Fallout: New Vegas Must End

Between the reports on Eurogamer and Destructoid, we now know that the conclusion of the main quest in Fallout: New Vegas brings the game to a definitive close. That might not be good news to some, as it means that the inevitable post-release DLC will have to be experienced with a character that has yet to finish the game. However, there will be a warning when we reach the point of no return:

At a New Vegas demo last month, senior producer Jason Bergman told me that the ending to New Vegas “explains things well beyond the end of [the] game,” including “what happens to every one of our factions and major characters.”

That means that once the endgame begins, you can’t go back into the game world. Don’t worry — just before the ending, the game warns you that you’ve reached the point of no return, and automatically saves right there. After the end credits, the game gives you two options: you can load that save game, or go to the main menu. When I asked Bergman why Obsidian chose to do it that way, here’s what he said:

“We tell the full story of every one of your companions through the end of their lives, and it’s weird to do all that and then jump back and say, ‘Okay! Now you can keep going again.’ So we end the game, and if you want to do other quests, then you go back to that save game before the end sequence.”