Two years ago Bethesda Softworks released “Fallout 3” and took the gaming community by storm. It won numerous “Game of the Year” awards and was hailed as one of Bethesda’s most celebrated video games. Now that “Fallout: New Vegas” has been released, it’s worth asking if Obsidian Entertainment can live up to Bethesda’s previous work.

“Fallout: New Vegas” puts players in the shoes of a Courier (male or female) in post apocalyptic Nevada. After an unfortunate event it’s up to the player to give aid to one of several warring factions in the hope of bringing peace, or destruction, to the few societies that are struggling to survive this harsh new world.

The complexity of the main story is absolutely flooring for the entire game and is very different from the standard good, evil and neutral quest options.  Nothing ever felt truly good or evil. It is not easy to play as a “good guy,” as several times players may complete a quest only to find out that the “good option” would lead to an overall negative ending or even the slaughter of about 30 people. The game isn’t about good people doing good things but the motivation of the different factions. Nobody is perfect, and players will be left to pick the best (or worst) option for their opinion of the wasteland.  A game with this complex of a main story and several endings to chose from depending on what faction you side with obviously has tons of replay value.

“Fallout: New Vegas” is a very long game, and even rushing through the factions main quest with very few side quests can take over 35 hours. When the ending credits rolled and a plethora of narrators told me how my actions had affected the game, it not only became apparent that I had missed several side quests but I had missed entire settlements.  If players take their time and play though all the elements that this game offers, they could easily spend over 60 hours in a single playthrough.

As far as game play goes, it’s about the same as “Fallout 3,” with a few changes. One example is the Repair skill, which lets players craft items instead of just helping with weapon condition. Players only get perks every two levels, so specializing is rather important. The game also supports a hardcore mode that gives ammo weight and causes the player to manage stats like hunger, sleep and thirst. Overall, “New Vegas” borrows heavily from “Fallout 3,” even down to the same monster textures and building materials. The guns are mostly different and there are a few new monsters, but it’s the overall immersion that makes the gameplay feel fresh.

Once I finished the game, all I could think about was what to try on my next playthrough. However, despite such a great game, it does come with its fair share of bugs. PS3 and Xbox 360 users have complained about losing companions, quests that won’t start or finish correctly and characters that may fall through or get stuck in textures. PC users have been unable to even start the game on some computers, sometimes frames per second (FPS) will drop into the single digits around NPCs, and at times the game crashes.  Bethesda has said they are working on patches and as of this review have already released one, but the game is still very buggy in its current state. I think anybody looking for a good game to sink their teeth into owes it to themselves to try this one, but players also deserve to not have a hindered experience. Keep a look out for the upcoming patches because once this game runs smoothly, you definitely won’t want to miss it.