Base game - 5/5
DLCs - 3.5/5

Tempted to leave this a big fat "not recommended" considering what an utterly UNPLAYABLE MESS this game is without mods. Thankfully, Bethesda games seem to always have the community to clean up the mess Bethesda leaves behind them. For this, I highly recommend you to check out Viva New Vegas installation guide BEFORE DOWNLOADING the game from Steam (or The Best of Times guide if you would like Fallout 3 and Fallout NV in one game), which will guide you through the installation tips and essential mods for a flawless experience. If you don't follow these steps, your game will crash every 3 or 4 minutes on your Windows 10/11 systems, that is if you get past the infinite loading screens or the savegame loading crashes.

Past the issues with modern systems, this game is everything people wanted from Fallout 3. Most noticeably - the story, the characters, the mechanics are all improved on.

The story is just really good. I personally think it's far superior to Fallout 3's vault dweller storyline. Here, you're the Courier Six, a person of huge importance to the future of the New Vegas, but you can't even remember the reason of being so, because a murder was attempted on you which ultimately wiped your memory. After you're dug up from your grave and healed, you make your goal to find your "murderer" and understand why was the thing you carried of such huge importance. Along the road, you meet the factions in New Vegas that all try to take the hold of the infamous Vegas Strip, held by the secretive Mr. House.

What I also liked more are the characters. Animations are better and I liked the voice acting far more. You can actually feel the emotions in the voice acting, comparing to Fallout 3 which was just monotone all the time, no matter the situation. But the biggest improvement is in dialogue options. At times there was just too much of dialogue (especially in the Old World Blues DLC), but even then it is well written and you're able to profoundly understand the characters reasons, motives and ambitions. I liked this much more over Fallout 3's dialogue because the dialogue options there ended up being really confusing and it could've easily lead to an outcome you didn't actually want. This also makes all of the characters much more rememberable. What I didn't like is how some progression in dialogue is hard-locked if you don't have the skill points or experience - to further explain what I mean by this, if you choose the skill point/experience dialogue options it will get you the best outcome 100% of the time, but if you don't meet these requirements and if you choose any other options they will get you rejected or in combat. This way the player really doesn't even need to think about what has to be said if you want a good outcome, you could just choose the locked dialogue options, or go away and level up your skills, and then come back.
https://steamproxy.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3245068882
Now onto the mechanics. Most of it is straight up ported out of Fallout 3, but the most important additions are associations with factions. Sure, you had factions in Fallout 3 like the Brotherhood of Steel, but it never mattered to any other factions if you worked with Brotherhood of Steel, they only cared about your standing with them personally. In Fallout NV, all your actions matter. You can't make an action with the NCR and not make a bad impression on the Legion. Or you could just say "♥♥♥♥ you" to all of them and make bad connections with everyone while building your own empire. This way, everything feels much more immersive and you're required to understand these factions through talking with their followers to make further decisions on your path. However, I would've liked if it was bit harder to choose between these factions. I think for the most players, NCR was the obvious choice. Even the game kind of leads you into doing so. Nevertheless, all of these choices lead to different quests and different endings, which is one of the biggest qualities of this game.
https://steamproxy.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3245072714
The Mojave Wasteland feels pretty much the same compared to Capital Wasteland, only difference is that some locations have multiple parts within it so it's much easier to teleport when you need to.

Onto the DLCs. I would say it's a lot of decent expansions, and I rank them all pretty much the same, because where some lack in content compared to others, they get points in being a lot of fun to play.

