The Better Angels

Alright, I promise, this is the last mod from someguy2000 on this blog. For now. Probably. I swear. Next time I'll move on to a Star Wars game or something, just bear with me for now.

Author: someguy2000

The Better Angels

NOTE: Like with Bounties III, this mod shouldn't be activated until you are ready to play it. That means AFTER completion of Bounties III.

The Better Angels is, in effect, the Epilogue to the Bounties Trilogy. As a result of that, and the rushed development and release, it's quite a bit smaller than the rest of someguy's mods. Essentially, in the aftermath of the scarring events in Frosthill and the dark note that Bounties III ended on, the Courier is contacted by an old friend in NCR Intelligence asking them to travel south to a small outpost on the shore of the Colorado River where a large group of slaves is crossing into NCR territory. In the company of two...uh, "Distinguishable" NCR Rangers, the player heads for FOB Omega to help the small garrison defend against the inevitable Legion assault.

"Camp Shithole"

The tone of the mod is noticeably lighter than that of Bounties III, conveyed through someguy's excellently written profanity spewing characters. A couple of foul mouths from Bounties III even make a welcome appearance, their rambling arguments and barbed insults making for wonderful entertainment. As always, someguy's dialogue is up to snuff, for the most part.

Now, as you know by now if you've been playing his mods, and why shouldn't you know, unless you hate true art like this, which is created in a whiskey-fueled haze of self-depreciation and increasing mental instability, and dammit I'm rambling let me start over.

Ok, as I was saying, all of his mods are fully voiced and lip-synced. This mod is no exception. However, and this can be a little jarring, someguy himself voices all of the characters here. The tight release schedule (About a month, maybe even less) is the reason why, and the acting isn't necessarily bad, it just becomes noticeable. Especially after binge playing the rest of his mods because that's the best way you can spend your lonely Friday nights even though you wish for so much more and-

Crap, I started rambling again. Ignore that last sentence. Anyway, most of the dialogue is well voiced enough, though one or two lines sound a bit stilted and lifeless, it isn't a big deal. After arriving at the base the player is given jobs to do to help shore up the garrison against the attack. You repair the robots laying around that have different effects during the battle and train the troops to make them more skilled at shooting, stabbing, or bombing. You do a few sidequests relating to supplies and the massive amount of slaves pouring across the river, in effect doing all you can to prepare yourself for the massive Legion attack.

And yes, it is massive. It holds true to the Legion's in-game stated strategy (Send in the new guys to die, the slightly less new guys to die a little less, and then the old guys to kill everyone who is still alive) and they come at you in swarms. The Battle of FOB Omega is easily the largest battle to take place in New Vegas, period. Even bigger than the end game at Hoover Dam. You will easily kill at least 200, yes, two-hundred Legionaries during the course of the battle. Which is a conservative estimate, by the way. There is no way to adequately relate how many fo them there are through words. The battle itself can take up to 20 minutes from start to finish, with men in skirts running over the river to hack you apart with lawn-mower blades the entire time.

These are the people you will be defending from Cazadors (aka "Satan's Butterflies") and groups of men who scream in Latin and wear skirts.

Oh, and there's the mortar bombardment. Yeah, mortars. The Legion has themselves some serious artillery that will rain down on the camp at certain intervals during the battle, blowing the troops of your garrison to pieces with one unlucky blast. When you hear the air raid siren start going off, for the love of God find cover or you'll eat a mortar shell.

The battle itself is very intensive, and if your system isn't up to snuff and keeps crashing, someguy has included an option to skip the battle and go right to the end so you don't need to be afraid of being unable to complete the mod. The battle is, however, the main attraction here, since it's so impressive and bold.

Each of the voiced characters you meet has their own endings for the battle dependent on if they live or die, and what you told them before the battle began. And yes, one of the characters you love so much and want to survive can be vaporized by a mortar at the very beginning of the attack. That's just war, I guess. But to help prevent that you can bring companions along. Seriously. It's not a trap this time, like in Bounties III. And you will need them. And you will need the heaviest firepower you can get your hands on if you don't want to be the sole survivor.

And, as said before, this is a lighter mod, intended to give a less depressing ending to the someguy series. The dark note Bounties III gave players is somewhat lessened by the ending of this one, making the series as a whole bittersweet in nature instead of just straight up depressing. As an ending it's decent, if a bit empty, and a much better way to end things than with the alcoholism-inducing end of Bounties III. So if you've ridden this ride for this long, one more mod won't hurt. Hell, it's probably just what you need. So even if you can't make it through the battle without your computer flipping you the bird, go ahead and get this. It's a much better end note than you'd get otherwise.