When you have to hard-save a game every five minutes for fear of it crashing or trapping you, there is a serious problem.

From Bethesda Softworks and the veteran RPG designers at Obsidian Entertainment (a team which includes members of the original Fallout and 2 teams) comes Fallout: New Vegas, a thrilling and chilling episode in the Fallout saga. New Vegas , released Oct. 19 for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 (reviewed), can aptly be described as “ Fallout 3 in the desert.”

This is both a blessing and a curse. The missions feel the same. Get the best gaming deals, reviews, product advice, competitions, unmissable gaming news and more! You can also find non-human companions to help you fight, like an old Enclave battle droid or a mechanical guard dog.

The game's voice-acting is woeful, undoing some great writing from the team, but my biggest problem with New Vegas is its size. But then the game will crash. Parents need to know that Fallout: New Vegas contains scenes of bloody combat -- many dramatized with a slow-motion effect -- as well as the option to use blunt weapons, chainsaws and knives to wound or murder enemies, which may be human, mutants, or robots. Before long, you'll find yourself drawn into a war over the future of the Mojave Desert and control over the Las Vegas strip. Fallout: New Vegas will ask each and every one of you a very simple question: If a game breaks every 10 minutes, can you still enjoy it? Visit our corporate site. Because when Fallout: New Vegas — a sequel of sorts to 2008's Fallout 3, only this time you play as a courier shot in the head, left for dead, and caught between warring factions in a western post-nuclear wasteland — is humming along, and you're charming gangsters, clubbing mutants and exploring abandoned rocket factories, it's a blast. Please refresh the page and try again. Fallout: New Vegas, on the other hand, is a role-playing game that you can really sink your teeth into.

A … Sadly, yes. New Vegas was developed by Obsidian and is still regarded as one of the best adventures in the series to date. Similarly, Fallout: New Vegas is a playground for gamers. And when you're forced to trudge over rocks and dirt for up to 10-15 minutes at a time on a quest, it becomes really boring.

Mechanically, this is an improved game over Fallout 3. Wait, this wasn't made by the guys who did Fallout 3? With his army of security robots, he calls the shots and maintains control over the casinos and dens of sin.

Your answer is "yes". As you blaze trails through the game's main story, it's all too easy to get wrapped up in the side quests, but that's what makes Fallout: New Vegas so fun. GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Browse IGN; Sign In ... Every IGN Fallout Review Ever.

Above: Gain favor with the NCR, for example, and you'll be able to call in support troops to aid you The wasteland is a dangerous place, full of radioactive mutants, psychotic bandits, and feral ghouls. But later, when you settle down in the Vegas strip, you'll be able to have your spare companions wait for you in your hotel suite. ", and you have to ask yourself the question all over again. Fallout: New Vegas begins with a bang, leaving you shot in the head and left for dead in a shallow grave. But this time around, Fallout: New Vegas lets you bring a companion along to share the burden. Fallout: New Vegas was developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Bethesda for the PC (version played), Xbox 360 and PS3. Officer Involved in Breonna Taylor's Death Emails More Than 1,000 Cops Claiming, 'We Did the Legal, Moral and Ethical Thing That N... For the Next 2 Days, Take up to 80% off in Wayfair's Huge Way Day Sale, Nintendo Takes Down XXX Peach Game Years After Release, The Revision of Paris Hilton's Story Is Missing Something: Her History With the N-Word. It's a blessing in that they're so good at getting under Fallout's skin that you won't even realise the switch in developers, but it's a curse in that many of Fallout 3's (and Oblivion's) flaws are along for the ride too. You'll love it. You can only bring one companion with you at a time. This engine, despite being capable of some amazing vistas, is also busted at a fundamental level. Those who were hoping for more than a mission pack to a 2008 game built on a busted 2006 engine, however, may find new Vegas to be quite literally a wasteland. Retails for USD$60. The NCR (New California Republic) is a military faction, attempting to maintain law and order with their stockpile of pre-war weapons and supplies.