DLC Details

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

My Impressions

As with the first DLC Dead Money, the latest DLC takes the opportunity to let us meet someone who is talked about in the main game but never seen, in this case the legendary Burned Man who led Caesar’s Armies and got burnt for his failure.

While Dead Money was a bit of a departure in terms of Gameplay as you had to deal with extremely hostile environments and a slave collar, Honest Hearts is a more traditional expansion in that aside from not having your companion with you and having an initial 100lb limit to how much you can carry the gameplay is much the same as in the main game.

What can be challenging however is that the new region of Zion is very primitive and if you rely on energy weapons will find very little in the way of ammo, and while the same is also true for ammo the most common firearms, there is enough ammo for the region specific weapons to make this not an issue to a gun specialist. Close range specialists may also find parts challenging as some of the enemies snipe at you from ledges. The final issue is that stimpacks are relatively rare so you may want to stock up before starting the DLC.

I found the plot of the DLC to be fairly average as it has you trapped in the Zion region and having to deal with the White Legs tribals who have invaded Zion under Caesar’s orders to further punish the Burned Man. Sadly there did not seem to be an ally with the White Legs option but you can choose at the end whether you want to wipe them out or help evacuate the natives.

Despite finding the plot average, I still enjoyed it and there are a few decent moral choices to decide upon in the main and side quests. If you explore all the dialog options you can also discover hints as to regions and characters in future DLC’s including more information about the “original courier”. I was also glad to see that you can still explore the region once the main plot of the DLC is finished.

As with the first DLC, Honest Hearts is well worth considering if you enjoyed Fallout New Vegas. The main question you need to ask yourself is whether you want to buy now or wait until all the DLC is released and the almost inevitable GOTY edition or deal of the week.

My Recommendation

Buy