Playing Fallout: New Vegas in hardcore mode is a revolution. You become a true wastelander, collapsing onto whatever roadside mattress you can find to stave off sleep deprivation, lapping dirty water from toilet bowls to hydrate yourself, going through every bin and abandoned building you can find for morsels of irradiated food and dying almost every time you venture off the beaten path. Skills that otherwise lurk at the bottom of your priorities, like Unarmed and Survival, become absolutely essential. Perks that you'd otherwise skip over become lifesavers.
It doesn't just make things harder – it's not a wasteland Hard mode that artificially gives mangy raiders thousands of hit points. It changes the whole way you play the game, completely altering your worldview. Ammunition has weight, so there's more of a reason to explore Fallout: New Vegas' vastly improved melee weapons. Instead of obsessing over your next quest goal, you're scouring the horizon for buildings that might have water, or a settlement that might have a doctor to heal your crippled limbs.
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