Fallout: New Vegas is unique in the Bethesda era of the franchise, given that it was developed by Obsidian Entertainment. With a more serious, roleplay orientated take on the franchise, it offers a completely different feel to the series, despite playing very similar to Fallout 3, and it resulted in a dedicated fandom. It also has a decent modding scene, still receiving support after all these years, but that doesn’t mean the game isn’t showing its age.

Despite being an Obsidian Entertainment title, New Vegas has all the quirks players have learned to associate with Bethesda. These have soured like milk over the years, and the game still suffers from its rushed development. No game can overcome aging with time, and New Vegas has done well to maintain the following it has, but with gaming about halfway through its current generation, some of the seams are beginning to fray.

10

The PC Port Isn’t The Best

Crashes Are Part Of The Experience

Ever since Bethesda took over, the Fallout series hasn’t exactly been known for its stability. Bugs, glitches, and the like are rife in these titles, and New Vegas is no exception. Since its initial release, the PC version of the game has been known to run poorly for some individuals. Of course, this all depends on an individual’s hardware, as some will experience a myriad of crashes while others will not.

This is even more strange considering that the PC version is the original. New Vegas was ported to consoles, but the game is known to be more consistent than on PC. The luxury of playing games on PC is that these types of titles can be modded. There are plenty of mods that fix New Vegas‘ PC running issues to make it run smoothly for everyone, but this requires far more effort than just having the game run well by default.

9

No Post-Game Exploration

Once The Game Ends, It’s Really Over

Although made by Obsidian, Fallout: New Vegas was made with Bethesda’s sensibilities in mind, with an open world where the player can do practically whatever they want. It is odd that this does not extend to the post-game in New Vegas. The title ends after the slideshow and narration, and that’s it. There’s no exploring in the world that the Courier has helped change, whether for the better or worse.

This is a deliberate decision by the developers, but it is an odd one for this type of title. In The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim and Fallout 4, players are able to continue their playthrough until their hearts are content. These two titles even have post-game content after the main story is completed, but New Vegas does not allow for this. The journey can be varied and diverging, but there is a distinct endpoint, which players of more modern Bethesda titles may find off-putting.

8

The Gunplay Is Dated

Not Everyone Can Be Boone

Large, open world RPGs aren’t known for having amazing combat. In fact, it is often considered a big flaw of titles in the genre, and New Vegas is no exception. FPS titles have come a long way since New Vegas‘ release, but even at the time, the combat was poorly executed. It doesn’t help that Halo 3 and the original Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 came out before, both of which set a standard for FPS titles that New Vegas fails to reach.

V.A.T.S. helps massively in making up for the lackluster gunplay, and to its credit, Fallout: New Vegas does provide players with the ability to fight in other ways. Melee builds with unique weapons have always been a feature of the series, and players can always forgo the use of guns if they want to. The melee combat isn’t amazing either, and is something that has been greatly improved in Fallout 4, just like the gunplay.

7

Half Of The Vegas Strip Is Loading

Loading Screens Aren’t Exactly Exciting

The Vegas Strip is the Fallout series’ largest settlement and a big selling point of the series. It is dense, filled with NPCs and quests, having almost everything that players would want from an RPG city, but there is one problem that stops it from imposing its size on a player. The Vegas Strip is split up into many small instances, where players will need to load in to see more of the area.

Very few, if any, would call loading screens their favorite part of a game, but if players wish to traverse the Vegas Strip they will need to spend a large portion of their time waiting. This is, unfortunately, a result of the technology of the time as well as engine restrictions. New Vegas also suffered from rushed development, with parts of the Strip cut for time. It could have been much more, but as is, a good chunk of the Vegas Strip is taken up by loading screens.

6

New Vegas Uses The Gamebryo Engine

It Was Made In 1997

Bethesda’s current engine (Creation Engine 2) may be controversial, but it is a significant step up from the studio’s last. That engine, made for Skyrim back in 2011, was an even larger improvement over the Gamebryo Engine, which is what Fallout 3 and New Vegas use. The Gamebryo Engine was originally made in 1997, and although this isn’t the version New Vegas uses, there is no disputing that the engine is out of date.

