Three Times a Lady

This post will present some of my favorite/funniest/most memorable moments in Fallout: New Vegas thus far, which I’ve finished once. As you’ve probably come to expect from me by now, it will focus on the depiction of women in the game. Comments welcome, as usual. [Note: Minor spoilers (companions, locations and similar) ahead. The title pays tribute to F:NV, as the quests bear names from popular songs, some of which you can even listen to on your Pip-Boy’s radio.]

I had agreed with some other female game bloggers (blogging game girls/gaming bloggirls…. whatever) that Fallout 3 never made you feel like you were (playing) a woman. Apart from a few instances, this has been improved in New Vegas… not in a tickled-pink, sugar-coated way. The Wasteland is a rough place… why should it be any better for a girl? The secret to success lies in whether I – with my foul mouth and gun in hand 😉 – can REACT to the bad treatment…

Jinx, my avatar, right out of the intro sequence...

After playing Mass Effect and Dragon Age, I really miss their elaborate face generators. Not really satisfied with this one, especially the shades of a moustache and sideburns that wouldn’t go away. Oh well, I’ll find a helmet soon!

Ooooo, the way he looks at her. Sweet.

The sought-after helmet turned out to be a cool beret with benefits, from my first companion. Boone totally reminds me of Carth Onasi from Knights of the Old Republic, as he’s bitter about having lost his wife and seeks revenge. (If you tell him to “keep the distance” in the tactics wheel, he will say “That’s what I do best” – it’s hilarious!) He flirts less than Carth, though. When I took the above screenshot, I just did it to show them off wearing their berets… 😉 but now I imagine there was something going on between them, even if the developer Obisidian won’t allow it.

Nope, Boone, it's not what you think!

I don’t know why Boone doesn’t react to me running around half-naked without a comment. In fact, YOU DIMWIT, this is a rigged collar that will explode if I take one wrong step! Truly, the fact that your companions don’t react to this turn of events was a total dialog-breaker for me.

Huh?

At least Boone knows I’m female, unlike Manny here… but then, that next guy takes the “acknowledgment” a step too far – and YIPPIE, the game gives me the chance to tell him off:

Flattering, but, get lost!

There’s a fair share of tough cookies wandering the Mojave Wasteland too: Soldiers, doctors, business women, bandits. Some seem to like to be the only tough cookie around:

Actually, yes!

Then of course there are drunks, gamblers, hookers… while it may be an improvement in game world credibility that there are female drunks/gamblers/bums, I’m missing the men-whores…  😉  There are a couple of female pimps, for example this one here, who has a strict no-sampling policy:

I didn't really want to, thanks...

The only thing I just had to sample was Fisto, the sex robot. I later even found one single male prostitute – but he was members-only. I still wonder if that was meant literally….

Uhm… what was I saying…. ahh yes, the women in the game! [Edit after playing through: There ARE men-whores! Epic win for ingame equality! 😉 ]

...she says after accusing me of wanting to compete in her business...

Now, after all these live guys’n’gals…  this bandit chick had no luck at all. She tried to kill me, and then she fell dead like this:

What a STUPID, un-ladylike way to die!

Now some of my random, less “gender-issuey” favorites:

I loved that dialog!!!
A rollercoaster!!! *squee* Unfortunately I died on the way down...
Attention, Apple fanbois and -gyrls!
A learned man...
Cheers, then!
A Moose - not an Elk!

That’s it for now – if you have played F:NV, what were your funniest/etc. moments? And of course, I’m interested in your perception of the gender portrayals in the game – as always!