All of this game’s DLC is beloved, but it’s a pretty popular consensus that Dead Money is the weakest. That being said, I’ve never agreed with that. I’ve always really liked how the DLC strips you out of your comfort zone and starts you fresh in a totally new setting.

My only huge complaint about Dead Money is that you can't come back to the villa after you leave back for the Mojave. Dean mentioned the areas/sewers under the town where the ghost people come from. I wanted to go there, dive deeper in that place.

When I first entered the Sierra Madre, I was annoyed at how punishing everything was, but when I returned to the Mojave, I found myself missing the emotion the harsh mechanics and atmosphere provided. Also I miss watching my head explode.

I just learned it recently, but you can actually get a friend in the Sierra Madre If you use the NCR radio to get a ranger, that ranger is going to follow you till you as long as they are alive, and since the game does not count them as companion, they are not dismised by the DLC start script. Since they follow you into loading zones, this allows you to get them to the DLC, and even maybe smuggle some objects into it, with the reverse stealing mechanic

Challenging? This DLC was the only one that felt like a post apocaliptic world setting because you had to scavange everything from 0 and that really made you think about every move and bullet you waste. While in the wasteland you had everything available to you. The scarcity in dead money is just perfect. Plus the traps the enemies the radios its amazing. One of the best DLCs hands down

Dead Money is also my absolute favorite. The story, the themes, the characters, the atmosphere, the difficulty... It's all so fantastic.

i love how theres still fallout nv analysis videos coming out over a decade after release the game is a masterpiece

No DLC has stuck with me like Dead Money did. I was totally unprepared for it and felt totally vulnerable with all my equipment gone. I also had never liked playing with companions and the thought that if they died I died was a shocker. I was also playing on hardcore on a dead is dead playthrough. It was my favorite experience in all my time in New Vegas. I only ever did it once. The experience was scarred on my mind. I miss Christine though. My favorite companion.

*"Begin again?" Some things you don't get up from...* still sends shivers down my spine

Its pretty ironic that the message of "letting go", is being told in a heist-like story plot.

Also my favorite DLC. But Sinclair didn't lock Vera in. It was the security system. She actually never wanted to rob Sinclair on her own volution, but was blackmailed by Dean to do so. Ironically, telling Sinclair about the plot is what led him to his lone demise in the vault, trying to undo the traps. And to hers, dying alone in her suite. I AM NOT CRYING, I HAVE SAND IN MY EYES!

Nicely done! DM is so hauntingly sad. Not being able to return is so heartbreaking. You are forced to realize you must live in the moment because tomorrow is impossible. Later I found out that Veronica’s true love is destined to remain in that city of the dead for eternity amongst the ghost people.

Everyone hates it… but I really like Honest Hearts. I think it’s a refreshing step away from the trouble of the Mojave to help these people. It really makes me feel like Clark in a way, helping the tribes with their problems with the white legs.

I played a melee/unarmed character when I first played through this, so basically all of the enemies were completely stomped for me. The characters in this DLC as well as the general vibe are very good, but as far as the environment, enemy variety, gameplay mechanics etc I honestly can't put this above any of the other DLCs. The existing issues with Dead Money are made 100x worse on a hardcore character as well. Between the gas and the collar explosions, it basically turns the DLC into a completely painful experience

For people really struggling with it: Do the final DLC, Lonesome Road, first and kill the optional Deathclaw boss Rawr first. Loot the claw, but don't craft the weapon Fist of the North Rawr. Start Dead Money, for some reason the item won't get taken away, craft the weapon asap and you have a weapon that will carry you.

It's funny because I actually love Dead Money for the exact reason why people hate it. Strip away my gear and leave me with only my stats? Amazing! The game environment because of how it's designed makes it that I'm constantly scavenging for resources to survive to the point where cans that I'd pass up in the main game is treasure to me as it's an ingredient used in healing items. I can see why it's divisive but imo it does something more than just "more New Vegas" which imo is what Honest Hearts and Old World Blues is (even though I love Old World Blues) whilst still being New Vegas.

