For now, Fallout seems to have brought its DLC journey of the last few years to a close with Nuka-World. As I write, it has been out for about a year, with no official expansion since. Will there be another? I don’t know either; Bethesda’s plans for Fallout are difficult to predict. Before Nuka-World, and after the DLCs I’ve covered here, two more arrived: Contraptions Workshop and Vault-Tec Workshop. Unlike Nuka-World, these added small improvements and decorations rather than substantial quests. Contraptions Workshop gives you the option of saying, ‘Everything’s going well; rather than get bored, I’ll build something halfway between a workshop and a little factory, with a production line, in that settlement.’ Vault-Tec Workshop has something more enticing: building our own Vault from scratch. After a short storyline of a few quests, we become Overseer of Vault 88 and start mixing the concrete and putting up steel-alloy walls and doors. Once the reactor and organic farming area are done, all that’s left is to dress people in blue Vault 88 suits and let them inside. In other words, mighty Bethesda keeps serving us the same code with fresh makeup.
One day, while travelling between colonies and hunting raiders and super mutants, we receive a radio broadcast. We immediately set out to investigate and find ourselves in a region colonised by gangs. This is Nuka-World. Smaller than Far Harbor, it offers new quests and something else we haven’t experienced before: the chance to become a raider. Until now, whichever side we chose, we were always the good guy, always the hero. Whatever we did, we could find some moral or ethical justification. But how do those thieves, killers and gang members live—the ones we shoot like flies when they appear, then walk on past? What do they eat and drink? Do they have stories? Did knowing nothing about these people, whom we valued no more than a wild dog as we blew out their brains and tore off their limbs, make us more ruthless? Nuka-World gives us answers.
Nuka-World is an enormous amusement park left over from the old world. Before the nuclear apocalypse, it offered everything from a zoo to roller coasters. Afterwards, it became a trading and living space divided among three major gangs. Money from extortion, robbery, drugs and every other dirty business keeps the large central market alive. Each gang has its own style. Briefly:
The Operators
The Operators are the most civilised-looking collection of murderers and thieves in Nuka-World. Unlike the other gangs, they treat raiding as a profession rather than a lifestyle. Their chief aim is money; killing is a business. They see the others as uncontrolled savages and are very arrogant. Let me put it this way: if the Pack are steelworkers and the Disciples construction workers, these are office workers. But sit down for a chat and out comes a lord, acting like an heir of Sultan Murad III. The other fellow earns TRY 2,500 and you earn TRY 3,000—what are you showing off about? He takes public transport to work while you struggle with your car payments. His foreman tells him off; you button your jacket respectfully for the capitalist. Who exactly are you trying to impress?
The Pack
The Pack is Nuka-World’s tribal-style gang. Old Fallout players will remember* the Great Khans from New Vegas, with their horned helmets, fringed armour and mountain home. Here, the Pack have become the Fallout writers’ new Great Khans. They wear animal-based armour, make furniture from horns and heads, and keep plenty of fighting dogs and gorillas. Their leader is a rather simple-minded hulk who rules by brute force rather than intelligence. Their clothes are colourful and their faces painted for war. The colour palette reminded me of Suicide Squad.
The Disciples
The Disciples are the most vicious gang, living up to Nuka-World’s reputation. They are psychopaths through and through. Bloodshed and murder are pleasures. If you want to be truly evil, do psychopathy justice and spill innocent blood, stay close to this gang. The others dislike them because they are uncontrollable: members can cause trouble and kill people without warning. Their armour reminded me of the game Disciples, a connection also suggested by the name. Character designs with completely hidden eyes are famous in Disciples III: Resurrection; look them up. Unlike the other gangs, most Disciples fight at close range with knives and similar weapons.
The expansion adds new gang rifles resembling Kalashnikovs, chambered in 7.62 mm, and they are more effective than many existing weapons. Gang armour is powerful too, making combat much tougher. Although my character is now above level 80, there were moments on Very Hard when I struggled.
After that introduction to the gangs, let’s look at social life and hierarchy. All three answer to one overall leader, and the story makes that leader you. The Overboss controls income, expenditure and security, while acting as a bridge between three gangs that dislike each other. All three must listen to and respect you to prevent a gang war turning Nuka-World into a bloodbath. Of course, this only happens if you choose to become a raider. Otherwise, after entering Nuka-World, killing Colter before a screaming audience and speaking to Porter, you can tell Preston Garvey what has happened, or take the quest to eliminate the gangs from Dr Mackenzie in the market. I’ll continue assuming you accept the Overboss role. Nobody liked Colter, your predecessor. He wasn’t particularly clever and let business stagnate, but remained leader for a long time because he was tough and dangerous. His closest associate, right-hand man and adviser Porter Gage betrays him and engineers your replacement of him, then guides you throughout. Gage wants to establish order among the gangs and expand the business, extorting every region within reach. As the game progresses, we discover the goal is to control the Commonwealth: the area containing your settlements, where you spent days and hours with the Minutemen and Brotherhood of Steel painstakingly clearing threats and establishing safe shelters, trade routes and order. So either forget Nuka-World and the Overboss business, grab a machine gun and slaughter everything that moves before the quests even open, or return with the gangs as their leader to dismantle everything you built in the Commonwealth and experience life as a raider. The decision is yours. After you progress far enough as a gang leader, the Minutemen and Preston Garvey become hostile.
