Fallout: New Vegas mod The Frontier is out after seven years of development

The Fallout franchise has been a favorite for modders to play around with for over a decade now, with thousands of different creators investing countless hours into projects for Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, and Fallout 4. Some have even created mods for the online MMO Fallout 76.

I've been a close follower of the Fallout modding scene for years now, and I've seen some truly incredible mods release that breathe new life into these older games. But in that time, I've never seen something quite as ambitious as Fallout: The Frontier, a mod that took seven years to develop and that basically adds an entirely new game experience into Fallout: New Vegas. Featuring countless hours of main quest content, over 60 sidequests, tens of thousands of voiced dialogue lines, hundreds of new weapons and armors, a brand new map to explore, and more, Fallout: The Frontier is the largest and most impressive mod I've ever seen released. And based on the time I've spent with it so far, I can confidently say that it's absolutely worth the hype.

Who will you side with?

The bulk of what Fallout: The Frontier offers is found within its three main quest paths. After traveling to the blizzard-ridden wastes of Portland, Oregon, you'll have the opportunity to side with three different factions. The first is the NCR Exiles, a small army of former New California Republic soldiers and officers who grew resentful of the NCR and traveled to Portland to start a new life. The second is the Northern Legion, a branch of Caesar's Legion that aims to take Portland's resources and land from the NCR Exiles. Finally, there's the Crusaders of Steel, a religious offshoot of the Brotherhood of Steel that aims to exact revenge on the people who wronged their leader. These factions will interact with one another over the course of the story, with the player's actions helping to determine who comes out victorious.

The NCR Exiles questline is the largest and longest of the questlines, featuring roughly 35 hours of custom cutscenes, huge battles, and tons of impressive scripted moments and setpieces. The Northern Legion story is about 15 hours long. It is focused much more on dialogue, as it's intended to flesh out the Legion and give the player opportunity to learn more about the faction's background and principles. Lastly, the Crusaders questline is a 15-hour blend of scripted action and rich dialogue that allows players to enjoy both gameplay styles.

A new world to explore

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Outside of the three main questlines, players are free to traverse Portland and its surrounding areas however they see fit. Unlike every other location in Fallout games so far, Portland has been subject to a nuclear winter due to nuclear bombs blasting soot and smog into the sky, which, in turn, blocked out the sun. This makes the location feel unique and interesting to explore in Fallout, almost like something you'd see in a Metro game. The team behind The Frontier has also made custom winter weathers and new mutant creatures to accompany this new climate, which is awesome. Portland features dozens of new locations to discover, too, making exploration a worthwhile endeavor.

Across the map, you'll also be able to engage with over 60 different side quests, some of which tie into the three main questlines. These sidequests help to enrich Portland and make it feel more lively. It also gives the player a chance to utilize their skills however they see fit to resolve various conflicts and other types of situations.

A massive arsenal at your fingertips

As you progress through The Frontier, you'll have no shortage of weapons and armor to use. This is because, across the mod, there are hundreds of new weapons, armor pieces, and useful items to loot and purchase. These can all be taken back to the Mojave Wasteland, too, so once you complete a playthrough of The Frontier, you can use what you acquired in the vanilla New Vegas experience.

The most impressive thing added by the developers in this mod is, by far, the vehicles. The player in The Frontier can control several Vertibirds, cars, and tanks, and these can give you a distinct advantage in combat. Be wary, though, as these vehicles make you a big target — you'll need to drive responsibly! In addition to this, enemies can make use of vehicles as well, so you'll need to be ready to run for cover or make use of an anti-armor weapon.

Your thoughts

What do you think of Fallout: The Frontier? Will you be downloading and playing it? Let me know. Installing it isn't too hard, and the team behind the mod has created a helpful installation guide that will help you get everything up and running smoothly. Remember that you'll need a purchased copy of Fallout: New Vegas and all of its DLC on Steam or GOG to play The Frontier. The Ultimate Edition of the game costs $20, but it often goes on sale. I strongly recommend it even if you don't want to dive into modding, as it's easily one of the best PC games out there.

For more on modding, don't miss our guides on the best Skyrim: Special Edition Xbox One mods, the best Fallout 4 Xbox One mods, and a mod that turns Halo: Combat Evolved into a cursed nightmare.