Spoiler Warning S5E55: Into the Sunset

By Shamus Posted Friday Aug 19, 2011

Filed under: Spoiler Warning 238 comments

Here it is! The stupid finale! Remember, if you can’t win, making sure everyone loses is the next best thing.

I have a few more thoughts on New Vegas, but I think the discussion on the finale needs to stand on its own.


Link (YouTube)

Thanks for watching!

 


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238 thoughts on “Spoiler Warning S5E55: Into the Sunset

  1. Piflik says:

    Thanks for watching!

    My pleasure.

    1. Eärlindor says:

      Another good run, probably one of your best episodes. See y’all next season!

    2. Same here. If you guys need a title image for the next season (or another commentator) I’d be glad to do so.

  2. Kdansky says:

    Can we now go back to less boring things? New Vegas might be better than Fallout 3, but it’s still not the most interesting game I have ever seen. I have watched less than 10 episodes of NV…

    For example, what’s with Project Frontier? :)

  3. Jabrwock says:

    It was getting painful at the end, but I think that’s mostly because at the end you must succumb to the railroad of the plot.

    Still, I enjoyed this season.

    Now, as long as the next game allows Josh to wear a bitchin’ hat, I think we’re good to go. Any plan where you lose your hat (or never get to wear one) is a bad plan.

    1. Destrustor says:

      Hy tink hy know vot hyu did dere.

  4. silentStatic says:

    Awww, you didn’t throw General Olivier over the Dam.

  5. Supahewok says:

    THE BONNET LIVES AGAIN!!!

    1. Supahewok says:

      Y’know, to me, it sounds like at the end there, the Yes Man is betraying you. He says he’s found code to make himself “more assertive,” he reprograms the Securitrons with new “target parameters,” says that New Vegas WILL be defended, says it WAS fun… but the ending says nothing about the Courier getting killed by his own Securitrons and Yes Man ruling over the Wasteland. That’s got me kinda confused.

      1. Coolerthanlego says:

        That sounds disturbingly plausible for this game, actually…

      2. Sagretti says:

        It’s awkward writing. I think the writers wanted to have Yes Man be a benign administrator, but had the issue that his character could not say “No.” So, they have him find programming that allows him to deny any random person who comes to him and asks to be given control of everything. That way he can run things in cooperation with the Courier and the New Vegas populace, rather than the area being under the control of NCR/House/Legion.

        Unfortunately, Fallout players are so used to the game screwing everyone over in the plot that they assume “assertiveness” equals brutal robot dictator. Thus, while the ending states things turn out fine-ish (if you don’t go and blow up the dam), people still assume that the Yes Man is screwing them over.

        1. Indy says:

          It worried me that I couldn’t give Yes Man to the NCR/Legion and have them control the securitrons.

          I think if the Yes Man was going to betray you, it should happen the moment you stick him in House’s computer. The player’s already tense at the moment he goes in and since you’ve already killed House, there is nothing stopping you from walking up to the computer and turning him off (If that seems rediculous, just imagine it with an “Unauthorised user!” message and it’ll blend right in.)

          The Independant path of the game didn’t seem like I was picking “Me”, it just felt like I was going to burn the world with me. The Yes Man is an interesting character, but having him rule in his current state is bad;making him assertive is worse. Maybe it’s just that I think picking “Me” is a bad choice when all of your quest-givers are telling you what to do. Given the choice, picking Benny’s side would have been interesting, moreso if Yes Man worked for every faction.

          Of course, if anybody should run New Vegas, it’s No-bark.

          1. JupiterCobalt says:

            “I think if the Yes Man was going to betray you, it should happen the moment you stick him in House's computer.”

            Well, since he mentions at the end that he “didn’t want to mention this” until you had won, it’s easy enough to see that maybe he DID betray you. Maybe the instant he was put into House’s computer he found the mentioned code bits and came up with a similar plan to what House’s was- to use a capable, normal (sort of) human to do the dirtywork for him and then cash in- but with betraying you at the end because his position as long as you were still there was inately second fiddle, as-was.

            Though he does go along with your choices if you make decisions that would have screwed over House’s plans- like the NCR President dying, and leaving the Brotherhood alive. So that’s a counterpoint.

            *shrug* I like Yes Man. There are a lot of ways to look at his ending, but yes; it didn’t really feel like I was doing whatever I wanted to do and doing it for me; it felt like I had a plot-Dragon that was telling me what the plan was and refusing to move the story forward until *I* went out and did something, instead of the other way around.

      3. Jakey says:

        So, KOTOR for the next season? :D I know that stability and compatibility of the old games is a concern here, but a friend of mine finished it recently on a brand new Windows 7 rig, so you should be fine.

        1. Hitch says:

          I believe I recall that the problem with KOTOR is not Josh being able to run it, but the fact that it steadfastly refuses to let itself be recorded.

          1. Raygereio says:

            More specifically (if I recall correctly), the issue was with the movies.

            1. Chuck says:

              Correct, but, was that before or after he switched to Adobe? Because adobe might be able to handle the cut scenes.

              1. Supahewok says:

                Before, but I think that it was a FRAPS problem, not Moviemaker. And honestly, last time I played through it I had to play it on Steam and even then the movies wouldn’t work, I had to skip through them. That game was bitchy about graphics cards…

                1. Grag says:

                  Seems to me that could be solved by running the xbox version.

                  Use a video capture card, and FRAPS or otherwise record that output.

                  I never played the PC version, but the way combat works in that game there really is no problem using a console(no freelook)

                  1. Chris B Chikin says:

                    Except then you get all the hassle and problems inherent in getting video feed from a console to record to a computer. I’m pretty sure Shamus has already considered this and excluded console games for those reasons. I think it was between the end of Mass Effect 2 and Fallout: New Vegas that he posted a chart showing how ridiculously complicated the recording process is right at the moment. I don’t blame him for not wanting to add more steps!

      4. Magnesium says:

        When he finished saying all that, I actually wanted him to level his gun at the courier and fire, that being the final scene of the game. I believe that you should be able to do the Yes Man quest line without that happening, but it would be an interesting possibility. I expected him to screw the courier over at some point and that last scene looked to be going that way, but then nothing happened. Great game though, barring the obvious flaws.

  6. lightningstrike14 says:

    I wonder if we can betray Yes Man in the finale and like kill all the securitrons during the battle

    1. Indy says:

      Of course you can. Doesn’t stop the Yes Man from spawning and talking, though. Obsidian loves its scripting after all and can’t let a little thing like “player choice” intefere with the disjointed story they’re telling.

      1. silentStatic says:

        Once you have started the end game, the major people on your side cannot be killed. If you join the NCR that goes for General Oliver, and for the Legion Lanius. I guess at that point Obsidian said “screw it”, made the assumption that if a player was going for that end game, then they supported the faction, and made the plot critical NPCs invincible, in order to avoid having the player enter an unwinable state.

        Considering that during the main game you can kill everyone you come across but for two beings in the entire Mojave wasteland (well, you can kill Yes Man, but he always comes back – he even got a semi-plausible in-game reason), I can personally live with that.

        1. Jakey says:

          Who’s the other one, Victor?

          1. silentStatic says:

            Nope, it’s the Vendertron in front of the Gun Runners. If you go back to episode 54, you will see that they have clipped inside the booth and are hacking away (to no avail) at the robot (they even mention that it is indestructible).

            Victor is permanently killed along with all the rest of Mr. House’s robots if you kill or take him offline. I have never tried killing him, but The Vault indicates he just pulls a Yes Man and takes over another Securitron.

            1. Entropy says:

              Yup. I killed him outside Boulder City when it became obvious he was following me around.

              He then greeted me in Vegas

            2. GTRichey says:

              I don’t recall where it was but it was stated by someone involved in the development that the Vendortron could be killed. They said someone managed to bounce (glitch) a grenade into the shack. It’s possible it was changed at some point but it was specifically said Yes Man is the only non-killable character.

      2. ProudCynic says:

        …You’ve never touched Alpha Protocol, have you?

  7. hardband says:

    Yay, good work and seriously, 3 TESTERS! I joked about having that little! Obsidian need to invest more into QA! I love fallout: NV, i’ve put over 100 hours into and love it, I would go so far as to say it is one of my favorite RPGs of all time!

    1. Eärlindor says:

      … seriously, 3 TESTERS! I joked about having that little!

      I know, I couldn’t believe that when I saw it either. I almost fell out of my chair. Seriously, who thought having only three testers was a good idea?

