Fallout continues to pay dividends for Bethesda, most recently with the controversial release of Fallout 76. Hardcore fans still look back fondly on one installment of the franchise that seems to stand head and shoulders above the rest: Fallout: New Vegas. Though it was released over a decade ago, it's still the pinnacle by which other installments are measured.

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The modding community has shown New Vegas a ton of love, as well. There's a plethora of amazing mods that can completely transform the game. The best of the bunch handle everything from in-game textures and sounds to added gameplay mechanics, fully-voiced quests, and extra weapons.

Brave New World

The title screen for the Brave New World mod for Fallout: New Vegas.

Bethesda's Fallout and Elder Scrolls games have a habit of reusing the same voice actors across multiple characters, and it's really become noticeable in recent years. Skyrim is one of the biggest and most obvious offenders, but New Vegas also suffers from the same problem. Brave New World seeks to remedy this by diversifying the character voices.

Professional voice actors were assembled to record replacement dialog for various characters in the game, equating to roughly 7000 lines of dialogue across 145 NPCs. This is a mammoth undertaking, but it really helps to sell the immersion of the game by giving each character a distinct voice that is all their own.

Combined Community Sound Pack

The title screen for the Fallout: New Vegas sound compendium.

This is an older mod that still gets a lot of kudos for what it brings to the Fallout: New Vegas experience. Combined Community Sound Pack does exactly as the name insinuates; it brings a collage of sound effects from multiple mod creators under a single package to revamp the audio experience.

Weapon sounds, distanced effects, explosions, and reload sounds all come together to bring a new level of punch to the game's combat. This is a major step up from the vanilla game sounds and can be combined with other environmental and music mods to craft a finely tailored audiophile journey.

Project Nevada

A Fallout: New Vegas character fires an energy-based rifle

The name of this mod might not give much away, but it's actually one of the most popular New Vegas mods in the entire community. Project Nevada is a module-based mod package that drastically changes the game experience depending on how many you wish to install at any given time.

The mod is comprised of a Core module that acts as a foundation for add-on modules to be stacked on top. This can include anything from adding bullet time and helmet visor overlays to the game or instituting survival mechanics such as sleep, food, and drink. It's impossible to list them all here, which is why it's recommended that players visit the mod page to skim through the entire package.

Fallout New Vegas Redesigned 3 - Open Source

A comparison of an NPC face and a modded one in Fallout: New Vegas.

According to the author of this particular mod, New Vegas was rushed to market by Obsidian in a very short space of time, resulting in quite a lot of character oversights. Fallout New Vegas Redesigned 3 attempts to rectify this by going back and touching up each of the characters in the game so that they adhere to established lore.

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For instance, haggard and wounded characters now look visually distinct based on their conditions, and that's just one example of many fixes this mod does, including animal bites, puncture wounds, age-appropriate facial textures and models, bullet wounds, etc. It even includes extra levels of interaction on corpses to determine the cause of death. Morbid, but cool.

NMCS Texture Pack For New Vegas

A side-by-side comparison of Fallout: New Vegas textures.

Texture packs are one of the most sought-after genres in all of modding. After all, what good is a powerful computer if it can't enhance existing games? Graphics mods for Bethesda games are practically a staple, and New Vegas gets the love with this particular texture pack that helps inject vibrancy and clarity into a very old game.

This is a global texture replacer that handles everything related to the environment, buildings, interiors, vehicles, and other decor items. This makes it easy for beginner modders to enhance the game with a single package as opposed to picking and choosing from hundreds of texture mods. This is definitely one of the best!

Weapon Mods Expanded - WMX

A player wielding a sniper rifle in Fallout: New Vegas.

In a rare departure, Obsidian took inspiration from a Fallout 3 mod created by Antistar and applied a weapons mod system to Fallout: New Vegas. The mod author decided to show his gratitude by expanding on their take. The result is Weapons Mod Expanded - WMX.

This mod adds several weapons to the game while overhauling the weapon mod slots in the process. Mods can also be removed from existing weapons if desired. Crafters and gun tinkerers will love what the mod offers to the game's base formula, which is a step up from what the vanilla game has to offer.

Fallout Character Overhaul

A split image of two enhanced character head models and textures in Fallout: New Vegas

It's obvious that Fallout: New Vegas is showing its age in comparison to other games which have aged more gracefully, and modders have charged to the rescue in an attempt to prolong its palatability. Fallout Character Overhaul does a great job in this department by refreshing the game's characters in a big way.

In addition to high-quality new head meshes, this mod also layers on some beautiful high-resolution texture maps, eye textures, and so on. Everything from teeth to eyelashes have been given a massive bump in quality, which should go a long way to making the characters a bit less harsh on the eyes.

A World Of Pain

A player explores an abandoned building in Fallout: New Vegas

Though it sounds like a mod focused on increasing the game's difficulty, A World Of Pain is actually a mod that adds 170 new locations such as subway tunnels, buildings, and spooky vaults to the New Vegas game world, and this goes a long way to expanding the game's level of content.

There's loot to be found in everything from small gas stations to abandoned factories. There's a mixture of questlines, NPCs, and bone-crushing enemies to encounter, as well, making the game as challenging as it is explorative. Mods like this extend the life of a playthroughand shouldn't be missed.

Roleplayers Alternative Start Fallout New Vegas

The Pip_Boy interface for the Fallout: New Vegas Alternative Start mod

Alternate Start mods are nothing new to gamers who have experience with Bethesda games. In fact, they often rank high as one of the most popular mods specifically because they allow players to bypass the opening parts of a game and pre-establish their own roleplaying storyline.

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This mod does the same thing by allowing players to choose a predefined backstory, and start from a desired location. The mod deposits the player at one of 95 locations across the world map with a series of weapons and items determined by the history they've chosen. This is great for those who want to replay New Vegas from a slightly different angle.

Project Brazil

The title screen for the Project Brazil mod

Not all DLC is paid, and sometimes it doesn't even come from the original developer. In the case of Project Brazil, players get a massive DLC-sized mod that acts as a standalone questline. It can be activated from the main menu, using New Vegas as a foundation from which to launch the story.

This mod includes a brand new main quest, high-quality voice acting with original dialogue, and a story surrounding a war between Super Mutants and several other factions including the Raider Alliance and the New California Republic. It's massive, highly detailed, and no expense has been spared, making it a highly sought-after mod.

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