Unlike Far Harbor, Nuka-World’s map is quite small: a large trading square surrounded by five separate park areas. Beyond those, a few Gunner groups of different sizes are scattered around the edges. Attracted by the low radiation and apparently habitable conditions, they came here only to be driven into corners and trapped by the gangs. There are new enemies, some familiar from older Fallout games. Familiar creatures such as Mirelurks also appear as stronger Nukalurks. Ants, crickets and giant earthworms are among the other enemies suited to Nuka-World’s tropical climate.
You can take many side quests from the gangs, improving your relationships as you complete them. Or stick to the main story if you prefer. I recommend the fetch quests so you get to know the map properly and see every corner and surprise. In the main quest, Porter asks you to capture areas occupied by creatures or Nuka robots and expand gang territory. Be prepared: these missions are quite challenging. The objectives are as tough as Nuka-World’s natural enemies. Before claiming an area, Porter asks which gang should receive it. If I remember correctly, there are five areas to distribute. Fairness is in your interest, because a rebellion could lead to civil war. Alternatively, leave a gang you dislike with no territory from the start and wipe it out when it rebels. Once every area is under gang control, Porter explains the next stage: ‘We’re moving into the Commonwealth. Thanks to you, we control Nuka-World. Now it’s their turn.’ He gets under your skin with lines along the lines of, ‘You’re a good leader. I know you haven’t warmed to us and don’t see yourself as one of us, but after all this dirty work, you already are.’ Say no, or postpone the mission, and the expansion’s story stops. You have to embrace the evil gang-leader role to proceed. Once you agree, you leave Porter and Nuka-World behind for a while. Shank, an expert in occupying settlements and extortion, accompanies your work as gang leader.
The main Nuka-World quest moves quickly through plenty of action before returning to the Commonwealth. You may miss side quests left behind, so explore and make time to finish them. Shank is the person with whom you discuss strategy: which settlement to take and how. When it’s time to return to the Commonwealth, he says the gangs need a base there, and you select a settlement. Before choosing, consider its condition, population, contribution to trade routes and everything else. The moment you select it in Shank’s quest dialogue, it ceases to be yours and no longer recognises you. Shank asks whether to take it by force, killing or driving everyone out, or through conversation. Your answer determines whether gang members accompany you. Choose persuasion and you go alone, trying to convince someone to leave without a fight. Charisma matters here. If yours is low, around six or seven, raise it with consumables or you won’t stand a chance. The settlers won’t want to abandon their homes. If you decide the die is cast and you might as well go all the way as a raider and killer, blood will flow.
Once you take the first Commonwealth settlement, you are a raider. Raider settlements work a little differently. You won’t have them farming: these gangsters dislike soil and vegetables, and it makes them unhappy. Put on Nuka-World Radio, install a drug dispenser and an alcohol still, and let them drink, get high and hang out. So where does food come from? Your first base spreads fear among nearby settlements. Hover over it on the map to see that pressure. One of those frightened communities will become its food supplier. Since the villagers won’t volunteer, a second quest opens to extort a share of their production. Talk to Shank, choose a nearby target and go demand tribute. As with capturing the base, you can either intimidate them through an armed raid or talk them into it. Once done, food arrives regularly at your base, while its earnings are sent as caps to your main Nuka-World chest.
At first, Shank asks you to take three towns and find one village to provide food. As you continue, the number of bases and suppliers grows. Ironically, the Commonwealth you made prosperous is gradually handed back to gangs and raiders under your own leadership. And from a distance, the cold echo of a familiar sentence reaches your ears:
War. War never changes.
BONUS
If you have played or plan to play Nuka-World, head south across the map and you will find an NPC welcoming you from the roof of his shack with a kind, inviting expression. Sitting in a chair, this is Evan. He is so kind that even stealing his things doesn’t provoke a complaint. He asks whether you need anything, says life is cruel and keeps drawing your attention to the beautiful view. I was surprised when I met him: he was so positive that something seemed unusual. He had no quest for me, but gave me one of the expansion’s 15 new Nuka-Cola recipes. Why mention this? Bethesda created Evan, modelling his appearance and mannerisms on a fan’s late brother, to honour him. A fan who had lost his father and then recently his brother wrote a depressed post on one of Bethesda’s social platforms, explaining that Fallout helped ease his grief. Bethesda contacted him and said they wanted to include his brother as a memorial NPC. I think that was the most meaningful and heartfelt response the creators of his favourite game could have offered. His brother’s name and face will live on for years through Fallout 4: Nuka-World. Rest in peace, Evan.
