As far as I’m concerned, when it comes toBethesda-style RPGs,Fallout New Vegashas yet to be topped. It’s got all the trademark openness but with a level of depth and sophistication to the writing and structure that most RPGs lack. I’ve played a lot of games that claim “choices matter,” but then they really don’t deliver on that promise. New Vegas is one of a small handful of games that presents the player with genuinely difficult, often morally grey choices, and manages to make the consequences of those choices feel appropriately impactful and unique.
Anyone who has played through quests like"Beyond the Beef"or “Come Fly with Me” knows what I’m talking about it. There are so many possible approaches, and so many possible outcomes, that it’s almost intimidating. New Vegas’s greatest strength is that the player is always able to do or say whatever they feel like they ought to and then have the game react in a way that makes sense. It shows a remarkable understanding of the player base on behalf of the developers.
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To show you what I mean, I’m going to talk about one of the best quests in the game (and there’s stiff competition), “Ring-a-Ding-Ding”, the main quest for roughly the first half of the game. All in all, it’s a fairly simple premise. New Vegas kicks off with the player character getting shot in the head and then left for dead. The objective for “Ring-a-Ding-Ding” is tracking down the man responsible, Benny, and dealing with him as you see fit.
For most players, this will probably mean murder, which you’re able to carry out using a variety of creative methods, but there are lots of other ways things can play out. The process of tracking Benny down is somewhat roundabout, but you will eventually have to confront him at the Tops Casino on the New Vegas Strip. Now, assuming you do want to murder Benny, how best to go about it? The casino has a strict no-weapons policy, but if you can find a way to sneak a few in, you could just start blasting the moment you set eyes on him. Of course, you will have to kill everyone else in the casino who turns hostile, but it is possible if you bring enough ammunition.
But there are more subtle ways to go about wreaking your revenge. Perhaps the sneakiest is by talking to Swank, one of Benny’s right-hand men. If you can convince him to turn against Benny, by passing a speech check or presenting evidence that Benny is up to no good, you can get Swank to either send Benny up to your hotel suite alone or have him get Benny’s henchmen to stand down when you go in for the kill on the casino floor. There’s a certain poetry in the betrayal, and turning the tables on Benny when he least expects it is strangely satisfying.
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Alternatively, if you want to get a little bit freaky, and you took the Black Widow perk, you can seduce Benny, and then either kill him as soon as he turns up or actually sleep with him and then kill him while he snoozes in the afterglow. It’s about as far as you can possibly get from the full-frontal assault on the casino, but it’s just as effective. Plus, if for some reason you decide that Benny deserves to live — maybe that checkered suit does it for you — then you can enjoy a perfectly nice evening together and see him on his way. He will be captured and potentially crucified by Caesars Legion, but hey, that’s just how things roll in the post-Nuclear Mojave, Daddy-O.
That’s not the only “peaceful” resolution though. If you go and speak to Benny, he tells you to wait in the presidential suite, and that he’ll be up to see you shortly to talk everything through. If you do as he asks, Benny will call the player over the intercom and inform them that they have fallen into his trap and that assassins are on their way. You can either fight the assassins once they arrive, or you can convince Benny that you aren’t going to come after him, and he (against his better judgment) decides to let you live. Honestly, you’ve got to be a little bit gullible to end up in this situation, but I like that the developers let the player try and see the best in people, even if it seems like a terrible plan.
That’s what I really love about the quests in New Vegas. There are enough properly fleshed-out options for how to proceed at any given moment that the player actually has the ability to role-play. A lot of other games would probably have had two, maybe three approaches — one focused on combat, one on stealth, and maybe one more on charisma or speech. This division is still there in New Vegas, although blurred somewhat, but there are so many little flourishes that allow the player to properly express themselves.
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It’s not simply a case of kill Benny or don’t kill him; the player is given options onhowthey go about either choice, which is what role-playing is all about. You can do pretty much whatever you feel your character would in that situation. The brilliance on behalf of the developers is in understanding what a creative player might want to do and giving them the means to do it without railroading them toward specific solutions.
That’s what makes Ring-a-Ding-Ding such a great quest. It’s a pivotal story moment, and yet the player is still able to express themselves however they wish. That’s a tricky thing to pull off, but it’s what the Fallout series does best. Plus, if for whatever reason you’ve ever wanted to shoot Matthew Perry (who voices Benny), this is the closest you’re ever likely to get. That’s got to count for something.
At the time of writing, Fallout: New Vegas - Ultimate Edition isfree to keep on Epic Games Storeuntil July 01, 2025.
