Retraction: I Managed to Be a Complete Bastard in Fallout: New Vegas

Warning: this blog post contains spoilers for not just the ending of Fallout: New Vegas, but the expanded DLC (DownLoadable Content) missions too.

One of the first articles I placed on the Blogsplosion was a lengthy exploration of my character Max Valerion, within which I explained my disappointment at how in Fallout 3 I could be an utter bastard with benefits, but Fallout: New Vegas encouraged me to reform Max into a do-gooder, or at least a mercenary edging on the side of good. It was called “Why I can’t be a bastard in Fallout: New Vegas“.

After playing the game off and on for the last year or so, I’ve finally finished it¹ and I can safely say that, come the end, Max was officially the biggest dick in Vegas. In what the excellent TV series Hustle would refer to as a “long con”, Max managed to lull everyone into a false sense of security and pull the rug out from under their feet at the last moment. Allow me to briefly recap how this satisfying turnaround came to be.

The downloadable missions have their own storyline², one which is arguably better than the main game’s primary storyline. While following the DLC story, you keep hearing about the original Courier Six, the man who didn’t take the job that led to you getting shot in the brain-pan at the beginning of the main game. The conclusion to the storyline results in you visiting a literal hell-hole called “the Divide“. At the end of this nuked crevasse of semi-zombies and deadly creatures, you confront the original Courier Six, a pretentious git calling himself “Ulysses” (yes, after the mythical king). He explains how the Divide was once a thriving community, one set up by Max himself³. Unfortunately, like all things Max touches, it resulted in a massive explosion and hundreds of deaths. Ulysses took particular offence to this as he was just set on leaving Caesar’s Legion and settling down in the Divide, only to find it blow up on him. In retaliation, he plans to launch nukes at the Vegas Strip, the place Max plans to make his new home.

In particular, this rather swank tower complex where Max just happens to keep all his stuff.

Originally, Max and Ulysses engaged in a tête-a-tete of gunfire in the nuclear bunker, Ulysses armed to the teeth and Max only armed with his trusty 10mm pistol. After half an hour (within which I save-scummed like hell and died about five times) Ulysses’ head burst like a balloon after one lucky shot from an anti-tank rifle Max was running out of ammo for. Unfortunately, the game still indicated that Ulysses had to be “dealt with” despite him being dead. Assuming it to be glitched⁴, I reloaded and just talked Ulysses out of being a complete douche. It wasn’t as epic as the gunfight, but it was a more Max-like manoeuvre (and besides, vast chunks of the “epic gunfight” were more like the shootout in the Naked Gun). Having teamed up with Ulysses to dispatch the angry goons pouring into the bunker, Max was presented with some options regarding the missile Ulysses had activated:

• Deactivate it using your little robot buddy.
• Launch it at the NCR army.
• Launch it at the Caesar’s Legion encampment.
• Launch it at both the targets (NCR and Caesar).

Absolutely marvellous. What better way to initiate Max’s plan of taking over the Strip than by launching a nuclear assault at both of the main threats? It was a no-brainer. I was instantly taken back to that moment in Fallout 3 where Max turned the Enclave’s satellite laser against the Brotherhood of Steel. Absolutely delicious! All that pretending to be friendly with everyone paid off, they never saw it coming!

Returning to the Mojave, Max saw two mushroom clouds on the horizon. NCR and Caesar both immediately hated Max for the act of devastating their main HQs, but it was too late. Max went straight back to base, deactivated Mr. House and took over House’s robot army for himself. The final step in the plan involved starting up a backup generator to take the Vegas Strip off of the main grid. I’d previously tried this mission once before while sampling some of the ending missions, and it had proved difficult; the switch I needed to get to was heavily guarded by NCR troops.

What I didn’t realise was just how difficult the DLC missions were in comparison to the main story. They are designed to be a challenge for characters levelling up beyond the original game cap. At level 48, I hadn’t realised that this now meant that Max was basically Superman. He walked through the platoon as if he was wearing shredders on his feet and they were made of paper.

The ending, the Battle of Hoover Dam, was slightly anti-climactic due to Max’s new-found invulnerability. It proved no difficulty and, combined with the fact that a lot of the Legion were devastated by a B-47 bomber from an earlier alliance Max had made, it was a cakewalk. The final act of douchebaggery came with the last confrontation with the general leading the NCR. Max didn’t take kindly to General Oliver’s threats, and thus had his right hand man/robot throw the guy from the dam. Brilliant!

All in all, a fitting end to things. New Vegas gains its independence under the leadership of Max Valerion, Caesar’s Legion and the NCR are warned off via nuclear missiles, and Max gets a robot army to command.

Unfortunately, a robot army and command of the New Vegas Strip comes with a lot of paperwork. It’s not going to fill itself out, you know!

That’s the end of Max’s story, for now. Until next time, anyway. There will be another Fallout game at some point, right?

War. War never changes. And neither does Max Valerion. The bastard.

Come for the gambling, stay for the narcissism!

Post by Sean Patrick Payne+ | May 19, 2013 at 2:34 pm | Articles, Video Games, Villains | No comment

Tags: Bethesda, Fallout: New Vegas, Max Valerion, RPG