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Combat and conversation remain the primary means of advancing the storyline, with mercenary missions and random battles providing for character advancement, and the V.A.T.S. This new outlook on life forces players into a dangerous open world, where giant radioactive creatures roam the countryside, and raiders, slavers, supermutants, and ghouls vie for control of territory and resources. Thanks to the intervention of strange robot and a friendly doctor, gamers survive this apparent death sentence with nothing more than amnesia and an intense desire for exploration and retribution. Players begin their New Vegas saga as a simple courier who is inexplicably shot in the head and unceremoniously left to die in a shallow Mojave grave.
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And while ostensibly a sequel to Bethesda's epic action RPG that found gamers exploring the wastelands on a hunt for their altruistic father, Fallout: New Vegas chooses to spin a classic tale of revenge befitting the "sinful" nature of the town that is its locus. Developed by Obsidian Entertainment (known primarily for its competent stewardship of BioWare's Neverwinter Nights and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic franchises), Fallout: New Vegas draws inspiration from all of its forebears, offering a Western setting and factions reminiscent of Fallout and Fallout 2, while retaining the gameplay mechanics and graphics of Fallout 3.
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