      1. Zombie says:

        Obviously they were Octopuses playing eight diffrent versions at a time. That is honestly the only reason I can think of that would make you think three QA testers are a good Idea

      2. The way I see it that means 3 testers solely dedicated to doing so, the rest were the devs playing through it and fixing things as they went. I know in the promotional material Josh Sawyer claims to have done a lot of playthroughs, so I imagine the same is true for the rest of them.

    2. Irridium says:

      It’s because Obsidian didn’t test New Vegas. Bethesda provided the QA(they were the ones testing the game). You see it in the credits when the Bethesda section is scrolling by.

      1. Alexander The 1st says:

        So…three more testers?

        EDIT: Although I will say this, from what it sounds like, Bethesda was only testing the engine, not the quest triggers. IIRC, that is.

    3. Chris B Chikin says:

      I know! I know next to nothing about the game design process, but I wouldn’t even think about releasing this game until at least twenty different people had played each quest. It wouldn’t even be expensive; put up a sign-up sheet online for play testers and you’d probably get a few thousand people willing to play-test the newest Fallout title for free!

  8. Littlefinger says:

    I had the same problem as Josh with this game, in that there are few to no people to care about. I liked the setting and most of the individual parts, but the whole didn’t grab me. The only people I was half-invested in were the companions, and even there I never lost the feeling that they were just a collection of booleans and script triggers. Boone and whats-her-face old mutant companion were the worst of them. The only reason I liked Veronica is because her voice actress has the most upbeat voice in the Wasteland – compare for example with Boone and you know what I mean with upbeat.

    All in all, the problem comes from the fact that there are few agreeable character traits in the main questgivers – the NCR is a nameless faceless organisation, House is an autocratic douchebag who wanted to kill the only benign organisation in the wasteland – the Followers of the Apocalypse -, Caesar was Caesar and the Yes-man, while funny, doesn’t manage to persuade me to his cause – because the game defaults to you and he doesn’t make any attempt to make you agree to his/its POV.

    1. silentStatic says:

      House is an autocratic douchebag who wanted to kill the only benign organisation in the wasteland ““ the Followers of the Apocalypse –

      When did House say he wanted to destroy the Followers of the Apocalypse? Are you sure you are not confusing them with the Brotherhood of Steel?

      But yes, there are no real “good guys” in F:NV, only shades of gray and black.

      1. Eärlindor says:

        I genuinely liked Mr. House, but it really irks me that I can’t dissuade him from wanting me to massacre the Brotherhood of Steel because I like Veronica and what-not.

        1. Jeff R. says:

          Well, you can do Veronica’s quest in the way where the Brotherhood ends up wiping out the Followers. Then they’ll have it coming, so you just leave Veronica in the 38 while you take care of business for Farkas’s memory (and House, but that’s less important.)

          1. ProudCynic says:

            Do they really kill all the Followers, or just the ones at that one remote outpost that never gets used in any other quest and has, IIRC, one named NPC at it?

            1. Just the outpost, but it was still enough for me to justify massacring them even on an independant playthrough

        2. Jakey says:

          I do kinda like the fact that House and BoS have mutually exclusive ideologies. No, they really will not like an army of Securitrons and therefore they can’t have a truce with House. Thus, they have to go whether you like it or not. It provides a nice contrast to the Charisma Emperor of Speech Courier uniting everyone in the NCR path.

          Hell, the entire point of the Wild Card ending is that you can dethrone House, so just take his place and carry out his exact plan but ignore BoS at which point House turns out to be have been correct all along when they turn hyper-agressive in the credits.

          1. decius says:

            The BoS should be able to be a primary faction: “Hey, I know where there’s this really awesome robot army with a central point of control that I have access to. How about you send some scribes with me to the Lucky 38 and we figure out exactly what we want to do with the Hoover Dam, NCR, the legion, and if we want to ally with that one group who knows how to get and repair an airplane.”

      2. swimon says:

        But yes, there are no real “good guys” in F:NV, only shades of gray and black.

        See my problem with the game is that I didn’t really see any grey. What makes a shades of grey setting interesting is that everyone has a motivation. They’re not just in it for the money or power nor are they evil. Everyone has good and bad qualities and they all want different things. The conflict comes from the fact that they’re mutually exclusive.

        This is true of the core of the institutions in New Vegas where the NCR wants to revive USA, the legion wants law and control and House wants technological progress but it’s not really true for the characters. Almost all of the characters belong to the morally black spectrum where they’re essentially monsters with the same level of motivation as a villain in a cartoon for children. House constantly treats you like Gruntilda treats Klungo, like you’re some minion you can abuse as much as you want without consequence. He also suffers from delusions of grandeur and openly states that if he could’ve saved more than just Vegas he wouldn’t because he didn’t really care for anything else. The NCR leaders while not as bad still treat you like like a leper even if you’re essentially a war hero and I just don’t get why. I mean I’m clearly the most competent and useful person in the whole Mojave but no one wants me on their side. Caesar is the only one who treat you with some respect but he’s just plain evil I mean I get order and all that but when you’re making women into slaves maybe you should take a second look into how you run your nation. New vegas isn’t shades of grey it’s shades of black where everyone is a dick for no reason and I just don’t see the appeal in that.

        Also I think the characters lacks levity. Sure if you turn on wild wasteland every once in a while you meet something that is mildly funny (and kinda breaks the immersion) but the characters lacks happiness. The only characters that I liked were Veronica, Arcade and Raul because they were the only characters that fit in the Venn diagram intersection of “has any character at all”, “is not an asshole to PC” and “has any sort of appreciation for their own life”. Everyone in the game walk around like their life is an unending stream of torment and the only reason they haven’t killed themselves yet is because they haven’t thought about it or they don’t have the willpower to actually perform actions. And no that doesn’t make it more “dark” or make it more fitting to a post apocalyptic genre. Go back and play fallout 1 (the last game in this series that I can call great and not just above mediocre) it had lots of characters with drive, ambition and optimism. What made it dark and depressing was how the various dangers of the wasteland and the shortage of any real supplies made it obvious that they always lived on the edge and could die out at any moment.

        I’m sorry if that became a bit angry that wasn’t my intention. I don’t hate New Vegas it’s just hype backlash (I can’t get links to work :/ I’m a dummy) I played a decent slightly above average game that got so incredibly praised that it gets really annoying. What’s funny though is that I didn’t get that reaction to fallout 3, a worse game that got even more praise. I guess I just never gave a shit about the people who gave high praise to fallout 3 (oh IGN thinks a mediocre triple A game is good colour me shocked… although I did really like the exploration in fallout 3).

    2. Neil D says:

      I liked Boone. It was like adventuring with Joe Pike from the Elvis Cole novels (Robert Crais).

  9. SougoXIII says:

    I would like to say ‘Thank you for a wonderful season and many hours and entertainment. You guys are the reason that i’m still playing New Vegas right now’

    And seriously? only 2 QA tester? now we know what went wrong right Obsidian?

    1. Nikos Saripoulos says:

      +1 to that

      Thanks for the amazing season… enjoyed the insights of Shamus… i like the way he thinks… the puns and quotes of Rutskarn… the hack n slash gameplay of Josh… and the trolling… you gotta love the trolling… and the amazing remarks of Mumbles “c..caa..cannnnniiballiiissmmmm”… “caaaaaiiiiiiizzzzzzaaaarr”

      Can’t wait for the next season to start! :)

  10. Indy says:

    I love the ending montage, including the cut back to the credits.

    So many incinerators. So, so many.

  11. Mincecraft says:

    Nice sign off Ruts.

    Thanks guys, it’s been a good run.

  12. Piflik says:

    Regarding the Praetorians being pushovers underleveled and hard as a rock at level cap…welcome to the joy of level scaling, the stupidest invention since RPGs exist…

    And the shunned part…wearing faction armor resets the reputation to neutral (until you take of the armor).

    1. Hitch says:

      Without scaling the enemy, you have a couple possibilities. You can run out of story and be ready to play the end game, except you aren’t high enough level. Therefore you must go grind yourself to the level cap and hate the game before you can finish it. Or, if the difficulty of the final battle it set to whatever level you would be at with a straight main plot play-through, you can trivialize the ending by just doing a few side-quests along the way. Which is not to say I don’t wish developers could do a better job of balancing the scaling on this sort of thing. How do you program the game to recognize the difference between different build at the same level. Is the player a level 20 who’s been casually and unthinkingly choosing skills and perks at random? Have they been role-playing their decisions and not necessarily taken the optimal route? Or have they min-maxed every choice and sought out all the best munchkin equipment?

      1. Vipermagi says:

        The problem doesn’t lie in level scaling (which is a good, almost necessary mechanic), but that enemies scale faster than you do. You max out your weapon skill and get the most powerful weapon looong before you hit the level cap. Between that level and the cap, enemies still become stronger and stronger. There’s a few high-end perks that make a sizable difference (Slayer, for example), but that ultimately doesn’t add up.

