Hello, and welcome to The Mod Review, where I review the best AND the worst PC mods, and everything in between! The first parts will be of my choice (Someguy series for Fallout New Vegas and then Bhruce Hammar - Legacy for Skyrim) but you can start voting for mods you want to see praised, torn apart or anything in between! So without further ado, let's start with Russel.
Russel
From - Someguy2000
For - Fallout New Vegas
Type of mod - Companion/Quest/New Area
Lore - Lore Friendly
Immersion level - Highly Immersive
Warning - This review assumes you have all the DLC for the game. Check with the Nexus first for requesites before any installation attempts.
Russel is a mod which adds a new companion to the game world, Russel (Duh). Russel is an ex-Desert Ranger (Not ex-NCR, we'll get to that in a moment), Legion-hating, bounty-hunting badass with severe burn marks and an eyepatch on one side of his face. When you encounter him, he's resting at the 188 Trading Post, the trail on his target gone cold. He's very reserved, and will only agree to follow you if you prove yourself through dialogue challenges (Guns and Medicine are the ones I went with, but there's more, 5 in total I think). After that, he'll give you his quest and you can start adventuring together! (Warning: Adventures may include death, disturbing imagery and moral ambiguity)
First thing you'll notice about Russel is that, contrary to most other companion mods, he's his own person. While most other companion mods focus on scantily clothed bimbos who's voice actor sounds like a 5-year-old making the best imitation of mommy possible, or go for *hilarious* sarcasm and self-referencial humor which almost always goes too far and just becomes annoying and sad (Looking at you, Bhruce), Russel feels like he always belonged to the game. Like Boone and others, his quest is split in parts and as you go through it dialogue options start to appear (For example, asking him about his scars right after you meet him will prompt a kind request for you to copulate yourself and an immediate dialogue exit. The more you get to "meet" him, the warmer the response gets, until finally he tells you). It really hammers the feeling that you've become friends, maybe brothers in arms, as you fight through what the Mojave Desert has to offer. And for each of those combats there's a big chance he has something to say about it.
One of the greatest immersion-adders in this mod is the fact that Russel seems to aknowledge the world around him as well, even if that world isn't directly part of his quest. He has comments for the Strip, Mr. House, the Dam, some quests, many locations... And those comments of his aren't restricted to the world! He can also comment on certain NPCs, and even companions which are currently following you, the most impressive of which is his interaction with Boone. Russel ressents the Boone for the Bitter Springs Massacre, and will on occasion call him a "Kiddie-killer", comment on his demeanor and mock his tendency to "eye-fuck". Seems normal right? Arcade does something similar with ED-E. But after hearing him, you can talk to him and, through a speech check, convince him to stop messing with Boone to keep the team tight. It's quite amazing that a mod author went so far as to add options for multiple companion dialogue when such thing isn't in the base game (multiple companions, I mean) and is only possible with 3rd party mods. Russel also has comments for other mods from the Someguy Series, like both New Vegas Bounties and The Inheritance, so you might want to bring him alongside you for maximum integration. I advice NOT to play the mods as mods, but to treat them as their own quests, and to do them when it's convinient alongside the main and side quests.
Like some companions, Russel has some requesites to follow you (besides the dialogue checks). He will refuse to follow anyone aligned with the Legion, which seems like a weird requesite but makes a lot of sense once you advance through his story. So, Legion-alligned Couriers, installing this mod won't give you much besides another NPC to kill.
There's not much more to say - The dialogue is near, if not AT, professional level, the action is sweet as all fuck, adding setpieces without railroading the player, the finale is a perfect demonstration of integration between combat and diplomacy (In the sense that it involves a "hold the line" scenario against hordes of enemies, but you can add a lot of force to the defenses besides yourself if you talk to everyone and get the population of the defended town to help, each in their own ways), the story is quite excellent, the characters are memorable and relatable and it feels epic overhaul.
And there's my only complaint about this mod: It feels way, WAY too epic for a companion mod. It's the only reason it gets a "Highly Immersive" instead of "Seemlessly Immersive" - You get reminded that it's a mod not because it feels lackluster, but for the exact opposite. It simply looks too good of a companion quest, even adding a whole new map area (Small, yes, but still, new area. In size, it's perhaps half of Dead Money's Villa, but it's relativelly (and justifiably) empty when compared to other areas). Still, it's a very nitpicky complaint, and it shouldn't really affect you at all.
To finish, Russel is one of the greatest mods Fallout New Vegas has to offer, made by one of the best mod authors there is out there. In terms of respect and appreciation, the only other mod author which surpasses Someguy2000 is the creator of Mothership Zeta Crew, but that's because I'm a complete MZC fanboy.
