Nuka-World isn’t the family-friendly wonderland it used to be, but for the Raiders making their home under the shadow of its towering rides, it could be as close to paradise as they’ll ever get. Provided you can come in and help them clean it up.
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Fallout 4’s latest, and final, add-on is available now on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. Step into the worn leather boots of a Raider Overboss and spread your influence throughout Nuka-World and into the Commonwealth. Learn more about this wild and quirky new add-on in this video, and get even more details below.
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Explore the Park
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There are six distinct zones within the park, each with their own sights and dangers. “Size-wise Nuka-World is just a little bit smaller than Far Harbor,” Lead Level Designer Justin Schram tells us. “But the density of content and the sheer amount of things to do makes it almost as big. There’s so much packed into it.”
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You begin in the Raider hub in Nuka-Town, USA. From there you can visit the robot-infested Galactic Zone, where the citizens of yesteryear brought a fantastical world of tomorrow to life. Or you can step back in time to Dry Rock Gulch, a Wild West town with patrolling sheriff Protectrons and a mine cart rollercoaster ride.
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Safari Adventure is Nuka-World’s version of a zoo, but the inhabitants aren’t quite what they used to be. Heavy radiation has transformed the creatures here into monstrous beasts like the Gatorclaws, a mutated version of alligators. The World of Refreshment is a working Nuka-Cola bottling plant with a fun tour ride that reveals the history of your favorite fizzy beverage. Finally, make your way over to Kiddie Kingdom, a paradise for families. Or it was at one point. “Kiddie Kingdom is where all the family friendly stuff was,” says Lead Artist Mark Teare. “Which of course makes it the perfect place to put the creepiest stuff to get that contrast of really cute and really horrific.”
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The “unoccupied” areas of the park are also full of life, where you’ll find deadly new creatures like the tunneling Bloodworms and horrifying Cave Crickets. As the Overboss, it will be up to you to clear these areas out and make them safe(r) for your Raider underlings to live there. As you complete the quests, a slew of new settlement options will become available, including the chance to build a new home for yourself right by the park. Decorate the area with horrifying new Raider items, like corpses! Or, class the joint up by setting parts of it on fire. Nuka-World is your oyster.
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The Raider Lifestyle
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Nuka-World is host to three very different Raider gangs who have a tenuous relationship. The Raiders aren’t expanding their territory, and they’re starting to get a bit antsy. You’ll have a new Raider companion to help guide you in your new role, but it’ll ultimately be up to you to take control of the situation.
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“When you arrive you’re put into the position of being the Overboss when you defeat the previous Overboss,” explains Lead Quest Designer Alan Nanes. “The gangs in Nuka-World have been there for a long time, and they can’t stand being near each other anymore. It’s up to you to get their operation moving and get the Raiders happy to be Raiders again.”
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Each of the three gangs has very distinct motives and styles. “The Pack loves animals,” says Schram. “They see them as superior to humans. They keep people as slaves and train animals for fights.”
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“The Pack is just absolutely crazy,” adds Nanes. “They are the farthest we get from the Raiders in the Commonwealth. They’re a very fun, almost comedic gang. That makes them really fun to hang out with.”
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The Operators believe in killing in style. They’re efficient and calculating, preferring to strike from the shadows (and avoid getting a single drop of blood on their chic armor). They’re Nuka-World’s snooty “upper class” Raider gang.
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Then there are the Disciples, a group of deranged lunatics, interested only in mayhem and murder. “They’re very depersonalized,” Schram says. “They wear masks and hide their faces so they don’t have to make eye contact.”
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You’ll need to leave the relative safety of Nuka-Town, USA, where the three gangs are holed up, and head out into the untamed zones of the park. Conquer each zone, then hand over control to the gang of your choice. But be careful who you slight, because it could come back to haunt you later on.
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But being a Raider doesn’t mean you have to become a mindless killer. “You get to play as a Raider,” says Lead Producer Angela Browder, “but you also get to decide what kind of Raider you want to be.”
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And that goes a lot deeper than just siding with one of the Raider gangs over the others. You’ll eventually be able to take your gangs’ control outside of Nuka-World and back into the Commonwealth to expand your influence, turning settlements over to your gangs to raise their opinions of you and help you earn their trust. How you choose to interact with settlements back in the Commonwealth will help determine your character. Are you a ruthless, cold-blooded killer who will rush in and wipe everyone out? Or are you a more cunning, coercive Raider who would rather convince the settlers to hand their homes over willingly and without bloodshed?
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“You can be what we’ve jokingly been calling a ‘kindhearted Raider,’” adds Nanes. “You can find all sorts of ways to get the settlers to agree to give you their settlement or bend them to your will. People hear Raider and they think ‘wholesale slaughter.’ We actually took great pains with this add-on to make sure that wasn’t a requirement.”
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Your New Toys
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Becoming a Raider has other perks too – including access to all of their distinctive armor. Where the Pack loves wild colors and over-the-top outfits, the Operators prefer slick, sophisticated armored suits. “Their different backgrounds and styles really sets them all apart visually,” says Teare. “The ones who are more bloodthirsty have more violent shapes and rough edges. The ones who are more clean cut and efficient have a more stylized look to their armor.”
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You’ll have some new theme park-inspired weaponry to go with your new armor, allowing you to create your own unique Overboss. “With a game that has as many crazy weapons as Fallout 4, we really had to dig into the theme of the add-on, which was the amusement park and the wackiness that goes with it,” Teare adds. So along with a new rough-and-tumble Raider-inspired gun set, you’ll also have access to some… more whimsical tools.
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Remember how the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. videos in the base game told you a paddleball isn’t a good weapon? Forget that! Thanks to some inventive upgrades, Nuka-World’s Paddleball is a toy you would never want to put in the hands of a child. Mod it with spikes, electric shocks or fire, or take it to the gruesome next level with weaponized Nuka-Cola, giving the Paddleball a nitroglycerin bomb-effect, perfect for popping enemies’ heads like balloons. The Nuka-Girl’s Thirst Zapper is another weapon that can become even more devastating with the help of weaponized Nuka-Cola. If you’re in the mood for a messy kill, pick up the Acid Soaker, which does exactly what it says on the tin. This disturbing device hoses your enemies down with corrosive fluid, effectively turning them into piles of melted goop.
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The Acid Soaker, by the way, can be found in the newly added Nuka-Cade, where you can play arcade games for tickets, and turn in those tickets for prizes. The prizes can be expensive, though, so you may want to hunt for tickets in the rest of the park. The Nuka-Cade can also be built in any of your settlements to help you add a little fun to post-apocalyptic living. Because ultimately, Nuka-World is all about pure fun.
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“We chose to do a theme park because we knew we would have a ton of opportunities to try different stuff that entertained us as players who have played the game over and over during the development, and would hopefully entertain players who are maybe coming back after a break or have stuck with all the add-ons and been playing for the whole last year,” says Teare. “We just want to give players something they haven’t seen before.”
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