Fallout 76: Burning Springs - Head to Ohio and Meet Walton Goggins' Ghoul

Fallout 76 has been on quite the journey since launching in 2018. Anyone vaguely familiar with the version of the game that launched back then will also be quite aware of the well-publicised problems that marred its early days. Though those initial throes may continue to define the game for those who have never played it, or only played it at launch, the community that dropped in regularly in the intervening seven years (myself included), has been treated to another side of it entirely.

If you’re one of the people that counts yourself in the former category, this might just about be the perfect time to bite the bullet and jump into Fallout 76 again. It’s no secret that the Prime Video Fallout show has done plenty to bring in a new crowd to the post-apocalyptic lore that the series has managed to cement in only a single season. The relatively gentle introduction to the frankly upsetting world of Bethesda’s flagship series has turned it into an approachable canon that covers many of the earliest games in the series and ingratiates the viewer with everything that us more experienced players are now intimately familiar with.

So what’s next? Well the Burning Springs update is set to be one of the more game-changing in the history of the MMO and, if they manage to get it just right, it really could be that final leap that nails exactly what the game was shooting for in the first place. Factually, the next update is bringing some impressive credentials to the proverbial party. First up, it’s technically the largest update the game has received since 2020, bringing a new region, characters and factions to the game that greatly deepens the wider lore on offer.

Specifically, you’ll be able to explore post-apocalyptic Ohio for the first time, a state that has previously only featured in small tidbits of information in the other Fallout games. The titular Burning Springs region is a war-torn desert landscape inhabited by raiders and the ever-terrifying danger of Deathclaws. It expands the map more in a single instance than we’ve seen for a very long time and it comes complete with all of the activities that you’d expect if you’re an experienced player.

The new map includes a Super Mutant named the Rust King, who gives players specific tasks to do as they explore the area for the first time. Additionally, the new locale will cover everything from new locations to public events to workshops, and it should provide an area dissimilar to any they have seen in the game thus far. A new C.A.M.P. Pet is available in the form of the Rad Hog, one of the coolest creatures that you’re ever likely to encounter, assuming you are brave enough to tame it in the first place.

If you’re a fan of the show, it also marks the first time that The Ghoul is set to appear in any Fallout game, with Walton Goggins reprising the role that he nailed so universally in the first season on Prime Video. Though the exact mechanism for how to do so is unclear, you’ll be able to secure the radioactive curmudgeon’s unique weapon for use in the game, and the character should serve as something of an ally in a world where trustworthy companions are few and far between.

Goggins’ character also provide a new set of bounty hunting missions for the player to pursue, where you’ll be tasked with working throughout Burning Springs and slaying everything from raider foes to massive radioactive creatures. The system itself will see new bounties roll in all the time, so the character should stay relevant for an extended period, regardless of your priorities beyond the verdant green landscape of West Virginia. It’s obviously important to note here that the character isn’t available as an official companion, but his presence is a really nice linking point between the relatively casual setting of the show, and the more epic wider lore of the games.

It might not feature an individual standout addition like NPCs or recognisable expansions from the single-player games, as previous updates have done, but the Burning Springs release has a ton of sensible, progressive changes that should appeal to long-time players. Equally, the developer is keen to stress that everything included should be just as appealing to those jumping into the game for the first time in a long time, or indeed ever. It’s an impressive showing that really concentrates on tangible features that should make sense to everyone, regardless of how experienced they are in Bethesda’s world of madness and mayhem.

Bit by bit, Bethesda Game Studios has managed to turn the game into everything fans had built it up to be when it was first pitched to them all those years ago. This next update might not be the biggest revolution in the MMO’s history, but it absolutely could serve as the capstone evolution that finally rounds off everything the development team has been shooting for. As a package, it has to be said that Fallout 76 is already one of the more compelling offerings in the MMO genre, and, assuming everything goes as planned when the update drops, this next step will only advance that position. Plus, it has Walton Goggins, and it really can’t be overstated just how much he improves anything he crops up in.