If you have a PC, and Fallout New Vegas, this mod, and the entire Someguy Series, are a must-have. But we'll get to the rest of Someguy's mods in the next episode of The Mod Review!
Russel
From - Someguy2000
For - Fallout New Vegas
Type of mod - Companion/Quest/New Area
Lore - Lore Friendly
Immersion level - Highly Immersive
Warning - This review assumes you have all the DLC for the game. Check with the Nexus first for requesites before any installation attempts.
Russel is a mod which adds a new companion to the game world, Russel (Duh). Russel is an ex-Desert Ranger (Not ex-NCR, we'll get to that in a moment), Legion-hating, bounty-hunting badass with severe burn marks and an eyepatch on one side of his face. When you encounter him, he's resting at the 188 Trading Post, the trail on his target gone cold. He's very reserved, and will only agree to follow you if you prove yourself through dialogue challenges (Guns and Medicine are the ones I went with, but there's more, 5 in total I think). After that, he'll give you his quest and you can start adventuring together! (Warning: Adventures may include death, disturbing imagery and moral ambiguity)
First thing you'll notice about Russel is that, contrary to most other companion mods, he's his own person. While most other companion mods focus on scantily clothed bimbos who's voice actor sounds like a 5-year-old making the best imitation of mommy possible, or go for *hilarious* sarcasm and self-referencial humor which almost always goes too far and just becomes annoying and sad (Looking at you, Bhruce), Russel feels like he always belonged to the game. Like Boone and others, his quest is split in parts and as you go through it dialogue options start to appear (For example, asking him about his scars right after you meet him will prompt a kind request for you to copulate yourself and an immediate dialogue exit. The more you get to "meet" him, the warmer the response gets, until finally he tells you). It really hammers the feeling that you've become friends, maybe brothers in arms, as you fight through what the Mojave Desert has to offer. And for each of those combats there's a big chance he has something to say about it.
One of the greatest immersion-adders in this mod is the fact that Russel seems to aknowledge the world around him as well, even if that world isn't directly part of his quest. He has comments for the Strip, Mr. House, the Dam, some quests, many locations... And those comments of his aren't restricted to the world! He can also comment on certain NPCs, and even companions which are currently following you, the most impressive of which is his interaction with Boone. Russel ressents the Boone for the Bitter Springs Massacre, and will on occasion call him a "Kiddie-killer", comment on his demeanor and mock his tendency to "eye-fuck". Seems normal right? Arcade does something similar with ED-E. But after hearing him, you can talk to him and, through a speech check, convince him to stop messing with Boone to keep the team tight. It's quite amazing that a mod author went so far as to add options for multiple companion dialogue when such thing isn't in the base game (multiple companions, I mean) and is only possible with 3rd party mods. Russel also has comments for other mods from the Someguy Series, like both New Vegas Bounties and The Inheritance, so you might want to bring him alongside you for maximum integration. I advice NOT to play the mods as mods, but to treat them as their own quests, and to do them when it's convinient alongside the main and side quests.
Like some companions, Russel has some requesites to follow you (besides the dialogue checks). He will refuse to follow anyone aligned with the Legion, which seems like a weird requesite but makes a lot of sense once you advance through his story. So, Legion-alligned Couriers, installing this mod won't give you much besides another NPC to kill.
There's not much more to say - The dialogue is near, if not AT, professional level, the action is sweet as all fuck, adding setpieces without railroading the player, the finale is a perfect demonstration of integration between combat and diplomacy (In the sense that it involves a "hold the line" scenario against hordes of enemies, but you can add a lot of force to the defenses besides yourself if you talk to everyone and get the population of the defended town to help, each in their own ways), the story is quite excellent, the characters are memorable and relatable and it feels epic overhaul.
And there's my only complaint about this mod: It feels way, WAY too epic for a companion mod. It's the only reason it gets a "Highly Immersive" instead of "Seemlessly Immersive" - You get reminded that it's a mod not because it feels lackluster, but for the exact opposite. It simply looks too good of a companion quest, even adding a whole new map area (Small, yes, but still, new area. In size, it's perhaps half of Dead Money's Villa, but it's relativelly (and justifiably) empty when compared to other areas). Still, it's a very nitpicky complaint, and it shouldn't really affect you at all.
To finish, Russel is one of the greatest mods Fallout New Vegas has to offer, made by one of the best mod authors there is out there. In terms of respect and appreciation, the only other mod author which surpasses Someguy2000 is the creator of Mothership Zeta Crew, but that's because I'm a complete MZC fanboy.
If you have a PC, and Fallout New Vegas, this mod, and the entire Someguy Series, are a must-have. But we'll get to the rest of Someguy's mods in the next episode of The Mod Review!