Fallout: New Vegas

Reviewing 2008's Fallout, I felt inclined to give a certain amount of visual glitchiness a pass because that game covered so much ground, from a development point of view, and was simply awe-inspiring in many respects. Seeing the exact same bugs in a new game, two years later, is harder to excuse. Truth be told, I enjoyed New Vegas a lot more than Fallout 3, but I can't give it a full score on the basis of the bugs alone.

Fallout: New Vegas is a hugely satisfying game that manages to put you into a believable world that you have a great deal of influence over. If you loved Fallout 3, there's no reason to avoid Sin City, and if this is your first time in the wasteland, well, come on in, grab a gun, loot a corpse, and get ready for one hell of an adventure. Just be sure to keep an eye out for bugs--the most deadly ones aren't always the radioactive kind.

Paradoxically, New Vegas doesn't make good on much new on any front, and it takes a hit both as experience and product for it. As fond as I am of the idea of an alternate reality Fallout 3, we shouldn't forget that game was released in late 2008, and Obsidian's contribution to the franchise looks and feels every day of two years old, maybe more. But it's still a giant, cool, twisted, funny world to explore, chock full of a staggering number of adventures.