For a lot of people, it’s amazing that even after five years of its official release Fallout 4 remains one of the most played and talked-about open-world games.
However, take a quick look at Fallout 4’s NexusMods page and it’s easy to understand the reason.
The community built around Fallout 4 has continued putting out content on the regular ever since its release, becoming more sophisticated as time goes by.
Nowadays even the smaller quest mods can add over an hour of gameplay.
The bigger ones? They might as well get bought out by Bethesda to be released as entirely new, full-priced games!
Luckily for us, most modders don’t pursue such lines of thinking. And we have a wide array of new storylines to pursue in Fallout 4’s Wasteland.
To bring more attention to some of the most amazing expansions the game has seen to date, I decided to put together this ranking and I really hope you find something you like out of it.
NVIDIA’s Vault 1080 by modder Ex0dus13 is a joint venture between Nvidia and Vault-Tec to show off new ways to handle volumetric lighting.
Which, if you didn’t know, is used in-game to create a wonderfully moody atmosphere.
As such, the mod includes a questline where light will play an important role in leading you through a dilapidated church as you uncover the truth about a dark and twisted religious congregation and their fall from grace.
Doctor Who is one of those things that, no matter what you mix it with, it’ll turn out amazing.
So long as the work is put in to make it just incredible, of course.
Modder Demeggy has certainly put in the effort to make an amazing Doctor Who mod that’ll see you uncovering your heritage as a Gallifreyan Time Lord, exiled to a post-apocalyptic Earth to live out your days.
In this mod, what you’re really aiming for is the rewards. Which include a Sonic Screwdriver multi-tool, Time Lord abilities and yes, a TARDIS that serves as a player home that is bigger on the inside.
Somewhere in the Nahant area lies Vault 494, an as-of-yet undiscovered survival capsule where Vault-Tec expected to research the creation of a crime-free society.
With over an hour of content and scripted events, Vault 494 by modder Seddo4494 is a story of intrigue and tragedy where you’ll get to see how the occupants struggled to achieve their objectives while being undermined by a most silent saboteur – human nature.
This mod by Elys is a simple one, but also a great improvement for those of us who suck at finding collectibles.
It provides a series of in-game guides that lead you to collectibles such as magazines and bobbleheads. Just read one of them and you’ll be directed to the items on the list.
It’s one of the most immersive things to do on your off-time while planning your next move or moving towards it.
And it staves off the maddening loneliness that comes with wandering the Wasteland.
Atomic Radio and Tales from The Commonwealth by NexusMods user KrisTakahashi offers you the opportunity to dive into the lives of the Wasteland’s inhabitants in a way you never have before, all complemented by a new pre-war radio channel with 5 hours’ worth of lore-friendly content.
Will you help the baseball team trying to ascend to heaven through their score?
Or get involved with the development of electronic mail?
Perhaps you’ll just sit down and listen to the radio as the world goes by…
Whereas normal people generally play horror games when they’re craving some adrenaline, I prefer to hit the Nexus and find a mod to wreck my nerves.
If you’re looking for the same thing then you can’t pass up this fully-voiced haunted amusement park story by modder Trainwiz.
In Maxwell’s World, nothing is as it seems… or perhaps everything is, considering it’s all spooky as hell.
Battle disembodied entities and crazed zombies with new weapons like the Heavy Incinerator or the Fireworks Cannon as you make your way to one of the multiple endings.
Also from the mind of Trainwiz comes Ransacked Relays and Shuddersome Subways, two inter-connected questlines featuring new locations, unique bosses and a riveting storyline.
I can’t say too much about these quests without spoiling the story for you, but if facing an insane AI controlling teleporters or impaling a Mirelurk Queen with a train sounds like your kind of thing… I’m sure you’ll enjoy this a lot.
Some of us just couldn’t get enough of the Brotherhood of Steel during the game’s main quest.
Modder AlxRam was one such person, so they decided to create a whole new high-level BoS-oriented questline to satiate that thirst for camaraderie and Power Armors.
