[REVIEW] Unwrapping the Bandages: Fallout:NV's Honest Hearts

The second of Fallout: New Vegas' DLC hit Xbox LIVE's marketplace on the 18th of May. How does it stand up to Dead Money? Have they ironed out the (horrendous) kinks from the main game? Will I finally get to meet Joshua Graham, the feared Malpais Legate of Caesar himself? I asked myself these questions while I waited for it to download. And the short answer? Yes.

The first thing I did once Honest Hearts was all installed and ready to go was load up my most recent (unfinished) Save file. I'd already learnt from Dead Money that it wasn't likely I'd be able to continue after the main storyline, and sadly, it was the same case with this one. I made sure I was at a suitable level, and wished I hadn't saved over my other character (who had a Guns skill of 100). It was a recurring thought as the Zion storyline progressed too... but there was no way I was playing for that long again, so I sucked it up, and headed for the Northern Passage, the entry point to the Honest Hearts questline.

It's actually quite nice!

Of course, it wasn't that simple. I couldn't bring them with me, so I told my faithful companions (Boone and ED-E) to head back to the Casino and chill, dropped my inventory down to 100WG (After convincing another traveller to carry some of my stuff... Thanks, high Speech skill!), and the merry little caravan I was travelling with set off for Zion.

The first thing that struck me once we got there, was how beautiful Zion was. The Mojave desert looked pretty untouched (apart from some damaged buildings, crashed planes, and expanses of nothing), but Zion... Zion is pristine. There's greenery, majestic mountains, a river, and a small group of raiders attacking me... What? Raiders?

He's not there to cut down the tree...

And with that, the wheels of destiny were set in motion. Try as I might, I couldn't save the other members of the caravan, so after dispatching the furious Tribals, I read them their Last Rites, promptly looted the shit out of them, and headed across the bridge to see what lay beyond. Thankfully, I still got to keep all of my belongings, though for much higher level characters , it may mean you have a significant advantage in terms of armor and weapons... though since the only enemies are creatures and tribals, it makes some sense.

I'll stop there with the storyline, because I don't want to spoil too much, but it was shortly after that I met Joshua Graham, the Malpais Legate who was covered in tar, set ablaze, and thrown into the Grand Canyon. I've gotta say, the dude looked pretty spritley for someone that went through that, but he did seem to carry a bit of a chip on his shoulder about the whole ordeal.

Quest-wise, There were only a few little go-here-find-this-bring-it-here jobs to do, but it amounted to around 5 solid hours of gaming time, especially if you include scouting for locations. You generally have a single companion with you at all times too, and while hardy, don't amount to much in a fight... unless it's against a Bighorn or two.


It would seem as well, with the patch required before installing the DLC, that the majority of the bugs that plagued the main game are fixed. There were no freezes, not getting stuck on rocks, and no 'accidentally' shooting companions in the face. The only bugs I encountered were tiny... Bark Scorpions floating, or half stuck in the ground, and a companion not being able to work out a route off the ledge he was on. Interestingly enough though, these companions tend to follow you straight down when you drop from a small enough height, rather than wander the landscape for ten minutes to find you.

Wait, I thought he had Blue eyes?

My biggest tips? When you can, stock up on as much .45 Auto ammo as you can. I didn't explore too much after the ending, but I didn't find anywhere to purchase more, and since it's not a 'standard' ammo type I don't know how easily it'll be found back in the Mojave. Also, while they do have ammo for Energy weapons, the guns themselves were almost nowhere to be found. You'd be best off taking a few repair kits or spares in with you.

The game does make you choose, however, as so many Fallout missions do, and the choices you make affect the lives of all in Zion. I'll leave the choices for you to discover, but I'd definitely recommend Honest Hearts to anyone who enjoyed New Vegas. The rewards are certainly worth it too, especially if you can see past the slightly over-zealous Religious undertones (which, I can only imagine, may be perfect for the area).