Amongst everything that is great about Fallout: New Vegas, the starting town of Goodsprings sets a high bar for what players can expect. Whether they are new to the Fallout franchise or not, Goodsprings and the area around it teach players how the game will work. With a variety of enemies, quests, role-playing freedom, and exploration, players have the choice of how to play pretty much right away. Along with compelling decisions that will impact how the game will play as the story progresses, it is fair to say Goodsprings is an opening to a Fallout game that was not seen prior, nor has been improved upon since.
Fallout: New Vegas, the highly praised Fallout game developed by Obsidian Entertainment, takes place in the year 2281. The player awakens as a courier ambushed and left for dead in the Mojave Desert. Setting out to find those who ambushed and robbed the courier, players venture out into the Mojave. Along the journey encountering the three major factions jockeying for control, the New California Republic (NCR for short), the Roman Empire-inspired Caeser's Legion, and Mr. House, the self-appointed ruler of New Vegas. Throughout the game, the actions of the player, along with what faction is sided with, and which smaller groups are eliminated or absorbed, will greatly affect the ending.
The start of Fallout: New Vegas welcomes players in beautifully, even before introducing the Fallout series' best factions, with a starting location that allows time to learn the game or quickly go in a different direction for later runs. Goodsprings itself passes for a normal old western town, and if it weren't for mutant animals roaming the desert, could convince players it wasn't even in a Fallout game. The enemies are on the weaker side but give players a taste of how to fight, use VATS, and how enemies will attack throughout the game. The town is also filled with non-combat skill checks like speech, lockpicking, or repair, which introduce players to the other ways of navigating and completing objectives. Overall it gives players a great sense of how to play the game, while also showing that New Vegas, often liked more than the Bethesda-made Fallout games, can be played with a variety of different strategies.
Fallout: New Vegas' Goodsprings Gives Players Immediate Freedom
Another beauty in the start Goodsprings offers players is the freedom offered right out of the gate. Following the side quests will lead to a showdown between the citizens of Goodsprings and the Powder Gangers, a band of escaped prisoners that wander the Mojave. The interesting part about this is either side can be chosen by the player. This option is unique in the Fallout series, as the other games tend not to give players the option of being something of a villain this early. Making things even better, this decision does not handcuff players later down the line. Of course, there will be consequences depending on what group is sided with. Though some of the consequences could be rather minor, major decisions can lead to Fallout: New Vegas' worst ending. This serves to show players that the story is fluid and will change based on the courier's actions.
Goodsprings is, in a sense, a small tutorial version of the entire game. A showcase of combat, skill checks, quests, and narrative choices that will encompass the rest of the main story and secondary plots. Even for returning players looking for a new direction, the game does not lock them into the town. More experienced couriers can quickly wrap up the main quests in Goodsprings and go wherever they desire. Having the freedom to either return to the town or continue the main story quest at any time. This immediate freedom is almost unparalleled, and when coupled with great gameplay, story, and characters, it's what makes Goodsprings and Fallout: New Vegas stand out amongst not only other Fallout games, but many other games in the RPG genre.