The full story

In this chapterA Mojave Express courier is ambushed on the way to the Strip: a man in a checkered suit and the Great Khans shoot them in the head, take the Platinum Chip they carried and bury them near Goodsprings.

The game opens with a delivery that goes wrong. The Courier, working for the Mojave Express, carries a Platinum Chip to the Strip when a man in a checkered suit and a group of Great Khans stop them. The man takes the chip, shoots the Courier twice in the head and has them buried in a shallow grave outside Goodsprings.

A Securitron named Victor digs the Courier out and takes them to Doc Mitchell. After a week of recovery the Courier wakes with a new Pip-Boy, the chip gone and one goal: find the man who did this. The first stop is Primm, where the Mojave Express keeps an office.

The prologue is a small western. A stranger in a checkered suit, a poker table, a shallow grave and a mysterious rescuer set the tone of the game: this is a revenge story that quickly becomes a political one. The character creation and the 'Vigor test' with Doc Mitchell are also tutorials for the skills and perks.

Goodsprings is where the Mojave's tensions are first visible. The Powder Gangers, an escaped prison gang, threaten the town, and the Courier can help the residents or take the gang's side. Even in a village of a few dozen people the player learns that reputation matters, and that choices at the start of the game can reappear later.

The Platinum Chip is a MacGuffin with weight. Nobody in Goodsprings knows what it does, but it is clear that people were willing to kill for it. The chip links a small robbery to the Strip's rulers and to the war between the NCR and the Legion.

In this chapterIn Nipton the Courier meets Caesar's Legion under Vulpes Inculta, who has just massacred the town through a lottery; the Courier is spared to spread the word.

In Primm the Courier saves Deputy Beagle from the Powder Gangers and learns that the men who shot them went south through Nipton and northeast to Novac. At Nipton they find Caesar's Legion, who have just burned the town. Vulpes Inculta spares the Courier so that the story of the lottery will spread.

In Novac, Manny Vargas confirms that the man in the checkered suit and his Khans passed through and went toward Boulder City. There the Courier finds a captured Great Khan, Jessup, who explains that Benny, a leader of the Chairmen on the Strip, abandoned his allies and returned to New Vegas.

Nipton is the game's first big statement. The Legion's lottery, in which they choose victims by drawing lots and kill the rest, is described, not shown, and the horror is in the details. It is also the first time that the player sees the Legion as an army rather than a rumour.

Primm and Novac are chances to see how factions treat the player. The NCR is stretched thin, the Powder Gangers are desperate, and the Legion is expansionist. The Courier's reputation with each group begins to take shape, and ends up affecting available quests and dialogue.

The Boulder City showdown teaches that the Courier's quest touches larger politics. The Great Khans have been dragged into a plot by the Chairmen, and the NCR holds them. The Courier can help the Khans or leave them to their fate, a choice that matters when the Khans appear as a faction later.

In this chapterOn the Strip Victor directs the Courier to the Lucky 38 and Mr. House, ruler of New Vegas, who explains that Benny stole the Platinum Chip.

The Strip is the glittering centre of the region. Mr. House, in the Lucky 38, tells the Courier that the chip contains the operating system for his Securitron army and that Benny's plan was to sell it or use it to take the Strip. The Courier confronts Benny at the Tops casino, with several ways to resolve the conflict.

Once the chip is recovered, the story branches. The Courier can deliver it to House, ally with Vulpes Inculta and the Legion, or meet Yes Man, a reprogrammed Securitron, and plot an independent course. The paths that follow decide which faction the Courier will ultimately support.

Mr. House is one of the series' most striking antagonists. A pre-war billionaire who has kept himself alive in a chamber for two centuries, he built New Vegas as a profitable city and defended it with Securitrons. His reasoning is simple: order and profit protect people better than ideals do.

Benny is a showman rather than a monster. His plan was ambitious and amoral, and the Courier can kill him, spare him or talk their way out. How the Courier handles him may seem a personal matter, but it is also a message to the factions on the Strip.

The decision about the chip is the game's first real fork. By the time the Courier chooses between House, the Legion, the NCR and Yes Man, they have already formed relationships and reputations. It is the moment at which a revenge story becomes a war story.

In this chapterNCR Ambassador Dennis Crocker asks the Courier to win the Boomers' support; the Courier recovers a B-29 bomber from Lake Mead so that Pearl's Boomers will fight for the NCR.

On the NCR path the Courier acts as a private contractor. Ambassador Crocker sends them to Nellis Air Force Base to win the Boomers, who agree to help only after the Courier recovers a lost B-29. In Freeside, the Courier resolves the conflict between the Kings and NCR citizens.

Colonel Moore then asks the Courier to neutralise threats: the Great Khans, the Omerta crime family, Mr. House and the Brotherhood of Steel. The path ends at Hoover Dam, where the Courier protects President Kimball during a ceremony and then reports to General Oliver.