        That said, with the original level cap, it works good enough in my opinion.

        1. Piflik says:

          Level scaling is not good and even less necessary, it should die in a fire. Not even in a sandbox game like Fallout. I want regions with easy enemies, and other regions where I get my ass handed to me, if I go there unprepared. The main quest has to lead the player through progressively harder regions. And when I reach the level cap, I want to feel like I am a demigod and nothing in the world poses a threat to me.

          1. Khizan says:

            This is all good and well, except -I- would like to complete the main questline and a good chunk of sidequests and have the end of the game still present at least the illusion of a challenge.

            1. Znaps says:

              The option in that case would be to designate areas as having their own mob level caps. It’s already delineated which mobs spawn in which areas, it should be possible to determine what level range they spawn at.

              Which is to say, you start off in Goodsprings with nothing, the mobs spawn at a rough level equivalent, i.e., PC is level 1, mobs will spawn between level 1 and say… 4.

              I suppose there’s a possibility for overall level scaling alongside – i.e.

              in location X, mobs ABC spawn between levels Y (player level -5/10/etc, where player level >6/11/etc+1) and Z (player level +5/10/etc)

              Or maybe I’m just talking out of my butt.

      2. Alexander The 1st says:

        This is why I think FFVIII, which as I recall was noted as one of the first games to try it (At the very least, one of the first FF games to try it) worked.

        You can have your scaled enemies, and if for some reason the player stocks up on status effect skills and the boss is immune to all of them, they can simply “re-spec” on the spot – no modding required, it’s in the game, and there’s a narrative reason for it.

        One main problem that I hear a lot of people talk about with it though, is that it homogenises the characters. Which is fair – though it allowed for the game to decide to kill off your healer, and your game wouldn’t crawl to a stop.

        1. Piflik says:

          Level scaling didn’t work in FFVIII…at some point I met Red Dragons doing 9999 dmg on the entire party with their first attack…instant death…not fun to try and finish that dungeon…

          1. Audacity says:

            I agree, though I didn’t really like FFVIII, at all; the level scaling was broken pretty bad. The game could become nigh impossible if you leveled up to far. So the trick was to avoid leveling at all, instant cakewalk.

        2. Sumanai says:

          Not the first one. FF2 had it, and it was broken there as well. You level too much and the game becomes impossible.

      3. Skill checks – look at the player’s combat skills, if they’re high, spawn more enemies. If they’re low, spawn more allies.

      4. Sumanai says:

        Or you could re-scale the RPG-system and enemies. For example, instead of having the damage go from 10 to 100 and the health of enemies from 100 to 1000, have them go from 10 to 20 and 100 to 200 respectively. Including equipment. Even a beginning character should have a shot at winning the endgame brawl while giving a challenge to The Grinder.

        As a bonus point, you don’t need to spend dozens of man-hours trying to balance something that might never be balanced.

  13. Hitch says:

    Okay, I love this game. It has many, many faults, but the fun outweighs those. But I really love seeing Josh break the game and make a mockery of the plot and the scripting. I think my favorite moment was seeing the Legate get launched into orbit. I’m sure he’ll come back down in about 20 years and they’ll have to thaw Cuftbert out of cryo-stasis to deal with him again.

    Edit (Additional thoughts): A lot of the best parts of this game are the side stories, like the tale of the survivalist in Honest Hearts, or the story of Vault 11, which can only be discovered by reading all the terminal entries in an area and piecing them together. There’s great stuff there, which just simply does not work in a Let’s Play.

  14. Riggaburtos says:

    Oh God, I freaking lost it when Vault 11 finally opened up.

    1. Indy says:

      So many…

  15. swenson says:

    Can I just say that when Josh started downing every drug ever, I was laughing so hard I couldn’t breathe? Because I was. That was amazing.

    1. Hitch says:

      Unfortunately, apparently none of the 3 QA testers thought to try that. So the programmers didn’t write anything for that possibility. Either, like Rutskarn was suggesting for hardcore mode, where the cumulative heal over time effect would put you in God mode for the duration of the fight, or a more sensible, your heart explodes and you die instantly from such a massive overdose.

      1. ProudCynic says:

        Unless you have the cybernetic heart from OWB, in which case the rush of chemicals causes you to go on a massive trip like what happened in that one quest in Point Lookout and you see everyone as a furry talking deathclaw.

  16. Zombie Pete says:

    I’ve never screamed, “TAKE YOUR DAMNED STIMPAKS!!” so many times during an episode.

    1. Chuck says:

      I was having a fit when they were looking for the Legate after they zapped him, but I’m not surprised they missed it. That was a chaotic battle.

  17. Destrustor says:

    Near the beginning, Shamus said something about Josh being a terrible human being, and I’d like to point out that this observation is wrong: Josh is, in fact, not human at all. We all agreed, on several occasions, that he is indeed a troll.

    Anyway, thank you guys (and Mumbles) for this great show! I can’t wait for the next season!

    Someone might need to call a few ambulances for the people following the drinking game: the fight against the legate may have left some people in a coma.

    1. Kana says:

      Shamus calling Josh a terrible, terrible human being put a smile on my face.
      Josh taking it as a compliment had me rolling about laughing. I think after all the trolling and explosions from this season, Josh might be one of my heros. *tips imaginary hat*

      I think the drinking game killed my liver on that last episode, and I wasn’t even drinking alcohol.

      1. Dante says:

        I’m kind of the same way. I understand that I’m a troll and an asshole, so there’s no way to insult me saying those things to me.

        1. Syal says:

          Not even if we combine the two and call you an asstroll?

          1. Keeshhound says:

            Trollhole?

            1. Destrustor says:

              Troasshollle.

  18. Kelly says:

    The Legate’s combat behavior is actually all scripted, if you do enough damage he’ll run away to eat his unique healing herbs which restore loads of health, leaving his mooks and grenades to distract you.

  19. Starkos says:

    In the Programmers section of the credits, one of them had this quote next to his name: “It compiles. It should work, right?” It isn’t shown in the episode, though. I think I found out where all the bugs came from.

  20. LB says:

    A fine conclusion for the season. This may sound odd and overly fanboyish, but I must say that I admire the work that you four do here. I understand that the work and experiences involved are not always easy for some of you*, but nonetheless, your production is a high point for the internets.
    *Poor Shamus. .

    1. LB says:

      For the sixth season/interlude between NV and ME3, my vote goes to. .well, most of what has been proposed. Bioshock 2, DA:O or DA2, KotoR. They all could work, as far as I’m concerned. Season 4 was a tad hard to watch at times, considering how much I enjoyed ME2, in spite of its shortcomings. I imagine that I would go through a similar experience if you did either Dragon Age entry. But I do love your criticisms and deconstructions, they are handled very well, and I’ll always consider your opinions valid. . You know what, I’ll just go back to my corner, allowing you four to ignore me and make your own decisions without distraction.

      1. Sydney says:

        Dragon Age is a terrible choice for a Let’s Play. An hour of combat, then an hour of plot, and then another hour of combat. Fun to play, but we’d get literally whole episodes of “fighting our way down this tunnel” or “going through this dialogue tree”.

        1. LB says:

          They could simply distill each episode to a sort of highlights reel/abuse the fast-forwarding feature. Combat never seemed like it sucked up that much time for me, though. Is that why everyone else seems to have 60-80 hour DA:O playthroughs and my lengthiest will be thirty at most? Does difficulty really apply to the game that much? Although, I do like Tse’s idea. Psychonauts would offer the opportunity for lighter criticisms (for those that preferred the HL2 interlude) and plenty of excellent moments for commentary. As for the last two commenters, I’m not familiar with RC whatsoever.

        2. Khizan says:

          Jam the difficulty down to Casual/Easy/whatever, run a dual wielding warrior in the party.

          Actually, all you need to do is run that DW warrior. I ran through on Hard with one of those and pretty much soloed everything of consequence. At the end of the game, having used a basic party of Wynne/Leilana/Alistair/PC for virtually the entire game, my PC had something like 82% of the total damage done.

      2. Tse says:

        I have an idea! PSYCHONAUTS! It’s never dull or repetitive (during the dreams , at least)

        1. Zombie says:

          Even better Idea, just for filler, would be Republic Commando. Short, at maybe three hours long, so what, Maybe nine episodes so they can decide what they want to do next? And Republic Commando has a great story, and good gunplay. Plus, it also had good Squad AI, they actually did things.