One thing about dead money that thought of around a year ago was where the hell did all of the damn bear traps come from? It's a casino not a hunting lodge, the villa, where most of the bear traps are found was still under construction before the war, but I'm sure that bear traps weren't required for the job. I could understand every other trap, Mines, shotguns,tripwires, etc. But bear traps, it just doesn't make sense.

The letting go part inspired modders to create hardcore yet so interesting mod "dust" For new Vegas. I would like to hear your opinion on it since it's everything dead money yet ampt up really high (kinda disagree with mod creator on removing quests altogether, but it's his vision of the mod and it's depressing, challenging, nerve wracking but also rewarding, which dead money dlc is)

This caused me to remember that any time I started a new game I had this love-hate thing about dead money. I always looked forward to go there, but I also was always scared shitless, as I normally don't like any types of horror whatsoever. But dead money definitely sells itself with this atmosphere and the way it brings something new. And now looking back I think I could say it was the absolute worst, but at the same time my absolute favourite because it is the most memorable of all.

One of the best rewards of this dlc imo is Elijahs holotape. You can use it to increase veronicas attack speed 150% or your own critical damage 50% if you decide not to give it to her. The relationship between Veronica and Elijah with all the dialogue options of hers is a really nice touch

Dead Money is the only DLC that actually brought tears to my eyes. When Dog and God are reunited at the end, when he says “I’m wounded,” it somehow broke me. It was incredibly powerful

Making a brand new character & going into this DLC on hardcore when it came out was *hellish*. I love it so much for that awful, awful experience

I’d love to see more of these this is really well thought out and well spoken

This sets the bar for the level of passion I want from creators who discuss a specific game’s builds/plot

Cool beginning to your video. I never liked starting out with ZERO, yet your info has given me much to consider. Your videos have added new interest to my gaming approach. Good content and my interest with this game has been elevated. Thanks for the info! By the way, I really like your videos.

Dead Money was hard as heck and I loved it for it.

It also brought back my good memories playing Bioshock 1 and 2

I really enjoyed this style of video. Never played Dead Money, but I think you have convinced me to give it a try.

This is absolutely no doubt my favourite dlc in the fallout franchise, and I actually wanted to share an anecdote once when I was playing it alone at night while it was raining a lot outside. I was underpowered in that moment, on my way to get the revolver and a ghost I hadn't seen jumped in front of me just as the power went off in my house. It scared the crap out of me. The dark and scary atmosphere of this dlc is what I really like, and how you need to think about everything you do, as it has consequences.

Nice content mate, high quality and well produced - keep it up!

Honest Hearts was always my least favorite DLC, followed by Dead Money, Lonesome Road, and then Old World Blues. However, after watching this and thinking about them all some more, Dead Money might become my second favorite after Old World Blues.

I'm definitely playing this again I always come back to new Vegas it's so addicting fr I started on 360 never new how great It could really be

I remember the first time I started Dead Money it was the morning before I had testing in 10th grade, and while I was taking my test, I could only think about the ghost people. It's a very vivid memory for me lmao

I was thinking of making this exact video for my channel, but I think you made it better than I ever could! Great job! I’ve always defended dead money and it’s always been my favorite dlc!

FNV was my first open world RPG and so Dead Money was my first experience with this type of content and oh boy.... I was terrified! I was so stressed out the whole time but I love the concept of abandoned places that seems as people just up and left and thr lore behind the ghost people, ugh, so amazing. This is my favorite DLC by far. I've gone on to play 4, 3 and started the first one last week and I can claim it is still my favorite part of any game. The atmosphere, the music, the colors, the lore, the mechanics, just amazing. Can't say how much I love Dead Money enough. My fiance even got me a "Left my heart at the Sierra Madre" shirt for my birthday this year lol

Him:"it's almost like you're starting a brand new game" Me who immediately went there at the beginning of the game

I literally just did a Run on Dead Money from a LVL 1 Courier Hardcore mode (on Hard too), Finished that run a couple days ago. How cool that you release a video on it, Honestly such a fun challenge!

