Fallout: New Vegas 9.0

There are new games coming out all the time. And every year a select group of games are picked from the flow and held above the rest. You turn these games on and you can tell that they are a result of dedication to not only the craft of making these games, but to the gamers they are created for.
Then, there are games like Fallout: New Vegas.


The Fallout franchise is not something to be taken lightly. Fallout has a cult following like few games ever see. Fallout was published by Interplay in 1997 and Fallout 2 was published just a year later by Black Isle Studios. Both were tremendous games and laid the foundation that Fallout was built on. While spin-offs were made, when Black Isle closed its doors in 2004, it looked like we would never experience the wonders of the Wasteland again. But, like a knight in shining armor, years later, Bethesda Softworks picked up where Black Isle had left off. Just over a decade after the last Fallout title had been released, Fallout 3 was released in the U.S. and life was good. Not only had Bethesda revived the franchise, they had created a masterpiece. The game won several awards and was bound for gaming greatness.


Fallout 3


Now, onto Fallout: New Vegas. Developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Bethesda, it's very similar to Fallout 3. It takes place on the other side of the U.S. where the devastation isn't quite a severe as it was in our nation's once capital. Much of the dreary landscape and bleak skyline that we saw in Fallout 3 is replaced with a slightly more colorful scene and mostly blue skies. Aside from some minor tweaks, it plays the same way. The open world is simply beautiful and is fulfilling in it self to explore. There are numerous Easter eggs and fun little things tucked away waiting to be found. There's even a nod to Monty Python's "Holy Grail" that had this guy grinning for quite some time. Play wise, this game, although plagued by numerous bugs, is the same that we have come to know and love.

But it's the storyline in this game that separates this masterpiece from the rest of the great games released. Most RPGs have a linear storyline. Even Fallout 3 (which had a stellar story), even with all of it's side quests, had a main story that followed a somewhat straight path. While you still had the choice of how to handle the situations, the situations still came about in the same manner and most didn't have that much impact on the overall story of the game. Fallout: New Vegas has changed that. There is no blatant "good" and "bad" when it comes to the main factions. You still have your Raiders and the Fiends and the like, but when it comes to the main story missions, you're options are vast.
There are your two main factions; The NCR and Caesar's Legion and you can fight for either side. At first glance, The NCR looks to be the Wasteland saviors while the Legion appear to be nothing more than old world thugs. But a closer look tells a different story. The NCR is helping some of those in the Wasteland by offering protection and a form of infrastructure. They have put many of their resources to providing much needed utilities like water and electricity to the citizens of the NCR. But many have a poor opinion of the new government. When they appointed themselves as the new municipality, they also laid claim to all of the Mojave Wasteland as their property. If you occupied any of their new land, you were asked to leave. If you refused, you were forced to leave, be it drug out by your shirt or drug out in a pine box. There are also many "incidents" that involve the NCR and excessive force or just outright murder. But is it for the greater good?

Then we have Caesar's Legion. Slavers? Yes. Fair? That would be a stretch. They use a lot of the same tactics that the NCR use, but brutality is honored, not covered up. It is now a world when only the strong survive. They have a code they live and die by. Part of that code is keeping yourself free from drugs and alcohol, and that sounds like something good, right? And who is this group calling themselves the New California Republic and why do they now control all of this land? And you can bet that not a single member of the Legion voted on any of this.
Now, I'm not saying either way about who really is good or bad. My point is that there are complete different directions you can take the game. The "good" or "bad" here is more of a matter of perspective. Both sides have their reasons for their actions. And it's not just between the NCR and the Legion. There is also Mr. House on the Vegas strip. He has a vision of restoring the strip to it's former glory and his plans don't always mesh well with those of the NCR or the Legion. There is also the Brotherhood of Steel, the Followers of the Apocalypse, the Great Khans, the Boomers, and even the Enclave makes an appearance.
In short, there are many different directions that you can take this game, and all give a completely different game play experience. Many developers have tried to do this before but none have succeeded like Obsidian has.



