Does Fallout 3 Take Place Before or After New Vegas?

The quick answer is: Yes, Fallout 3 takes place before New Vegas in the series timeline. Fallout 3 is set in 2277, while New Vegas takes place 4 years later in 2281.

As a hardcore Fallout fan who‘s played over 800 hours across the franchise, I get asked this question a lot by newcomers to the series. So let‘s take a deeper dive into the settings and events leading up to New Vegas after Fallout 3.

Getting Reacquainted with the Fallout Timeline

It‘s easy to get confused if you‘re just getting into Fallout games, since the series has jumped around over decades of real-world development time. Let‘s recap the Fallout historical timeline:

• 2077 – Nuclear war occurs on October 23, devastating the Earth. Vaults are sealed with experiments on the dwellers inside.
• 2102 – Vault Dweller emerges to brave the post-nuclear California wasteland in Fallout 1.
• 2241 – The protagonist seeks a GECK to save their village in Fallout 2, 80 years after Fallout 1.
• 2277 – Fallout 3 protagonist leaves Vault 101, enters ruins of Washington D.C.
• 2281 – Events of New Vegas with The Courier, after being left for dead.
• 2287 – Sole Survivor enters the world after cryogenic stasis in Fallout 4.
• 2297 – Fallout 76 vault opens, with you as one of first to emerge on "Reclamation Day."

So after 35 years of real-world waiting between Fallout 2 and 3, we finally got to emergence from Vault 101 into the Capital Wasteland.

The Enclave returns as the main antagonists, and the Brotherhood of Steel is presented as a technologically advanced military order securing D.C. ruins. Many other factions are struggling for power and control in the region.

The Lone Wanderer‘s Story Sets the Stage

In Fallout 3, you play as the Lone Wanderer who lives in Vault 101. When your scientist father suddenly leaves the vault, you escape out into the ruins of Washington D.C. to search for him.

Along the way, you uncover a secret project called Project Purity that could provide clean water to the wasteland residents. But the Enclave wants to contaminate it to wipe out radiation-affected ghouls and super mutants.

Selling over 12 million copies, Fallout 3 was a critical and commercial smash success for Bethesda Softworks. Let‘s look at some of the enduring accomplishments of Fallout 3:

• 🏆 Over 80 Game of the Year awards
• 💰 $300 million revenue in first month
• 🎮 9.7 user score on Metacritic
• 👍 94% recommendation rate on Steam

Not only did the third main entry revive the dormant series, but it introduced an entire new generation to the post-nuclear Fallout universe.

Fallout: New Vegas Takes the Baton

With the massive sales and fan reception of Fallout 3, hype for the next installment was through the roof. Enter Fallout: New Vegas from developer Obsidian Entertainment in 2010.

This time instead of a Vault Dweller, you play as a Courier who suffers a near-death experience right at the start of the game. After being dug out of your shallow grave, you embark on a quest for revenge and justice across the Mojave wasteland.

Factions battling for control over Hoover Dam and New Vegas include:

• Caesar‘s Legion – a slavers society modeled after ancient Rome
• New California Republic – an expansionist federation from the West
• Mr. House – enigmatic leader of New Vegas via army of robots

With more mature themes and complex moral choices, New Vegas received similarly glowing reviews when it launched. Although built using the same engine and systems as Fallout 3, Obsidian added their signature reactive storytelling and flexibility of quest resolutions.

Let‘s compare some key data between the two games:

While New Vegas reused many gameplay elements from Fallout 3, its flexibly written story and more reactive world design have earned praise over time. This has sparked many debates among Fallout fans regarding which game delivers a better overall experience.

The Lone Wanderer Goes West

It‘s been over 12 years since Fallout: New Vegas originally launched, yet modders keep the Mojave alive with massive overhaul projects.

The Courier owes their near-death escape to the Lone Wanderer blazing a trail out East. Events and decisions from Fallout 3 led to the political turmoil seen boiling over between major factions fighting for Hoover Dam.

I especially love when fans imagine what would happen if the Fallout 3 and New Vegas protagonists teamed up together out in the wastelands. They represent the best of Bethesda and Obsidian‘s creative visions.

The Fallout universe seamlessly interweaves references across its stories and expansive lore. That‘s part of what makes it so special compared to other open world brands.

Few other games can inspire the sheer dedication to create massive mods like Fallout 4: New Vegas that recreate these worlds.

Now over to you – do you enjoy the interconnected stories between the Fallout games? Let me know which titles are your personal favorites!