I never really got too into the open-world Bethesda games. I didn't play the first two Elder Scrolls, but Morrowind never really hooked me when I played it on the Xbox. The overall world was interesting, and it had a deep lore I can appreciate, but the actual game and main plot never did it for me. This carried into Oblivion as well.
A friend convinced me to give Fallout 3 a try when that came out, and that was the first time I was able to get into a game of that genre, though I can't say I was a huge fan. It was interesting, but only a handful of characters I liked, and the story itself felt pretty weak again.
Then came New Vegas, and Iloved this game. In a lot of ways, it fixed everything I disliked about the other games. The first being an opening hook that immediately grabbed my attention. I got the game at launch,specifically the special edition. It came with a short comic book that detailed the events just before the game starts. I don't think it's necessary to make this a great opening, but it does help. It ended with a group setting up an ambush for a courier delivering a package. I start up the game and realize I'm a Courier. My very first thought, 'I'm about to shot in the fucking face, aren't I?'
Without needing to give you any real focus on a backstory, something I think is important considering the nature of how much you can customize your character,you are given a reason to immediately care about the main story. It almost doesn't matter what else is going on, you just got shot in the face. This is immediately personal. No one is going to not care about the guy who shot them in the face.
Something that was also introduced was a lot more detailed 'Reputation' system, where you don't really have an overall Karma rating like in Fallout 3, but instead, you build karma with individual groups. Become aligned with certain groups, others may not like you so much. It has a lot more nuance in that regard and goes a long way in feeling like the world is a lot more real.
The way these games control I also think feels better with gunplay then medieval-style combat you see in Elder Scrolls. Don't get me wrong, the melee combat feels decent enough, but the view always feels more at home when aiming a gun for me. So overall the game just controls a lot nicer and feels more natural, though I don't play with a Keyboard. Even on PC I play with a PS4 controller (My life was spent as a Console Peasant, alright? :( )
This is another thing I want to point out, I loved discovering things about this world far more than I did in any other Bethesda release. A big part is I found the characters in the world to be far more interesting. It was fun interacting with the different places, and guys like 'No Bark' and Bennie, the dude who shot you, are amazing. No matter where you go,there are people worth interacting with, and fun things to discover.
I forget the Vault this was, but there is a vault that had no survivors. You find out people were being sacrificed to the computer that ran it, or they would no longer receive food and water. You can search the vault and discover it's messed up history, including a civil war that went on over the thing. There are levels of the vault covered in ammo crates and makeshift cover where they fought, and it all leads up to the most messed up and hilarious punchline I won't spoil here. (Well, how funny it depends on how dark a sense of humor you have is).
New Vegas gets the open world right for me. It immediately gives you a really good reason to care about the main plot, and as you realize the fate of all New Vegas is involved in the reason you got shot and robbed, you've had a chance to see a good portion of this place as you chased down your assailant. There are so many places to explore and so many things to do that play into the outcome of the game after you beat it. The companions you gathered along the way all have their own conclusions and stories, there are so many groups in New Vegas whose stories change based on your actions and so many of them are easy to care about.
I actually felt like, by games end, everything I did mattered. It wasn't just some one-off quest I did to kill time before eventually getting to the main story.That is really where New Vegas soars above its competition for me,and it's a shame it's not likely we are going to see Obsidian return to work with Bethesda for a new Fallout game, because I honestly think they get this game more the Bethesda ever did.
It's also a game that highlights problems with games of the day, and to an extent today.Many games, when trying to make a world feel desolate and broken will go for a very dark color scheme. Gears of war with its shades of Grey and brown, for example. Fallout New Vegas manages to capture a feel of a world post-nuclear fallout while having a very vibrant array of colors. Doing so actually feels a lot less artificial than the oddly monotone colors used in other games trying to capture similar vibes. Nothing is naturally that devoid of color.
It's no secret that the game is pretty glitchy, something on par with pretty much any Bethesda title using this style of game-play, and when it came out it was far worse. But over time much of the bugginess was patched away,especially if you get into the mods. It's pretty cheap on PC these days and goes on sale often enough, it is definitely worth your time. And being an older game, it's a pretty safe bet your PC is going to be able to handle it, so performance isn't an issue.