Verdict:
4.5/10
C-

TL;DR:
Of all the story DLCs, this one is the weakest by far. Your playstyle will be forcibly limited, regardless of your character's build. The level design and gameplay were terrible. The characters were quite interesting, at least. After the questline is completed, you will also receive a bonus of basically infinite money. I suppose that's nice.

The Good:
- The characters introduced in Dead Money were intriguing, with my favourite being the dual-personality nightkin, Dog and God, making for a memorable experience. Elijah also deserves mention for his impactful role in the storyline.
- There is many interesting hidden lore about the Sierra Madre during exploration of this DLC.
- As a rewarding conclusion, players have the opportunity to take valuable gold bars at the end of the DLC, selling them providing a huge influx of caps. This infinite money serves as a incentive for those who manage to slog through this DLC.

The Bad:
- You can't return back to Sierra Madre after the quest's completion.

- Performance: This DLC suffered from frequent CTDs (Crash to Desktop) and notable FPS stutters, significantly impacting the overall experience with more crashes than encountered throughout my entire playtime.

- Annoying Traps: The relentless presence of bear traps, radios triggering the explosive collar, and the health-draining red cloud made navigating the DLC a constant annoyance, leading to frequent quicksaving to avoid untimely deaths.

- Restricted Playstyle: The DLC imposed limitations on your playstyle, favouring melee combat while neglecting energy and gun builds. This restricted approach diminished the role-playing aspect of this game.

- Lackluster Level Design: The claustrophobic maze-like structure, coupled with repetitive textures and buildings, resulted in a poorly designed environment. Getting lost and backtracking became commonplace, only slightly improving upon reaching the casino.

- Mission Dialogue Options Oversight: Numerous conversations referenced other DLCs, yet lacked dialogue options to comment or acknowledge them, providing a missed opportunity for immersion and continuity. This is notably the case for conversations with Christine and Elijah.

- Christine's Dialogue: Upon your initial encounter with Christine, her inability to speak requires communication through hand motions, presented via text asterisks. Presumably due to engine constraints and a perceived lack of effort, Christine remains unanimated during these hand motions, opting instead for a silent stare, creating an awkward and off-putting dynamic.

- Enemy Variety: The primary enemies, aside from some radroaches, consist solely of "ghost people," essentially glorified feral ghouls. Engaging with them becomes boring quickly, aggravated by the need to dismember them to prevent their regeneration. These enemies also exhibit sponge-like health pools, making combat repetitive. Adding to the challenge are holograms, acting more as traps than traditional enemies. Sneaking past these invincible holograms becomes imperative, as they possess overpowering lasers that can easily decimate your character. The only recourse is to locate and destroy their hidden emitter.

- "Curtain Call at the Tampico" Quest: In this quest, after obtaining a key, you confront Dean, who stands on a balcony overseeing the room. Dean activates security holograms to kill you. Throughout this, you must navigate through doors, find keys, and ultimately confront Dean. However, a glaring flaw emerges as the balcony, with a staircase leading up to it, is obstructed by mere curtains. This oversight becomes evident, as the simple solution of passing through the curtains is unavailable. This silly oversight could have been easily addressed by using a more substantial barrier to block the staircase.

- Abandoned BoS Bunker: Initiating the quest leads you to this location, where walking to the radio triggers a gas that renders you unconscious. Following the knockout, Dog, acting on Elijah's orders, is tasked with capturing anyone caught in the traps he has set. Oddly, you can bring your companions with you into the bunker, and Dog manages to avoid them while kidnapping you without a fight. Your companions make no attempt to assist, and human companions remain unaffected by the gas. The convenience extends to Dog's trouble-free journey to bring you to the Sierra Madre. Throughout this sequence, you conveniently remain unconscious until the plot demands your awakening. After completing the questline, being freed from your bomb collar, and receiving a map from Elijah, you exit the Sierra Madre through a gate, inexplicably finding yourself back in the bunker at the exact spot where you were initially knocked out. The logistics of this transition remains unexplained.

Specs: Windows 11
165hz 1080p Monitor
GPU: 8GB RTX 3060Ti
CPU: Intel Core i7-12700F
RAM: 16GB DDR4 3200MHz
SSD

Verdict:
5.5/10
C+

TL;DR:
In summary, my experience with this DLC was just fine. Some players may enjoy or despise the significant tone shift from the main game that this DLC delivers. Fighting the same repetitive enemies over and over again wasn't something I particularly enjoyed doing. I appreciated the open-level quest design, a departure from the more linear DLCs. The DLC offers the best player home, accessible after the DLC completion, through a teleportation gun. While the quirky dialogue and humour occasionally felt a bit off, it was generally acceptable for me personally. However, the threshold for tolerance to this writing style will vary among players. Before playing this DLC, you need to get ready to fight a ton of robotic enemies. Make sure you do, or else it might not be as enjoyable.

