'Destroy All Humans!' declared war on humanity 20 years ago, and we're still waiting for another good sequel But what made it so enduring? Why won't veterans stop recommending it over the rest? How can Fallout Season 2 expand on the iconic setting? Let's shuffle up, deal, and see what the cards hold for the future of New Vegas. "The game was rigged from the start" (Image credit: Bethesda Softworks) Set in the year 2281, New Vegas was the first mainline Fallout game to introduce a non-vault-dweller main character: the Courier, who is just a person trying to survive out there in the Wasteland. When you've played through the entire game at least once, that seemingly small decision feels like the first of many bold swings and a pushback against unspoken conventions. At first, New Vegas is a simple revenge story. The Courier is part of a larger plot and considered expendable, but doesn't find that out until much later. This naive setup gives the player a perfect excuse to push forward and get to New Vegas (the actual city that survived the nukes). That's just one step of the journey, though. By the time you learn about what the game really is about, chances are its systems, mechanics, and colorful cast of characters will have grabbed you. Whereas some open-world games just lay all their cards on the table from the get-go and others choose to be all mysterious, Josh Sawyer and his team gave us just enough of a narrative hook to keep the intrigue up while we learned about the world and the factions. While the average Fallout 3 player would happily delay the search for their lost family in favor of those tantalising side quests, tracking down the man who tried to murder you is an objective with an almost primal psychological element. Get the Space.com Newsletter Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more! Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. That's not to say your story stays small. The Courier has a huge impact on the world and the way the main narrative plays out by the time they reach the end section. While some RPGs offer the illusion of choice — where your character just reacts to events and makes a few key choices — New Vegas keeps things muddy until the very end instead, even allowing the player to game the system if the cards they're dealt aren't enticing enough; apt given the casino theming. A complex ideological war (Image credit: Bethesda Softworks) Though the irradiated and mutant-filled Mojave Desert may not be as rewarding to just explore as the Capital Wasteland in Fallout 3 or later Bethesda-crafted maps, it's hard to deny that it houses the most interesting factions the series has had. Three big groups (and a surprise fourth) to follow or fight against might not seem like a lot, but how the New California Republic (NCR), Caesar's Legion, and Robert House's automated forces are portrayed and used in-game makes a huge difference. The NCR represents a return to North American 'normalcy' and old-fashioned democracy… which also involves expansionism and imperialism to "pacify" the Wasteland. Caesar's Legion is a straight-up totalitarian dictatorship of LARPers playing Romans. Last but not least, Robert House (aka Mr. House) is the enigmatic ruler of New Vegas; he's kept a fragile peace and formed a city-state that 'works' when everything doesn't. All raise fair points (okay, maybe not the guys obsessed with the Roman Empire), but, more importantly, present the player with weighty paths forward as that region of the former United States tries to rebuild. You may like Source: https://www.space.com/entertainment/space-games/fallout-new-vegas-came-out-15-years-ago-but-theres-never-been-a-better-time-to-return-to-the-mojave-wasteland