Take, for instance, the game’s ending.įallout: New Vegas culminates in a battle between the New California Republic (NCR), Caesar’s Legion, and the robots that protect the titular New Vegas strip. The title is full of memorable characters, dialogue, and choices that launch it like a homing nuke into the hearts and minds of gamers. The company developed Neverwinter Nights 2 and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2, but Fallout: New Vegas is Obsidian’s magnum opus. Obsidian Entertainment has a pedigree of developing RPGs slathered in atmosphere and engrossing stories. Yet in its haste, Bethesda seems to have forgotten that Obsidian Entertainment created that game and armor and is the reason behind their legacy, not Bethesda itself. Fallout fans love the armor for the same reason Bethesda decided to shoehorn it into Fallout 76: it is the most famous piece of equipment from the best Fallout game ever, Fallout: New Vegas.
The NCR Ranger armor’s problem, however, stems from that iconic nature.
The NCR Ranger armor is as recognizable as a set of T-51 Power Armor. The company calls the armor iconic, which is a decent explanation since they’re not wrong. You might wonder why Bethesda would ever include the NCR Ranger armor in the Fallout 1st membership. However, it wouldn’t matter if the membership came with a Deathclaw pet with laser rifles for hands the NCR Ranger armor sabotages the entire sales pitch. Private worlds sound nice -since Fallout is best experienced without bumping into tons of other players- and an extra fast travel point via a tent looks tempting. To be fair, Fallout 1st offers quite a few interesting benefits, even though they require a subscription fee. Thanks to the Ranger armor, Bethesda has convinced me to play Fallout: New Vegas instead of Fallout 76, let alone purchase a Fallout 1st membership. Among the goodies offered with the membership is the NCR Ranger armor, which for me seals the deal, but not in the way Bethesda intended.
The company decided to implement several fan-requested features and hide them behind a subscription fee.
Recently, Bethesda made waves on the Internet for all the wrong reasons with its Fallout 1st membership.