The NCR is the closest thing the Mojave has to a democratic state, with courts, elections and a standing army. It is also overstretched and often indifferent to local needs. The Courier's NCR quests show both sides: a government that tries to help and a bureaucracy that fails.

The Boomers' quest is a good example of New Vegas' humour and depth. The Boomers are isolationists with a B-29 obsession, and winning them requires patience and respect. Their bombs at the final battle are the reward for treating them as people.

Colonel Moore's tasks show the NCR's ruthlessness. Killing House, destroying the Brotherhood or Khans means choosing stability over justice. The Courier can negotiate, but the NCR path rewards pragmatism.

In this chapterVulpes Inculta gives the Courier the Mark of Caesar, allowing safe entry to The Fort, Caesar's camp at Fortification Hill.

On the Legion path the Courier enters The Fort with the Mark of Caesar. Caesar, impressed by the Courier's influence, orders them to destroy the Securitron vault and kill Mr. House. He also asks the Courier to handle the Boomers, the White Glove Society and the Brotherhood of Steel.

Caesar's headaches reveal a brain tumour, and the Courier can treat him. In return he asks for the assassination of President Kimball at the Hoover Dam ceremony. The Courier plants a bomb or finds another way, and then reports to Legate Lanius for the battle.

Caesar is a philosopher-tyrant. He explains his ideas with historical analogies and argues that the Legion brings order to chaos. He is dangerous because he is persuasive, and the game does not hide that his empire is built on slavery.

The tumour subplot makes Caesar human. A man who claims to be a god suffers from an ordinary disease, and the Courier's choices can save or doom him. It is one of the best examples of New Vegas' ability to humanise even its harshest characters.

The assassination of Kimball is a turning point. The Courier is a fixer for the Legion, and the plot is a coup de main to weaken the NCR. If it succeeds the NCR is without a leader on the eve of the battle.

In this chapterMr. House upgrades his Securitrons with the Platinum Chip and sends the Courier to The Fort to wake the dormant Securitron army.

Mr. House uses the chip to upgrade his Securitrons and sends the Courier to the Fort to retrieve the dormant Securitron army hidden there. The Courier must handle House's enemies, from the Brotherhood of Steel to the Omertas, and keep Kimball safe from the Legion.

With the army ready, the Courier installs an override at the El Dorado substation and later at Hoover Dam, giving House the control he needs to win the battle.

House's path is the plan of a man who believes he has solved the problem of the Mojave. His Securitron army is a deterrent that makes New Vegas independent of both the NCR and the Legion. His vision is cold, but it promises stability and prosperity.

The Courier acts as House's agent, and the loyalty is a transaction. House gives resources and the Courier gives results. The relationship is revealing because the Courier can see House's flaws and still choose to serve him. House's ending is controversial because it makes a private ruler the guardian of the region. The Courier must decide whether a benevolent dictator is better than a democracy or an empire.

In this chapterYes Man, Benny's Securitron, offers the Courier an independent path in which no faction controls the Mojave.

The independent path begins with Yes Man, a cheerful and servile Securitron. He explains that the Courier can control New Vegas without serving any faction, if they can remove House and gain control of the Securitrons. The Courier must visit the Fort, win over the Securitron army and prepare for a battle against all sides. Yes Man provides information and tools, but the Courier must do the work.

The Wild Card path appeals to players who distrust all factions. It offers freedom, but it requires diplomacy and force. The Courier cannot hide behind a banner; they must persuade or defeat everyone.

Yes Man's personality adds humour to a heavy storyline. He is an AI who agrees with everything, and his lack of moral guidance leaves the Courier as the only real decision-maker. It is a statement about the burden of choice. The independent ending is the riskiest. New Vegas has no ally and no guarantee of survival, but it has autonomy. The epilogue leaves the question open.

In this chapterAt Hoover Dam General Oliver greets the Courier, the Legion attacks through the intake tunnels and the Boomers, the Khans, the Brotherhood and the Enclave Remnants appear as allies.

The battle brings all of the Courier's choices to a head. The NCR defends the Dam, the Legion attacks through the intake tunnels, and allied factions arrive depending on earlier quests. The Boomers conduct bombing runs, the Khans and Brotherhood add firepower and the Enclave Remnants arrive by Vertibird.

The Courier fights to the Legate's camp and confronts Lanius, or to the NCR's command and General Oliver. The result depends on the path: NCR victory, Legion victory, House's Securitrons or an independent New Vegas.

The battle is a test of the Courier's earlier work. The more allies the Courier gained, the stronger their side, and the quests that seemed side missions become decisive. It is a rare example of a payoff that depends on 40 hours of play.

Each ending has a distinctive tone. The NCR ending is hopeful but bureaucratic; the Legion ending is brutal and ordered; House's ending is polished and cold; the independent ending is uncertain and free. The ending slides summarise the consequences for every faction and settlement. They are as important as the battle itself, because they show the long-term effects of the Courier's decisions on towns such as Novac and Freeside.