I've always liked desert settings more. The sandy beige to even orange color palette and sunshine is somehow pleasing to me.

The whole grey, misty thing just sets me in a sort of bored mood, probably because I live in an area where there's lots of that weather and it's the kind of weather that it's not exactly fun to go on a picnic or anything, so maybe there's some psychological association.

I didn't feel that way in Point Lookout for some reason, but that was probably because it wasn't the main game's map and the feeling of darkness and moisture didn't have as much time to get old.

Not to mention, post-apocalyptic Las Vegas has been my number one wish for a 3D open world game since I saw New Reno in Fallout 2. And the fact that New Vegas is my favorite 3D-era Fallout, yeah, I'll have to go with the Mojave.

I think Obsidian knew precisely what they were doing when they decided on a desert setting, it made everyone who had grown up with FO1/2 nostalgic. The commonwealth is nicely made and definitely Bethesda's best designed worldspace in a game so far, but at the same time it's way too full of things everywhere.

In FO1, what made the game feel so huge, imposing and genuinely unsettling was the fact that there were these huge dead zones of nothing in them where you had to pass through in order to get to the various settlements. There wasn't a city every ten minutes. In FO4's defence, it has been 200 years and a lot would have happened, but I actually think the best part of FO4 is the glowing sea and I would have loved if it was larger, and tied more to the main story and side quests.

When you set a game in an area like Boston, everything ends up seeming so civilized and lived-in. There isn't at all the same feeling of loneliness, desperation and "you against the world". They even hammer this home by having you meet Codsworth barely a minute after leaving the vault and giving you the dog a few minutes later. At no point are you ever alone in a dangerous wasteland, you're having a casual stroll through a city with your friends.

That in itself isn't so bad, it's just different. Interplay made due with very little to construct a truly haunting world where the emptiness gnawed at you from the moment you left the vault for the first time. Nothing but sand, dead trees and the occasional skeleton. If you stopped at almost any point while travelling, you'd find nothing by sand. I really liked the mechanic of having to travel somewhere on an overland map and biting your nails in anticipation of a random encounter and I wish this could have been used in Bethesda's fallout games instead of instant teleporting. Maybe choose your destination on the pip-boy and you'd see the classic little red lines as you slowly travelled towards your destination. Guess it wouldn't make much sense though since everything is so tightly bundled up in FO4 that you can run anywhere in a few minutes.

That's probably the most alluring thing about a desert setting, large areas of emptiness is both expected and accepted, and while they aren't riveting to explore, they add that one main thing that Fallout has always been about but Bethesda just cannot ever capture: Atmosphere.

Mojave for me. While I dig the historical significance the IRL counterpart of the commonwealth is, the Mojave is better. Nearly unspoiled by the bombs, civilized, a large central city you can waste all your caps on gambling, tons of secrets that even after 500 hours of New Vegas, I'm still discovering, and still all gives you the vibes of a post apocalyptic setting, along with a feel of a western cowboy film.

The commonwealth was just disappointing, lack of any settlements, looked too dead despite only one bomb going off in the area (seriously, it would still be nice and green).

If I had to rank the wastelands in all of the Fallout games since 3, it would be Mojave Wasteland > Capital Wasteland > Commonwealth.

Mojave for me as well. I like the thought of a lone Courier walking day n' night on a giant sand graveyard with a shining oasis at its center.

The Mojave. 100% I find it so fun to just wander for hours man such a great place you know. Not to mention there are actual side quests there as well.

I prefer the Wasteland of the Mojave to the commonwealth. I just wish there were more towns and the strip was bigger and more bustling and lively.

Looks that I might be in the minority when I say that I preferred the Commonwealth. The reason I chose this instead of the Mohave is that it had a larger selection of environments and thus made exploring a little more exciting for me. Don't get wrong the Mohave did have a fantastic desert and a well made forest but it's urban environments seemed to be a bit lack luster compared to the Commonwealth or the Capital Wasteland.

A desert setting fits the fallout theme really well in my opinion so the Mojave Wasteland is definitely my choice!

Yeah the amount of information you gain just from being in Nevada makes you wonder what exactly is it like up east with Caesar's legion in the majority.

@"Kingsley"GumShoe"Muldoon" Nope you're not the only one.As much as I'm loving New Vegas(currently playing it now)I think as far as environments go I actually prefer the Commonwealth.
The farther I'm getting into New Vegas I'm noticing I'm starting to fast travel more and more,something I never did in Fallout 4.
I prefer the urban landscape of Fallout 4 compared to the desert of New Vegas.Toward the end of my Fallout 4 play through I was still discovering new areas whereas in Vegas I don't get that sense of exploration.As far as depth and the Rpg elements go New Vegas is King but environment?Yeah I'm goin with Fallout 4.of course just my opinion.

I think I liked the Commonwealth more, it has more going for it with all the skyscrapers and close buildings that make the city fun to explore. With the Mojave everything was spread out and most places that you would explore would be futher apart from each other. Maybe it's because I find cities more interesting. Each building felt different in the Commonwealth and it had more of a historical feeling to it which I find was one of the reasons why I liked the Capital Wasteland so much.

I thought the desert was just a really boring place to explore, but I felt like it had more secrets.

I really loved the desert, and fallout new vegas is one of my favorite games. Fallout 4 was ok. The story could've been better and if the citys would have been a bit bigger and more populated then i might have gone with the commonwealth but for now i think i have to go with the mojave

The desert as it has more of a greater chance of having a serenity to the game. Which helps show how awesome the location is.

Personally I love scavenging the Destroyed Cities, there's something so enjoyable and 'post apocalyptic' about it.

Honestly speaking, the commonwealth is a beautiful place with a lot of interesting ideas and enemies. However, I am a Mojave man here. I felt the commonwealth just kind of forced me to go along with the main quest, and while beautiful in many places, it just didnt stand up to my love of the desert. The desert was harsh and unforgiving, and you could feel so isolated out there alone. The Commonwealth, I felt paranoid because the institute was always watching me. So there was never that sense of "I am the only human for miles" that I got with the Mojave desert. The commonwealth was pretty with trees and green and flora, the Mojave was sand and mountains.
I am saying its a close call, but I give it to the mojave.

My vote has to go to the commonwealth as well, I just found the mojave to get a little boring and empty after a while. I love the commonwealth after installing a few mods, it's gone pretty grey and bleak and gives it a real "The Road" kind of vibe which I dig, especially when the mist rolls in and you can't see 10 metres in front of you.

I think the commonwealth would be the best choice for me, but it's actually too crowded. I don't mean enemies or people, I mean locations. There's less reward for exploration because there's something at every turn, especially in the city, and it gets repetitive. That being said, I love the commonwealth, but the mojave is just too memorable. It gives you that sense of an empty wasteland where you're alone until you reach a point of interest.

Personally I always prefer games with an urban feel, so Fallout 3 and Fallout 4 both seem to satisfy that for me. I did prefer NV over 3 but that was for different reasons. In just about all games urban environments or at least a setting more of what we have in fallout 4 have always interested me more. I also feel like some people take deserts as an invitation to make a game actually bigger without adding more content because it's a desert, but maybe that's just me being an idiot.

I loved the mojave back in FNV, so my vote goes to it