          1. John Alexander says:

            I wholeheartedly support this. Republic Commando would make an excellent half-season of Spoiler Warning. It’s a good game, but sometimes the squad AI goes tits-up and hilarity ensues – which is good, because Josh will find ways to tits-up the whole game.

            That said, I don’t think it could support a full season, and there’s really no opportunity for choices to be made. Then again, Bioshock had no choices to be made either.

            Alternatively, like the people below me have said; Half-Life 2! That would also be an excellent choice.

  21. Pearly says:

    I had a lot of fun this episode, even though it was a trainwreck. The bit where Josh tries to distract from the trainwreck by crashing another train into it is particularly memorable.

    …Though I was a bot worried about what the screen effects were going to do when he took EVERY DRUG.

    I think it’d be nice if you guys played a game you uniformly *like* after this”” like actually legitimizing your Half-Life 2 runthrough. I really enjoyed those episodes a lot more than the usual fare because everyone was having fun and pointing out interesting things rather than murdering ancillary targets and ranting about unrelated topics to distract from how boring the game had become.

    Also, I think we can all learn some nice things from Half-Life 2. It’s a good game and talking about positive things will help Shamus manage that incinerator-induced ulcer.

    1. Destrustor says:

      Yes, I vote for half-life2 too. As fun to watch as it is to play, and a turn for the positive type of commentary would be nice.

      1. Tjtheman5 says:

        Man, a Half-Life too-too would make for the most amazing ballet EVER!

    2. Entropy says:

      Personally, I found the HL2 commentary a little dull. I mean it was ok, but I already know why HL2 is good. I watch this thing for the criticism, not the praise.

      1. SolkaTruesilver says:

        Criticism is either positive or negative, dude.

        Praise or insults where it’s due, nothing more, nothing else. Blasting something just for hearing negative thing, without actual reasons, is not healthy methink.

        1. Entropy says:

          Take your strawman elsewhere. I never said I wanted baseless negativity all the time.

          Nor do I want a season of them playing a game they all like. It’s not nearly as interesting.

          1. SolkaTruesilver says:

            If you don’t like a show because they aren’t being negative about what they are reviewing, I am sure a hundred other critics over the internet would be happy to pander to your bile-necessity if SW decide to go for a more positive season.

      2. Jonathan says:

        I learned some things about HL2 that I didn’t know about from that… like that the Lambdas sprayed on the wall indicate caches of supplies.

  22. JPH says:

    I absolutely agree with Josh. Every faction is full of dicks, and I found it very hard to care about what was happening in the game. And as I’ve said before, New Vegas seemed like it made a specific effort to keep you as unimmersed as possible.

    I don’t disagree with you about it being better than Fallout 2. I would disagree about it being better than Fallout 3, and possibly about it being worse than Fallout 1. I haven’t finished Fallout 1 yet though, so I’ll get back to you on that.

  23. Mogatrat says:

    I would actually go so far as to claim Fallout: New Vegas as my favorite game in the whole series.

    Don’t get me wrong here – the Master is still my favorite villain, possibly of all time, and the Boomers feel like a transplant from Fallout 3, and the tone is a bit more jokey with the Chairmen and whatnot – but this is the most fun I’ve ever had playing a Fallout game.

    The world is massive (Fallout 1 was incredibly brief, really), consistent, interesting and full of variety (Jacobstown comes to mind). I love the NCR, because of what they bring to the setting as a whole, as well as the Legion, as they provide a worthy adversary with an actual ethos and history rivaling the Master. I love seeing the setting evolve as time goes on, with the war between the NCR and the Brotherhood, the expansion of the NCR being a huge deal, the Super Mutants slowly disappearing from the Wasteland, and all those other wonderful bits of progress. The continuity between this and the other games is startling and always welcome, like meeting Marcus and hearing Super Mutants reminisce about the Master. Some of the side tales (Suvivalist, Vault 11, Vault 19) contain the best writing in the series.

    This is not to mention that the game is just fun to play. I find both ranged and melee options exciting and entertaining. The Perks feel a lot more like making meaningful choices every time you level up. There are a ton of new weapons.

    Plus, the look of it all! Caesar’s Legion is very well-realized, and I’d say that the NCR Veteran Rangers have my favorite armor design of the series. And the Enclave’s armor is back, and looking GOOD (much better than that horrible look they had in FO3), and we don’t see much of that ugly-ass T-45 power armor. The only ugly aesthetic holdovers from FO3 are the terrible Super Mutant design and lip-syncing and the use of Gamebryo (which really is terrible at conversation and character realization). Even when the interiors are a maze, they still look about a thousand times better than FO3. Not to mention the use of the cowboy look all around the outside of Vegas, combined with the Rat Pack-styled Strip, give the game a very unique flavor.

    I am seriously in love with this game. I just wish that Obsidian would get the reins on the next Fallout game, as I bet we’re gonna get Fallout 4 from Bethesda and it’s gonna break the setting again.

    God, I would give anything for an Obsidian game taking place a few decades later and further east, just to see how they develop the setting even further. This is a seriously masterful work by people who obviously care about the franchise, and I couldn’t be happier with it.

    ..well, maybe if they had more than 3 people in the QA department.

    1. LB says:

      My approval goes out to you, sir or madame, however little it may be worth to you.

    2. Zukhramm says:

      While I’d prefer the games to be handled by Obsidian in the future too I’m not sure Bethesda would let that happen. It’s hard to judge exactly how many they are but there seems to be plenty of people who prefers Fallout 3 over this game.

      1. Raygereio says:

        There are people who actually think Fallout 3’s main plot is well written. Let that sink in for a moment. There are people out there who got emotional when Dad offed himself for no reason whatsoever instead of laughing at the horribly inept writing.
        Some people are just weird.

        Mind you, other people that prefer FO3 over New Vegas haven’t even played New Vegas. They just hate it because it’s an Obsidian developed game. These people get extra stupid-points if they never even played an Obsidian developed game before and just go with Obsidian’s reputation (which is about as deserved as BioWare reputation for having good writers).

        1. Eddie says:

          Hey, I got emotional when Dad died. I got mad that I had spent so much time looking for him and then he killed himself for a completely stupid reason.

        2. Alexander The 1st says:

          I actually liked this playthrough – my one thing is that I’ve heard WAY too much about the bugs in this game, and frankly, Fallout 3 was really…really…REALLY boring for me. Though that’s probably because I’m not a big “Just explore” type of person – if it was up to me, I’d scour the entire wasteland looting every last lootable item. And then probably have gotten angry when the enemies respawned.

          Hence I just went through the plot…which was bad.

  24. Kelly says:

    The big problem with Fallout 1, aside of interfaces issues, that will always make it inferior to New Vegas and FO2 is that it’s just… too small. That game can be wrapped up in a couple of hours. New Vegas and FO2 have TOWNS that last longer than the entirety of FO1. Now, it’s not a fair comparison in the case of New Vegas (although it does nicely show how far we’ve come), but FO2 was working with pretty much all the same stuff as FO1 did, and it allowed for not only a much larger number of quests but a larger number of options to complete them. Now, not all of it was as GOOD as FO1, certainly I’ll take the Regulators over the goddamn Scientologists, but whatever quests and groups fell short of the standard were made up for by having 10 more that matched the quality or surpassed it. FO1 deserves all the credit for setting the stage, but it’s FO2 and New Vegas that really took the money and ran with it.

    Also FUCK the Glow.

    1. Alan says:

      Ehee-

      Buuuu–

      Duuuh-

      Can be completed in ‘hours?’

      Um, I assume you mean on subsequent playthroughs after you have learned the whole game right? Or by ‘hours’, you mean many hours?

      I am about 15-20 hours into the game (Plus a couple of micro playthroughs to get a feel for the controls), and while I have explored most of the locations, I don’t think that I am that close to winning. I am certainly not strong enough to consider challenging the main villains yet.

      1. Kelly says:

        First run of the game by most players is about 10 hours, Fallout 1 is very easy to break if you understand some basic RPG build concepts and know the setting. On subsequent runs, it’s usually 6-8 (I think my recent run was about 5), while the speed records is ONE. Usually you end up beating the game around level 10-12 if you play a decent build and stay properly geared up.

        Of course, if you want to play a melee/gambling/doctor specialist or something you’re screwed and in for the long haul.

        1. Alan says:

          Eh, I can live with that.

          I keep fighting with myself not to look up how far I am into it because I don’t want it spoiled.

          I have been trying to go for as much completeness as possible, which accounts for some of the time discrepancy.

          Beyond a certain point, I don’t know that time on game = good game, otherwise Desert Bus would be the best game ever.

