Dead Money is tragically one of Obsidian’s most flawed works. It has all the makings of a masterpiece, but sabotages itself at every turn.
Let’s start with the premise: the Courier is kidnapped by Father Elijah, the former leader of the local Brotherhood of Steel chapter, and taken to the Sierra Madre, home of untold riches and glory. The Courier, along with three other of Elijah’s hostages, must complete a series of tasks to gain entry to the Sierra Madre and, then, its vault, which contains a number of treasures. The maps are polluted with traps, deadly gases, and violent patrols, which helps set the tone.
The characters, story, and themes are honestly some of the best. Father Elijah, a figure already looming over parts of the base game and Old World Blues, is one of Fallout’s greatest antagonists, up there with The Master for sure. The tragic triangle between Vera, Dean, and Sinclair is really wonderful, too.
And then there’s the theme, which is all about letting go and moving on. Dead Money really hits a home run every time on this. Every character, as you’d expect, is centred around something in their life that they need to let go of, even the Sierra Madre itself.
For whatever reason, Obsidian wasn’t content with having a masterpiece, and decided to insert the most mind numbing awful combat and gameplay loop into Dead Money. It actually made me miss Old World Blue’s gameplay which is saying something.
How this came about will always be a mystery to me, but I guess I need to let it go.
Let’s start with the premise: the Courier is kidnapped by Father Elijah, the former leader of the local Brotherhood of Steel chapter, and taken to the Sierra Madre, home of untold riches and glory. The Courier, along with three other of Elijah’s hostages, must complete a series of tasks to gain entry to the Sierra Madre and, then, its vault, which contains a number of treasures. The maps are polluted with traps, deadly gases, and violent patrols, which helps set the tone.
The characters, story, and themes are honestly some of the best. Father Elijah, a figure already looming over parts of the base game and Old World Blues, is one of Fallout’s greatest antagonists, up there with The Master for sure. The tragic triangle between Vera, Dean, and Sinclair is really wonderful, too.
And then there’s the theme, which is all about letting go and moving on. Dead Money really hits a home run every time on this. Every character, as you’d expect, is centred around something in their life that they need to let go of, even the Sierra Madre itself.
For whatever reason, Obsidian wasn’t content with having a masterpiece, and decided to insert the most mind numbing awful combat and gameplay loop into Dead Money. It actually made me miss Old World Blue’s gameplay which is saying something.
How this came about will always be a mystery to me, but I guess I need to let it go.