The ongoing conflict in the Mojave Wasteland continues to expand with the Gun Runners' Arsenal Add-on for Fallout: New Vegas.

Fallout: New Vegas is the gift that keeps giving with the release of two new batches of DLC to incise players back into the wasteland. Released on September 27th, 2011, you can now enjoy the Gun Runners' Arsenal add-on for $3.99 (320 MS Points) and the Courier's Stash for an even lower price of $1.99 (120 MS Points.) However, we are only going to be rating the Gun Runners' Arsenal since the other stash is basically a collection of previously released content, but we'll still give it an once over for you. So without further adieu, let's dig into the latest bit of content for New Vegas.

Gun Runners' Arsenal
The Gun Runners' Arsenal add-on pack increases the number of unique weapons, ammo, mods and recipes in the game. It also adds new achievements and a set of challenges for all those over achievers. This little dose of content is reflected with a lower price, which makes the whole concept acceptable. The Gun Runners' Arsenal is perfect for those who have grown tired with their standard arrangement of weapons, and for those who want something more than "quests" to fill up their time in the Mojave.

A few highlighted weapons include a nasty chainsaw (this one's long time overdue,) a pneumatic nuclear powered Power-Fist called 'Greased Lightning,' and an improved Fat Man that lets you use the new Mini-Nukes introduced in the expansion. The mini-nuke comes in three powerful packed flavours and is another addition in the Gun Runners' pack. For modifications they range into the high 30s with lots of extra damage to be disbursed in your fanny pack of doom. Nails on a baseball bat, no problem. Need a protective sheath for your Katana, you got it! Gun Runners' is loaded and will definitely please your destructive needs.

For achievements, 5 new icons of achievement love can be sent your way. The big one out of the bunch is called 'Pros Only' and it is worth a whopping 40 points. This achievement is unlocked by completing any three of the new challenging in the add-on. The new challenges, which saved, snagged and reloaded without loosing any negative progress in your current Mojave drama. The list is long, so no use in posting them all here. However I will pass along the achievement score list. Have a look, seems like these will take a little time investment.

	Curious and Relics	Caused 10,000 damage with unique Mojave Wasteland weapons.	15 Points
	Up to the Challenge	Completed any three Gun Runners' Arsenal one star (★) Challenges.	20 Points
	Combat Veteran	Completed any three Gun Runners' Arsenal two star (★★)	25 Points
	Master of the Arsenal	Caused 10,000 damage with Gun Runners' Arsenal	25 Points
	Pro's Only	Completed any three Gun Runners' Arsenal three star (★★★)	40 Points

Courier's Stash
I found the Courier's Stash selection to be a little more interesting, which could be attributed to its low price point. Available for only 120 MS Points, the magical price might be enough to attract you. However others will already own some of this content, or simply see “more Fallout weapons” as a waste. What this add on does is unlock a “stash” of weapons for the player. The “stash” is automatically unlocked from your save file and adds a whopping 89.5 pounds (103.75 in hardcore mode) of weapons and armour to your player. So be prepared to do some haling before you load up your game. This can cause for some needless waste if you are not in a position to give all your goodies to an NPC, conveniently placed box or a merchant. For a nice little spoiler, players who are about to embark on the excellent 'Dead Money' expansion will also receive the weapons, which will be a monumental helper in that bare-bones brawler.

Running down the packs there is 4 different categories that might seem familiar because they were offered as a pre-order bonus (geez, they always end up releasing this stuff.) To recap this there is the "Caravan Pack" with lightweight leather armour, a sturdy shotgun/shells, 4 weapon repair kits and binoculars. The “Classic Pack” has a useful Armoured Vault 13 Jumpsuit, a weathered 10mm pistol, a Vault 13 canteen (that you constantly/automatically drink from to restore health and dehydration) and 5 stimpaks. The “Mercenary Pack” packs you with a handy Grenade Rife, Lightweight Metal Armour and some stimpak's and Doctor's Bags. Great for those heavy into the full on battles. Lastly is the “Tribal Pack,” which includes a Broad Machete (I used this for a GRA challenge,) some new Raiding Armour, 10 throwing spears and venom. This might be the most useless of the bunch, but hey, you never know when you're going to need a sharp machete.

Do you need this add-on, no. However, for the low price point you can get some useful pieces of loot (if you're not already stacked with goodies.) The “Classic Pack” Vault 13 Canteen is a must for Hardcore players and some of the other trinkets aren't bad either. Again depending on your depth into the madness of New Vegas, this can be a handy little starter. Again, its nothing compared to the other offerings, but it is an offering non the less.

If you like your guns or want a few more New Vegas achievements added to your gamerscore, then the Gun Runners' Arsenal add-on will interest you. It's the perfect little dab of content that will benefit new players who can enjoy the perks all the way through the game. For the vets, the challenges will crown your inquisitiveness nature while giving you something extra besides quests to work towards. Although having this type of DLC come out this late seem like a little bit of house cleaning, who can really complain when you're given more bad-ass weaponry! Still, when matched to the other DLC content that has been released for New Vegas (not including the Courier's Stash) the Gun Runners' Arsenal is the weakest of the bunch. It's simply not as complete when compared to a full on story that will take you hours to complete. So if a sampling of challenges, a few new weapons and five new gamerpoints sounds like a good bargain for 320 MS Points, start the download and enjoy trekking through the Wasteland with a little more mojo in your step.

New weapons will benefit new players Some challenges for those who are looking for a little more New achievements to gather Feels empty compared to the other DLC packs No narrative/mission structure here Spring cleaning? Did we really need this add-on? Quote: "If you like your guns or want a few more New Vegas achievements added to your gamerscore, then the Gun Runners' Arsenal add-on will interest you." Reviewed by DowntownJimmy | 04.05.11

Similar Games: Fallout NV: Dead Money DLC (7.5) | Fallout: New Vegas (8.3)