Fallout: New Vegas is the much awaited follow up to 2008's brilliant and addictive Fallout 3, and I have to say I haven’t been disappointed.

Although you find yourself in a different location, New Vegas carries on from Fallout 3, immersing the player in a vast post-apocalyptic wasteland full of gritty lonely ruins, collapsed buildings, and un-neighbourly settlements to explore and discover.

At the start of the game you find yourself in a house recovering, having been left for dead after trying to deliver a platinum chip to the New Vegas Strip, with the intent of finding out who tried to kill you and why.

Your first missions allow you to get yourself up to speed with the controls. From then on the storyline starts to get really interesting and you realise how deep this game actually is.

New Vegas’ main conflict is between two main factions which are fighting to control Hoover Dam and the main power to the wasteland: The New California Republic, a sort of people's militia, and Caesar's Legion, a Roman-themed group which want to rule the land as an empire.

Although it seems clear cut from the get-go which side to choose, as you play through you realise both group’s have a bad side and it can seem confusing which alliance’s to make; but of course if you don't want to route for either faction you always have the choice to anger both and try to become the leader of your own world, although this will mean a hell of a lot more battles on your travels.

From the very beginning you are presented with choices which will determine how you play through the game. You decide on what your character’s main attributes will be and you can choose to become stronger, more intelligent or even luckier.

As you progress through the missions, or just wander about searching every forest, building and cave, you level up and gain perks. With this you can again improve specific abilities of your character. For instance – make him/her better at speaking or bartering with people or at unlocking safes or handling weaponry. Each choice you make will offer, as well as close-off, different ways to complete the game (if that’s even possible).

Also the choices you make when talking and interacting with characters in the game will change the way you can play through it. You can be as moral as possible and help everyone you meet or be a loner and kill anyone or thing that looks at you funny. But be aware that killing some characters will shut you off from completing some of the missions.

In addition, throughout the game you can pick-up computer allies that will accompany and aid you through the game. You have a maximum of two that can be by your side at any one time and each character you choose will again provide you with different perks. Look out for the very loyal Rex the dog, who in my view will be best companion you can get through the game.

The new version’s combat system is similar to its predecessors’ with its divisive VATS system that lets you target enemy's limbs or gun arms or head to kill or stop them from fighting back (there was something really satisfying about blowing up of an enemy’s head in slow motion using my rusty magnum 45).

You also still use a PIP-boy, which is a personal device to do just about everything. It allows you to easily move around already found locations, organise and upgrade weaponry, medicine and apparel, choose which quests you want to do, as well as see information on your personal development and what possessions you have collected on your travels across the wasteland.

Despite all of the game’s positives, I did find some faults which prevented me from giving the game a perfect rating. First of all I found that loading times in this game were sometimes irritatingly long.

Just the wait to go into a room sometimes felt like I had enough time to go and make a cup of tea and come back again without missing any gameplay; I found myself taking exhausted long breathes on some missions in which I had to travel back and forth from numerous locations – in some cases the time I spent waiting was longer than the time it took to carry out the mission itself.

Also I found that sometimes when I was walking across areas of the map like the desolate Mojave desert at quite a quick pace the image became glitchy and at some points the game actually froze, as if the game was struggling to keep up with my movements. In some cases the game even crashed altogether so if you do buy this game I recommend that you get into the habit of saving regularly.

However, these faults are insignificant when looking at the game as a whole. Its story, depth, visuals, dialogue and missions make the game as satisfying as it is addictive. It is a much improved sequel which will have me coming back for more wasteland action again and again.

The landscape design is superb, especially in the brilliantly dark New Vegas strip, and you get a real sense of connection with the characters, whether it's love or hate. The voice acting is also impressive, with each person you meet having their own voice and dialogue, which really adds to the game's hundreds of interlocking missions.

I am completely obsessed with this game. My advice is buy this game and take a month’s holiday to dedicate yourself to it.