          I will agree with you on the Glow though…

          1. SlowShootinPete says:

            What’s so terrible about the Glow? I always just pop several Rad-Xes and I’m totally immune to the radiation.

            1. Kelly says:

              It’s 20 miles away from everything else, requires you to pack a goddamn field trip kit, and insists that you park all your friends somewhere else (the hub probably). And if you DON’T, you don’t get to go into the Brotherhood to get some of the best gear in the game or a lot of other things.

        2. Pete says:

          I think the speed run record is somewhere around fifteen minutes, actually.

          Or nine minutes, nineteen seconds, according to google.

        3. decius says:

          I think the actual speed run record is about 15 minutes: Go direct to the cathedral, abuse bugs to avoid combat, steal the key, detonate the nuke. Go direct necropolis, get captured by the super mutants, abuse bugs to avoid combat and detonate the vats. Win.

          If you meant the actual route Shady sands->radscorpion caves->raider camp->V 15->Shady Sands->Junktown+quests->Hub->hub quests, and then, in no particular order, BoS/BoS quests; Necropolis+quests+back to V13 (V13 quest!); boneyard+quests; and so forth, you’re crazy to think 10 hours. I never spent time leveling, although I did do most of the quests, so my build is irrelevant. In later plays, I abuse certain broken triggers (clear out the radscorpions AND blow up the cave.

    2. Grampy_Bone says:

      You can chalk story considerations up to taste but by any other measure Fallout 2 is the superior game. Unless you like having vastly less content, less freedom, fewer viable character build options, crummy companions, fewer weapons, fewer perks, fewer enemies, and a tiny world.

      Plus name one Fallout 1 character with more personality than Sulik, Cassidy, Myron, Marcus, or Goris.

      1. Keeshhound says:

        Harold. But he’s dead now. In most cases anyway.

  25. Eärlindor says:

    12:03 — HE DROPPED THE INCINERATOR! HE DROPPED THE INCINERATOR!!! *Maniacal laughter mixed with crying* *Hyperventilating*

    12:43 — SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE!!!

    1. Tjtheman5 says:

      12:43 WE’RE BLASTING OFF AGAIN!!

    1. James says:

      its not out till November, so i assume they’ll do soemthing in the interim, until maby ME3, maby Dues Ex 3, ‘cus we all want to hear Shamus compare it to Dues Ex 1 endlessly right?

      1. GiantRaven says:

        I’d rather not a game that’s just coming out. That way everybody can have thought-out opinions to talk about.

      2. Well, Deus Ex 1 will run on practically anything…

        1. Jarenth says:

          And Josh can drop all his skill points in swimming.

          1. Vipermagi says:

            And lug around an empty GEP gun, of course.

            1. Raygereio says:

              Collect laws and never use them.

            2. Zagzag says:

              IIRC it was actually quite a good idea to lug a GEP gun around but never use it in combat, you find lots of rockets, so “empty” isn’t realy an option unless you deliberately ignore ammo. Most doors that can be picked can also be blown open, so the GEP gun turns into a sort of explosive lockpick if you never use it otherwise.

              1. Alexander The 1st says:

                So, it’s useful?

                I don’t see Josh going this route then – unless it’s seriously breaking the game.

          2. Deadfast says:

            Wasn’t it Shamus who was going to play Deus Ex? I remember him mentioning it somewhere.

            1. Entropy says:

              But surely he doesn’t have Josh’s crazy setup.

  26. Kojiro says:

    Wow, you got the neutral karma ending for Wild Card. I guess donating all that healing powder paid off.

    Also, for all people say about Guns and its terribleness, I had zero trouble with the Legate. 100 Guns skill, anti-materiel rifle, and he went down extremely easily. Several times, in fact; due to my computer bugging out I didn’t get to see my complete ending until I killed him, like, twelve times. He still had a head after only one of those battles.

    Anyway, congratulations, good job, and so on. That was hilarious. Looking forward to the next season.

  27. Mailbox says:

    Great Ending. That was a lot of fun.

    If you want to follow a pattern, you followed up Fallout 3 with Bioshock, why not do Bioshock 2 after Fallout: New Vegas? Have fun during your off season.

  28. Deadpool says:

    Where’s the Legate, where’s the Legate? He was the first guy you all killed! lol…

    Btw, I’ve heard a lot about Fallout 2’s zaniness in recent years (around Fallout 3 release date and on) and I’m trying to remember…

    I mean, the game was huge. I can think of a handful of “zany” things in it (Hubologists come to mind instantly) but I’d have to say 90% of the game still followed the same mood as Fallout 1…

  29. Zombie says:

    What is it with video games making almost all Post Apocalyptic governments terriable? I mean, at least NCR is the lesser of all Evils, but still, it sucks. And thats my problem with New Vegas. All the factions, tribes and clans I liked, and had generally good people in them, didnt even affect the main story. But, at least I could actually pick which faction of the four (NCR, Caesar, House, and Wild Card) I wanted to win, unlike Fallout 3, where the BoS had to win, and to bad if you wanted the Enclave to win. One of the other good things is that unlike Fallout 3 which had the same buildings and interiors just copy pasted everywhere, F:NV at last had a diffrent look for the places you went to. And the DLC wasnt the worst thing ever *coughOperation Achoragecough*.

    1. Deadpool says:

      The NCR doesn’t SUCK, it’s just not perfect.

      The Fallout world in this time period is very much a reverse Wild West: The Western political power (NCR) is moving East to colonize the area and bring civilization and peace to them. It’s not pretty, it’s not perfect, it’s not clean… But it’s not evil and wrong either.

      This is how you expand. You take over land, you kill people who disagree with you. Living within NCR borders is still better than anywhere else in the wasteland (see Shady Sands in Fallout 2), the problem is bringing those borders to you.

      1. Zukhramm says:

        “But it's not evil and wrong either.”

        “You take over land, you kill people who disagree with you.”

        Sounds pretty evil to me.

        1. Alexander The 1st says:

          “You take over land, you kill people who disagree with you.”

          Sounds pretty evil to me.

          Welcome to every plot about change. Ever.

          1. Chuck says:

            I guess it depends on how much of an Imperialist you are.

            Also, the NCR considers anyone not a member of the Republic to be one step above a second generation super mutant (more or less.)

            1. Deadpool says:

              Not really… Vault City treated people this way… NCR just sees them as inferior. But they kinda are… Their lack of tech and numbers really hurts.

        2. Daemian Lucifer says:

          Sounds human to me.

          1. Zukhramm says:

            I am human and have never taken someone’s land or killed someone because they disagreed with me.

            1. Deadpool says:

              Welcome to EVERY EXPANDING NATION. That’s what they do. They conquer lands. For the good of the people.

              These people were living in poverty and misery and the NCR is bringing in technology and medicine and safety and progress. Some evil, mean people are against all this good and happiness because they want their ill gotten power, but the nice people at the NCR will depose these tyrants for you…

              Or maybe these people are just living out their free, independent, happy lives without bothering anyone else when the encroaching, evil NCR comes in with all their rules and regulations and taxes and try to take over and tell the free people how to live their lives…

              It really depends on which PR you’re listening to. That’s how the world works. That’s how civilization was founded. That’s how it’s going to be recreated…

            2. Daemian Lucifer says:

              I am human,and I have white skin.That means everyone has white skin,right?I also have never excelled at sports,meaning no human being can do that either.

              1. Zukhramm says:

                I doesn’t, but then I never would describe being white nor being good at sports as something that is inherent to being human.

            3. Syal says:

              Maybe not yet.

  30. The Hokey Pokey says:

    So when is Kevin Macleod going to get a new level? He has been stuck at 42 for ages.

    1. Dante says:

      Do you have any idea the xp requirements for level 43?

      1. Alan says:

        But he has just completed an entire campaign, that has to count for something right?

        1. Destrustor says:

          Yeah but he hasn’t chosen his prestige class yet.

          1. Alan says:

            At level 42, I think he is pretty committed to pure Bard by this point.

            1. Zagzag says:

              Presumably he got to 42 by composing all the music for the series, which happenned in advance. Maby he’ll get some more Xp by the time the next series goes out.

              1. Michael says:

                You can also opt to not level up. My guess is that MacLeod doesn’t want to.

                That said, 42 is a nice number. Were I level 42, I wouldn’t want to level, even give enough experience.

                1. Alan says:

                  I know epic level wizards can use XP to design new spells, is the same true for bards?

                  That could be why he is staying that level?

                2. Alexander The 1st says:

                  Or maybe he hit the level cap, and needs to buy the expansion: Spoiler Warning: Season 6.

