Fallout 4andFallout: New Vegasmay be part of the same series, but the two games have some significant differences. From the way they set up their stories to the games' open worlds, combat, and companions, the pair often pull in different directions when it comes to their core design principles.
BothFallout 4andFallout: New Vegasalso experimented with theFalloutformula in ways that the other game did not. Here’s a breakdown of all of the differences, and how they make two games which seem similar on a surface level each very different experiences to play.
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Fallout Openings And Player Characters
Fallout 4andNew Vegasbegin in two very different ways.Fallout: New Vegasstarts with the Courier being shot in the head and left for dead by Benny and his associates. They awaken in Doc Mitchell’s office in Goodsprings, determine their appearance and basic stats, and are sent out intothe Mojave Wastelandwith a single objective should they choose to pursue it — finding Benny.
This introduction is notably non-prescriptive, even for aFalloutgame. It is one of the fewFalloutintros that doesn’t begin in aVault-Tec vault, leaving the player character’s identity and past in the hands of the player far more than most installments in the series. The personality of the Lone Wanderer fromFallout 3may have largely been under the player’s control, but they are always a 19-year-old who grew up in Vault 101 and is leaving in pursuit of their missing father, James.
This comes with pros and cons: There is far less reason to be driven to complete the main quest ofFallout: New Vegasat first than most otherFalloutgames. In fact, pursuing the man who once shot them in the head could understandably be the last thing on the Courier’s list. However, it also makes the Courier a uniquely flexible protagonist in the franchise, a blank slate more akin to mostElder Scrolls' charactersthanFalloutgames.
In contrast,Fallout 4’s introduction is far more prescriptive than bothFallout: New Vegasand arguably theFalloutgames preceding it. The player’s family is completely prescribed at the start of the game — they have a heterosexual spouse and a young child, Shaun. The fact that the player starts beforethe Great War of 2077has its advantages in terms of immersion.
Like their player character and unlike the Courier, the player’s complete lack of familiarity with the open world they’re entering makes a lot more sense. However, the degree to whichthe Sole Survivor’s pre-War life is set in stone also makes it harder for players to immerse themselves in that player character if they had something else in mind for their backstory.Fallout: New Vegasprioritizes flexibility and freedom, whileFallout 4prioritizes the characterization of the player character.
This difference is also exacerbated by the fact thatFallout 4’s player character is the only voiced protagonist inFallouthistory. Anyone hoping to roleplay as a kooky old man or a bright-eyed teenager will have a far easier time doing so inNew VegasthanFallout 4.
The separation betweenFallout 4’s player and its player character also extends to dialogue options, which in the retail release don’t directly represent the words the player character will actually speak. Combined with the optional third-person camera during dialogue, andFallout 4often resembles BioWaregames likeMass EffectandDragon Agemore than it doesNew VegasorFallout 3.
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Fallout World Design And Combat
The two games' world designs are also quite different.Fallout 4takes place almost exclusively within the ruins of Boston, with several settlements likeDiamond Cityand Goodneighbor formed in famous location. Western Massachusetts is scaled down more significantly than Boston itself, with distances between towns like Concord and the city of Boston drastically reduced. Despite being named for a city,Fallout: New Vegas' city is only a small part of the map, much of which is desert with a scattering of small towns from Primm to Nipton that run up against and over the real-world border between Nevada and California.
Combat inFallout 4was far more in-line with other modern first-person shooters thanNew Vegas. UnlikeNew Vegas, for example,Fallout 4’sVATS systemdoesn’t stop time completely, instead slowing it down significantly but still adding a sense of real-time peril.Fallout 4’s combat is generally more accessible thanNew Vegas', which can take some time to get used to. However,New Vegasalso has more options for dealing with encounters than just violence.
InNew Vegas, the Lady Killer perk causes the player to do more damage to female characters, but it also unlocks new dialogue options. The same can be said for Sneering Imperialist, Confirmed Bachelor, and many otherFalloutperksand stats in the game. InFallout 4perks like Lady Killer add the extra damage, but only make dialogue checks more likely to succeed rather than adding new interesting options that help diversify subsequent playthroughs.
More Comparisons And Fallout’s Future
Both games do a pretty good job of characterizing their companions, especially in comparison to games likeSkyrim. In both games, the player’s companions have their own quests, own motivations, and backstories than are slowly uncovered.New Vegas, however, has no companions with romance options, leaving romantically inclined Couriers fresh out of luck.Fallout 4also hasBethesda’s settlement building system. WhileNew Vegaslacks this, the system and its infinitely recurring quests were not particularly well received inFallout 4and the lack of a building system inNew Vegasis rarely discussed as one of the game’s weak points.
Fallout 4andFallout: New Vegasboth take place in the same world, but they are very different games.Fallout 4is a faster-paced shooter with less room for dialogue and a far more prescriptive story. In contrast,New Vegasgives the player far more freedom to define their character’s backstory and to explore the world with dialogue as much as they do combat, though that combat is far clunkier. Many fans will be hoping to see elements from both games return in theFalloutfranchise’s future, combining some of the technically impressive aspects ofFallout 4with the kind of non-prescriptive storytelling found inFallout: New Vegas.
Fallout: New Vegasis available now on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360, andFallout 4is available now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
