A preset save point started us on the Vegas strip, as Jordan poked around and talked shop with the locals. Unlike the Capitol Wasteland, it seems not every source of water in Vegas is irradiated. Jordan took the liberty of splashing around in a fountain before moving on to a casino, where he was accosted by a well-dressed fellow. He advised us that casinos frowned on taking weapons into them; a not unreasonable stance, though impractical for RPG heroes. Through the door, we had the option of shooting past the bouncer, turning all our weapons in, or sneaking certain weapons by while giving up the rest.

During the conversation, certain options were tagged with skills, indicating the player’s abilities would open up new lines. In this case, having a high sneak skill meant Dapper Dan would sell us special equipment we could sneak by the door. While not a new feature per se, it appears this will be more prevalent throughout New Vegas. Jordan went on to play a few rounds of blackjack, earning a small amount of cash before we moved on to a combat demo.

In the next segment, I took control as part of a planned assault by the New California Republic. They were conducting a raid on a position held by Caesar’s Legion – goons in Roman legionnaire getup likely inspired by Caesar’s Palace – and wanted me to direct the attack. For demonstration purposes my character was kitted out with a substantial selection of weapons. I opted for the trusty lever-action rifle and led the charge, though at the urging of my companions I switched to a golf club and tried out the new VATS melee attack; for the club, it was aptly named as ‘Fore!’

A good swing knocked the legionnaire down, and my character immediately followed up with two proper golf swings to the body. Suffice it to say he wasn’t getting up anytime soon. During combat, we saw notifications atop the screen of faction reputation adjustments. Since us and the NCR guys were making short work of Caesar’s men, our rep with that faction was going down. Fallout 3 veterans may recall the always-hostile raiders; it appears groups here won’t immediately hate you.

At this point I passed the controller to Derek, our stalwart post-apocalyptic janitor, and got the chance to ask Mr. Avellone a few questions. He confirmed that armor wasn’t just about damage resistance this time, that players could deck themselves out in an enemy uniform and bypass the grunts of a hostile faction. Certain enemies, particularly dogs and officers in that faction, would not be fooled and might detect you if you get too close. This makes stealth a more viable path beyond simply hitting a toggle and staying out of sight, and it was stressed that stealth, action, and dialog will all be viable means of problem-solving.

As Derek cleaned house in a Legion camp, Avellone discussed the vast differences between programming options in Fallout 2 and Fallout 3. Any game with NPC interaction becomes all the more complicated when a player is allowed to lie to someone – to say one thing and then do another – and an open world means town and faction allegiances can factor into play at any time. It was confirmed that New Vegas takes place four years after Fallout 3, and obviously it draws its background from the second game (particularly regarding the NCR). However, Vegas is to be a stand-alone story with no direct ties or references to events in other games.

Out of curiosity, I asked if the game bore any ties to Wasteland, Fallout‘s spiritual predecessor which also centered around Las Vegas; Avellone replied that he was not aware of any, at least none that didn’t apply to the Fallout universe in general (post-nuclear theme, multiple options for puzzles, etc.) When asked about downloadable content, Avellone could not comment, leaving the question essentially open. He did confirm, however, that the game ended after clearing the main questline, and that the game would warn players when they approached the point of no return.

In spite of a bullet from an anti-material rifle bouncing harmlessly off a tree branch – a VATS glitch familiar to Fallout 3 veterans – New Vegas boasted noticeable improvements on the Fallout 3 engine. In particular, animation appeared smoother and crisper, and the game appeared to handle large numbers of NPCs more easily; the NCR-Legion battle featured a good eight or so NCR rangers assaulting multiple Legion defenders. Whether this is a one-off scripted event or more common throughout the game is not clear, though the Vegas strip was also well populated.

It’s been a long time since the people behind Fallout and Fallout 2 got another turn at bat, and it’s a safe bet anyone who played and enjoyed Fallout 3 is already chomping at the bit for New Vegas. Our impression, as far as this humble Vault Dweller is concerned, only solidified this opinion.

I started off the interview by asking how the shift to 3D changed the way they approached development.  He replied that since Fallout 3 had already developed the engine, most of the tools they needed were already in place and that development was very intuitive.  Since they already had that leg up, they were able to focus more on making the environment work for quests and story.

