Old World Blues is the third add-on for Fallout: New Vegas that increases the level cap by 5 and offers players a series of new areas, weapons, and enemies to fight. Like other downloadable context Old World Blues begins with a strange transmission and it is the job of the player to investigate the object or location to begin the DLC. In the case of Old World Blues the player investigates a satellite that causes the player to blackout and is transported to Big Mountain, a research compound that was used before the war to further humanity’s progress through thought and reason. When the player awakens he discovers that he or she unknowingly became a lab rat in an experiment that went wrong. The Courier must now travel and explore the pre-war research centers of Big Mountain to obtain technology to use against on his or her kidnappers, or join forces with them against a greater evil.

Old World Blues takes place in Big Mountain, a pre-war research center that’s primary goal was to further humanity’s progress during and before the Great War. In is this location that the Courier learns that he or she was part of an involuntary experiment that ended with the removal of his or her spine, heart, and brain allowing the Courier to gain new abilities and weakness. The operation was headed by a series of scientists that existed before the Great War and have abandoned their human bodies and implanted their brains into new robotic bodies known as think tanks. It is during the initial conversation with these think tanks that a new threat emerges, Dr. Mobious, who intends to kill everyone. It is up to the Courier to recover new technologies from the pre-war research center to either assist the kidnappers or turn against them.

Big Mountain is a large location full of many new areas to discover and explore. The areas within Big Mountain definitely have a different feel from pervious DLC’s and the Mojave, offering a litany of new experiences to behold. However getting to these areas are more difficult then pervious areas because of the increase level of enemies and obstacles to overcome.

The voice acting and script of Old World Blues is also well done, offering a lot of good humor and interesting devices to communicate with. Big Mt. doesn’t included any human characters to interact with but it does include a clever array of devices, each with their own ideals and personalities. The Sink is a new area within Old World Blues that houses an array of appliances that serve that Courier in their own way. Each offering distinctive personalities and clever things to say that will cause the player to want to speak with each device. The presentation is the best part of Old World Blues; however after looking past the presentation of Old World Blues you see a shallow add-on.

Old World Blues doesn’t offer anything new that the player hasn’t experience from the core game or pervious DLC’s of Fallout: New Vegas. The player will shoot, collect items, and progress to the next mission without having to think about much. The story is there to give the player more desire to complete the current mission but offers little drive. More of the missions require the player to simply collect items and kill enemies without breaking this pattern. After progressing to the next mission an overwhelming feeling of boredom crept over me as I repeated the same pattern again hoping that something new would happen. There were occasions that I experience something interesting, however the feeling faded quickly and I was back to wondering when something new would happen.

There are a healthy array of weapons and items to collect. The most impressive was a stealth suit that continually updated me when an enemy engaged me or if I required any medical attention. However despite some moderating fun items to toy around with it didn’t subtract from the boring missions I had to endure.

If you’re a fan Fallout: New Vegas then you’ll find a lot of potential content here. Big Mountain offers a lot to offer to those who like to explore and find new things and achievement hunters will find five new easy to get achievements here. However if your debating whether to purchase this DLC then you should probably not. Old World Blues doesn’t stray from the issues that the pervious DLC’s suffered with, but continues to utilize what made them great.

Adam Siddiqui, NoobFeed
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