  31. Museli says:

    Cheers guys, another great series. Might pass the time waiting for a new one by watching the epic Mass Effect 1 episodes again :)

  32. rrgg says:

    Nope, with clunky/broken gameplay, awful visuals, and obnoxious setting and characters it still doesn’t look like a game I would enjoy playing, at all. Although a couple months ago I found Mercenaries 2: the Gooey Kablooie in a bargain bin and had more fun with it than Portal so what do I know.

    Fun to watch Josh break it though, what’s next?

    1. Viktor says:

      JOSH JOSH JOSH! Mercenaries 2:World in Flames is available for the PC. It’s a game with a silly story, broken mechanics, and massive violence. Make the others watch you play it!

      Here’s the commercial for the first game, and the sequel is just that turned up to 11.
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kC2GzK7Aw4c

      1. Tjtheman5 says:

        I still think they would try to tell him he’s not a mercenary

      2. rrgg says:

        v.lp.prinny.co.uk already has a really good mercs 2 let’s play.

        Although it would make sense, Mattias basically is Reginald Cuftburt.

      3. Destrustor says:

        I’d rather not think about the hurricane of butt puns Rutskarn would unleash after the opening cutscene.

  33. Matt says:

    Great job guys, I think this was your best season yet! I can’t wait for the next.

  34. SolkaTruesilver says:

    Holy Spoiler comments! You should give warnings!!!

    Oh, what are you going to be doing for the next game? Maybe continuing Half Life 2?

    Please?

    Pretty please?

    Pretty please with sugar on top?

  35. burningdragoon says:

    Annnd now I’ve seen how the game ends, more or less. I have to say I found myself in the same boat as Josh where I lost motivation to finish the story, mostly due to some it bugging out, but still.

    I know the perfect game for next time: Demon’s Souls. Now, hold on, just ignore the fact that it’s PS3 only, and that none of you (I don’t think) have played it, and that there isn’t a whole lot to talk about. All you need to know is this: There are two, yes two, levels of weight management and you can kill both NPCs that can repair your equipment and the guy who will hold onto all of your extra stuff.

    That’s ripe for the trolling… that’s the point, right? Right?

    1. SolkaTruesilver says:

      I don’t really feel like seeing the cast doing the same levels again and again and again and again until they understand how to break the game.

      1. burningdragoon says:

        Shhhhhhhhhh. That wouldn’t happen at all >.>

  36. Zeta Kai says:

    Finally! Now maybe we can get some non-SW content on this blog. Project Frontier, Stolen Pixels, Experienced Points, random tech analysis… all gone! Nothing for weeks, except for commentary on John Carmack’s latest game keynote. I’m starving over here! Throw us non-SW readers a bone!! Argh!!!

    Ahem. Please.

    1. Alan says:

      Great one guys, as people have said, this one worked well.

      A lot of things happened to come together in this episode, and because most of them are either technical (Having the right software etc), and your skills (Beaing able to bounce off each other with comments), I think that the next one will be as good, if not better.

  37. Excludos says:

    Don’t press your luck, you’re on your honor-I saw a mudcrab yesterday-patrolling the Mojave wasteland almost makes me wish for a nuclear winter*Brain exploding*

    I vote go back to HalfLife2 as well, I can’t take another bad comment from random npc in a Bethesda game again..

    Great episode :)

  38. Slothful says:

    That ending sequence was just the best. Nice job, guys.

  39. arron says:

    Aha – now is the time for a System Shock II retrospective. You know you want to. It’s not as hard to set up on modern hardware as you might think given I run it on Linux under Wine.. :D

    Alternatively – Deus Ex? Thief? Portal II? Uplink? Defcon?

  40. Nice work guys.

    I know you guys will be doing Mass Effect 3 some time after it gets released…

    I have no idea what games you have planned, but may I suggest that before Mass Effect 3 that you do the new Deus Ex game. (which is being released next week I believe?)

    Hopefully some of you have played or know Deus Ex (and maybe even Deus Ex Invisible war).

    The new Deus Ex is a RPG, dialog choices (I believe) and alternate solutions, (and stealth, assault, hacking, no hacking solutions etc.)
    And although the new Deus Ex has much higher production values (and budget).

    I know many want to see Dragon Age 1 or 2, but the gameplay there can really turn into a massive grindfest sometimes. New Deus Ex seems to have a nicer pacing and feeling of story progress.

    I can’t think of any other games right now. Although GTA IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony “might” might be doable in theory, as I assume everyone has played at least one of the GTA games at some point *shrug*.

    PS! Over at Gamasutra there is a interesting 3 part interview series of Chris Avellone
    http://gamasutra.com/blogs/WillOoi/20110623/7848/An_Interview_with_Chris_Avellone__game_designer_writer_and_former_unlucky_schlep.php
    http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/WillOoi/20110815/8206/An_Interview_with_Chris_Avellone__game_designer_writer_and_former_unlucky_schlep__Part_2.php

    A must read for those that love or those that love to hate Obsidian.
    Chris worked on , Planescape: Torment, the Fallout games (he did the Fallout “bible” as well), Alpha Protocol. He’s the one that create Kreia in KoTOR 2 as well.
    Just check out his rooster http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Avellone
    most people here has probably played like half of those games.

  41. AlternatePFG says:

    The Legate was a pile of ash on the ground.

    New Vegas is my personal favorite in the series. 1 and 2 were classic games, but I just don’t think they have the “fun” factor that the newer games in the series have. They’re amazing as RPG’s but I think the newer games are simply more fun to play. I think the writing in New Vegas was great, but in the DLCs it was much better, and more thematic. (Dead Money included.) Fallout 3 was a game I enjoyed too, enough to do a LP on, though I very much disliked that game’s story and what it did to the series. And for those who complain that the game is buggy, every single game in the main Fallout series is buggy. That’s what makes it a Fallout game.

    Thanks for the season guys, it was really fun. Can’t wait to see what you do next.

  42. Irridium says:

    I’d love for you guys to return to Half Life 2.

    After, what, five seasons of bile, it’d be great to get non-stop praise to balance it all out.

    Also, Obsidian didn’t QA test the game, Bethesda did. I’m guessing those three from Obsidian were there to confirm bugs. There’s a whole list of QA testers in the Bethesda section of the credits. Though I can’t remember where…

    So yeah, an Obsidian developed game on the Gamebryo engine and tested by Bethesda.

    I’m surprised the thing runs at all.

  43. Grampy_Bone says:

    I really enjoyed New Vegas compared to 3, but having just completed a Legion/Bad Karma playthrough I’ll say the game fares much worse from this perspective. Either the player is “supposed” to want to align with NCR or the Legion faction was severely cut in order to ship the game. There are actually relatively few Bad Karma quests and options; I actually found it hard to be evil.

    There are a few major sidequests with the option to resolve them in a bad way, like helping the powder gangers take over Goodsprings, blowing up the Bright Follower’s rockets, and returning the White Gloves to cannibalism. But there are a surprising amount of quests which are karma neutral; like activating the space laser and frying all the soldiers around Helios I. This makes the NCR hate you but no Karma loss. And there are all these murder for hire and drug-related quests with no karma hit. But there are tons and tons of good karma quests with no other real options; either you do them nicely or don’t do them at all. That’s not really much of a choice. Even though I did all the bad karma quests I could I ended the game neutral just because I refused to play Chaotic Stupid. Hell even killing random innocent townsfolk doesn’t result in a karma loss half the time.

    The NCR has four or five major settlements and like a dozen outposts all over the mojave, and they all have quests associated with them. The Legion has three settlements on the east side of the map and a few token sidequests. If you go to NCR’s Camp Forlorn Hope you will find a bunch of named NPCs to interact with, a major sidequest and several smaller tasks you can help out with. If you go to the Legion-occupied Nelson nearby, there is only one NPC you can talk to and the only quest he gives you is a half-assed “go wipe out the NCR base.” Talk about lazy. And has they pointed out during this Let’s Play, Ceasar himself gives you no real good incentive to work for him.

    Basically its nowhere near the level of good/evil options you get in a Bioware game, and that’s pretty sad really.

    1. Keeshhound says:

      On the other hand, do you REALLY want bioware moral choices? Because I’m tired of “eat this kitten” as my evil choice.

      1. bit says:

        Nom nom nom.

    2. Raygereio says:

      Basically its nowhere near the level of good/evil options you get in a Bioware game, and that's pretty sad really.

      I’m with Keeshhound on this: do people honestly like BioWare style “let’s repeat KotOR’s light vs. dark again” morality meters?

      That said, New Vegas isn’t even about a morality meter, it’s far more about your reputation with the different factions.

