Top 10 Fallout 3 mods

More where that came from

We all know Top 40 radio is bad in real life, but anyone who’s listened to GNR radio most likely wants to drill their ears out after about an hour of the repetitive 1950s songs. They’re catchy at first, yes, but after hearing “I just want to light the world on fire...” for the 400th time - you get where we’re coming from.

This mod adds up to a hundred more period-specific songs to the GNR repertoire, and it also changes how many songs play before Three Dog cuts in. You also don’t need to worry about “downloading illegal MP3s” since all these songs are taken from public domain. Astute listeners will also notice several commercials have been added. These are fantastic and fit right in with the theme (Vault-Tec anyone?).

Night Vision

Above: Before…

You know, the future holds many wondrous technologies, but for some reason, the basic flashlight is not one of them. Anyone who has used the pip-boy light for exploring those dark buildings knows it’s about as effective as taping a glow-stick to your forehead. For reasons unknown, Bethesda cannot manage to just make a flashlight in its game. It may be a game engine issue, or maybe someone there just really hates lights but at this point, we’re stuck with it.

Above: …and after

Well there’s light at the end of the tunnel (DUR-HUR) so to speak. This mod adds a pair of Night Vision Goggles (NVGs for short) that do an admirable job. To test it out, we went to the scariest, darkest place we could think of (insert “your mom” joke here), the Dunwich building. We were able to navigate and fight ghouls just fine. We would almost consider this mod “essential,” as it fixes a basic problem with the game. The screenshots should help you get an idea of what you’re dealing with. Note: FOOK includes this as part of its package, but this bit is simply too important not to also recommend to those who don’t want to download the entire FOOK overhaul.

Greener World

It’s hard to imagine that even after a hundred plus years that not even a SINGLE tree would have popped up in the wasteland. This mod will make up for that. It adds hundreds of trees and other greenery to the barren scenery of the wasteland. It makes for a change of pace at least, and no more spying on mutants from 2,000 yards away. You’ll have to stay more alert now that your view is obstructed.

While the mod itself is neat for people who only have a few minor mods (or none at all) installed, we can’t recommend it if you plan on adding new buildings/forts etc. to the game as they may conflict with this mod.

Cybernetic Dawn

Considering the plot of both Terminator and Fallout include nuclear wastelands, even Martha Stewart would have a hard time saying the marriage of the two isn’t a “Good Thing.” While you’re not going to be replicating the massive future-war battles against HKs, you can cut your chops on some T-800s and fight alongside Connor’s resistance fighters.

The mod includes both new models for Terminators as well as new guns and NPCs. We found the new guns were actually pretty cool. The Terminators are tough opponents and you’ll need to get your hands on the new equipment to take them down easily. You can also travel to the Fairfax ruins to participate in a battle against Skynet. While it’s mainly a bunch of NPCs running around, we found it pretty fun and it was probably the biggest battle in the game other than the scripted final battle. Definitely worth a cursory play-through at least.