There’s an art to crafting the perfect videogame opening, and as games get more complex, perfecting that art only gets trickier. Obviously, introductions aren’t important for all games. Nobody’s begging each new Tetris developer to frontload the latest title with an emotional, exposition-filled preamble or anything of that sort. With Tetris, players want to clear lines and they only want to clear lines; anything standing in their way is bound to go down like a staple-filled sponge cake. For a complex RPG like Fallout: New Vegas, however, set in a world of conflicting factions, political turmoil and moral ambiguity, a meaningful opening with a pitch perfect tone is nigh on essential. The question is, does it deliver that? Oh boy, does it ever; it delivers with a radioactive cherry on top. So, as we approach the 10th anniversary of Fallout: New Vegas’ release, let’s explore exactly what makes the game’s opening hour such a masterpiece.
Opening Flourish
One thing is clear from the opening seconds of the game’s introductory cutscene: war may never change but Las Vegas has. As we pull out from the inside of a lifeless casino, we see a rabble of drunken soldiers milling about the famous Vegas strip, followed by a squad of imposing, broad-shouldered robots and a couple of gamblers in shabby suits; not a usual Friday night on the strip, at least in our world.
This story is from the Issue 134 - December 2020 edition of GameOn Magazine.
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This story is from the Issue 134 - December 2020 edition of GameOn Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
MythForce
MythForce seems like the videogame version of all those cartoons you loved as a kid, like He-Man or She-Ra. The game even has its own animated intro and theme song! I was so excited to start playing once I saw this. It was apparent that a lot of time and love went into this intro, so they must have put this much work in, but can it live up?
Gunbrella
Sometimes, a game title tells you everything you need to know about that game in just a word; Gunbrella is an amazing example of this. If you’ve ever had thoughts of becoming a lethal Mary Poppins, this is the game for you. The developers at Doinksoft have you playing as a quiet woodsman, decked out in a brown bowler hat and a long white scarf whose life has taken a tragic turn. At the beginning of the game, we see him out gathering mushrooms. In the distance, we see a wooden cabin covered in flames, this is our woodsman’s home. He runs there as fast as he can, and runs into the burning building. Alas, it’s too late to save his wife. She has been killed.
Astrea: Six Sided Oracles
Astrea: Six Sided Oracles is a deck-building roguelike with noticeable inspiration from Slay The Spire. Despite this inspiration, however, it manages to hold its own incredibly well, even going so far as potentially being one of my favourite deck-builders of all time.
Baldur's Gate 3
Through a litany of modern games mired by microtransactions and shifty live-service releases emerges a shining beacon of light: Baldur's Gate 3. Your buddies at work are talking about it; your favourite Discord servers are awash with videos about it; heck, even Grandma and her bridge club are wittering away about it (probably). The game has quickly become a cultural phenomenon and with my playtime knocking the three-digit mark, I finally feel ready to evaluate my adventure through Faerûn — so let’s dive in.
The Crew Motorfest
The Crew is a series I’m very familiar with; since its inception back in 2014 I’ve spent countless hours driving across the scaled down versions of mainland America. For the third entry into Ubisoft’s open-world racer series, The Crew Motorfest takes players to Hawaii, focusing instead on a much denser, detailed environment rather than the scaled down ‘Murica. Whilst not as drastic a tonal shift as The Crew 2 was from its predecessor, can Motorfest provide an enjoyable cruise through one of the world's most beautiful locations?
Fae Farm
Fae Farm is a new cosy farming simulator title by Phoenix Labs set in the enchanted lands of Azoria — a world full of magical issues that begs for your help!
Tevi
TEVI is a bullet-hell metroidvania, developed by Crespirit and was an utter joy to play. Full of fascinating systems, fluid combat, and some fantastic world-building, TEVI is a very interesting title.
Farmer's Father: Save The Innocence
I had the opportunity to preview the survival videogame Farmer's Father: Save the Innocence. Prequel to the farming simulator Farmer's Life, you play as the former protagonist’s father as he, his wife, and baby child try to survive 1945 East Europe. The game begins with the Axis forces marching on your front door, forcing the three of you to flee your burning home to the safety of a nearby bunker. Once safely inside, you sleep the night off, now alone during the middle of winter. In the bunker you’ll find: a rifle with 10 rounds of ammunition, a bunk bed, a single lamp resting on a table, a working fireplace/oven, and a chest where you put all of the provisions and items.
Moonlight Peaks
It's no secret that I am absolutely obsessed with spooky themes (what with my name being Spooky_0ne everywhere I sign up!), so when I found out there was a life sim game coming out with vampires, witches, potions, nightshades, etc.... Well, I kind of lost my mind from excitement! Thankfully, the team over at Little Chicken gave me the fantastic opportunity to interview them.
So I Tried... Persona 5 Royal
Each edition of So I Tried… I will try a game that I have never tried before. Will I find something new to love? Will I make my “did not finish” list one entry longer? I’ll take a full half hour, no matter how bad it gets or how badly I do, to see if this is the game for me. This time I went for a spooky visual novel that is said to be one of the best narrative games you can play: Persona 5 Royal.