Dead Money was awesome, but it was very unpolished, even by New Vegas standards. The bomb collar was so damn annoying and finicky, the radios that set it off had terrible hit boxes and where hidden behind trash. The villa map was disorienting (in a bad way), very samey design and a pain to traverse Other than that and some other hickups, the story was awesome, the survival elements are really cool and refreshing and the setting is awesome

Dead Money is what Fallout is meant to feel like: strategy & skill ingenuity to overcome hazardous & environments stacked against you. You weapon & armour condition is so goddamn precious and stimpacks & ammo are the most valuable items in the world, you will replay the same scenario over & over with different tactics to succeed with as few losses as possible, you will question if wearing out your strong weapon is worth saving a stimpack.

The radio message you get from the assassin at the end when you return gets me everytime I hear it.

Dead Money is in my opinion is the Fallout equivalent of Star Wars - The Last Jedi. It takes the concept of what Fallout is and strips it back to turn it on its head but still give us something that’s an honest representation of what Fallout is. Strong themes and highly controversial.

Amazing video and I agree with you on dead money

I've always thought to myself that Dead Money was one the horror game I've ever played, and it's a DLC. A DLC is so entertaining that it could've been it's own thing and I would've still bought it, imagine a Fallout as a horror survival

Excellent video, I remember hating this DLC at first but then ending up loving it xD (old world blues will always be number 1 though)

love your videos!

Dead money is honestly my favorite for all the reasons ppl dislike about it. The main theme is honesty applicable to everyone and it's nothing short of amazing with how they portrayed this

Actually, man - and this is something I'm surprised not many people realized, not even Josh Sawyer - the Gold Bars are NOT the treasure of the SM. The Chips are. Sure, the gold is pretty, and if you really want to get it, it's really easy even without exploits, you just take the implant GRX perk. But it actually has one of the worst Price to Weight ratios. And it's much too expensive for most merchants to buy anyway. The chips are weightless, and plentiful, and they can buy pretty much everything you need: stims, chems, ammo... You break the bank at the SM and you'll never have shortages of anything anymore.

This is the reason why I also love Missing Link DLC in Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Director's Cut), because it forces you to rethink your character, but also at the same time, allows you to adjust your playstyle to what really suits you. You will by then know which augmentations and weapons really suit your style, and you and you can then focus on what works for you.

Great video. I never played this after seeing the reviews.

I agree, after watching the video it is definitely a top tier DLC. I also love the secret ending you can get in Dead Money!

Dead money is the first DLC that I played that makes it feel a different from the usual thing to do in game.

I haven't had an issue with this dlc besides the final area and making sure Dean is on my side. I have beat it twice on very hard, so I don't know if everyone is having issues with hardcore. I absolutely love the fact it strips you bare, it allows you to see which play style and weapons you now should run with.

I personally don't know if I'd call Dead Money the best DLC, but I'd definitely not call it a bad one by any means, it's truly legendary in how it forces you to actually feel everything from a point of absolutely nothing, making you appreciate every little scrap you get, every little reprieve of "exploit" you can take. It's not a "roll in with big guns, one shot everything, take all the loot" over and done, but an actual full experience that you'll remember every minute of.

I think the problem with Dead Money is that it discouraged many things that people love about RPG's. The more you explore, the more health you lose to the cloud. Oh you spent a game building a powerful character with guns skill and awesome weapons. You get none of them. Oh you want to talk to NPC's? They are all hostile to you. Want to go and do anything you want? Elijah, the cloud, the collars, and virtually everything in game is preventing you. Granted it was defiantly meant to be that way. It just irks a lot of people, like me, who like the freedom to do whatever we want while feeling badass.

Dead Money has always been my personal favorite DLC of this game, I never understood why it got hated on soooo much, glad to see DM getting the love it deserves

While dead money is hard, I still enjoyed it. That being said Old world blues will still always be my favorite. I love the humor, the campy B movie sci-fi aspects to it and it's also not exactly a walk in the park. For me dead money comes in second.

love DEAD MONEY the only """bad""" thing about it is that you have to finish it to leave..

Dead Money is fucking amazing, as long as you experience it through a KZfaq video. Like this one

I think the thing I love so far starting this dlc is that it reminds me and gives me so many OG bioshock vibes.