The Good:
- The Sink: The best player house in the game, that will be given to you. Which you can easily teleport to as well after completing the DLC.
- Numerous optional side quests that reward exploration with upgrades for The Sink.
- There is a ton of fascinating backstory to uncover when exploring the big empty, most of which will foreshadow at the other DLCs.
- More skill checks in dialogue compared to the base game.
- The loot and new weapons are quite great.
- The new acquirable perks are very good.
- The voice acting performances were really good in this DLC.
- It is not required of you to complete the optional side missions. If you'd wish, you can certainly rush through this DLC quite fast.

The Bad:
- Lackluster Enemy Variety: The overabundance of robo-scorpions becomes monotonous, and facing them repetitively diminishes the enjoyment. Guess what the final major boss is? A robo-scorpion, but bigger.

- Bullet Sponge Enemies: Even at while being high levelled in the 40s on very hard difficulty, enemies feel excessively spongy, particularly without anti-robotic weaponry like energy weapons or specific melee weapons. Proper preparation is crucial for a better experience.

- Dialogue Overload: The extensive dialogue sequence with the Think Tank at the beginning of the DLC is overwhelming and could of benefitted from some trimming, especially given its placement as the starting point. This dialogue overload negatively impacts the first impression of the DLC.

- Repetitive Quests: The quests tend to be repetitive, often boiling down to simple fetch quests.

- Unfortunately, your Mojave companions cannot accompany you to The Sink after completing the DLC, requiring their dismissal each time you wish to teleport back. This annoying limitation affects the overall quality of life in the DLC.
Specs: Windows 11
165hz 1080p Monitor
GPU: 8GB RTX 3060Ti
CPU: Intel Core i7-12700F
RAM: 16GB DDR4 3200MHz
SSD

Verdict:
6.5/10
B-

TL;DR:
If Joshua Graham wasn't in it, I wouldn't recommend it; he has to take some time to recover his back from carrying this DLC. It's really the only reason to play this DLC, besides the loot. While I did find enjoyment in the quest line, it's not without its faults. I wish it had undergone more development time to address the issues that both I and other players encountered.

The Good:
- Survivalist: A highlight is the Survivalist's story, conveyed through terminal entries scattered throughout the caves. I strongly suggest delving into these terminal logs for a deeper understanding of his backstory. If collecting the logs seems too tedious, I recommend watching Synonymous' video on this topic.
- The New Loot: The newly introduced weapons and attire are great, particularly Joshua's handgun and his outfit. Additionally, the Survivalist's rifle deserves a noteworthy mention.
- Scenery: Zion Canyon's landscape is distinctly beautiful and immersive. Offering a refreshing departure from the Mojave wasteland, it provides a unique environment.
- The portrayal of the Christian Mormons, known as the New Canaanites, was nice and respectful. It's a pleasant departure from the stereotypical image of Christians in the media.
- Joshua Graham, known as the Burned Man, saves this DLC from mediocrity single-handedly. A compelling and memorable character, he serves as the highlight of the entire experience. Graham's brilliant, engaging, and highly quotable voice lines contribute significantly to the overall enjoyment. The exceptional voice performance by his actor further enhances the depth and impact of his character.
- No Essential NPCs: If you desire, similar to the base game, you have the freedom to kill any NPC in the valley. However, there's an odd exception with the NPCs of the Happy Trails Caravan at the beginning of the DLC. Attempting to kill these NPCs would of prevent you from visiting Zion. Which is probably why this is the case. But still weird nonetheless.

The Bad:
- Abruptly Short Playtime: The playtime of Honest Hearts is a significant drawback, resulting in an unsatisfying short experience. The DLC concludes abruptly, leaving you with a sense of unfulfillment and a feeling that potential opportunities were missed.
- The absence of unique new creatures in Honest Hearts, despite the distinct landscape of Zion, is a noticeable drawback. The DLC heavily relies on reusing and reskinning creatures from the base game, hinting at a potentially rushed development and contributing to a sense of disappointment.
- Unfortunately, the ugly cave interiors are copied directly from the base game.
- The side quests weren't that good and were very simple and short.

