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Here I see this question on many site and try to find the answer too, because I also need to know the answer for this. I find on many sites but can’t get any useful response for this question. Now, I know that each DLC had a different story, and different weapons. But nobody has really mentioned the setting/atmosphere. Which one appeals to you more? Why? Please let me know if any of you here has any idea or any useful information on this.
Dead Money: A raging red cloud surrounding a villa. Makes you feel like you are alone (well, you are alone) and have nothing with you. Poison, Damage, Terror, Intensity, Ghost People, Gala Event, Sierra Madre Chips, Automatic Rifle, Red Terror, Thunder, Lightning! All is dark and gloomy. All is red and dusty, Father Elijah!
Honest Hearts: A valley with beautiful canyons and terrain. Excellent daytime. At night you can see innumerable stars in the sky. Makes you feel alive (well, you are alive) and ready. Virgin River makes me feel safe standing in it. The plants and life are excellent; you see much green in Zion.
I choose Honest Hearts's setting over Dead money. (Obvious choice for me, because of my longer description of Honest Hearts) As I have said, Honest Heart's terrain makes me feel awake and ready.
Dead Money. Because the story and general mood they were going for matched the atmosphere and setting. You're trapped and in danger and your life is on the line and you can definitely tell just by looking around. Honest Hearts on the other hand gives the impression of being peaceful and tranquil, which is all good and fine, until you realize that going anywhere while not in sneak mode will lead to three rapidly spawning Giant Cazadors stabbing you in the face before you can react. The setting made me wants to stroll and enjoy my surroundings, yet I couldn't because the spawns there are so crazy that I had to be ready at any moment.
As per me, both settings are very good, mind you. It's more to do with the fact that Dead Money's functions perfectly whereas HH's gets kind of thrown out of whack because of a weird gameplay mechanic. It's like if you walked through Ivanpah Dry Lake and saw a bunch of people gambling at poker tables: the Ivanpah Dry Lake itself is still awesome but the gamblers just kind of ruin that barren feel.
Dead Money. The sense of isolation, the general feeling of decadence turned to decay and ruin, the balconies overlooking the narrow winding streets, the crazed writing on the walls reminding you that others have been in your position and not survived, and that you are trapped there (much like those people who became trapped in their protective suits, and turned mad). It's all a paradise gone wrong. The old gambling tables manned by forgotten, ghostlike technology, you being a pawn for an old man driven mad by his addiction for the ultimate jackpot, it's all so good!
Honest Hearts was truly beautiful, but Dead Money did such a great job at creating a horror atmosphere. I guess I got to go with Dead Money as I've played it 4 times and have not gotten bored of it while Honest Hearts I managed to play twice before it got boring. Cause they're a tie. So DM wins out on other aspects. HH is the natural paradise that we all enjoy, and every time we see it, we all think of Skyrim.
For me it was Dead Money. As much as I loved the beautiful scenery in Honest Hearts, I was drawn in more by the constrained alleyways and buildings (not quite like anything in F3 or NV) in Dead Money. The poisonous gas and aggravating radios were a pain, but added to the seemingly constant danger that was just a few steps away most of the time. In Dead Money you could feel that dark, heavy, depressing post apocalyptic atmosphere (and I'm not talking only about the Cloud) that was missing from vanilla NV, while Honest Hearts felt like some kind of safari.
Dead money. While I love honest hearts environment, dead money makes me feel alone, struggling to survive and I dread going into the dlc, although that’s more because you are in a maze with poison fog, looking for tiny code disks you only have one chance to get while you are there. But yeah dead money, even ignoring the disks the atmosphere is just better, it would be great if I could return however. Dead money had that nice gloomy feel to it.
Honest Hearts wins hands down for me. Just exploring Zion was a joy in itself. Dead Money's creepy mood lasted maybe 10 minutes before it became just irritating and dull. After the 4th or so leg trap and the 2nd or so trip wire (don't get me started on the speakers!!!) I got to the point that I just wanted to finish the blasted thing. I did enjoy Christine's and Dog/God's stories but that's about all I did like about DM.