      1. Alexander The 1st says:

        I actually liked Dragon Age: Origins’ dialogue choices over the ME wheel because of the fact that no specific option was labelled “good” or “evil” – well, until you read the text. But no “I’ll just always choose the top/mid/bottom/topleft/topright options” metagaming – that is, until you get coercion, where it all becomes “Use speech check when possible for best option”.

    3. GTRichey says:

      New Vegas really shouldn’t have had the karma system at all. It does have a small effect on the endings, but the only plausible way to end with negative karma is to steal everything in the game (or I think there’s a perk that does it). Faction reputations are where they put there time. I do agree that compared to the NCR every faction seems like it was cut down in order to ship the game.

      1. Alexander The 1st says:

        Which is why Reginald got Villified by the Legion AFTER killing off everyone in their camp and mostly killing everyone in their end-game battle sequence. And the NCR Villification.

  44. Slip says:

    Hats off to you, noble lads and lass. Wackiest and most fantastic season yet, I think. I have this feeling that you guys are going to show up on Escapist one of these days..

    Nice number to end on, by the way. 555.

  45. Milos says:

    Because I know you treasure fan wishes so much may I suggest your next season be Plants vs Zombies. It’s a great example of environmental storytelling, has some lovable for you to care about and in the end player faces the ultimate moral dilemma: (SPOILER WARNING) kill zombies or let them eat your brain.

    Also, I’d be surprised if their QA department wasn’t several times bigger then Obsidian’s because that’s how AAA games roll.

  46. Alexander The 1st says:

    As a fan suggestion that might be interesting as a nice slow break, how about Bastion? Just came out for Steam.

  47. krellen says:

    Maybe try having a different player next time? I think the Cuthberts need a little rest, and I could definitely use a break from Cuthbert.

    1. Irridium says:

      Would be a nice change of pace.

      Is Randy free at all?

      1. Jarenth says:

        Cannibalism.

        Ca… cannibalism.

  48. Daemian Lucifer says:

    Do the oddworld series next!Come on,its super cheap on steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/15700

  49. Riggaburtos says:

    I just realized that in the DLC sections of the credits it’s listed as “Dead Monkey”.

    I thought it was a one time typo, but it says it twice…

    1. Chuck says:

      Wild Wasteland affects the credits, too.

      1. GTRichey says:

        Probably a call back to the option in FO1 to change the credits.

  50. Even says:

    All in all, a fun ride. Thanks for bringing in the fun.

    Shame about the DLCs though. I would have loved to hear some more thoughtful discussion about the themes that they (mainly Dead Money and Honest Hearts) were exploring, but suppose that’s for some other time and place. Also, the whole overarching plot concerning the “Battle of the two couriers” got pretty much ignored thoroughout the season and it left me wondering if any of you ever paid attention to it. To me that was overall definitely one of the more interesting things about the DLCs that have come out so far. After playing through Dead Money, Honest Hearts and Old World Blues, I just know I HAVE to get Lonesome Road, because it would just feel wrong not to. They spent the last 3 DLCs building up the tension and expectations, and now I’m feeling a little edgy. I need to get to the Divide asap. WHY WON’T YOU RELEASE IT YET, BETHESDA?! Ulysses may just end up being the coolest character ever in the whole Fallout Universe.

    1. Entropy says:

      Bethesda won’t release it yet because Obsidian are the ones who are making and releasing it. :P

        1. Entropy says:

          Oh really? Huh.

          The More you know….

    2. SlowShootinPete says:

      I know how you feel man.

      With all that buildup, Lonesome Road had better be awesome.

  51. Fang says:

    Why? Why did I laugh so hard when Josh killed Legate with the C4? I saw it coming but the idea was so ridiculous.

    WHAT? IT DIDN’T KILL HIM? WHAT? AND THE HOLY HAND GRENADE? Whatttttt? Oh the Hand Grenade killed him. Awesome.

  52. So I want to go through my projections for this series, to see if they’re accurate.

    Endgame state:
    -Independant ending – Correct
    -Destroyed Dam – Mostly Correct (disabled, destroyed, whatever)
    -House Killed – Correct
    Endgame outfit:
    -Bonnet – Correct
    -Lightweight Leather armour – Incorrect (credits notwithstanding)
    Factions destroyed:
    -NCR – Correct
    -Caesar’s Legion – Correct
    -The Fiends – Incorrect
    -The Brotherhood of steel – Correct
    -Nightkin – Incorrect
    -Great Khans – Incorrect
    (7/11)

    Anyway, closing thoughts are I love this game, I’ve sunk a lot of hours into it, but my biggest problem is it feels really empty after a while.

    Towns rarely have shops, and maybe one or two quest givers at maximum (protip: make quest givers do a unique job or be people I’m likely to want to talk to), who don’t exactly draw attention to themselves, and are sparsely populated in general – Freeside is home to maybe one or two respawning thugs and some junkies, and they’re rarely laid out in such a way you feel encouraged to explore them. Most high level enemies aside from Cazadors can be wiped out ant won’t respawn – Dead wind cavern and the scavenger’s platform are one of the few places I’ve seen this occur.

    Containers have the same problem – if you know anything about Bethesda games, you know not to store items in non-player housing, otherwise they’ll be deleted when the cell resets, but in Oblivion there’s never any indication of what constitutes player housing aside from the ones you get given as part of quests. The shack near the Yangtze memorial for example is probably intended to be a player house, but I never used it because I don’t know if my stuff will survive.

    There’s a lot of houses out around North Vegas that members of the crimson caravan and gun runners live in, and Nipton actually has some really interesting stuff in the houses, but either they don’t look like you should be able to enter them, or you can’t be bothered doing so because they don’t look very interesting.

    Essentially, the game’s weakness is in both it’s world and it’s development time. I don’t ever get lost in New Vegas any more – it’s flat, with lots of landmarks and fetch quests tend to send you to a lot of them – in Fallout 3, the wasteland is labyrinthine to me, but I have no such problems navigating the Mojave. Lots of stuff is important from a lore standpoint – westside, the sharecropper farms etc, but are little more than a footnote in terms of the game itself, like the world was designed to fit the plot, then add some fun parts, where the Capital wasteland was designed to be fun, then to have a plot in it. Obsidian’s approach makes for a more coherant experience, but in a lot of ways I miss the strangeness of the capital wasteland.

    I think if Obsidian were given another shot at it, it could easily be the best Fallout game ever made – their work on the DLC really shows what they learned about making interesting game spaces and I love the way they connect together as you find out more about Ulysses and what his deal is.

    My last comment is that if I were to work at any game studio, flawed though it may be, I’d want to be a part of Obsidian. It’s by no means perfect, and I have a feeling I may not like how they operate as much I would Valve or something, but Obsidian make the kind of games that would really fascinate me to work on. I could get bored of making a Half Life game, or a Mas Effect game, and I would probably find Bethesda’s approaches frustrating, but if I think no matter what kind of game Obsidian made, no matter what setting, I’d never tire of making it.

    1. Entropy says:

      The Great Khans were destroyed. Not directly by Cuftbert, but he made them do a suicide charge.

      1. They ceased to exist as a tribe, but that just means they were assimilated into other ones, they didn’t all die, so I’m not counting it.

  53. Some Jackass says:

    And here I thought I was being original with my genius idea of setting a C-4 trap and blowing up that Legion dude…coarse I had A LOT more C-4 and never found the body afterwards.

    I enjoyed both FO3 and NV equally, but NV had a far better ending storywise.
    My FO3 ending: Die
    New Vegas: Order Yes Man to throw general Oliver off the dam, then watching it happen.

  54. Zahx says:

    Wait what? 21: 04 “I always just bullied him … that’s what I do with all boys… bully them”

    1. Deadpool says:

      Are you surprised by this? Every boy story she tells involves her punching them or wanting to punch them!

      1. Michael says:

        Or both!

        1. Deadpool says:

          Exactly! I mean, she continually threatens Rutskarn STILL!

          1. Milos says:

            She’s trying to hide it with constant threats, but the animal attraction between them still seeps between the lines.

            1. TSED says:

              CANNIBALISM.

  55. CalDazar says:

    This was am amazing series.
    I will most likely have more thoughts later, but I’m in amazed by how enjoyable this was.

  56. Dwip says:

    Good season, great finale. Thanks.

    Some things:

    – Vault 11 was genius. Actually, everything involving the incinerator was genius, but Vault 11 really made it.

    – You know, I’ve done a lot of modding for TES/Fallout games, and I’ve done QA on a couple of DLC-sized mods including one I wrote, and on the one I wrote, even with FOUR people on the QA team including me the author (take that, Obsidian!) there were still a fair number of bugs that needed to be fixed a year down the road. It ain’t easy.

