For a long time now, people have argued over which Fallout game is better: Fallout 3 or New Vegas. While there’s tons of arguments from tons of different aspects of each of the games, I want to look at the openings of each of the games, and how in my opinion, how Fallout 3 does it better. A key aspect of any Bethesda game, let alone Fallout, is the ability to choose any playstyle you want and have it be completely viable. Fallout 3’s opening really works with this idea by having it begin from your literal birth. Because you play through your characters entire early life, the fact that you’re shaping what you want your character to be makes sense, and as soon as you leave the opening area of the game, you’re introduced into an area where every skill you chose to develop can be useful. Compare this to New Vegas’ opening, where you begin with being shot in the head as an adult and then thrown into a town in the middle of nowhere where you now pick your skills, and I think that Fallout 3 has the better opening. Not only does New Vegas’ opening not function as well with the design of playstyle choice, but its introduction area only rewards skills that have to do with combat, further hindering meaningful player choice. An opening for a game should do its best to introduce not just the story of game, but how the game wants to be played, and in a game about freedom of choice in a wasteland, Fallout: New Vegas’ opening falls short.