Fallout: New Vegas Old World Blues DLC Reviews

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Written by Brother None on July 22nd, 2011

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This is the funniest Fallout DLC I have ever played. There's humor coming from all angles: with robots that think you have penises for fingers and toes, a mad drug addicted robot and the egomaniac toaster. Old World Blues is definitely the most fun and entertaining add-on to any of the Fallout series. There are hours of gameplay in this DLC: Bethesda has added 5 more levels to your level cap making it 40, 5 new perks, an extra 4 unlock-able perks and 5 new achievements/trophies. The only bad point I can think of with this DLC is that some of the side quests are rather tedious. At certain points they have you going to four certain destinations then to four more, then to the same four you previously went to, and so on. There is also a tad too much dialogue at the beginning of the game when you meet Dr. Klein, but apart from that it is totally worth purchasing!

All that said, Old World Blues is exactly what you want out of Fallout DLC. It's got tons of things to explore, several new weapons to find, a stealth suit that says hilarious things and no end of oh so precious reading material. This is one DLC pack you aren't going to want to miss.

The main quest sees you scampering between zany pseudo-science labs in search of crucial technologies for use in the war against Mobius. Or, in five-year-old's terms, "Hooray! New toys!" As is typically the case with these things, a couple of said toys are clunkers, but, for the most part, there's some excellent loot to be had. For instance, there's the attention-starved stealth suit that won't ever shut up. In the wrong hands, she'd be annoying, but here, the gag's hilariously endearing. Other items, meanwhile, tend to be more practical, but still well worth using.

Really, though, Old World Blues will leave you with a case of the "Whoops, I'm $10 poorer" blues if you rush through the main quest without seeing the sights. The Big Empty's a mini-wasteland, after all, so it's littered with sidequests and secrets. Fortunately, another central (though optional) quest -- which involves breathing life into sentient kitchen appliances -- points you toward most of the major landmarks.

This time round we get a sci-fi twist as we receive a signal telling us to head to a drive-in where we find a crashed satellite, at midnight the satellite begins projecting onto the screen and upon investigating it we launch into the DLC quests which are intended for level 15 players and above.

The basic storyline, which contains influences from many sci-fi based books, movies and TV including Futurama, Mars Attacks and Eureka is that a group of scientists created a haven in a crater on Big Mountain. The idea was to create a think tank which would advance science to create better medical treatments, technology and more. Unfortunately as war broke out the efforts of the Think Tank moved away from this and towards other, less productive research. Now, many years later we find ourselves waking in "The Sink", the main building housing the Think Tank, dressed in an ill-fitting patient gown and covered in scars. As we explore the area we find that we have been operated on and our brain, heart and spine replaced by technology... not a good place to be but by the sounds of things we should be thankful we still have our skinvelope...

Old World Blues adds several new characters and enemies alike, and provides you with the means to deal with anything and everything trying to do you harm. You're given a sonic emitter pistol which can be upgraded in order to access certain areas that you would believe to be inaccessible. Once I got the upgrade installed I went exploring the entire research facility looking for areas that I could unlock with my new weapon. I wound up never using any of the new armor provided in the DLC as I didn't want it to get broken in battle, the armor that I brought with me got completely broken twice, I've repaired it three times now since starting the pack. With the exception of the Dead Money DLC, this is probably the hardest in terms of survival, I found myself constantly checking my health as the numerous enemies of Big MT whittled it down towards zero. I'm told that if you play the DLC with a level 40 character you'll breeze right through it, I might try that later on.

Old World Blues is one of the best Fallout DLCs yet. It's funny, it's packed with content, and it offers solid rewards for players who are looking to add to their Courier's arsenal. If you skipped on the previous two content packs, make sure to pick this one up.

And then there's The Sink. Ostensibly, the The Sink is your general base of operations, but it's really an excuse for exhibiting a collection of characters even crazier than the deranged doctors. By combing through the facilities of the The Big Empty the player can find holotapes with personalities for The Sink's various facilities. Practically this means activating certain bonuses for the player. The auto-doc, for example, can alter the player's appearance, heal wounds, and install cybernetic implants while the Jukebox can tune your Sonic Emitter (a new weapon) to induce particular afflictions upon the mechanized menaces outside the facility. That stuff is neat, but the actual personalities within the facilities steal the show. The toaster is a violent maniac hell bent on engaging oblivion while remaining completely ignorant to its lack of actual power. The Book Chute hates communism and is driven to transform any pre-war book into a collection of blank pages. There is also a set of rival light switches and, of course, a sink in The Sink that functions as a sink. Marrying endearing personalities to practical applications was a genius move, as doubly reinforces interaction with every character.

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