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Unfortunately, Fallout: New Vegas also comes packed with more than its fair share of frustrating bugs. The PS3 and 360 version of the game frequently hitches, bringing the game to a screeching halt with frozen screens. If you're not a frequent saver, you will be after about eight hours of playing. We experienced repeated crashes in all three versions of the game, which ended up with us losing all our progress. Not even key events are immune to the game's occasional wonkiness. In one play through, the game's final battle was interrupted by such as crash.
It also seems like scripted events, which require NPCs to move about, often unravel in unexpected ways. So, don't be surprised if an in-game cut scene finds one NPC giving an inspiring speech to the wall in one room while his audience stumbles about in the corner of another area. It's disappointing to see such a lack of polish in a high-profile game like this. But these glitches never stop the game from being fun, and patches are on the way. Earlier this week, just one day after Fallout: New Vegas released, Bethesda Softworks responded to player complaints about the game's technical problems, promising patches for all versions of the game.
Above: As frustrating as the bugs were, they never stopped the game from being fun
Is it better than?
Borderlands? Yes. New Vegas bests Borderlands as both an action game and an RPG. We'll take the cinematic gore show provided by Fallout's V.A.T.S. combat system over Borderlands straightforward shooter affair in a heartbeat. The world of New Vegas has so much more character than Pandora, and leveling up your character with your Pip-Boy feels way more rewarding than Borderlands' character system.
Fallout 1 and 2? Yes. Without the first Fallout titles, Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas just wouldn't be possible. But even though these games were amazing when they were released, they just feel too dated to go back to today. On the other hand, fans of the original games will like that New Vegas is more like the originals than Fallout 3, in that it has more wacky and weird occurrences.
Fallout 3? No. At every turn, Fallout: New Vegas seems determined to one-up Fallout 3, but despite all the extra content, it never does. New Vegas may have more swagger in its step, but stomping through the sandy plains of the Mojave desert isn't quite as exciting as exploring the Capital Wasteland after taking your first steps out of Vault 101 in Fallout 3.