Story Critique:
The central conflict in this DLC revolves around the different approaches of Joshua and Daniel in addressing the White Legs threat. Daniel advocates a more passive option, suggesting the evacuation of The Sorrows and the Dead Horses from Zion Canyon to prevent potential conflict and preserve the peaceful nature of the Sorrows. In contrast, Joshua proposes a more militant response, advocating the use of the tribes to crush the White Legs and essentially commit genocide against them. Despite expressing his distaste for killing, Joshua sees it as a necessary chore when done righteously.

While I appreciate the underlying concept of the story in this DLC, I believe its execution could have been handled more effectively. As the near ending approaches, players are presented with a choice to side with either Daniel or Joshua, influencing the DLC's ending and slides. However, a notable issue arises as the non-chosen character proceeds without protest, failing to present a convincing argument for their perspective. This missed opportunity denies players the chance to witness an engaging conversation and heated debate between two clashing ideas.

Another aspect that could have been improved is the lack of input from the two temporary companions, Waking Cloud and Follows-Chalk, representing the Sorrows and the Dead Horses tribes, respectively. Their failure to express their opinions on the preferable approach for their tribes represents a missed opportunity to delve deeper into their characters and offer additional perspectives.

The White Legs are portrayed as a ruthless and evil faction, demonstrating cruelty and a lack of mercy towards their enemies. It is revealed their actions including the slaughter, destruction, and genocide of the inhabitants of New Canaan. This brutal assault was carried out to gain entry into Caesar's Legion and eliminate their long-standing rival. The Legion, particularly Caesar, was motivated by the death of Joshua. The ruthless attack on New Canaan left no one spared, including children and the defenceless. To ensure no chance of rebuilding, they salted the earth in the aftermath of their destructive campaign. The DLC begins with the White Legs chasing the surviving refugees into Zion, setting the stage for the conflict.

In both endings, players confront Salt-Upon-Wounds. In the evacuation ending, players are presented with the choice of either killing him or convincing him to leave through a speech check. However, this decision appears to render the entire evacuation process pointless, as the White Legs' threat was primarily under the leadership of Salt-Upon-Wounds. If he departs or leaves, the threat is effectively nullified, and the evacuation of The Sorrows from Zion seems unnecessary.

On Joshua's path, players witness a moral decision regarding Salt-Upon-Wounds at the end. Three choices are presented: killing Salt-Upon-Wounds personally, letting Joshua execute him, or sparing his life. Each choice significantly impacts the ending slides for the Sorrows, the Dead Horses, and Joshua himself. Sparing Salt-Upon-Wounds results in the Sorrows maintain their peaceful ways, the Dead Horses avoiding increased violence, and Joshua occasionally showing mercy. Killing Salt-Upon-Wounds personally leads to the Sorrows becoming a warlike tribe, the Dead Horses triumphantly returning home, and Joshua remaining steadfast in his beliefs, occasionally showing mercy. The final option, having Joshua kill, results in the same Dead Horses slide as the second option, while the Sorrows become more violent and warlike. Eventually, the Sorrows reject Daniel, and for Joshua, he becomes even more brutal, and his alias as the Burned Man takes on a more depraved nature.

The pivotal moment in the tribes' evolution and Joshua's transformation into warmongers hinges on the decision to kill or spare Salt-Upon-Wounds, an objectively evil character. This situation seems implausible given Salt-Upon-Wounds' monstrous actions, including the mass murder of innocent individuals, including children. His character is a equivalent of a IRL terrorist leader.

The moral quandary of deciding Salt-Upon-Wounds' fate appears unnecessary, considering the atrocities he committed. A more fitting alternative could involve Salt-Upon-Wounds dying during the battle, followed by the surrender of the remaining White Legs, particularly children and non-combatants. Joshua's proclamation that the surviving White Legs must be dealt with to eliminate threat for good could present players with a choice between a merciless approach or a more merciful alternative. This alternative offers a realistic and thought-provoking choice, aligning better with the potential consequences for the tribes, as the slaughter of defenceless individuals would profoundly impact the tribes' development and endings.

The only choices offered are to either crush the White Legs or evacuate Zion. There's no opportunity to negotiate or persuade the White Legs to leave peacefully. A potential option, like bribing them to relocate, could have been a choice. The lack of a pacifist route is noticeable, as both endings involve killing. This missed opportunity may be to rushed development.