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
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
ReadyandRaiding
3 months ago