War. War never changes. When atomic fire consumed the earth, those who survived did so in great, underground vaults. When they opened, their inhabitants set out across ruins of the old world to build new societies, establish new villages, form new tribes. As decades passed, what had been the American southwest united beneath the flag of the New California Republic, dedicated to old-world values of democracy and the rule of law. As the Republic grew, so did its needs. Scouts spread east, seeking territory and wealth, in the dry and merciless expanse of the Mojave desert. They returned with tales of a city untouched by the warheads that had scorched the rest of the world, and a great wall spanning the Colorado River. The NCR mobilized its army and set it east to occupy the Hoover Dam, and restore it to working condition. But across the Colorado, another society had arisen under a different flag. A vast army of slaves, forged in the conquest of 86 tribes: Caesar's Legion. Four years have passed since the Republic held the Dam - just barely - against the Legion's onslaught. The Legion did not retreat. Across the river, they gathered strength. Campfires burned, training drums beat. Through it all, the New Vegas Strip has stayed open for business under the control of its mysterious overseer, Mr. House, and his army of rehabilitated Tribals and police robots. You are a courier, hired by the Mojave Express, to deliver a package to the New Vegas Strip. What seemed like a simple delivery job has taken a turn…for the worse.

You slowly regain consciousness and see a man in a checkered suit holding a gun and looking down at you. He begins to speak, "You’ve made your last delivery kid. Sorry you got twisted up in this scene, from where you’re kneeling it must seem like an 18-carat run of bad luck. Truth is—this game was rigged from the start."

He fires his gun at your head, and everything goes black. Opening credits begin to play. You eventually wake up inside of Doc Mitchell's house in Goodsprings and open your eyes to see the old man himself standing over you. He wastes your time with a bunch of annoying questions and tests that you feel like you've already done, only to clamp a Pip-Boy 3000 on your wrist and push you out his front door into the Mojave Wasteland. Your eyes adjust to the harsh desert light and you find yourself overlooking the town of Goodsprings. There are a few people milling about the Saloon and General Store as a tumbleweed rambles over the cracked pavement of the dusty road leading south towards Primm.