Not having my gear or being able to come back places this one at the bottom, for me, but I still love it

I can agree with a lot of the points raised here, and the video was very well crafted. Dead Money has grown on me for sure, though with Hardcore enabled it can definitely be a very challenging slog if you make too many mistakes

I played all dlc's in Fallout NV and out of all of them this one stuck with me the longest, the mystery, the companions, how this eerie feeling that everything is haunted creeps on you. Just a fun time!!

Just played it for the first time tongiht, and I’ll be the first to admit I was pleasantly surprised with how scary and fun it was to have to actually think and be careful with what I did, only issue I’m having is that I found the ghoul (he was the last one) but now he isn’t coming to the fountain and I’ve already moved onto the next stage where to take them to their individual place, not sure if that’s going to be a problem, I have no idea where the ghoul guy is or went after I talked to him😅

I left my Heart in the Sierra Madre ❤️

Thanks for the great video

Thank you for this video

I wholeheartedly agree, my friend. I played the DLCs out of order and wound up playing Dead Money after having played Old World Blues and Honest Hearts. I was blown away by Old World Blues, and I greatly enjoyed the beauty and the story of The Survivalist in Honest Hearts. Excited for the next chapter, I figured I was just going to be on another interesting but fitting adventure into another world within Fallout. Nope. Dead Money jumped out at me from a corner in an alleyway, punched me in the stomach, tripped me to the ground, and kicked me in the face before stealing my wallet. I wasn't prepared for what happened to me in that DLC. I remember the feeling of pure terror when I thought I was safe and a ghost I hadn't seen came stumbling from behind a pillar and headed directly to me. I remember the rage I felt when my head would blow up over and over because I had ran out of time before finding that next radio. I remember finding that stimpack holotape and the feelings of joy and relief that I could finally heal myself, and possibly get to the next part of the quest. I remember the feeling of total triumph after setting off the Gala Event, which was immediately canceled out entirely by the feeling of pure shock and horror of having to fight my way back to the fountain because I was nowhere near the end. I remember regaining consciousness inside the casino, which was completely devoid of life and the feeling that there should be people everywhere, but I'm alone. I remember making my way to the vault and getting stuck at one point and dying over and over again. By far I remember sneaking out of there with those gold bars, legitimately, by using a Stealth Boy and sentencing that old man to die of dehydration locked inside of a technological prison. Dead Money is one of the best experiences in gaming that I've ever had, and likely ever will have. Thank you for this video, man, you did a great job.

Honestly my favorite fallout DLC immersion-wise. The soundtrack & general atmosphere is amazing. Sure the other DLCs were prettier, funnier, or meant more to the story, but I still remember waking for the first time in that courtyard thinking "oh...... sh*t". All my fallout friends hate it, and to be honest, I can see how some see it as a chore. But to finally get back to the mojave after the first time finishing it felt so freeing, like you had actually just gone through some major sh*t. Something you'd want to run straight to your favorite NPC to tell about, I remember immediately running back to freeside just to feel safe. Also I was quite the fan of saw movies as an edgy kid/teen when this dlc came out, so trapping Elijah in the vault for eternity was super satisfying.

Perfectly put my friend 👍

Having gone through the DLC for the first time recently, this video is completely spot on.

I managed to get all the gold bars, totally worth it. Took FOREVER to sell them all to the Gun Runners.

Dead Money has always been my favorite. My senior quote in my high school year book is a quote from Vera Keyes about letting go.

Never played "dead money" but it makes sense how it sets you up for the reat of the game no matter when you start it.

I love this game so much, because as I go through life I find new appreciation for each DLC. First it was the little kid inside me that loved Lonesome Road and thought it was the best. Then as I started to appreciate the narrative more, Dead Money became my favorite, because it was time to let go of certain things in life. Then later I loved the goofiness of Old World Blues as my humor adapted to the sheer silliness of the current century. And now I'm a lost adult, finding some solace in the words of Joshua Graham from Honest Hearts. New Vegas has been there for every piece of me throughout the years and that's why it's my favorite game of all time.

