Dead Money
This was without a doubt my favourite of the Fallout New Vegas DLC releases. Unlock all the other releases and indeed the main game Dead Money really makes you fight to stay alive. The DLC is set with the Sierra Madre Casino being the main backdrop of the proceedings, however you have to make your way through the streets of a nearby town before you can gain entry. The town is unlock anything you have seen before in the Fallout universe. Bathed in a strange red glow the town is covered in all kinds of dangerous traps, hazardous gas and is populated by a very creepy new enemy known as “Ghost People”.
When you first encounter the area you can be forgiven to think it looks like something from a Lovecraft novel, I’d be surprised if that’s not what the developers were aiming for. The story is a lot more engaging than I expected and if I was to sum it up I’d call it a mix between SAW and Oceans 11. most of your time will be spent in the streets cautiously navigating your way through traps and past the Ghost People, but that’s not all. At the start of the game you are knocked unconscious and when you recover you find that an explosive bomb collar has been attached to your neck, (think The Running Man) the collar is triggered when you come within range of certain speakers, this too makes the difficulty increase and really keeps you on your toes. As I already stated this was by far the best DLC in the pack, it was extremely hard and tests you right to the brink of sanity.
There are a number of characters in Dead Money that play key roles in you completely the game, the dialogue is rich and really well drawn out. What Dead Money does differently is an overhaul of pace and tension, it makes you carefully watch each step and think about your next move rather than carelessly wander through the game. I’d recommend the DLC for players who are at least at level 30, it will try and test you to the very end and once you start Dead Money you cannot go back to the Mojave until you completed your business in the Sierra Madre Casino. [9 out of 10] By far the best DLC going, a solid storyline with interesting characters and a whole new approach and pace to the game.
Honest Hearts
Before you set out to play Honest Hearts you need to remember to carry only what you need because the game caps our weight allowance at about 70 or 80, why? well because to get to the area where the game takes place you have to squeeze through narrow corridors and caverns. When you arrive you find yourself in the middle of Zion National Park, Utah of all places. This is where you quickly learn that Honest Hearts plays out a lot like a western complete with tribes and the kind of landscape you see in a typical Cowboys and Indians movie.
At first missions are kind of interesting and hold your attention for a while, but after that its easy to just forget about what you are doing and who sent you, you still get the job done but caring about why you were doing it really goes out the window. So the storyline is nothing special but the map and lush terrain makes up for it. Zion is a very beautiful place, helped of course by the fact that its waters and rivers have not been polluted by radiation and chemicals.
Another thing that instantly became apparent was the addition of changing weather patterns, Zion not only gets showered in rain storms it also has a star filled sky at night that will make you stop and stare the first time the sun goes down. Included with the natural beauty is all manner of tribal art and murals, you see them scrawled and painted onto walls and cliff faces and while its only a small item of detail its the kind of thing that makes the game all the more special. It’s not all wine and roses though, what Zion has that I don’t like is roaming swarms of Cazadors that seem to spawn in the most random locations, and except for a few other varieties of beasts that’s really all you will find. It’s a shame they didn’t put in some new animals or mutants because if anywhere on the map would benefit from such things it would be Zion. All in all its an okay DLC pack, it has its faults but you do receive an even higher level cap and Zion is the perfect place to visit when you just want to get away from the dry dustiness of Mojave. [6 out of 10]
Old World Blues
This was one of the oddest DLC’s Fallout has ever received, even in terms of the alien encounters in Mothership Zeta this still wins in terms of weirdness. Old World Blues plays a lot like an old cheesy science fiction movie that probably cost the price of the game to make. It’s all very strange yet kind of exciting at the same time. You wake up after what seems like a serious operation to find your brain along with other body parts have been removed, but by who or what? Well as crazy as it sounds by a bunch of robots. These plucky piles of scrap metal are inform you that you can get your organs back by doing specific tasks for them, there are all kinds of mini missions that thankfully take up a lot of time so you do actually feel like you get your moneys worth from the missions and story alone. The game is set in huge crater that’s been sealed off from the outside world, its called Big Mountain and as you explore it you start to see that it’s where much of the technology featured in the game was developed.
It’s full of secret test labs and facilities to pillage and plunder, once you can get past their occupants of course. Old World Blues features a great mix of enemies that challenge even the most accomplished players. Robot scorpions and robot dogs are some of the foes you will find roaming through Big Mountain, along with yourself there are also test subjects armed with guns and melee weapons and as you may have guessed they are bent on annihilating you. The DLC’s strong points are its heavy on new items and weapons, the humour and wackiness is seriously off the scale, Big Mountain is fantastic to explore. All that aside there is always one DLC pack that seems to suffer the most from bugs and freezes and this time around it’s Old World Blues. I lost count how many times the game slowed down to a snails pace, most of the time it was a specific area of the map and reloading a previous save fixed it right up. Even with the dire freezes which drove me crazy countless times Old World Blues is fantastic, the dialogue is beyond hilarious and its all very challenging. [8 out of 10]
Lonesome Road
This DLC ties in a lot more than the others in terms of the games main story. In a nutshell you are offered a quest by one of the original couriers who didn’t take the job that you did, this courier calls for you to traverse the dangerous terrain of an area known as The Divide in order to learn secrets about your past. And so coaxed with such an offer you set out into The Divide and as usual cannot bring a companion with you. The story is not that great and you can tell that they tried to do something gigantic but it really didn’t pan out, I found myself losing interest and my concentration diminishing as the game went on. It’s in no way a safe location, The Divide is home to many death claws who's razor sharp claws will tear even the highest level characters into shreds in a matter of seconds. Along with “the wildlife” there is a new enemy that resembles the ghouls and carries serious heavy firepower.
They aren’t too hard to defeat and raiding their remains nets some nice hardware and items which can be sold once you leave the area, thankfully unlike all the other DLC packs you can leave The Divide whenever you chose. This works great because you can sell off all the spoils you find and top up on health or ammo whenever you are lacking in it. Just like Honest Hearts I wouldn’t buy it for the story, I’d only buy it for the extra level cap and the challenge of making it through this new volatile area of the Mojave. [5 out of 10] Uninspiring landscape, flat story and dialogue, only worth it for the extra level cap small change of scenery.
Gun Runners Arsenal
When you first see this DLC it’s easy to get excited for the wrong reasons, it promises a lot of extra weapons and never before seen items. However many of the weapons ion the pack are already in the game, the difference is they are tagged with GRA and come with mods that their counterparts don’t have. The problem here is you can only use GRA mods on GRA guns, while one gun might be the exact type unless it’s from the DLC pack you can’t use the mod on it. Luckily not every single weapon falls into this category and some are new previously unseen weapons. While most come premade a few come in the form as weapons you craft at workbenches and the like. While it’s a decent enough pack if it hadn’t have come with the Ultimate Edition I wouldn’t go of my way to buy it separately because the game already has so many items and weapons that these don’t make too much of a difference.
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