The best Bethesda openings are marquee moments for the video game industry. Bethesda Game Studios doesn't release new experiences with a high degree of frequency, and the prologues which kickstart massive open-ended adventures are always something of an event. They kind of have to be, given Bethesda's propensity for handing total freedom over to the player. What you learn in the first 60 minutes will often carry you through another 60 hours of playtime.
Whether it's Fallout, Starfield, or The Elder Scrolls, what's smart about the best Bethesda openings is how they combine smart narrative frames with robust tutorials. While everybodyprobably remembers the first time they stepped into Helgen in Skyrim, do you necessarily remember how it taught you to find your way there? It's unlikely that you do, and that's part of the majesty of Bethesda's opening hours. Still, not all are made the same, so in honor of Starfield unleashing across the stars we thought it would be best to rank the best Bethesda openings of all time.
5. Fallout 4
Fallout 4 narrowly muscled out Morrowind for a space on this list. As much as I'm a fan of that opening Elder Scrolls sequence, stepping off of the prison barge and into the wild open world of Morrowind for the first time, it's a little slow. Fallout 4 on the other hand is full of life and death, transitioning quickly from a life before the war to a world contained within a fallout shelter. Bethesda works smartly within the scenario it puts forward, showcasing new dialogue and choice-driven systems by having you register for Vault access, and it's always fun to see the world explode.
The prologue to Fallout 4 isn't quite as succinctly paced as other openings from Bethesda, and I was never a massive fan of how it effectively establishes that you lived this whole happy life before you're given control over the character. One of the joys of Fallout 3 is that it really does leave you free to be whoever you want to be, letting you grow and develop over time after a childhood in seclusion and an adulthood in the wasteland. Fallout 4's opening is energetic, looks great, and works to smartly introduce its concepts, but it can't hold a candle to the other games in this ranking.
4. The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion
I'll always have a soft spot for The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion's opening in my heart. Arriving shortly after the launch of the Xbox 360 in 2006, Oblivion changed our understanding of what an RPG could be on console. It was open-ended, incredibly reactive, and delightfully playful. Bethesda works smartly to establish all of this in the opening hour. Starting from a locked prison cell, you're quickly introduced to Emperor Uriel Septim (voiced by Patrick Stewart) and then given free rein over claustrophobic catacombs to learn the basics – hacking, slashing, looting, and lockpicking.
By the time you reach an unlocked sewer gate to City Isle, the Emperor is dead and you'll have an understanding of the systems that'll carry you through hundreds of hours of role-play. One last chance is given to edit your Race, Birthsign, and Class, and then that's it. You're free to wander the sprawling plains of Cyrodiil. It's quite the sight, and its impact on a generation of players set a benchmark for all future Bethesda Game Studios titles to meet.
3. Starfield
The Starfield opening hits the high scope of Fallout 3 and Skyrim, but it isn't quite as tightly wound. There's a lot to love about the presentation though, with Bethesda taking you as far away from the stars as it can muster – down into the depths of a mining operation. The opening hour works smartly to teach you the basics of the world, the focus on character and importance of scanning, but doesn't waste time before going Interstellar once you locate a mysterious artifact.
Following a blackout, you're given the chance to set your Starfield starting skills and mess around with the character creator. From there Bethesda is quick to shove you out of an airlock and into combat, pushing you from ground encounters to dogfights in the stars. What's impressive is that while a waypoint appears, teasing you towards the United Colonies' New Atlantis, you're really free to go anywhere you want – travel the universe, so far as your grav drive will take you.
2. The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim
"Hey, you. You're finally awake." Five words which some of our former staff members have argued kick off a starting scenario that should be considered the best thing Bethesda has ever made. Regardless of whether you feel as strongly as that, there's no disputing that the Skyrim opening is iconic. A prison break, a dragon fight, and an endless expanse – that first hour of The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is a masterclass in onboarding, setting the stage for what is still considered one of the best RPGs. One reason Helgen is such an impactful stage for your first steps into a massive open world is that it works to emphasize that the adventure is centered around choice-driven storytelling.
It's your quick thinking that allows you to escape, and your decisions which shape the feel of your character and the direction they first head off in. The introduction to Riverwood is graceful, so too is the way that Bethesda conveys a raft of complicated systems which all layer atop one another. There's a lot of reasons we keep going back to Skyrim over a decade on from its release, and I have to think that part of it is just to experience that opening all over again.
1. Fallout 3
Where Fallout 4 fails, Fallout 3 succeeds. Rather than tease you with a world outside of the Vault, Bethesda births you right into it. Literally. Character creation comes after labor, and then through snapshots in time you're able to see the development of your very own vault dweller. The S.P.E.C.I.A.L. system is a storybook, the Pip-Boy 3000 is a birthday present, you're exposed to the V.A.T.S. mechanic with a BB gun, and your first skills are assigned after taking an in-universe school test. Through it all, the underlying focus on decision-making and characters is instilled.
The Fallout 3 prologue is a slow, purposeful build towards an incredible crescendo – escaping Vault 101. As you leave the fallout shelter, the screen blurs as your eyes adjust to the light; stumbling forward you reach a scenic overlook, and stretching out into the distance are the irradiated ruins of the Capital Wasteland. It's a stunning opening hour, and undoubtedly the best that Bethesda has ever put forward.
