Fallout: New Vegas – Old World Blues
article by Wade Manns
Yet again Obsidian brings to us another piece of the puzzle that is the Courier’s life in the Mojave Wasteland. This time out the storyline and happenings are far quirkier than you might expect for an installment of Fallout; it seems to draw as its inspiration old 50s-style science fiction serials, much like the entire Fallout universe; we get to see a sampling, perhaps, of what science (or rather, Science!) was like before The Great War which eradicated civilization.
In investigating a strange transmission coming from an old movie theater, the Courier is abducted and taken to the Big Mountain Research Facility; the Big MT. Just don’t call it the ‘Big Empty’ to its inhabitants, the Think Tank. These five “post-human” scientists (they’re brains suspended in bio-gel connected to monitors and microphones!) have forgotten all about what it was to be human, and so have thought nothing of lobotomizing you for their experiments, as they have many others in the Big MT (with much less favorable results).
These sometimes haughty, sometimes boisterous, sometimes unintelligible scientists each have their own personality, but somehow they’re all able to work together as they’re neuronically connected:
Dr. O, or Doctor Zero as he prefers to be called, seems to have an inferiority complex regarding his work with robotics and how RobCo (the leading robotics manufacturer in the Fallout universe) seems to have outstripped him by a wide margin.
Dr. Dala is the only female of the Think Tank, and takes an unnatural interest in humans, specifically their insides.
Dr. 8 is, unfortunately, functionally mute since his vocal processor was damaged in a recent incursion by previous test subjects; his condition resulted in the institution of the Pacification Field, which prohibits use of weapons in the Think Tank’s room.
Dr. Borous sounds like an overblown action hero, who seems to mourn the loss of his body the most. Apparently he was a star football player in his high school days, and he never hesitates to remind you of this. He sounds like he’s overcompensating for something…
Dr. Klein is ostensibly the leader, and he seems to have fallen the farthest from humanity, immediately denouncing your fingers and toes as overtly sexual in nature; it takes Dr. Dala to prevent him cutting them off.
Dr. Mobius is the standard villain-type of this story, cackling and scheming but always preferring to send his Robo-Scorpions to do his dirty work. He used to be part of the Think Tank, but creative differences resulted in his banishment to the Forbidden Zone.
Unfortunately, in removing your brain, the Think Tank have somehow lost it to their estranged colleague, the maniacal Dr. Mobius, and it’s up to you to retrieve it, as well as certain technologies the Think Tank need “For Science!”. Interestingly, your brain (and heart and spine, which had to be removed to prevent damage after the brain was taken) are replaced by bionic equivalents which work even better than your original organs! You may come to a point where you’re asked to choose between your new organs and your original ones.
And you’re never alone in your travels: The Sink, your home base located an elevator ride from the Think Tank, is filled with Dr. Mobius’ inventions; inanimate objects that nonetheless have personalities all their own! From light switches, to a toaster, to a sink, to many other things, most everything in the Sink talks, and may well drive you to distraction if you couldn’t turn their voices off. Fortunately, the Central Intelligence, which also handles shop-keeping and repair services, can do that very thing. It’s just up to you to find the personality modules and install them, and you’ll have new friends all your own!
For a quirky, funny, and offbeat addition to the Fallout series, check out Old World Blues! Five out of five!