The only reason I didn't give this game a 10 is because of the bugs. Now, when Fallout: New Vegas was given a release date, we all counted on two things: That this game was going to rock and that it would have more bugs than a by-the-hour motel. So is life, no big deal. And both expectations were met. But those of us that are veterans know the golden rule to RPG games - Save early, save often.
And be careful about trying to take a shortcut or find your way to what you think might be a secret area. There's a good chance you're going to get stuck in a permanent free fall or simply get trapped. But there are very few games that are worth playing that don't have some form of bug. Remember that little bug when Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 put out their new map pack and the DLC itself made it so you couldn't play? But that's what patches are for, right. So, when a patch was put out for the Xbox360 version, everything seemed to be on track. Not only was the new patch going to fix over 200 bugs, it was prepping the world for then new DLC, "Honest Hearts". Only one problem. The patch was doing everything from causing annoying glitches in the game to crashing the system all together. I can't help but see a bit of irony in that.

Now let's take a look at the break-down for this game....

The Graphics of this game are outstanding. I couldn't imagine a post apocalyptic world any other way.

The sound is superb. From the very random noises that bring the world to life to the soothing voice of Mr. New Vegas and all of the swing and swag you can handle. The voice casting that include Wayne Newton, Matthew Perry, and Danny Trejo complete the Wasteland ambiance.

The controls are great. If you love FPS games, everything is setup for quick changes and can be very effective. If turn based is more your style, the V.A.T.S. system is for you. Your AP has to be filled for V.A.T.S. to work, so it can't be used for every shot, but it still works well.

Replay Value of this game is very high. This is one of those games that you can play over and over and over and have a different experience every time.

This game does not offer multi-player.

One thing I have to mention here is the bugs. While they have put out patches, there are still plenty of them in here. Most of the severe bugs were taken care of though.

Red Dead Redemption 9.5

Red Read Redemption was developed by Rockstar San Diego, was published by Rockstar Games, and was released on May 18, 2010. It is rated Mature for Blood, Intense Violence, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs.

Red Dead Redemption is the long awaited spiritual sequel to the popular Red Dead Revolver released way back in May of 2004. A sandbox style game set in 1911 at the end of the wild west era, RDR has that Grand Theft Auto feel to it that has become synonymous with Rockstar Games. Many developers have tried to reproduce that feel and, in this writers opinion, have fallen very short. It can be played as a single player campaign or in online multi-player.

You start off as John Marston, an outlaw who has turned a new leaf and just trying to lead the good life at the end of the western outlaw era. He is then given a life changing ultimatum by The Bureau and this serves as his motivation for the game and leads to a very interesting storyline. As the game unfolds, you get all of the classic western gear like the classic revolvers, repeater rifles, shotguns, fire bombs (whiskey bottles with a cloth rag) and even a lasso. As the game progresses you can get some more modern weapons such as semi auto pistol and a scoped rifle.
The game has an auto aim feature, but for those looking for more of a challenge, this can be turned off. The weapons all have a different feel and are extremely fun to use, especially the lasso, which you can use to catch the bad guy and hog tie them. Or, if you don't want the trouble of tying them up, throwing them on the back of your horse (or over your shoulder) and taking them in for justice by the law, you can always just drag them behind your horse until there is nothing left.
Or, if you are feeling particularly dastardly, you can rope an unsuspecting citizen and take them to the nearest train tracks and watch them pop like a watermelon at a Gallagher show.

And what self respecting western game would be without the classic gunfights? In RDR, you will be challenged to a duel. If you choose to accept, you will enter the gun fighter mode. You will square off in the middle of the street and wait for the signal. When the town bell rings, you will go into a slow motion draw where you try to get off as many well placed shots as you can. If you are quick and accurate enough, you drop the dirty dog and gain a little respect, as well as notoriety. As you become more well known, you will gain certain perks depending on what you are know for. Save a few damsels in distress and thwart a robbery or two, and you will start getting better deal at the local merchants. It can also go the other way.

