Right alongside Skyrim, Fallout 3 is one of the most modded games of all time. Bethesda took this series and transformed it into an open-world adventure that had never really been seen up to that point. As much as there was to do in that base experience, there was a limit to what could be done. However, dedicated fans didn’t let that end their fun and began modding the game with new features, quality of life improvements, and new content to extend the life of Fallout 3 to the point where you can still play it today and have an amazing time. Now that modders have had well over a decade to work with the game, there are potentially thousands of mods you can try out, but these are the best ones we’ve found.
FWE – FO3 Wanderers Edition
Let’s kick things off with a bang and talk about the FWE – FO3 Wanderers Edition mod. Calling this a single mod is kind of a misnomer since it actually integrates over 50 other mods into one massive package. The purpose is to rework the balance and depth of the game to be more fair and give players more opportunities to role-play. This mod does make the game intentionally harder than the base version. Combat is faster and more determined by player skilll. Also, which perks and skills you have make a bigger difference. Injuries need to be treated more carefully, over 40 new weapons and pieces of armor have been added, AI has been enhanced, and dozens of other changes were implemented to make the game more immersive. It’s the simplest way to give another playthrough some spice.
Fellout
It isn’t your imagination or memory betraying you if you remember the original game looking a little … green. For whatever reason, Bethesda put a slight green filter over the entire game that made everything look a little sickly. Perhaps it was intentional, but it doesn’t make it any less gross to look at for long periods of time. Fellout takes away all that green and replaces it with a much more realistic and clear view. This applies to all outdoor and indoor environments, as well as water. If you’ve gotten so used to how the game looks by default, check out a comparison to see what you’re missing.
NMCs_Texture-Pack
There’s no getting around the fact that Fallout 3 is an old game. It came out on the Xbox 360 in 2008, so it makes sense that it isn’t going to hold up so well by modern standards. There is only so much modders can do about that, but even we’re impressed at how good NMCs_Texture-Pack makes this older game look. It won’t turn any heads, but it certainly could pass for a game half its age or less. This mod doesn’t replace every texture, but a vast majority of the important ones like terrain, interiors, roads, vehicles, and more benefit from high–resolution replacements. The only notable omissions are NPCS, weapons, enemies, and the sky, but it’s still well worth installing.
Updated Unofficial Fallout 3 Patch
Bethesda didn’t earn the nickname “Bug-thesda” for nothing. Many gamers can forgive some quirky bugs here and there, and some might even be considered part of the charm, but things like performance and cut content aren’t so forgivable. The Updated Unofficial Fallout 3 Patch gives players the smooth and updated experience Bethesda never delivered. Not only does it squash a ton of annoying bugs, but it optimizes the game to run better and restores a bunch of cut content. This includes things like characters appearing at the Council meetings, restoring the barter system with Charon, redoing the Republic of Dave dialogue to allow for more outcomes, and more. The entire list of features and fixes is massive and goes to show that this is the gold standard for bug-fixing mods.
Marts Mutant Mod
One thing that instantly makes a world feel smaller, even one as big as Fallout 3‘s, is seeing the same exact enemy models over and over. It is hard to get immersed when you’re blasting a crowd of identical mutants next to one another. The Marts Mutant Mod adds in a batch of brand-new creatures to populate the wasteland. These include things like Enclave Deathclaw Alphas, Super Mutant Enforcers, Monstrous Dogs, Sesom’s Iguanas, and more. This mod is more than just a couple new models, though. It also adds some new features to the game such as being able to blow off enemies’ limbs and eat Night Ghoul eyes to gain temporary night vision. If you want, you can tinker with a soft unlevel feature that allows for enemies of any level to randomly encounter you in the wild.
Enhanced Weather
The overcast and generally mild weather in Fallout 3 at best sinks into the background and doesn’t impact your experience. That’s fine, but weather can add so much more atmosphere and realism to the world, which is what the Enhanced Weather mod aims to accomplish. Installing this mod will allow for both rain and snow to fall in your game thanks toa new menu option. You can pop open your PipBoy and choose one of four settings: Min Rain and Snow Duration, Max Rain and Snow Duration, Min Not-Rainy Not Snowy weather duration, and Max Not-Rainy Not-Snowy weather duration. Each will determine how long each respective weather condition will last, ranging from 2 hours to 4 days. The only fault with this mod is that weather will clip straight through buildings so you will see rain indoors, for example.
There’s No Such Thing As Bad Publicity
If we had to pick just one new, user-created questline to try out, it has to be There’s No Such Thing As Bad Publicity. This quest focuses on unearthing a rumored treasure rumored to have been locked away within the Capitol Building before the Great War. This is a nice, meaty quest that is about on par with a normal sidequest. It features an entirely new cast of voiced non-playable characters (NPCs) and five new interior locations to visit. It feels perfectly in line with the tone and style of the world and is a great accomplishment for a community-based project.
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