Dead Money DLC is a pretty unusual story for a heist. The level design outside of Sierra Madre is very confusing but the stealth part is a lot of fun, because the atmosphere genuinely gives you a survival horror feeling, and the origin story of Sierra Madre, it's creator and his failed love is really interesting as well. Interactions and stories of Dog/God, Christina and Dean Domino are also fun. What I didn't like was the constant bomb collar triggers. I liked the mechanics and the tension it builds, but they eventually get overused. The DLC relies a lot on trial-and-error with all the speakers and radios you need to deactivate, but what makes it even less fun is that almost all of the doors between you and these sound emitters are locked or inaccessible.
https://steamproxy.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3254409377
Honest Hearts DLC is a bit different. It's own untainted open world both looks really nice and is fun to explore, while meeting the natives and their way of living. However, the quest is tragically short and it really underused the open world of the Zion Valley that was given. Characters like Joshua Graham, a very interesting individual you're so eager to meet after hearing all the legends about the "Burned Man", really don't get their time to shine because of the absence of the plot in the storyline which just makes the overall execution bad.

Old World Blues DLC was over-the-top weird, but it's comedic approach makes up for it. It's a fun sandbox for a really amusing variety of new weapons. The Big MT open world also looks like nothing we've ever had in Fallout before. The lunacy of all the characters you meet is what makes this entertaining but the amount of dialogue you're given is just too damn much. The quests are also boring and repetitive, with almost all of them being the exact same - go explore here, get the holo-tapes and upgrade this piece of equipment. One thing I do like about all this is the amount of really powerful weapons, perks and buffs you're given by completing the DLC.

And for the last one, Lonesome Road. During the main game storyline, you've always wondered who Courier Six was? Why were his actions important to so many people? This DLC and the character of Ulysses answers a lot of these questions. It's the idea that all your actions, no matter how small they might appear, could make immense consequences what makes the story of the Divide so fascinating. How they interconnected Ulysses with the other DLCs is also something I liked. It's hard to explain the plot without spoiling a big part, so I think it's best for you to experience. The design of the Divide is OK, and it is on the harder side because of the amount of enemies and Deathclaws you have to fight, while also being exposed to very lethal doses of radiation most of the time. So, Lonesome Road is not really a lot of fun to play, but it is an engaging story concept and a very important piece of lore of New Vegas.

It's probably the best game in the franchise. I've just completed it once more and I'm already looking forward to playing this again making some different outcomes. I think that in itself says enough about how much I love this game.

Also, big up once again for the FNV modding community. Bunch of legends for not letting this game die.

