60 game.

Many early glitches, and significant loading times. While loading times were somewhat expected, the many glitches make the game seem rushed and unpolished. I've seen numerous creatures stuck in the ground, with just a part of them sticking above the surface. I've seen humans floating in mid-air, taking snipe-shots at me with rifles. I have not had any quest glitches as yet. As for loading times, I fail to recognize such intricate details that would seem to require the amount of loading going on. I'm not a programmer, and have little understanding of all that really goes on behind a game, but based on experience with other games of much better visual quality and size, the loads of New Vegas seems excessive.

Free-roaming. FO-3 had areas that were more difficult than others, but they were well spaced from the early portions of the game. Out of the Vault in FO-3 I spent hours free roaming and while experiencing some difficulty, ran into nothing like the action you find just north of where you start on the map (as YT points out). It's automatic death if you head north early, and this takes away some of the element of exploration and openess. Any why is the map so small in relative comparison to FO-3?

Gameplay is the same as FO-3. This is not a problem, it's what was expected. I do have to admit though that the VATS system is starting to wear on me a bit. I miss having the full and direct responsibility for aiming/shooting my targets, and instead relying on a dice-roll for success. I don't know, maybe after so much FO-3 I'm just ready to move on, but the combat does not have the same luster it had for FO-3. I find myself free-shooting more and more and ignoring VATS, but the game mechanics are so stacked against this it makes it very difficult to succeed.

The story to this point has failed to really grab me. FO-3 launched you into a fairly good story early on, and continued throughout. So far with NV, all the emotion I can really muster regarding the main story is "meh". I had brief moments of internal debate early on about whom I would want to support, but now I'm just winging it based on what I think will give most exciting outcome.

Crafting. I hardly use this, and don't think my level of use will increase much as game goes on. It's not that I don't see the usefullness, it's that IMO the system is too limited and tedious to be sustainable over many hours of gameplay. Managing a large inventory (which you are not carrying at all times as well, depending on your STR and character, which makes going to chests/lockers to collect items a chore) of manufacturing-gear has never interested me, and I'd rather steal/loot/buy what I need instead. More action, and quicker. Why spend the time deconstructing/constructing ammo components when I can spend that time killing/looting and/or stealing/buying ammo which gives me action and gameplay all at the same time as collecting?

I'm sounding a bit negative, and I don't really mean to. I enjoy the game, and look forward to many more hours of play, and I believe my experience will improve as I get deeper into it. However, it's really nothing more than an expansion of FO-3 and it doesn't feel like anything new has been brought to the table.

If you like FO-3, you'll like this game as well. But I'm not sure how much of an endorsement that really is for a new product released 2 years after it's predecessor.

At this point, I'd give it 7 mutantheads out of 10.

EDIT: I forgot to mention I'm playing on Hardcore, and I'm happy they included this feature. It adds the feeling of living in a wasteland, and needing to fight for survival. While I normally wouldn't endorse the actual need to sleep in a video game, I think it works for NV so far. I hope this continues to do so.