Scavenging In New Vegas
I return, this time singing the praise of Fallout: New Vegas. I’ve spent a mere 43 hours trawling the wasteland, and have just began making a dent in the main quest. What I’m particularly enjoying about the follow up to Fallout 3, which I put 80-odd hours into and fully expect to match with New Vegas, is that Hardcore mode exhibits a more realistic spin on scavenging, an integral part of survival in the wasteland.
During one of the many hours I sunk into Fallout 3, I couldn’t help but feel that Bethesda could have refined the scavenging side of things. Starting off with nothing but a Vault 22 jumpsuit and slowly building your arsenal as you fulfilled quests and uncovered new locations, was both equally fun and challenging, but the risk of survival was dampened by the fact the only real threat were enemies, and whether you were well enough equipped with weapons and aid to effectively deal with them.
With the development of New Vegas being handed over to Obsidian, things have changed in respects to scavenging. Much to my enjoyment, (if you play on Hardcore) you’re faced with the constant threat of dehydration and starvation. What was once a pleasant surprise when you casually happened across a bottle of purified water, often becomes a desperate scramble for some form of hydration — any form of hydration. Even those plagued with rads. Fast traveling to locations speeds up the starvation / dehydration process. Things can get tricky! With that said, purified water and what not isn’t so rare that the game becomes impossible, and you become familiarised with the wasteland enough to know where to go to fulfill specific needs.
Suddenly you have to think carefully about your inventory, given that space is limited and purified water no longer serves the purpose of simply restoring HP similar to a Stimpak. Now it’s critical to your survival. This is when companions come in handy — you will be thanking their extra inventory allowance.
There have been a few times I’ve been deep amidst a quest, seemingly nowhere near a fresh water supply or store that stocks food, yet my meter has highlighted I’m suffering from mild, or even critical, starvation. As I said, fast traveling simply speeds the starvation / dehydration process up, so there have been moments of sheer panic, scrambling through whatever waste is close by incase there’s something that can keep me alive for another few hours. Just as it would be if you really were battling for survival in the wasteland!
Earlier this evening I casually happened across a gold mine of Stimpacks and purified water; a sweet discovery which was made even more satisfying due to the fact I was suffering from mild starvation, and had been barely fending off hydration for hours.
I had been feeling a little disappointed with sequels lately, especially Crackdown 2. The reason being they felt too similar to their counterparts. New Vegas isn’t much different to Fallout 3, and in some cases I even get a strong sense of location de-ja-vu, but for whatever reason, likely due to the heightened challenge, it still feels like a new game. The wealth of quests and rise in difficulty have been enough to keep me going, so much so that 40 hours in I’m still getting the itch to play and feel I’ve barely scratched the surface. I recommend everyone experience the wasteland at its toughest.
Hmm. Uhh. Yeah. Skyrim. It’s massive. The quests are never-ending. My character has a mohawk. My class is Breton. Don’t
Christoffer Radsby