9. Completely Different Combat Styles
Although the first person shooting in Fallout 3 was far from the tightest, it didnt really matter because the game expected you to rely on the V.A.T.S system for the majority of combat anyway. While this was fine at first, as exploding Super Mutants into a billion parts rarely got boring, it often sucked out the challenge of combat on even the hardest of modes. New Vegas on the other hand made V.A.T.S less of trump card than in the previous titles. Because you dealt less damage and took more punishment while in the mode, it meant that you had to use other forms of combat to keep on top of encounters. Combine that with the improvements in weapon handling and unarmed melee attacks, and Obsidians game just felt good to play no matter what combat route you wanted to go down. Wanted to go in sneaky with silenced weapons? There was always a way. Use full-on heavy objects as melee fighter? If you were so inclined. Explosive expert? Hell, with the new additions and numerous different grenade types and launchers, the use of explosives and traps was practically encouraged. More so than in 3, it just felt like you were in control of the combat in New Vegas, choosing however you wanted to play instead of relying on the left bumper to shoot you into V.A.T.S as soon as you even glimpsed an enemy.