Much like the gun fights, there is also the "Dead Eye" action, which lets you place shots while time is slowed. As you progress through the game, your Dead Eye will gain extra perks, such as specific shot placement. This comes in very hand when you are ambushed by a group of bandits. Or in my case, run head first into a large bandit hideout only to find that there are a lot more of them then I thought.

Another aspect of this game is hunting, which makes this game that much better for me. There are plenty of animals roaming around for you to practice your quick draw on. From vultures and hawks (I even shot down a duck!) to rattle snake and armadillos to bears and wolves, this game has all the beasts you'd expect to see in the Wild West. But these critters are for more than just target practice. Every animal you harvest can be field dressed. On most animals, you will get the pelt and occasionally you will get a little something extra, like a heart or claw. These items can then be sold in one of the towns. Pay attention to how much a merchant pays you because different towns pay different amounts for different items. These items can also sometimes be used in side quests, so keep that in mind if you have a pretty good stash of cash and acquire more animal items.

There are other money making ventures such as poker, blackjack, liars dice, and five finger fillet. Not to mention the cash rewards you get for doing the random good, and some not so good deeds.

Speaking of random deeds, the random events that occur in the game is something that really makes this game stand out from the crowd. Rockstar calls this the "dynamic event system". As you wander this vast expanse, you will see characters and the animals interact with each other. People talking, working, or even fighting. You'll even see some stuff that looks like it came strait from Fox's "When Animals Attack". Which isn't new to the free roam world. In GTA4, fights between random characters were common. But to add to the realism of the game, you can intervene if you so choose. If you do choose to, you gain notoriety and usually cash. Or instead of aiding a helpless victim, you may be ambushed by thieves, or asked to aid in the capture of some escaped prisoners from a prison transport gone bad.

The mode of transportation across these western plains are not limited to foot and a trusty steed.
While these both work, there is more. First, there are many kinds of horses to choose from. Some are faster than others while others will wear out quicker. Better horses can be purchased or, if you are up to a challenge, you can try to catch a wild horse and break him to make him your own. You also have the option of stage coach which you can either drive or ride as a passenger. And of course there is the train. While on the train, you can sit and enjoy the ride, or you can challenge your shooting skills by trying to take down animals (or people if you choose) while propelling through the hills and plains.

Multi player is another aspect of this game that can stand alone and do just fine. Instead of being John, you start off as one of the basic characters you can choose as your own with some basic weapons. Unlike the single player mode, everything is based on experience points and leveling up. As you level up, you can unlock new characters and new weapons. As you play, you will find weapons dropped by other players and by random characters, but the only ones you keep permanently are the ones that are earned. You can have your friends or even random players in the room join your posse. You can roam the free world warring with others online or do missions. Which brings me to the only part of this game that I have a big problem with. Spawn killing. It's awful. It happens in every online multi-player game. But this game gives them a big helping hand. When in free roam, it's not that bad. You do re-spawn in the relatively same area, but it is spread out. But try and do a mission, and it's a completely different ball game. While doing missions in free roam, you have specific re-spawn points. And once some d-bag finds it, you may as well stop, exit multi-player, and start over. I was doing a particular mission and one of these wonderful players that should have met their early demise in stomach acid found the spawn point. All he did was aim his shotgun at where I would spawn and it was all over. When you re-spawn, you gun is holstered, so you have no chance at defense. I was spawn killed 24 times before I gave up on the mission I had spent the last 20 minutes trying to do and had to exit multi-player. Hopefully, this is something that will be addressed in the future.

So let's take a look at the break-down of this game....

The Graphics of this game are great. You truly feel as if you are in the wild west.

The Sound is just as good. From the action scores down to the all most cheesy western music. You almost expect Clint Eastwood to walk onto the screen.

