The most popular mods for Fallout: New Vegas differ wildly in function. There are mods that update graphical elements, modernize gameplay, and also riff off of the game’s most interesting systems. While there are other modern games that have coming updates, like The Last of Us remake, no such plans exist for New Vegas. The most popular mods for the game show that a more modern version of the game could go down brilliantly.
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Project Nevada Shows How To Update New Vegas’ Gameplay
Sitting at 3.8 million downloads, the Fallout: New Vegas mod Project Nevada is effectively a remake. Alongside some basic HUD remasters, the project updates the game to be more modern. For example, a dynamic crosshair changes how it looks in correspondence with the type of weapon a player has equipped. A dedicated sprint toggle and increased running speeds picks up the pace dramatically, making those long sections of strolling through empty desert pass much more quickly.
All told, the Project Nevada mod makes New Vegas play an awful lot like Fallout 4. While this 2016 entry in the series received a lot of criticism for its story elements, it did have a wealth of accessible and engaging gameplay content. It also contains one of the most modern iterations of the Creation engine, and Project Nevada also utilizes the powerful game engine really well. One of the essential draws of Nevada is that it exists in different modules. This allows players to fully optimize any given New Vegas experience to their specific liking.
Furthermore, many of the other popular New Vegas mods expand upon unique mechanics or roleplay options in the game. Several are unique courier runs. Even more expand upon the weapons options, like many Skyrim mods. Some of the game’s mechanics, like weapon repair and modification, are massively expanded upon. Despite New Vegas’ popularity, this demonstrates that fans still want a lot more from the game.
Fallout Needs To Return To Authentic Roleplay
One of the most popular mods for the last single-player game in the series, Fallout 4, is one that alters roleplay. The “Full Dialogue Interface” mod replaces the often-reductive wheel of speech options with a full list of what the character will say. This is in contrast to Fallout 4’s usual dialogue wheel, where the options given are often just: yes, no, “sarcastic,” and “what?” Al0ngside just a visual revamp, this mod lays bare how similar most of the dialogue choices are. This is absolutely not the case with Fallout: New Vegas. It’s a game where a player can have a frank conversation with a Roman centurion cosplayer about Hegelian philosophy, and bypass early game quests by investing in scientific knowledge.
When players first came to Fallout 76, its lack of immersive questlines and interesting NPCs to interact with made it highly unpopular with fans. Fallout 76 has improved since, but many still haven’t returned since. Bethesda returning to the lovingly crafted world of Fallout: New Vegas could allow the series to reconnect to the incredible characterization it is known for.
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What Could A New Vegas Remake Bring To The Fallout Series?
After the incredibly poor launch of Fallout 76, remaking a classic would serve the Fallout series well. A remake could just be a goodwill gesture towards long time series fans. However, it would also do a lot to whet the fanbase’s appetite for more of the games it loves so much. Many video game remakes are in the works right now, so a Fallout: New Vegas reboot would not be too strange. In a world where Skyrim appears on every new console in some new form, a remake of a Fallout title would be a perfect fit.
Although mods make for an incredible Fallout: New Vegas experience, an official remake could be more stable. A remake of New Vegas could point future entries in a similar narrative direction. As such, influence from one of the series’ more story-rich modern titles could be a welcome change. In fact, the demand for a remake like this is already evident. The Fallout: New Vegas remake mod for Fallout 4 is completely recreating the game from scratch, so this new version demonstrates that an official New Vegas remake on newer software could massively appeal to series fans.
Interestingly, remaking classic before Fallout 5 could be a good test run of Bethesda’s new Creation engine. The current Creation engine is still the same as the one Skyrim used all the way back in 2011. This is why Starfield and The Elder Scrolls 6 are so important, as these games will be the first to use the second big iteration of Bethesda’s engine. However, fans still have no idea exactly when the sixth Elder Scrolls game will release, so releasing a remake of a sure-hit like Fallout: New Vegas on the engine could be a great test.
A Fallout: New Vegas Remake is not known to be in development.
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