Operation Manhattan will have you fighting supermutants, along with heavily armed Raiders and Gunners through Central Park, Manhattan and even the city’s subway to rescue a fellow soldier.
It’s like Saving Private Ryan with a lot more radiation.
If finding death and destruction around every corner is what you’re into, then you’ll feel right at home playing 50 Ways to Die at Dr. Nick’s.
With 10 connected quests featuring puzzles, mysteries, plot-twists and a lot of explosions, this mod by prolific creator Rbdcc12 has become a classic in the modding community.
Even after clearing the storyline, your game will remain forever improved by the unique rewards.
These include your new player home with very detailed decoration, and lots of new craftables with… interesting effects.
While I enjoy little self-contained adventures as much as the next guy, I get especially excited for mods that connect to the game’s main storyline and change my experience in ways I would never have expected.
That’s exactly what Project Valkyrie by Thuggysmurf does, opening the way to four completely new endings for the game’s main quest.
Break the bindings of fate by brokering a peace between the BoS and the Institute. Or better yet, imprison Preston Garvey shortly after you meet him. It’s your choice.
And that’s only the tip of the iceberg that is this mod, which features over five hours of gameplay, four fully-voiced companions that interact with the story, and the possibility to completely overhaul the Institute once you become Director.
You’ve just woken up from 200 years in stasis, and the world as you know it has ceased to exist. As you try to piece together what’s happened, you realize you’re not alone.
There are others like you out there, trying to take back what was lost – the Enclave.
Modder Otellino offers players with a soft spot for the most conservative group in the Wasteland a chance to re-connect in a mod that’s seamlessly integrated into the game, featuring hours of gameplay, two fully-voiced companions, and a sweet player home sitting on an abandoned oil rig.
Self-described as the largest quest and companion mod ever, Depravity offers players the opportunity to play a truly evil Sole Survivor in over 10 hours of absurd gameplay.
The mod, by creator ThuggySmurf, includes 20 interconnected quests, seven fully-voiced companions to escort you through them, and some of the most detailed player bases around.
Where Project Valkyrie offers you a new way to finish the game, Depravity is meant to give you more freedom in how you play the opening act.
Fusion City Rising is both a quest mod and a complete expansion of Diamond City, allowing you to enter its seedy underbelly.
While it does feature several hours of gameplay, fully-voiced companions and the possibility to blow up a bunch of stuff with nuclear weapons, that’s not what makes this mod special.
Rather it’s the setting of Fusion City that really takes center stage.
Lose yourself in the largest underground community in the Commonwealth, larger than Diamond City itself.
Go shopping at the mall, train in its shooting ranges, get acquainted with the local factions and, when you’re looking for a bit of fun, visit Club Fusion to party like it’s 2077.
This mod by ThuggySmurf opens the doors to over 20 hours of engaging gameplay that’ll have you interacting with leftovers from the main factions in the vanilla game.
Exiles from the Brotherhood of Steel, Vault-Tec survivors and even remnants from Fallout 3’s Enclave star in this ambitious expansion.
Explore new locations, claim new player homes and befriend two fully-voiced custom companions as you get to know the Outcasts and Remnants.
The Machine and Her by NikaCola is a gigantic quest mod with over five hours of immersive gameplay.
This also includes an enthralling custom soundtrack and an entirely new radio station with over 50 tracks and a fully-voiced DJ.
Really, this is big.
The mod and its story are centered around Kit, one of the most complex custom companions in Fallout 4 history.
Not only does she have over 6,000 lines of dialogue, but also an AI that can take orders and implement strategies set by the player.
This new follower will accompany you all throughout this story, judging your actions based on how much she trusts you, and how cynical she thinks you are.
Will you show her not all survivors are the same? Or will you remind her it’s a dog-eat-dog world out there?
Nelson Chitty is a Venezuelan expat living in Argentina. He’s a writer and translator passionate about history and foreign cultures. His ideal weekend is spent between leisurely playing games of Civilization VI and looking for the next seinen anime to marathon.
