What Happens After the Fallout: New Vegas Ending?
The question of what happens after the credits roll in Fallout: New Vegas is a complex one, largely because the game doesn’t provide a direct, playable post-game experience. Unlike some other RPGs, Fallout: New Vegas ends with a narrative conclusion determined by your choices, followed by credits and a return to the main menu. There is no free-roaming after the Battle of Hoover Dam. The fate of the Mojave Wasteland, the NCR, Caesar’s Legion, and the various factions and settlements you’ve interacted with are all sealed by your decisions at the end of the game.
Essentially, the ending is a set of slides outlining the consequences of your actions, from the fate of the Strip to the lives of the companions who fought alongside you. These slides offer a satisfying conclusion to the narrative, but they don’t allow for any further gameplay within the game’s world. You must load a prior save to explore any further. The article you provided at the beginning is a great resource to understand why.
Understanding the Endings
Before delving into the post-game experience (or the lack thereof), it’s vital to understand the nature of the endings themselves. Fallout: New Vegas offers four main endings, each with numerous variations based on your actions throughout the game:
- The NCR Ending: This sees the New California Republic solidify its control over the Mojave Wasteland. The outcome varies greatly depending on your interactions with NCR characters and settlements. This typically involves the NCR winning the Battle of Hoover Dam.
- The Legion Ending: Here, Caesar’s Legion, a brutal slaving society, conquers the region. The details depend on whether Caesar is alive or if he is succeeded by Legate Lanius. The Legion winning at Hoover Dam is the main variable.
- The Mr. House Ending: You side with Mr. House, the enigmatic ruler of the New Vegas Strip. He sees himself as humanity’s savior and aims to build a new society through technological advancement. This may be the most nuanced ending in terms of potential outcomes.
- The Yes Man Ending: You work with Yes Man, a reprogrammed Securitron, to establish an independent New Vegas, free from any outside influence. The Mojave Wasteland becomes a fractured landscape without a unifying force.
Your chosen ending will dictate the closing narration you see in the game and will be the definitive answer to the question What happens after Fallout New Vegas ending?
The Lack of Post-Game Exploration
Unfortunately, after the ending slides, players are brought back to the main menu, unable to continue exploring their current game save. This decision by Obsidian, the game’s developer, was intentional and leads to a specific type of ending. The intention was to emphasize the finality of your choices. They were not designed to be reversible. You cannot go back to playing your save after beating the main quest.
This is why the game gives a clear warning when you are nearing the end and the Battle of Hoover Dam is about to begin. If you want to continue your experience, you must have saved before this point.
What to Do Instead
While a direct post-game experience isn’t available, that doesn’t mean your time with Fallout: New Vegas is over. Here are some options for those looking for more:
- Load a Previous Save: The most common option is to load a save from before you began the Battle of Hoover Dam. This lets you continue your game as if the ending never occurred, allowing you to complete side quests, explore unvisited locations, or level up further.
- Start a New Game: Play through the game again, making different choices. This is the best way to experience all the story outcomes and see how your decisions change the game’s world and endings.
- Install Mods: The PC version of the game is highly moddable. Mods can alter gameplay, add new areas, introduce new items, and even provide an entirely new game experience. They are arguably the most effective way to expand the game experience and get replay value out of this amazing title.
- Play the DLC: Fallout: New Vegas has several excellent DLC add-ons: Dead Money, Honest Hearts, Old World Blues, and Lonesome Road. These add new stories, locations, and challenges to your gameplay, giving you more content to explore.
- Play Other Games in the Series: If you love the Fallout universe, you can explore other games in the franchise. Fallout 3, Fallout 4, and Fallout 76 offer vastly different but similarly themed experiences. The series also includes the isometric classics like Fallout 1 and 2, which you can get through services like Steam and GOG.
The key takeaway is that Fallout: New Vegas, while not offering a traditional post-game experience, offers a rich and branching narrative that encourages multiple playthroughs and continued exploration through its world.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. Is there a true canon ending to Fallout: New Vegas?
No, there is no single canon ending to Fallout: New Vegas. Obsidian Entertainment, the game’s developer, has intentionally left the ending ambiguous, allowing each player’s choices to determine the fate of the Mojave Wasteland.
2. How many endings does Fallout: New Vegas have?
Fallout: New Vegas has four primary endings: siding with Mr. House, the NCR, Caesar’s Legion, or Yes Man for an independent New Vegas. However, each of these endings has numerous variations based on your interactions and choices throughout the game.
3. Can you play after the Battle of Hoover Dam?
No. The end of the Battle of Hoover Dam triggers the ending cutscenes and returns the player to the main menu. You must load a previous save if you want to continue playing.
4. Why can’t you play after the ending?
The game is designed to showcase the consequences of your actions in a final, definitive way. This reinforces the impact of your choices and provides a sense of closure to the narrative. The lack of post-game content was a conscious decision.
5. Is Mr. House a good guy?
Mr. House is a morally complex character. While he aims to rebuild society and launch humanity into space, he is also ruthless, controlling, and cares little for the individual needs of people. Whether he is “good” is up to the player’s interpretation. Some would say his ambition is worthwhile, while others may say his coldness is bad.
6. Is the Yes Man ending bad?
The Yes Man ending is not inherently bad, but it’s definitely the most unpredictable. It frees the Mojave from outside control but leaves it without a strong central authority, potentially leading to chaos. If the courier is a good person they may be able to help the Wasteland thrive. If not… it will be anarchy.
7. How long will Mr. House live?
The game implies that Mr. House can live indefinitely, but his physical body is frail and is kept alive through technology. His life support systems will eventually fail, making him far from immortal. Some estimate he had 50-100 years left when the player makes their choice.
8. Is it bad to lose karma in Fallout: New Vegas?
Karma is not as significant in Fallout: New Vegas as in some other RPGs. It does affect your companion’s opinion of you, with some refusing to travel with you if you are too evil. That said, it really isn’t that important in the grand scheme of things.
9. Does killing Mr. House give you bad karma?
Yes, disabling or killing Mr. House results in a negative karma penalty of -50. This can have some minor effects in the game, but again, karma does not affect too much.
10. What is the special reward for completing Hardcore mode?
There is no special reward in game for completing Hardcore mode besides the achievement. This is due to possible cut content, or the achievement itself was to be the only reward.
11. How are Deathclaws created?
Deathclaws were created through genetic experiments on Jackson’s Chameleons before the Great War. They were engineered to be self-sufficient and efficient killers.
12. Is Elijah still alive after the Dead Money DLC?
Yes, Elijah is still alive after you lock him in the vault during the Dead Money DLC. His collar will beep, implying he is still in there and hasn’t died.
13. How many years are there between Fallout 4 and New Vegas?
Fallout 4 takes place in 2287, six years after the events of Fallout: New Vegas, which takes place in 2281.
14. Is Fallout 3 connected to New Vegas?
Fallout: New Vegas is not a direct sequel to Fallout 3, but it does take place in the same timeline four years later. There are shared themes and elements between the games, but their stories are independent. The Courier is the star of New Vegas. The Lone Wanderer is the star of Fallout 3.
15. Which Fallout game has the most endings?
Fallout 2 is known for having the most endings in the franchise, boasting an impressive 47 different variations based on your choices. While Fallout: New Vegas is considered to have a more robust and detailed storyline, it still has far less endings than Fallout 2.