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.
Hmm. Uhh. Yeah. Skyrim. It’s massive. The quests are never-ending. My character has a mohawk. My class is Breton. Don’t