The controls are very fluid. At first you will want for a quick single button for changing weapons, but after some practice you will come to like the weapon change system.

Replay value of this game is high. With the sandbox style and multi-player, you will be playing this game over and over.

Multi-player is great aside from the spawnkilling.

Tropico 3

I have been awaiting Tropico 3 for the Xbox 360 for some time now. I've had it in my GameQ since the day they put out a release date. After two months of waiting, I finally got that square white envelope in the mail from GameFly, and I went straight to playing.

Tropico 3 is published by Kalypso Media and developed by Haemimont Games and was released on February 16, 2010. The ESRB is "Teen" for Alcohol and Tobacco Reference, Mild Suggestive Themes, Violence


The game is set during the Cold War in the Caribbean and you have just came into power as "El Presidente" of a tropical island. It starts out just like almost every other sim game out there. You have a very small population and a very small village of some kind. You might have a farm or two, a few shacks, and a shop of some kind. It is then up to you to build your newly acquired island nation up and lead it into prosperity, using whatever means necessary. While building your empire, you must keep a balance between the happiness of your people, your economy, political and religious factions, along with trying to keep both the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. from coming to your shores with guns drawn. There are also the natural elements such as hurricanes and earthquakes. In these respects, it is a lot like many of the other sim games that have come before it.

What separates it from many of the others is how you go about doing many of the activities and actions. You can play any way you chose whether you want to play the "man of the people" role or Castro himself (yes, you can be Fidel Castro) or anything in between. You can bribe anyone in the game, send your military after them, or arrange for an "accident" to happen. A major portion of your score comes from you Swiss bank account, which you can siphon into from most of the monies that come through your palace. You can be very successful at either end of the spectrum, but the game makes it very easy to follow in the footsteps of Karl Marx or even Hitler, if you so chose.

They did a pretty good job at designing the islands, which there are many to choose from. You really get a tropical feel while playing. You can make it a remote tropical getaway or a five star resort filled with luxury hotels, casinos, and more.


The sounds of the island help add a tropical feel along with the music, but it's nothing you will be humming to yourself later.

The controls can be a bit frustrating at times, especially with not having the option to invert the "Y" axis. The type is a bit small and can be a bit hard to read, so if you are playing on a 32 inch screen or smaller, you will have to be right on top of the TV to know whats going on. One of the biggest fails was the road mapping system. There are many times where you will spend what seems like hours trying to get roads to line up, instead of automatically finding the best layout like many other games.

There is a campaign made with various objectives set as well as a sandbox mode for free play. At the end of a campaign, you have the option of continuing after the objectives are met, which is nice. There is also a tutorial mode which is helpful, but does not cover all aspects of the game, just the basics. But with a little online searching, I had all of my questions answered.

All in all, this is an aggravatingly fun and addictive game. You will find yourself cursing this game but unable to put the controller down, at least for a while. I would consider this to be a great "in between game" (that game you play when you've played five continuous hours of Modern Warfare 2 and you need something to refresh your brain before you kill someone because of that damn kid that wouldn't stop using a noobtube) and a good game over all with a moderate replay value.

HINT: The strategy that I have found to work the best is to establish a farm or two for food, then set up a tobacco farm and a cigar factory. This will get the money starting to flow. Then build a logging camp, a lumber mill, and a furniture factory. Follow it up with a pineapple farm and a fisherman's wharf. And you should have some cash left (or you should earn some at the end of the month from the docks) and build an oil rig (if there is one close by) or an oil refinery. Everything aside from the farms and lumber mill will put you into debt a bit, but it will start making money quickly and the farms and wharf will help to feed your population as the game progresses. Keep a close eye on your food supply as your population grows, because your people will start to starve quickly.

