A direct sequel to Fallout and Fallout 2 that incorporates many elements from the originally cancelled Fallout 3 (Van Buren), New Vegas shines as a truly ambitious and rewarding RPG where reactivity to the player's actions can be seen in direct and subtle ways. The richness of the Mojave Wasteland's logical consistency and characterisation makes one completely absorbed in the world, where politics, corruption, idealogical clashes and the consequences of war make F:NV considerably more intelligent and thought out than many games out there.

Thankfully the final patches to the title have amended the glaring bugs present in the vanilla release, and with a fantastic collection of DLC that expands on the universe's rich canon, one won't easily forget the fantastic side stories such as Randall Clark's trials and tribulations as a lone survivor in Zion National Park, Christine Royce's pursual of Father Elijah from Big Mountain through to the Sierra Madre, meeting the legendary "Burned Man" Joshua Graham, and ultimately, the player character being hunted down by Ulysses, the original "Courier Six", and uncovering his motivations for doing so.

As a side note, I was honoured to have interviewed staff at Obsidian and Bethesda discussing their insights on the development of the game, with links available here:

- JE Sawyer - Fallout New Vegas lead designer and Honest Hearts DLC director[www.gamasutra.com]

- Chris Avellone - Part 1 - Obsidian creative lead and Fallout New Vegas DLC director[www.gamasutra.com]

- Chris Avellone - Part 2[www.gamasutra.com]

- Chris Avellone - Part 3[www.gamasutra.com]

- Jason Bergman - Bethesda producer[www.gamasutra.com]

- Tim Cain - the Father of Fallout[www.gamasutra.com]

- The Fallout From Fallout 3 - an analysis of the cancellation of Van Buren through to Bethesda's Fallout 3, and what happened next[willooi.com]