Platform: PlayStation 4

Developer: Bethesda Game Studios

Publisher: Bethesda Softworks

Release Date: August 30, 2016

Genre:  Action RPG

Nerd Rating: 8 out of 10

People of The Commonwealth! There are only a few weeks left to visit Nuka-World before they close for the winter! Bring your family to meet up with Cappy and the gang!

The Sole Survivor (that’s you!) has explored much of the wasteland he (or she) once called “home”. Now, it all feels like a nightmare that he can’t wake up from. Almost as soon as his trusty Pip-Boy registers that he had become strong enough (Level 30, to be exact), it registers a new radio frequency for our hero to listen to…

                         “Hiya kids! Remember, Nuka-World is only open for a few more weeks of October! Come down and see me and Cappy one last time before we buckle down for the winter. Don’t forget to bring your empty bottle of Nuka-Cola to get $15 off at the gate! So hop aboard The Nuka-Express and come and see the whole Nuka-Family while you still can.” – The Nuka-Cola Family Radio

I can’t believe this thing still works!!

Intrigued, our hero follows the signal and decrepit signs that lead to the far west side of The Commonwealth, where he finds the Nuka-World Transit Center. From there, he can use the Nuka-Express to reach Nuka-World.

Getting on the Nuka-Express, our hero knows that there is something wrong. He may have noticed before or after getting on the monorail, but when he is addressed directly by a man named Porter Gage via intercom, he realized exactly how much trouble he had gotten himself into. Being thrust head-first into a death trap, called ‘The Gauntlet’, The Sole Survivor must survive the raider’s obstacle course. Doing so puts him up against the leader of the joint. After defeating the leader, our hero is suddenly and immediately inaugurated as the new “Overboss”.

Neat map, huh? Looks like a place I’d go to… if it weren’t swarming with raiders!

Now the Overboss of all of Nuka-World, our hero is charged with keeping the peace between three raider gangs and to help them gain complete control of the park. There are five parks, besides the first section (Nuka-Town, USA), for you to “liberate”.  They are; Kiddie Kingdom, Dry Rock Gulch, Safari Adventure, World of Refreshment, and the Galactic Zone. Each section is wrought with enemies of a new sort.

There are a lot of combinations on how this story turns out. The three raider gangs are all fighting to be “on top”. Based on how you deal out land and fortune to the gangs, one of them will turn on you. Also based on you’re actions, you can turn it around and liberate Nuka-World entirely of raiders. These outcomes have their perks and their consequences.

Should you choose to do, what I will call, the “Raider Ending”, you will get guns and permanent perks that are amazingly overpowered. You can choose two of the following three perks. Like the “Chosen Disciple” perk, where any melee kill, while using the V.A.T.S., restores 25% of your Action Point meter. The “Ace Operator” perk allows weapons with a suppressor attached will gain 25% more damage, and sneaking in the shadows makes you 10% more difficult to detect. Finally, the “Pack Alpha” perk increases melee and unarmed attacks by 25% and physical/energy damage is reduced by 25% on top of the armor you already have equipped.

Raiders ruin everything…

Remember how I said there’d be consequences? Well, to get any of these awesome perks, you will more than likely end up attacking the Minutemen and/or The Brotherhood of Steel. Attacking these guys will have permanent negative relationship consequences to these factions. They will more than likely attack you on sight, seeing as you essentially sunk to the level of a raider.

Now, it doesn’t have to be this way. If the perks just aren’t worth burning bridges, you can choose to follow the path of righteousness, or the “Good Ending”. After “liberating” the whole park for the raider gangs, you can speak to one of the slaves owned by the raider gangs. Her name is Doctor Mackenzie. She will give you the mission called “Open Season”, which is everything you’d expect coming from a mission title like that. That’s right, you are given the task of wiping out all of the raiders in Nuka-World! Unfortunately, there are no perks to doing this, except to save face with the Minutemen and The Brotherhood of Steel. That’s the only downside to this DLC in my opinion. No Perk for doing the right thing? It feels more like a punishment for doing the world a service. Guess that’s the way the story goes – no good deed goes unpunished.

However, it is possible to do the Nuka-World DLC before you meet Preston Garvey (he would initiate “Open Season”) or The Brotherhood of Steel in the first place. But that is only if you feel like starting a brand new game, if you want the perks and avoid making companions angry.

Essentially, Nuka-World is centered around an opportunity to play as an evil character and have some enjoyment out of it. There is a lot to see and a ton more to do. New enemies, new missions, a shocking surprise (do the mission “Cappy in a Haystack” and you’ll see what I mean), morals to question, actions to justify, an old cult resurfacing to take all your caps, and a deep look into the life and times of raider scum. No matter what ending you go with, Nuka-World is a DLC worth adding to the story of The Sole Survivor in Fallout 4.

Looks like this place had certainly seen better days.