Fallout New Vegas: Lonesome Road
By Obsidian/Bethesda Softworks
The Fallout: New Vegas DLC story arc comes to a close with this, the fourth DLC pack…
Ulysses, the other Courier Six who refused the job of delivering the Platinum chip, leaving it to the player character, has now made his way to the Divide, a land ripped by storms and earthquakes, and challenges the Courier to meet him there, to face the consequences of what he did… Problem is, the Courier can’t even remember what that was…
The Divide is a truly lonesome road; the architecture and story go a long way towards making you feel totally alone, even with the small comfort of your robot pal ED-E by your side; yep, he’s somehow made it here, and he even has some new and exciting upgrades you’ll enjoy.
All the joy of discovering a new place and finally chasing down the man who’s hounded you since before you can remember… is depressed rather quickly by the absolute ferocity of the creatures that you’ll face here. The two new major species are quite tough nuts to crack.
You will encounter the Marked Men – former humans who were flayed alive by exposure to radiation; extreme pain has driven them mad and somehow compelled them, even formerly worst enemies such as the NCR and Caesar’s Legion, to band together to fight the horrors of the Divide and whomever may cross their path.
You’ll also see many Tunnellers; these dark, lithe creatures fear the light but thrive in darkness, and with their razor-like claws can kill with just a few swipes! If you’re mobbed by these, you don’t stand a chance!
Fortunately, you’re given an array of interesting new weapons to fight them; weapons branded with the emblem of the former – and long past – United States of America. Among others there’s Red Glare, the signature weapon of the Divide, which loads 13 rockets and fires them rapidly; the Shoulder-Mounted Machine Gun, which is just what it says, but like Red Glare takes a long time to reload; and the Flash Bangs, which act as the real weapons do, but have a particular strength against the light-sensitive Tunellers!
Throughout your time in the Divide, your nemesis Ulysses, who has strangely sworn an oath to not try to kill you directly, will contact you through ED-E’s doppelganger, filling you in on details of your past and that of the Divide, and why he wants you dead; it’s something the Courier did in his forgotten past which adversely affected the Divide, but I won’t spoil that here, of course. Suffice to say, revelations abound in the lonely, wind-swept crevasses of this forgotten wasteland. And when you reach Ulysses, you and he, you’ll have an ending to things… but maybe not in the way you’ll expect.
An excellent and fitting end to the Courier and Ulysses’ side-story, one that will have you thinking long after you finish it. Five out of five!