Fallout: New Vegas came out in 2010 and is a game still played and discussed 12 years later. Many Fallout fans have called it their favorite in the series for its many RPG choices, interesting factions, and the amazing DLC for New Vegas. On Steam, the game has overwhelmingly positive reviews both recently and overall. To this day, fans still make mods for the game.
Some gamers even call Fallout: New Vegas one of the greatest video games ever made. Despite this, the game has yet to have a remake or remaster. This is quite a shock when other Bethesda games like Elder Scrolls:Skyrim have gotten not just one, but six remasters.
What Made Fallout: New Vegas Special
Gamers are still utterly charmed by the concepts Fallout: New Vegas plays with. Unlike other recent Fallout games which take place in the Capital Wasteland and Commonwealth, New Vegas was in the Mojave and had a lot of post-apocalyptic cowboys. The factions and characters were wilder than ever, with brutal ancient Rome cosplayers, an immortal capitalist, Elvis impersonators, a casino for cannibals, and then the player character, a very lucky and deadly mailman.
It all seems absurd, but New Vegas also did well to also work with serious themes of war and greed. Choices are not black and white, with every faction having a dark side. The fan-favorite companion character Boone had one of the most tragic backstories of all where he had to kill his own pregnant wife so that she would not become a slave. DLC like Dead Money especially served as a lesson in greed, with the gold rewards having so much weight that a player cannot move much if they take it all, characters killing each other over it, and having less time to escape if more time is spent on gathering loot.
New Vegas was special for more than just themes and characters, though. The gameplay was fun, with so many possibilities for various builds. The chat feature had a ton of options and special dialogue choices depending on the player characters' stats. Some Fallout perks were especially memorable, like Wild Wasteland, which added random goofy encounters at certain points in the game.
Was It Better Than Fallout 4?
Fans have not shied away from comparing Fallout: New Vegas to the far more recent Fallout 4. Some even claim that the more recent game is worse than New Vegas. However, the true answer is more complicated. In some ways, Fallout 4 was better and in other ways, it was worse. However, this is why a Fallout: New Vegas remake would be so great. It would keep what makes it better than Fallout 4 and adopt what made Fallout 4 stronger.
What made Fallout 4 better was mostly just the quality of being a more recent game. It had better graphics, smoother combat, and was not known to crash as much as New Vegas. It also had some fun additions that New Vegas didn't have, like settlement building and romancing companions. Settlement building was especially addicting for gamers, and having that be included in New Vegas would be amazing. There is also no doubt that some players would be interested in romances with New Vegas companions. Fallout 4 also introduced enemies that could mutate for a second fight phase and weapons with unique abilities, which fans enjoyed.
The thing that made New Vegas better in terms of gameplay was its freedom, especially in terms of its chat feature with NPCs. Fallout 4 tried to go in the direction of Mass Effect, with the player character being voice acted and only hints of what will be said appearing in the options. This was not a popular choice to Fallout fans and got rid of the interesting options that could pop up based on having low or high stats in science, strength, and so on.
Remake Rumors
There is no definite promise of a Fallout: New Vegas remake, but there have been rumors. Just last year, GGRecon reported that Tyler McVicker, an investigative journalist who has leaked video game information before correctly, said that a remake for New Vegas is in the works. However, there has been no sign of this happening since, and it is known where McVicker gets this information.
Another rumor is that New Vegas will get a sequel as opposed to a remake. Another industry insider, Jeff Grubb, mentioned that there are early talks of a New Vegas sequel. According to EarlyGame, this is also supported by McVicker. There could also be the possibility for both a remake and sequel, which would really make fans happy.
Until Then, There Are Mods
With only rumors and nothing concrete yet, the heroes that deserve attention are those making mods of New Vegas. There is Project Mojave on Nexus Mods which is a passion project by fans that is not a full remake, but puts some of New Vegas as an explorable area in Fallout 4. There is another called Fallout 4 New Vegas that is working on something similar, with an attempt being made to create Fallout: New Vegas with the Fallout 4 Creation Engine. Their Twitter page is even followed by Obsidian.
The more attention these mods get, the better quality they will likely be. Additionally, it seems that Obsidian itself is paying attention to these mods. That is a positive sign. Perhaps fans are closer to hearing "Heartaches" By the Number and Johnny Guitar while fighting off Roman cosplayers than they think.
Fallout: New Vegas is available now for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.
