I just finished it. It's my RPG of the Year for 2010 (and I hated Fallout 3).

Pros:
Amazing storyline
Really nice endings; I didn't get a happy ending for everyone
Memorable characters
Great, believable dialogue
Most quests are really fun to run
Vaults (apart from Vault 19) are a lot of fun to explore
Combat is more fun this time around
Your choices really affect the world; people's speeches and attitudes towards you reflect this
Apart from Caesar's Legion, few characters are "Good" or "Bad"; most are shades of grey

Cons:
Final battle is less climatic than I'd have expected it to be
Some really shitty, unconvincing dialogue written in places here and there
Some quests are boring
Graphics still ugly as sin; characters still don't have the menacing look from Fallout 1/2
Still not turn based
Some glitches in quests/dialogues really break the immersion
Team mates can just tank and win the battle for you (especially Boone and Lily)
Supplies are not scarce at all, unlike in FO1 and 2

Bottom line:

I quote Vault Dweller in his review on NMA - "If you share my opinion that quest design is the most important aspect of an RPG, then you’ll like New Vegas a lot. If you think that RPGs are all about character system and/or combat, your opinion will depend not so much on New Vegas, but on whether or not you liked Fallout 3."

I've carefully scrutinized the game as I played it, and I cannot deny it is flawed in places. Most notably, some of the dialogues look like they were written by Bethesda (Vault 19 in particular, though coincidentally the writer/designer has since been laid off; and then there's that fucking weirdo Jules), but looking at the bigger picture, the game just exonerates brilliance. Yes it's still first person, and yes it's still real time, but more effort has been made to make the experience a lot more cohesive and believable. The main quest itself is, thankfully, mostly absolve of problems. Few of the sidequests are just awful, but most are really a joy to play through, with multiple solutions. Oh and if you missed those quests in Fallout 2 that let you roleplay as other characters (slaver in Den, boxer in NR), you'll be pleased to see one such mission (perhaps more?) in NV that lets you do this. Oh and VATS no longer renders you immune to bullet damage.

And let's be honest, Fallout 1 and 2, despite being absolutely brilliant games, weren't flawless either. They're still games worthy to be revered by in the community, but they had their problems. New Vegas is like that too.

(Methinks New Vegas should have been Fallout 3 but whatever)
Oh yeah dude I unblocked you on Steam LOL!

Fan Community Patch here

These can all be found on the Nexus:

NV Error Corrections
Project Nevada
WMX
EVE
Improved Sound
Weapon Retexture Project

I would also have it known that in my opinion Avellone managed to re-create TNO from Planescape in the form of the Courier. This is mostly seen in the DLCs, especially the Lonesome Road (although all roads lead to the Divide), but once you see it, Christ, it is awesome. This just goes to show how important a good story is. Fallout 3...yeah...a glorified shooter/dungeon crawler, nothing great there. You're told your BIG secret about 30 minutes in, sooner if you don't waste time.

Here's to Chris' new project, whatever it is.

For those who doenst know, its currently on sale on Steam with 75% off, what makes it €5

I'm currently playing it for the first time on ps3

It's a very good RPG, I like it more than Fallout 3

it certainly did improve upon many aspects and I'm loving it

FO3 wasn't bad, the main problem was that they chose to call it "Fallout 3" and neglected to spend any time to make it feel like a Fallout game.

FO:NV is quite a bit better in that respect. I'd recommend getting Old World Blues and Dead Money when you get around to it, assuming you haven't already. I wouldn't wast money on the other ones thought. They're not bad DLC, they just aren't must haves, unless of course you can get them for cheap or they were included in your copy.

Just have the main game for now, none of the DLC

guess I'll just get the "Ultimate edition" with all DLC sometime in the future

Fallout New Vegas should have been Fallout 3 it certainly felt more like the originals ans the story and writing where good plus there was a lot of interesting characters and locations. Was my most played game last year and one ill be going back to now and again.

I bought that original vegas some time ago, never got to it yet. There was sale in those dlc-thingies also in christmas but I decided to buy other games than buy some dlcs with 10 euros. Normally about 10 euros per dlc, pretty steep, so I buy those if I like the game. FO3 was alright. Even likable.

I absolutely adored the vanilla New Vegas and played it like a crazyman. The DLCs... not so much. I thought they were way too combat oriented and just plain boring. It's cool that they tried to integrate them story-wise into the vanilla game, but they still fell short for me. Old World Blues was the exception, it was alright.

Interestingly, Fallout 3 had much better DLCs in my opinion. Sure, they are all over the place, but I can easily forgive the whackiness and just roll with it. Operation: Anchorage and The Pitt are among some of my favorite expansions released to any game. I like how they challenge gameplay, setting, and seem to take a lot of risks. Point Lookout and Broken Steel were pretty good too.

I'm hoping Skyrim will get DLCs that are fresh and exciting and not just "more of the same".

You finished skyrim? What are you? Well.. that horse is from an horses ass, he was an idiot and also he died. Bless him. A little tweaking and few mods and even know, beats the hell out of oblivion, well, field of vision sucks without tweaking and why I carry so much crap..

Really the only thing still needed would be that you could take an opponent of the neck and if there is a puddle, drown him in that. Also a bit better clashes of swords which means all the close combat, especially the fistfuck, I mean fight occasionally in the bar. I drop in bars after getting a 45 punch in the face and those others getting in the way, skiing with obstacles. Still a great game but you always can make it a bit better.
In hard it really is hard. Maybe I try to be so many things, polar bears are too hard, if there are 2 of them and why they run as fast as I can.. ^^

I like the DLCs, I think it was just too much in too short a time. Even my Fallout loving ass was getting bored of the same thing after FO3, all its DLC, New Vegas and then all its DLC.

That probably depends upon how much free time you have. I had a lot of downtime last year due to being back in school and so I'd have the time to play through each of the DLC and have time off between. I think most of the DLC took a weekend max. Which is pretty good if you get them on sale.

Wait, you felt the NV DLC were too combat oriented, but you liked the FO3 DLC better, including Operation Anchorage which was (quite literally) a combat simulator?

I'll admit I liked The Pitt quite a bit, though I could have done without the rest of the DLC, but all the NV DLC was just better, IMO. Dead Money had amazing atmosphere and story, Old World Blues was just all around good, Lonesome Road was interesting and a fitting end to the DLC. Even Honest Hearts (my least favourite of the DLC) was still better than any of the FO3 DLC. It still had great story and atmosphere, and lots of exploration. And Joshua Graham, too. The best thing about NV and its DLC over FO3 is actual meaningful choice, and not just whether or not I should be a murderous (or sometimes even suicidal)psychopath and kill everyone.