DLC Details

• Main Title: Fallout: New Vegas
• DLC Title: Dead Money
• Current Price: 800 MS Points
• Estimated Length: 3-6 hours

My Impressions

Fallout New Vegas despite its MANY bugs was an enjoyable game and well worth playing if you enjoyed Fallout 3 and like its predecessor, there is now some DLC to enjoy in the form of the Dead Money expansion. As with the Fallout 3 DLC you “discover” the Dead Money mission by following a Radio message to its source and are then taken to a new area outside the main map area.

Once you get there you find yourself alone without companions with a slave (bomb) collar around your neck and forced to help a deranged former member of the Brotherhood of Steel called Father Elijah, whose name may be familiar to people who have travelled with Veronica in the main New Vegas game.

While there are new types of enemy to face in Dead Money in the form of indestructible holograms who can only be defeated by escaping them or destroying the hologram emitters and Hazmat suit wearing Ghost People who act like fast zombies that can only be permanently killed by dismembering them, the main change in gameplay is the Slave Collar.

While having a deranged genius holding the trigger would normally be enough of a Sword of Damocles hanging over your head, matters are made worse by it being put at risk of premature detonation through interference from speakers putting it on a countdown unless the speakers are disabled/destroyed or you exit range in time.

For the most part this was a successful change to the game mechanic, there where a few occasions though when it got frustrating when I was unable to determine the speaker location or a shut off terminal and ended up dying multiple times until I eventually found it.

The general difficulty of the DLC is also quite high since at the start of the DLC as you start off with minimal equipment and stimpacks are in short supply. It should be noted though that you are warned before you start that the DLC is recommended for characters that are above level 20.

The plot itself is also enjoyable with you learning more about what happened to Father Elijah after he departed from Veronica and a conclusion to that loose thread from Fallout New Vegas. There are also numerous hints about what is to come in future DLC with new places mentioned and another courier who from the ending text appears to be the concluding opponent of the New Vegas DLC.

The only issue plotwise is that the ramifications of what happens to Elijah do not appear to be carried back into the main game aside from a small snippet of new dialog with Veronica. It is also not possible to explore the area again once the DLC is complete.

These gripes aside I found Dead Money to be a well made and enjoyable piece of DLC and well worth the 800 MSP.

My Recommendation

Buy

If you enjoyed Fallout New Vegas, then the only reason not to get Dead Money is if you are waiting for it to be a deal of the week. Dead Money is an enjoyable jaunt in the Fallout World and appears to be the first chapter in a new tale for the courier.