Something else I found helpful, if you are trying to develop as much of your island as possible, is to construct at least two more construction offices the second you start to make some money, and keep building them as the game goes on, increasing their pay as you go. The construction workers tend to be very inefficient. There is nothing you can do to help this, as it is simply how the game was programmed. This will keep your projects going.

Over all, I would give this game a 7.25 out of 10.

A day at the beach in Tropico

You have to appreciate the detail in this game. It truly gives you that "Havana" feel

Here is a list of the achievements you can earn in the game -

El Prez 101
Learn how to run a Banana Republic - 5gp

Presidente for life
Prove your governing skills on 15 different islands in Campaign mode - 50gp

Frequent Flier
Build an Airport - 10gp

Call me Tropifeller
Build a Skyscraper Hotel - 5gp

License to Kill
Issue 5 kill orders in one game - 5gp

Generous Leader
Bribe 10 citizens in one game - 10gp

You Saw Nothing
Arrange 15 "Accidents" in one game - 15gp

A little something
Have over $20 000 in your Swiss Bank account - 10gp

Pension Fund
Have over $50 000 in your Swiss Bank account - 20gp

Filthy Rich
Have over $100 000 in your Swiss Bank account - 30gp

Tropican Fiesta
Finish a game with overall Happiness of your citizens above 70% - 40gp

Viva la Revolution!
Finish a "Rebel Yell" Sandbox game. - 10gp

Tropico Tycoon
Construct 3 different industry buildings in one game - 20gp

Bureaucrat
Issue 200 edicts - 30gp

My People Love Me
Win 80% of the votes in Elections - 20gp

Nephew Sam
Make an alliance with the US - 10gp

Comrade Presidente
Make an alliance with the USSR - 10gp

Curse of the Llama
Survive 10 Hurricanes and Earthquakes - 40gp

Coup de Grace
Suppress a Military Coup - 20gp

Red Wire, Green Wire
Deal with a bomb threat - 20gp

The Negotiator
Resolve a hostage situation - 10gp

Agent 00
Establish Secret Police - 10gp

It's Just a Flesh Wound
Survive an assassination attempt - 20gp

In the Ivory Tower
Address the people from the balcony of your Palace - 10gp

Honest Politician
Fulfill an Election Promise - 20gp

Black Gold
Earn $100 000 from Oil export - 35gp

Fruitas LTD CEO
Become a leading exporter of tropical fruits - 10gp

El Commandante
Finish your mandate on 5 different islands in Campaign mode - 30gp

Let There Be Light
Build a Power Plant - 10gp

Homes for Everyone
Have population of over 250 and no Shacks - 30gp

Maximum Security
Arrest 20 citizens in one game - 20gp

Man of the People
Finish a game with respect of all factions above 70 - 40gp

Accomplished Dictator
Lead 10 different islands to prosperity in Campaign mode - 40gp

Tropican Utopia
Finish a Sandbox game in God mode - 5gp

Tropico and Beyond
Finish an online Challenge - 20gp

Free Elections
Finish a "Free Elections" Sandbox game - 10gp

Elitist
Construct 1337 buildings - 50gp

Top Exporter
Earn $1 000 000 from industry in a single game - 30gp

Viva El Presidente!
Win a battle against the Rebels - 20gp

Iron Fist
Suppress an uprising - 30gp

Architect
Rush the construction of 5 buildings - 10gp

Guest of Honor
Make 10 official visits to buildings - 15gp

High Praise
Praise yourself in an Election Speech - 10gp

Heavy Traffic
Construct at least 1000 meters of roads and 4 Garages - 30gp

Distinguished Service
Decorate a soldier with a medal - 10gp

Metropolis
Construct 200 buildings on one island - 25gp

Militarist
Have more than 20 soldiers and generals in one game - 20gp

Paradise Island
Earn $1 000 000 from tourism profits in a single game - 40gp

Tourist Resort
Build all Tourist Attractions on one island - 10gp

If you play games like I do, GameFly is for you. Follow the link and get a 2 game free trial!