The restrictions of the engine can be seen everywhere. Although the hardware was capable of more, not a lot of assets can be loaded in at once, which is why areas like the Vegas Strip are split into many different instances that need to be loaded in. The engine affects the visuals and gameplay as well and is a large contributing factor to the dated feeling of New Vegas, which dissuades many returning players from committing to a full playthrough after Fallout 4.

5

The Visuals Are Dated

It Didn’t Look Great Back In 2010 Either

Bethesda titles have never been known for being visually stunning. This extends to Obsidian’s New Vegas, as the graphics were lackluster, even back then, being on par with Fallout 3 despite being released two years later. When compared to other titles that came out around the same time, like Red Dead Redemption, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, and Halo: Reach, New Vegas leaves much to be desired with its lighting, textures and animation quality.

This issue is even more obvious in 2024, as visuals from new engines can be close to life, and the animation quality is beginning to rival that of VFX seen in Hollywood. New Vegas, especially with the Gamebryo Engine, is somewhat of an eyesore now, and the zooming into NPC’s faces only highlights the problem. Graphics aren’t everything, but if players are accustomed to current gen visuals, returning to New Vegas could be that much harder.

4

Equipment Durability Is Annoying

Good Thing It Was Scrapped For Fallout 4

Fallout is known for having survival elements to better get across the harshness of its dystopian world. On paper, equipment durability makes sense in this regard; however, its implementation does more harm than good. Weapons degrade very quickly, being based on how many shots a gun uses, and this can lead to frustration as players have to constantly find repair kits or duplicates to keep their best weapons functional.

Weapon durability itself isn’t necessarily the issue, even if Bethesda saw fit to remove the feature for Fallout 4. The rate of degradation is and provides an unwelcome level of micromanagement that most players won’t appreciate. There are mods to adjust this, as there are for almost all features of New Vegas, but there’s no mod support for current-gen consoles, so those looking to play on an Xbox Series X are stuck with weapon degradation whether they like it or not.

3

Voice Acting Is Below Par

Not Quite Oscar Worthy

For the time, New Vegas’ voice acting was decent. In general, there wasn’t much to write home about, especially when compared to something like Nolan North’s performance as Nathan Drake in the Uncharted series, but it was serviceable. Unfortunately for New Vegas, voice acting standards have risen since 2010, especially with the increased use of motion capture. Actors are able and expected to put everything into a performance for AAA games now, and that isn’t the case here.

Bethesda has been known to include some celebrities and high-profile actors for certain roles. Oblivion had a couple, with Patrick Stewart as the Emperor and Sean Bean as Martin Septim, while Fallout 3 has Liam Neeson playing the Lone Wanderer’s father. This is all well and good, but the games never seem to get the most out of these legendary actors, and when compared to modern performances, like Neil Newbon as Astarion in Baldur’s Gate 3, the voice acting in New Vegas seems even more mediocre than ever.

2

The Mojave Feels Empty

It Is A Desert, After All

Although New Vegas features the dense and lively Vegas Strip, a lot of the areas outside are filled with uninteresting, empty space. This isn’t the fault of Obsidian and can be attributed to a few reasons. The game is set in the Mojave, a vast desert. The setting has to remain somewhat true to that, even if it is filled with irradiated monsters. There are also engine and hardware restrictions to think about, since an extremely dense game probably wouldn’t have run well on the console generation of the time.

Obsidian suffered from a rushed production and still created a well-loved game, but corners had to be cut somewhere. The Mojave Desert was likely where these corners were cut, and that means that players will spend a decent portion of the game roaming around empty plains. The lack of a sprint function doesn’t help here either, making the long journey across the dry wasteland an arduous one.

1

New Vegas Canon Is Confusing

The Show Has Put It In A Weird Spot

Fallout: New Vegas is an open-ended title with many well-written role-playing situations. It is one of the game’s great strengths, which keeps players coming back despite it being almost a decade and a half since its release. With the success of the show, there are plenty of eyes on the franchise and many who are trying it for the first time, but this presents an issue with Obsidian’s title.

Before, all endings could be canon, but now with the show taking place after New Vegas and involving many elements from the title, like the NCR and the Vegas Strip, it all gets complicated. Not everyone cares about canon and can enjoy games for what they are, but for some, this really does matter. Especially in the context of the franchise at large, the story of Fallout: New Vegas could lose a lot of its impact if it feels no longer crucial to the game’s world.