We already had our first preview from QuakeCon today, but are you really satisfied with just one? I bet you're not!
So here we are with some more juicy previews. Be warned they may contain spoilers!
1up :
“Once outside of the gates, the entire world was mine to explore. But the clock was ticking, and I didn't have much time left in the demo. I did, however, start to harvest some of the nearby plants. I'm told that harvesting certain plants will yield items that can be used to create medicinal items and chems, or even special types of ammo because you have the ability to play with the gunpowder in your weapons; although I never had a chance to craft anything during my play session.”
Gamespot :
“Just like in Fallout 3, you can seemingly resort to violence just about whenever you want, though in many cases, this can have deadly repercussions--using words instead of bullets can get you what you want without a lot of pain, especially if you have sufficient ability scores or skill points.”
Joystiq :
“I also got to hear a little bit about Caravan, the gambling pastime that Obsidian built specifically for New Vegas (the game will also have more traditional games like blackjack and roulette). It involves betting on cards that you can collect throughout the storyline -- I would know more, but at the time, I hadn't yet picked up enough bottle caps to play.”
G4:
“Gameplay wise, New Vegas is like slipping on your favorite pair of Post-Nuclear slippers. It plays like Fallout 3, right down to the V.A.T.S system that I relied on way too much. But it feels smoother. The color pallette and scenery, however, is subtely different from Fallout 3's as well. It's obvious a lot of time and effort went into the look of the game, so it feels familliar, but different enough to not seem like an add-on or some DLC. The Western states haven't been as obliterated as DC in Fallout 3. They largely avoided full nuclear strikes, so there's less rubble and more people, but that brings the problems that come with society -- specifically, lots of different factions.”
“The major differences between New Vegas and Fallout 3 are the different factions at work, your reputation relative to them, and the fact that more of the local infrastructure is operable than in the Capital Wasteland.”
“The item-repair system has changed. Now, from the start, players can combine like weapons and repair them to 100% functionality. If you raise your repair skills in this game you are raising your ability to make better forms of ammo and to slow the degradation of your guns. There are also now potions and poisons that you can make, just as there were weapons to forge in the last game. Weapons are made at workbenches located in the game world; potions and poisions are brewed at campfires.”
There are also some juicy new screens embedded in the previews, showing a couple of new locations and some new items.
UPDATE : Josh Sawyer clarifies on the changes to Repair:
“Repair still affects the efficiency of the repairs you do. Sure, you can mash ten decent 9mm pistols together into a perfect one but you're wasting a lot of resources by doing so.
Repair kits are still pretty valuable if you don't have a matching weapon around to do repairs. I found a crummy Cowboy Repeater early on in my most recent playthrough. With a good Repair skill and two repair kits, it was in good condition despite not having any other Cowboy Repeaters on hand.”
