Playing Fallout: New Vegas in hardcore mode could earn gamers more than just prestige with their peers.
Obsidian Entertainment’s upcoming Fallout: New Vegas is known to have a hardcore mode that will be much tougher than the regular mode. Obsidian said that players would earn a major achievement/trophy for their trouble, but an early screenshot has indicated that a simple achievement might not be all that’s awarded.
The screenshot supposedly shows the prompt screen in Fallout: New Vegas that pops up when gamers must decide whether they want the game to go hardcore or not (though the mode can be turned off later). The screen reads: “If you activate Hardcore mode now and maintain it through the end of the main storyline, you will receive a special reward.”
The language used is vague, but seems to point to another reward outside from just an achievement or trophy, because many might not find an increase to their Gamerscore all that “special.” Considering how much New Vegas‘s hardcore mode stacks the odds against players, an in-game reward like an amazing set of power armor or a new alien blaster would make sense.
The mode changes various major aspects of the game: ammunition has weight, players must regularly eat and drink, players need to sleep, stimpacks restore health over time and don’t heal broken limbs, and Rad-away also cures radiation poisoning over time rather than instantly. It’s a more realistic take on living in a nuclear apocalyptic wasteland. Exactly what reward is being referred to here, whether it be an achievement or something more, will have to wait until Fallout: New Vegas is released on October 19, or at least until someone gets a good look at the strategy guide.
Source: Strength Gamer, via VG247