During the lockdown the process of acquiring games has become a lot different. Having gone from wandering around a GAME store to using the internet or console online stores which makes the process of browsing a lot more boring. As a result of not wanting to spend time digitally browsing I went back to what I know for entertainment and I bought one of the best games I’ve ever played again, only this time with the DLC.

A video shows a bit of life in the wasteland of the Mojave desert before a man in a suit with some tribal looking friends shoots someone in the head. You then wake up, you speak to the doctor and build your character before he releases you into the world.

It’s a slow build up but it gets you involved in the story straight away. Who was this man? Where am I heading? Why am I in a random town? It is a great way to start the game and leads into a natural feeling tutorial where the towns hunter shows you how to hunt and craft healing items, the hunter then gives you some extra information depending on what you want from the game. She can point you where you’re going next, she can point you towards the lockpicking minigame and she will tell you who to speak to have a little more involvement with the town which also gives you an introduction to the game’s incredible faction system and the possibility to learn how to play an in game card game called Caravan.

The faction system is probably the greatest thing about this game. Starting out with a small town fighting off dynamite wielding escaped convicts this soon grows into a war over the Hoover Dam by a roman style Legion against a world war one style military known as the NCR. The major factions have their own philosophies, lore and histories which are interesting to find out about and make the world seem deeper somehow. Then the relationships between the main factions and the other make everything interwoven and almost every named character has importance. The groups I can think of off the top of my head are Goodsprings, Powder Gangers, Primm, The NCR, The Legion, The Brotherhood of Steel, Bright’s people, Novac, Westside, The Kings, The Van Graffs, The Fiends, The Great Khans and quite a few more. The interactions between all the factions just make the game seem a bit more believable and real.

Alongside the factions there are a collection of companions for the player to discover such as Boone, a sniper who hates the Legion and has an emotional backstory about his wife which the player must give him closure. There are others each with their own stories who are helpful in combat and all are well written and interesting.

So, you can choose your faction allegiances, you can choose your companions, so what else? The weapons and armour. If you want to be a man in a dress beating giant ants to death with a rolling pin you can. If you want to wear extremely tough power armour and fire nukes at romans, why not give it a go? There are so many different things to use once you get into the game and such a variety of enemies to kill. The possibilities aren’t endless but I’ve definitely lost track of how many ways I’ve played the game in all the restarts.

Gambling is another option in this game, after all it is set in Vegas. Blackjack, Roulette and Slots are all found in the casinos plus there’s the aforementioned Caravan played by people across the Mojave. Betting on animal fights is possible in one location too and you can choose to fight in this arena.

Obviously there are glitches in the game like people sinking through the floor, a certain sky laser weapon sometimes not working or characters heads being weird but either getting lucky and not encountering these or just ignoring them because this is sadly a Bethesda game (Bethesda being famous for having glitchy games) can mean this world will immerse you as it does me. Also, the game is a bit old now and although I like the graphical appearance of the game it does show its age.

It is hard to get a point across about a game like this but even without the DLC this game is incredible for me to even think about. I called Fallout 4 G.O.T.Y great when I wrote about it but the base game of Fallout New Vegas is much better than that. I seriously recommend it to fans of role playing games and fans of shooters or even someone who just wants an interesting world with a fun story to witness and influence.