Base game - 5/5 DLCs - 3.5/5 Tempted to leave this a big fat "not recommended" considering what an utterly UNPLAYABLE MESS this game is without mods. Thankfully, Bethesda games seem to always have the community to clean up the mess Bethesda leaves behind them. For this, I highly recommend you to check out Viva New Vegas installation guide BEFORE DOWNLOADING the game from Steam (or The Best of Times guide if you would like Fallout 3 and Fallout NV in one game), which will guide you through the installation tips and essential mods for a flawless experience. If you don't follow these steps, your game will crash every 3 or 4 minutes on your Windows 10/11 systems, that is if you get past the infinite loading screens or the savegame loading crashes. Past the issues with modern systems, this game is everything people wanted from Fallout 3. Most noticeably - the story, the characters, the mechanics are all improved on. The story is just really good. I personally think it's far superior to Fallout 3's vault dweller storyline. Here, you're the Courier Six, a person of huge importance to the future of the New Vegas, but you can't even remember the reason of being so, because a murder was attempted on you which ultimately wiped your memory. After you're dug up from your grave and healed, you make your goal to find your "murderer" and understand why was the thing you carried of such huge importance. Along the road, you meet the factions in New Vegas that all try to take the hold of the infamous Vegas Strip, held by the secretive Mr. House. What I also liked more are the characters. Animations are better and I liked the voice acting far more. You can actually feel the emotions in the voice acting, comparing to Fallout 3 which was just monotone all the time, no matter the situation. But the biggest improvement is in dialogue options. At times there was just too much of dialogue (especially in the Old World Blues DLC), but even then it is well written and you're able to profoundly understand the characters reasons, motives and ambitions. I liked this much more over Fallout 3's dialogue because the dialogue options there ended up being really confusing and it could've easily lead to an outcome you didn't actually want. This also makes all of the characters much more rememberable. What I didn't like is how some progression in dialogue is hard-locked if you don't have the skill points or experience - to further explain what I mean by this, if you choose the skill point/experience dialogue options it will get you the best outcome 100% of the time, but if you don't meet these requirements and if you choose any other options they will get you rejected or in combat. This way the player really doesn't even need to think about what has to be said if you want a good outcome, you could just choose the locked dialogue options, or go away and level up your skills, and then come back. https://steamproxy.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3245068882 Now onto the mechanics. Most of it is straight up ported out of Fallout 3, but the most important additions are associations with factions. Sure, you had factions in Fallout 3 like the Brotherhood of Steel, but it never mattered to any other factions if you worked with Brotherhood of Steel, they only cared about your standing with them personally. In Fallout NV, all your actions matter. You can't make an action with the NCR and not make a bad impression on the Legion. Or you could just say "fuck you" to all of them and make bad connections with everyone while building your own empire. This way, everything feels much more immersive and you're required to understand these factions through talking with their followers to make further decisions on your path. However, I would've liked if it was bit harder to choose between these factions. I think for the most players, NCR was the obvious choice. Even the game kind of leads you into doing so. Nevertheless, all of these choices lead to different quests and different endings, which is one of the biggest qualities of this game. https://steamproxy.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3245072714 The Mojave Wasteland feels pretty much the same compared to Capital Wasteland, only difference is that some locations have multiple parts within it so it's much easier to teleport when you need to. Onto the DLCs. I would say it's a lot of decent expansions, and I rank them all pretty much the same, because where some lack in content compared to others, they get points in being a lot of fun to play. Dead Money DLC is a pretty unusual story for a heist. The level design outside of Sierra Madre is very confusing but the stealth part is a lot of fun, because the atmosphere genuinely gives you a survival horror feeling, and the origin story of Sierra Madre, it's creator and his failed love is really interesting as well. Interactions and stories of Dog/God, Christina and Dean Domino are also fun. What I didn't like was the constant bomb collar triggers. I liked the mechanics and the tension it builds, but they eventually get overused. The DLC relies a lot on trial-and-error with all the speakers and radios you need to deactivate, but what makes it even less fun is that almost all of the doors between you and these sound emitters are locked or inaccessible. https://steamproxy.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3254409377 Honest Hearts DLC is a bit different. It's own untainted open world both looks really nice and is fun to explore, while meeting the natives and their way of living. However, the quest is tragically short and it really underused the open world of the Zion Valley that was given. Characters like Joshua Graham, a very interesting individual you're so eager to meet after hearing all the legends about the "Burned Man", really don't get their time to shine because of the absence of the plot in the storyline which just makes the overall execution bad. Old World Blues DLC was over-the-top weird, but it's comedic approach makes up for it. It's a fun sandbox for a really amusing variety of new weapons. The Big MT open world also looks like nothing we've ever had in Fallout before. The lunacy of all the characters you meet is what makes this entertaining but the amount of dialogue you're given is just too damn much. The quests are also boring and repetitive, with almost all of them being the exact same - go explore here, get the holo-tapes and upgrade this piece of equipment. One thing I do like about all this is the amount of really powerful weapons, perks and buffs you're given by completing the DLC. And for the last one, Lonesome Road. During the main game storyline, you've always wondered who Courier Six was? Why were his actions important to so many people? This DLC and the character of Ulysses answers a lot of these questions. It's the idea that all your actions, no matter how small they might appear, could make immense consequences what makes the story of the Divide so fascinating. How they interconnected Ulysses with the other DLCs is also something I liked. It's hard to explain the plot without spoiling a big part, so I think it's best for you to experience. The design of the Divide is OK, and it is on the harder side because of the amount of enemies and Deathclaws you have to fight, while also being exposed to very lethal doses of radiation most of the time. So, Lonesome Road is not really a lot of fun to play, but it is an engaging story concept and a very important piece of lore of New Vegas. It's probably the best game in the franchise. I've just completed it once more and I'm already looking forward to playing this again making some different outcomes. I think that in itself says enough about how much I love this game. Also, big up once again for the FNV modding community. Bunch of legends for not letting this game die.