I always loved using the extra companions exploit that let you bring a buddy to the Sierra Madre. The auto rocket launcher works wonders clearing out the speakers. Still is a sludge to get through. Yeah first time was awesome but replays not so much. Well if you can sneak in your gear it’s a whole new experience.

Easily the best review of Dead Money I have seen.

Letting go of those companions was hard as hell. I had mad love for them.

I think Dead Money would have made more sense as the last or 2nd to last DLC since it finalized Elijah's story line. Like how Lonesome road finalized Ulysses' story. I think it would make sense to release something like Honest Hearts > Old world Blues > Lonesome Road/Dead Money

When I first played the DLCs my list was 1.Old world blues 2.Lonesome road 3.Dead Money 4.Honest Hearts But now after like 200+ playthroughs 1.Old world Blues 2.Dead Money 3.Honest hearts 4.Lonesome road For me lonesome road just lost more and more charm as time it went on, the reason why it was so good at first was all the build up and anticipation. Meanwhile Old world blues and dead money had both the challenge and the story/setting done absolutely great.

Bit sad to see you've stopped posting videos. Your tips and recommendations are very very relevant and your analysis of the game seems tuned in with interesting perspectives. But I guess life happened, as it usely does. Can only hope all is well, and that you might return to it at some point

I played NV for the first time after watching Badger’s video on it. Dead Money was #1 dlc on completing the game. All the aspects gone over in the video is spot on in why I lived it so much. The moment that always calls back to me is when Christine has to access a terminal or something to keep power on, and her gratitude of not forcing her into an elevator to access her part of the plan. The option to take her hand as an act of trust between the Courier and her, and thinking on the ending the dlc, the comforting melancholy that the relationships built with her and the others ended on your final encounter with each of them, one way or another. Ironically I despise the Old World Blues dlc for similar reasons the video says people didn’t like DM. Using ammo based weapons against the robot enemies and basically doing no damage was so annoying. I felt like both DM and OWB both can potentially postemptively punish players who don’t specialize a certain build or equipment. Except DM does it well, taking things away and making you adapt with what you have, where OWB lets you keep everything you own, but can make it all useless and have you feel helpless. Add that to less impact in story and dull side quests instead of a tight focused story DM came out on top

Saw another commentor say this, and I wanted to re-iterate for maximum chances of it being seen as I like the idea. A video on Fallout: Dust was their idea, it's a game changing mod for FNV that makes it infinately more challenging with a lot more emphasis on planning, survival, and sneaking, with even more unique things put in and tons of lore all over. It's rough, especially first time, but man can it feel great taking out a group of enemies with a good plan, rather than blasting them to bits easily in vanilla.

Even this DLC on Hardcore was like a 6-8 hour run through. Had a blast through all of it though!

I agree with this video. I have done around 5 or 6 full 0 to 50 playthroughs of this game and now I do Dead money ASAP instead of leaving the struggle for last. The slow health drain outside, the lack of supplies, the greed of the player. I had moments where I had no food to eat and I scavenged instead of buying stuff because I wanted to save the chips. Its all amazing. Its meta, cringy as it is to say it. One criticism I have is that it actually isn't that scary of a DLC in terms of combat for an unarmed build. The last playthrough I had I steamrolled every ghost with the bear trap fist ( and the deathclaw gauntlet :) ) because unarmed is so suited for that DLC. But any other build really gets that authentic experience. None of the weapons, even the holorifle before getting the mods and OC or MAX MF cells, are super powerful when you need them to be. One ghost took all of my AP on VATS so if there are multiple you really aren't safe. Combine that with all of the times I ran into traps during combat and you really feel what dead money was aiming for. Its the best DLC IMO. Lonesome road second because I like Ulyssies and OWB and HH

Vending machine plus the BoS ammo crate are godly. The crate only requires you to step outside the bunker, then enter again to reset. Not a 24 hour wait.

Just a heads up that you can trap Elijah in the vault and he broadcasts messages until he dies.