I followed up with a question about what his favorite part of working on the project was, and he emphatically answered, “showing it off at E3.”  He said it is always a blast to see what fans have to say about games you make. In regards to the gameplay, he really enjoyed seeing the strip come to life in New Vegas.  He also really loved the improvements to the system like the new speech and sneaking options and the companion system.  He said that companions are now more like a “loyal sidekick” and have much more backstory and interaction with the player.

When asked about which vault is his personal favorite, he said he wasn’t sure which game it is in, but one of the vaults has a sort of Logan’s Run feel to it.  Its twist is that there are elections for the position of Overseer, and then when the term is up, the person is executed.  Naturally, the position actually has less appeal that way, and the propaganda posters try to make you NOT vote for the candidate.  “Don’t vote for this guy, he’s terrible.  Please vote for the other guy.”

I then asked about the setting for Fallout New Vegas; how did the team pick Vegas?  He said that the original Fallout 3 was to be set in Colorado, but when Bethesda pitched the idea of a Fallout game to Obsidian, they suggested Vegas.  That idea became popular and was greenlit very quickly.  When I followed up with where he’d like to see it go next, he said that it will really depend on who makes the next Fallout game.  If Bethesda works on it, it would probably end up on the east coast, but of Obsidian makes the next one, it will stay on the west coast.  Personally, he’d love to make Fallout in Hawaii.

As a last question, I asked what longterm fans of the series will be able to find as easter eggs.  He replied that the entire game is one big easter egg for fans.  The New California Republic and Caesar’s Legion both featured prominently in the first two games, and even the super mutants will be more familiar to fans because the species seen in Fallout 3 is different.  Fans might also be able to recognize a few characters or locations, but he didn’t specify which ones those might be.

On behalf of RandomNPC and myself, I’d like to thank Jason Fader and the entire Bethesda and Obsidian team for taking some time to sit down and chat with me.  Fallout New Vegas will be available later this October.

Fallout Online has been at the center of a legal dispute between Interplay and Bethseda for a while now, with suits and countersuits calling the eventual release of the game into question. In fact, Interplay previously announced that it would be attempting a Beta in 2012, making this announcement all the more surprising.

You can count on a review shortly thereafter, as Karl, Cortney, Xero and myself will all be playing it immediately upon launch.

RandomNPC will be there bringing you the latest coverage from the show floor. We’ll do our best to bring you all the Fallout: New Vegas news allowed by our carry weight limits.

Atelier Totori
Source: Dengeki

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Fallout New Vegas
Source: Famitsu

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Phantasy Star Portable 2
Source: Dengeki

• Seven “Lucky 7″ poker chips, modeled after those of the in-game casinos around the Vegas strip.
• A customized set of playing cards featuring characters and factions from New Vegas; apart from existing card games, these can be used to play Caravan, Obsidian’s card game created specifically for New Vegas.
• A replica “Lucky 38″ platinum chip.
• The graphic novel “All Roads”; backstory for New Vegas written by Obsidian’s Chris Avellone, the game’s creative director.
• “The Making of Fallout: New Vegas” DVD, containing exclusive video content and developer interviews.

North American preorders may be placed today through participating retailers; GameSpot is specified in the blog post.  Europeans will be able to place preorders in the following weeks, though an exact timeframe was not stated.

Additionally, Bethesda has launched community Q&A pages for New Vegas on Facebook and Twitter, where fans can submit questions directly to Obsidian staff.

• New Vegas will have a Hardcore difficulty mode, which bypasses the tutorial and starts a player in a doctor’s office for SPECIAL stat allocation, facial construction, and so forth. In this mode, ammo will have weight, there will be consequences for going too long without food and water, and serious injuries will require a doctor’s aid.
• A companion wheel allows players to better manage their party, with a pop-up radial menu to issue simple commands to friendlies.
• Weapons can be modified with scopes, specialized ammo, and extended magazines. Additionally, VATS will allow for more sophisticated melee commands than in Fallout 3.
• A notoriety system will keep track of which factions like or hate you, similar to the town reputation system of Fallout 2.

Source: Kotaku

New Vegas is confirmed for the PC, 360, and PlayStation 3 platforms, with a release planned for fall of this year.