I was a pro-sniper ranger stealth master in both games. Backstabbing was easier in NV, but why bother when you can snipe (even with the iron sights!) from 100+ meters out?

Backstabbing was easier in the recent Fallouts than it is in Skyrim. Substantially. There was just no point when a headshot via a handgun or Shotgun-to-the-Back-of-'da-Head worked a lot easier (also the Xuanlong, which was the greatest ever).