Biggest Fallout Mod Ever Is Released After 7 Years
When Obsidian Entertainment rolled the dice with Fallout: New Vegas back in 2010, neither the developer nor Bethesda Softworks presumably realised they were onto a winner with this gamble that thankfully paid off. While the story of The Courier, Mr. House, and all the other colourful characters out there in the Mojave Desert are yet to be revisited in official form, the goliath fan mod known as The Frontier is finally here. The largest Fallout mod ever is officially live, and safe to say, it's a whopper.
For the past seven years, a growing Fallout community has been working on The Frontier. According to the page on Nexus Mods, The Frontier is a "gigantic DLC/New Game". The story takes us to the frozen wasteland outside Portland, Oregon, and adds three major questlines, over 60 side quests, and "tens of thousands" of lines of new voiced dialogue. We're once again picking up with The Courier as they're again thrown into a power struggle between the New California Republic (NCR), Caesar's Legion, and now, the Crusaders of Steel.
How can you play the biggest Fallout Mod ever?
Creators are pitching The Frontier as having "the best iteration of a modded driving system for a Fallout title ever", meaning there's a lot to live up to. Importantly, The Frontier does what any good Fallout game should - taking the story somewhere new while still fitting in main franchise canon. Modders say they picked the snowy backdrop of Portland because it showcases a different aesthetic to the usually sun-scorched wasteland we see in Fallout games. Despite this, the essence of New Vegas is there as we leave that post-apocalyptic Sin City behind us.
In terms of requirements, those who want to play The Frontier will need Fallout: New Vegas on PC, as well as its four DLC packs. You're advised to start a new file and play the base game until Level 11. After the NCR rep pops up, you're free to trot off to Portland and make the most of The Frontier in all its glacial glory. Unfortunately, that ravenous Fallout fandom caused some problems with The Frontier's release.
According to Eurogamer, the highly anticipated release of The Frontier led to its Nexus Mod page crashing due to being too popular. An update from January 18 confirms the page is back up and running, with The Frontier available for download. It's clear there are plenty of us who can't wait to jump in tanks or Vertibirds to blast each other to pieces in the apocalypse. And if the ravages of nuclear war weren't already enough to contend with!
Impressively, The Frontier's mod is about the size of the original Mojave from New Vegas, however, the mod has more interior spaces and adds around 65 hours of gameplay. The biggest Fallout mod ever was supposed to release on Nexus Mods and Steam at the same time, however, the Steam release was delayed by a week. Fans that managed to get The Frontier up and running were already faced with a slew of technical difficulties. If this is the case, it could mean the Steam release is delayed further until the kinks are ironed out.
Whichever way you look at it, The Frontier has proved Fallout fans still want the traditional single-player experience. Bethesda took a gamble in 2018 with the wholly multiplayer Fallout 76, and while they usually pay off, it was a disaster.
Fallout 76 was panned and eventually overhauled last year with the introduction of those fan-favourite NPCs in the Wastelanders update. Bethesda has hopefully learned from these mistakes and will stick with the tried and tested formula that's made Fallout one of the greatest RPG franchises of all time. Either way, The Frontier has shown there's still an appetite for traditional Fallout gameplay.
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Images via Frontier Team | Obsidian Entertainment