    So three QA people just doesn’t compute.

    – Allow me to join the Half-Life 2 chorus. The criticism thing is nice and all, I like it even when you’re shredding games I really love (Fallout 3, alas), but it would be really cool to hear you all talk about what went right in a game for a while.

  57. Sekundaari says:

    I wish for Oblivion, I think you had a few conversations concerning it even during this season. But you probably have your Gamebryo cooldown going, and Rutskarn just picked up his LP on it again. And Morrowind… I don’t quite remember if it gave some sort of technical trouble.

    So I’ll repeat multiplayer Civ IV. Or even multiplayer Fall from Heaven 2, a fantasy mod for it. That one has cannibalism…

    1. Viktor says:

      Not Morrowind. I love the game, but do you know how long it would take for Josh to get through the main quest? They’d all hate the game by the ending.

  58. Stankor says:

    I just dropped by to guilt you into continuing Project Frontier. That is all.

  59. Kresh says:

    I’m with Josh; there was nobody I connected with. I wasn’t all anti-establishment (fight the man!)/cannibal (’cause the Man tastes good!) like Mumbles, I just wanted something to draw me into the story other than Mr. House saying “We’ve got big things to do” and then handing me the chip back when I was leaving.

    My first play through was a “Gee! Awesome!” exploration of the new lands, but my second left me hollow. I found, much to my disappointment, that I was unable to go back to being a courier after delivering the chip. A decision which would have been totally in line with a sandbox game except for the fact that Obsidian didn’t want you to do it. It’s a logical choice, going back to work for your employer, and it would have been expected by said employer. Nope. Not so much. Much like many of the quest choices, Obsidian had an angle they wanted you to see (mostly that the NCR is a big pile of dicks and is just as bad as the Legion because the descendants of the surviving Americans bringing order to the ruins of America is somehow “imperialistic”) and by jove that’s all you’re going to be allowed see. Well, that and how the legion has somehow un-invented the wheel. Superb writing and design on that one there Obsidian.

    After this game, I’ll never suffer from the illusion that a Fallout game (made by Obsidian, anyways) is ambiguous and lets you interpret things as you see it. Nope, those folks at Obsidian got a story and you’re going to hear it their way, and you’ll pay them for the experience. Not that I mind that approach, I just wish they’d stop pretending that I actually have a choice. Tell me the game leads me by the nose and I’ll play it without expectations of greater things. Don’t tell me “You determine the outcome” and then tell me I can’t determine the outcome by ignoring what’s going on.

    Sure, some might not see it as fun or interesting, but the choice should be there… because, you know, it’s a role-play game and my character class is Courier. My defining class ability is “Delivers Stuff on Time Unless Inconvenienced In An Odd and Terrible Way” and I’m not really allowed to deliver stuff? I’m not even allowed to try? I was quite saddened to discover that the only representation of the wonderful Mohave Express consisted of me, some old guy trapped in a casino, and a corpse in Primm. There wasn’t even a branch in Vegas, for heaven’s sake!

    There are many (oh, so many) ways of getting a player back on the rails of the story you want to them to be on, but that requires effort. I guess they were too busy putting together that massive QA department to ponder the important question of “Well, why would the player just up and do whatever Mr. House wants? It’s not like they have a real connection.” It’s something any good GM has to deal with; what do you do when the players get distracted by a shiny that isn’t the shiny (also known as a “The Plot Hook”) you wanted them to be distracted by? You make allowances and cursory backup plans, most of which involving getting your players on the right track.

    Meh, whatever. I’ve rambled long enough. Thank heavens for the modding community. They’re the only thing that has made this game playable for more than one play through.

    1. Khizan says:

      “(mostly that the NCR is a big pile of dicks and is just as bad as the Legion because the descendants of the surviving Americans bringing order to the ruins of America is somehow “imperialistic”)”

      You say this as if America’s initial expansion wasn’t imperialistic and miserable for many involved. It ain’t called the Trail of Tears cause they were crying in joy.

  60. Jarenth says:

    I don’t have anything to add here that hasn’t been said a couple of times already, so I’ll just join the chorus of ‘Good season, thanks for playing. Now take a break, prolonged Josh exposure is probably harmful in some way.

    That’s what everybody’s been saying, right?

    1. Michael says:

      What, you mean I can’t just take JoshX? Or JoshAway?

      ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT THIS WORLD DOESN’T WORK LIKE VIDEOGAMES?

      1. X2-Eliah says:

        You have become addicted to Josh.

        1. Pete says:

          You are now suffering from Josh withdrawal. Either take more of the drug to alleviate the side effects or find a doctor.

          EFF: Josh withdrw.: -5% speech, -%5 energy weapons, -1 INT

          1. Zombie says:

            Only -5% to energy weapons? I would think -99%. And you forgot, must drink everything that might have alcohol in it.

            1. Jarenth says:

              +20% incinerator.

              1. Even says:

                -50% Maximum Carry Weight

                1. Michael says:

                  Jeez, what did we start…

                2. Destrustor says:

                  +25% inexplicable success, +10 troll skill.

                  1. Indy says:

                    +60% to Bugs

                    1. Alexander The 1st says:

                      – 50 to common sense.

                      – 10 incentive to use a weapon you have skills in.

  61. Ravens Cry says:

    And so Reginald Cuftbert passes from the Mojave, leaving only wreckage and ruin, blood and tears.
    This muttonchopped murderer, this desert drunkard, this bonneted bastard, was a triumph of inhumanity and high explosives and booze in all its myriad forms.
    All hail Reginald Cuftbert, the Courier of Death and Destruction!

    1. Keeshhound says:

      I have now become Reginald Cuftbert, destroyer of existance.

    2. Zombie says:

      If you can manage to strike him down, he will become even more of a boozing, drug addicted triumph of inhumanity then he has been.

      1. Alexander The 1st says:

        That’s not a moon – that’s Reginald Cuftbert’s pint! [/old Joke is old]

  62. Dovius says:

    Great ending to a great season, might be up there next to Fallout 3 with my favourite seasons (Yes, I like 14 hours of concentrated bile, sue me)
    Also, I vote for Mercenaries 2 for the next game! It’s buggy, it’s got a stupid plot, and it has the ability to blow huge amounts of crap up at a moment’s notice! It’s the perfect game to take Mattias Cuftbert through!

    1. Deadpool says:

      It’d be hillarious if Josh had a co-op partner too… Probably a lot harder to pull off, but funny.

      Oh man, if it was Mumbles… Imagine the trolling…

      1. Dovius says:

        I’m imagining Josh guarding Mumbles’ back in a fire fight….and suddenly he’s several hundred feet away and there’s the ominous sound of a jet approaching…..

      2. Even says:

        For co-op, they should play Magicka, all four of them.

        1. Zombie says:

          Oh man, so much trolling there would be! Magicka would be like a trolling heaven for Josh.

          1. Dovius says:

            On one hand, it would be a pretty short season.
            On the other hand, if they all play the game, we’d all have died from laughter by the mid-point of the game.\
            I vote for Magicka! Despite the game selection not actually being a democratic vote open to commenters!

            1. Even says:

              They could do it during their “five week vacation” as a sort of an escapade. And it would give some filler content for Shamus as well. They should probably call it “Trolling Warning” though.

  63. Ateius says:

    Huh. There’s an interesting progression in the post-ending discussion.

    “The writing was great and the story was fantastic!”

    “Except, you know, the second half of the plot, that was kind of obnoxious.”

    “And the ending wasn’t very interesting.”

    I’m not sure if something can be fantastic while also being boring and obnoxious. Further study is required.

    1. Michael says:

      That sounds like a conversation between Waldorf and Statler.

      W:”Yeah, I liked it!”

      S:”It was pretty good!”

      W:”It wasn’t awful.”

      S”I actually didn’t like it very much.”

      W:”No, it was crap!”

      W+S:”BOO!”

    2. Kresh says:

      It’s called “Getting over the Gee-Whiz Factor.”

      Also know as “After 20+ hours of play, I can see the doo-doo now that I’ve licked off the delicious candy shell.”

  64. joe says:

    how about a minecraft lets play!

    i can just see the truble they would get in with creepers

  65. GM says:

    game to play Magicka and what you got in the box.

  66. Markus says:

    Thought I’d finally catch the last New Vegas episode but I just get an error message.
    Anybody knows what’s wrong?

  67. onFyre says:

    You commented on the faction notifications, and I know they’re a bit odd, but there’s an explanation. Reginald was already Villified. “NCR Heavy Trooper in a Bonnet” only became Villified once Reginald dressed as him.

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