I was just wondering, your mods are super interesting! Will you ever do a mod showcase/mod list video?

its even more fun on hardcore mode as when you are outside the cloud slowly eats away your health so adventuring is a health hazard and makes the game way more challenging, my advice before entering is drink a bunch of atomic cocktails so you wont have to sleep because you wont get a chance to do so once you get there, also there is one pack of fixer near the end of the game so addiction is common in my playthroughs because of hydra being so useful, its my favourite dlc by far and hardcore changes your play style for the better

I definitely feel you with the vending machine reward being too great, considering I left with 4000 chips, and about 10,000 pre-war cash from converted chips. This was after I had accidentally bought 100 Med-X in the Villa.

Part of me kinda wishes that you lost your items in the other dlcs, I know it's far more fitting for the story of the sierra madre, but there's something so satisfying of having to scavenge entirely new areas.... except maybe lonesome road, that'd be rough.

Ok, nice explanation of why it's the best, now let me counter it, when I returned from The Sierra Madre all my textures were pitch black and I had to restart my game in a new playthrough

I came somewhat late to the New Vegas party. I had it on PS3 but was too young to really enjoy the game, and as such only did one play through. As cringe as it sounds I considered it inferior to fallout 3 at the time. Then I got back into it as an adult and loved it. I got all the DLCs, and honestly, I disliked all of them, save for dead money. I considered lonesome road and old war blues to be stuffed with boring dialogue. And aside from the survivalist I also considered honest hearts to be somewhat boring and short. But dead money entranced me. Its theme of letting go of the past resonated with me, and I loved its creepy atmosphere and difficulty. Fallout New Vegas is a masterpiece, and Dead Money is the perfect DLC for such a great game. It’s surprising to hear it’s considered the weakest of all the DLCs for this game, because from the moment I played it it was my favorite. Thanks for explaining concisely why it really is just so great.

By the end of the DLC I had fallen in love with it. Admittedly, I was frustrated when I first started the DLC. However, by the time I got to the Sierra Madre, I was more than equipped and knowledgeable about what the game expected out of me. Did I misstep a few times a die? Sure. But I never felt cheated. The story was seriously one of the best second only to the Survivor’s story line in Honest Hearts. Whenever I recommend FO:NV to anyone, this DLC immediately comes to mind along with Vera’s hauntingly beautiful song.

Good video! I don't agree with the premise but I thought the points were articulated well and are food for thought. My main gripe with the DLC partially stems from the fact the story is so good - at least in my first full playthrough, I felt so rushed and tense trying to survive on hc/vh that I was never really thinking about the story, and missed some pretty big points. For me, NV is a relaxed experience of wandering through a story-rich huge wasteland, listening to old radio and picking up little nuggets of what's going on while taking in the sights. Dead Money is the mirror opposite of this experience - a very linear, enclosed, intense experience that feels closer to Dark Souls than Fallout. I had pretty much decided I hated it and wasn't going to play it again, but after this maybe I put it on a really easy difficulty and focus on the story one more time!

The context for DLC back then is certainly different years down the road. Now, with New Vegas as beloved as it is, new players can just get the ultimate edition for a reduced price. Back then, they only had vanilla New Vegas, had to pay extra for Dead Money alone, and weren’t entirely sure what to expect. They were locked into a difficult heist campaign with no way back, and probably wouldn’t get much use out of the rewards for completing Dead Money. They wouldn’t get to return, or bring the companions, and would probably already have most of the main campaign done. Today Dead Money is admired more as an optional side mode, a self contained story with its own flavor of challenge and narrative alongside the other distinct DLC’s that practically come with the game now.

I went in expecting to hate hit ( didnt know anything except very old background footage of it that I saw when it came out) and now its my favorite dlc of all time across all games I have played

I felt very strongly for Christine and god and after leaving i felt bitter sweet saying good bye to them all. It's was sweet to finally leave and get my armour and Mojave friends back but i liked those characters and it is so bitter sweet you can't see them again yet they think of you during the course of the other dlcs

I played it recently for the first time and I had a rough experience but to be fair I was somewhat rushing through it so next time I’ll take my time with it and maybe I’ll enjoy it more

Siding with Elijah is such a grim dark ending.

I couldn't agree more good sir.