Fallout: New Vegas
Hacker ApprovedRanked 4 of 5 open-world RPGs by recommenders
People recommend it for its hand-built storylines, meaningful choices, and a world that still grips players years after release. Critics mostly point to its age, with setup and compatibility problems on modern PCs.
People recommend it for its hand-built storylines, meaningful choices, and a world that still grips players years after release. Critics mostly point to its age, with setup and compatibility problems on modern PCs.
19 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 15
- criticize it
- 4
- approval share
- 79%
Recommended in 11 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 15 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 3.8 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 11 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Rich storylines and meaningful choices
“What makes New Vegas an amazing game is all the hand built narratives and intricate storylines.”
Comment from 5 Mar 2026 in “The L in "LLM" Stands for Lying” “Master's study of how to make a sandbox tell a narrative.”
Comment from 27 May 2026 in “The Melancholy of Slaying Monsters” “that game was a rare exemplar of "choices matter"”
Comment from 22 Oct 2026 in “EA is shutting down BioWare” - Comment from 21 Jul 2026 in “The Great Steam Deck Crash of 2026: How the New Pricing Decreased Demand by 80%”
Still replayed and enjoyed today
“new gamers still start playing fallout new Vegas or skyrim today despite them being old and janky”
Comment from 5 Mar 2026 in “The L in "LLM" Stands for Lying” “it just grips me and I walk scorching hot Mojave again”
Comment from 5 Jun 2026 in “Ask HN: What game have you replayed more times than any other?” “my favourite games such as Fallout New Vegas”
Comment from 13 Dec 2025 in “The Rise of Computer Games, Part I: Adventure” Fond personal memories of playing
“I myself have fond memories restoring cut content to Fallout: New Vegas.”
Comment from 27 Feb 2026 in “The quixotic team trying to build a world in a 20-year-old game” “my favourite games such as Fallout New Vegas”
Comment from 13 Dec 2025 in “The Rise of Computer Games, Part I: Adventure”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Setup and compatibility troubles on PCs
“if you own the Fallout 3/Fallout New Vegas discs that require games for windows live you are screwed”
Comment from 5 Jul 2026 in “It's not about physical vs. digital games, it's about ownership” “new vegas, oblivion I spend two evenings getting everything to play nice”
Comment from 7 Nov 2025 in “OpenMW 0.50.0 Released – open-source Morrowind reimplementation” No official remaster available
“not even a remaster of Fallout: New Vegas ?”
Comment from 22 Sep 2026 in “Xbox continues its “reset” with dramatic restructuring” Annoyances shared across 3D Fallout games
“The one thing that is really annoying in all of the 3d Fallout games, New Vegas included.”
Comment from 9 Feb 2026 in “A GTA modder has got the 1997 original working on modern PCs and Steam Deck”
Other open-world RPGs people recommend
The four most recommended other open-world RPGs, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 76 | 38 | 67% | 12 | 6 mo5 owners | Approved |
| Morrowind | 26 | 6 | 81% | 11 | — | Approved |
| Skyrim | 25 | 21 | 54% | 10 | — | — |
| Fallout: New VegasThis page | 15 | 4 | 79% | 11 | — | Approved |
| The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion | 11 | 21 | 34% | 8 | — | — |
What people said
16 of the 20 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“that game was a rare exemplar of "choices matter"”
“not even a remaster of Fallout: New Vegas ?”
“the story's good and I like unwinding with it”
“if you own the Fallout 3/Fallout New Vegas discs that require games for windows live you are screwed”
“it just grips me and I walk scorching hot Mojave again”
“Master's study of how to make a sandbox tell a narrative.”
“What makes New Vegas an amazing game is all the hand built narratives and intricate storylines.”
“new gamers still start playing fallout new Vegas or skyrim today despite them being old and janky”
“I myself have fond memories restoring cut content to Fallout: New Vegas.”
“The one thing that is really annoying in all of the 3d Fallout games, New Vegas included.”
“New Vegas more or less fits the first two IMHO”
“A good game, running at workable framerates, no more crashes than usual”
“my favourite games such as Fallout New Vegas”
“He's worked on an impressive number of great games.”
“NV was great but not made by Bethesda”
“new vegas, oblivion I spend two evenings getting everything to play nice”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.