"Fallout: New Glitches" fantastic! or maybe not.
The first thing you notice when you start New Vegas is that not much has changed. Actually, nothing has changed! You can use Iron Sights, but it usually isn't helpful unless you are standing ten feet away from your target. The graphics are nearly identical. Of course, the PS3 version is slightly less impressive graphically. If you are going to get this game, get the 360 version. Every character still has a voice over, and most of the dialogue is charming. Especially "Yes Man", a robot you will meet on The Strip. He is a mix of stupidity and brilliance, and will have you rolling on the floor laughing.
New Vegas isn't all bad, though. It still delivers the classic Fallout style, and is an adventure that is well worth taking if you are a devout fan. The VATS system is back, and works exactly like it did in the first game. There are also a long list of collectibles to find. My favorite is the C-Finder. Heads pop, and limbs fly as you shoot your way through fiends, legion soldiers, and mutated abominations. This game plays identical to its predecessor. If you enjoyed the game-play of Fallout 3, you'll be right at home here.
In Fallout 3 there was a lack of guilds or groups you could join, and be a part of. New Vegas fixes that with the new addition of Factions. You can either be a factions best friend, leave them alone, or become their mortal enemy. It is fun to experiment with each faction, and see the perks each offers. It's amazing how the story can be changed dramatically by which factions you interact with.
Everything is not sound in the wasteland, however. A bombardment of glitches, and game crashes plague this title. The load screens drag on like a Christopher Nolan movie, and only seem to get longer as you play the game more. Sometimes items you had previously don't load, or your saved games just get outright erased. I found one mission impossible to complete because the character I needed to talk to in order to progress was sucked into the wall, along with a radio, and a few kitchen utensils. New Vegas also suffers from a horrible frame rate. At certain points in my play through I found myself praying that the game would not crash, and erase my progress up to that point. It is surprising that this game suffers from these problems, and that they are this bad. You have to just work through it.
The level cap has been raised, which was a huge complaint about Fallout 3, but you still can't keep exploring after the main quest is complete. I am sure that DLC will be released to fix this problem eventually, but it seems silly that this is even an issue, especially since it was a big problem in the first game.
All things aside, Fallout New Vegas is a fun, and exciting adventure if you can just push through all of the technical bugs. The problem is that there are a lot of bugs. So many, in fact, that it is impossible to overlook. This game would have been great if there was a little more time put in to it. It is disheartening to say that this game isn't all that it was cracked up to be. If you are a die hard fan of the franchise you will definitely be able to salvage a good time out of this game. If you are new to the series, you may want to pass this one up, and just start with Fallout 3 if you want a smoother adventure through Post Apocalyptia.