Of all the worlds created over the last 40+ years of video game development, Fallout's wastelands must be some of the least appealing to live in if they were translated to real life.
The blasted hellscapes left behind after an enormous nuclear war devastated the planet are filled with horrendous creatures, hazardous wastes and the remnants of a humanity that doesn't follow the same set of rules we've (mostly) adopted in polite society.
Anybody who has played the games will know that the Vaults often serve as the staging ground for the worst of humanity's instincts, with nefarious experiments happening in almost every one of them. That doesn't mean they are the only places where you'll find such horrors though, as this new free download proves.
Blue Hills Research Facility is a lore-friendly quest dungeon mod that really dials in on the horror of the Fallout series, above anything else.
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In the developer's own words, Blue Hills Research Facility is "for players who love atmospheric exploration, environmental storytelling, and challenging combat. Inspired by sci-fi horror (especially the Alien franchise), this mod will take you deep into the ruins of a sprawling underground facility where the U.S. Army and Vault-Tec worked on secret projects where cutting-edge science reached so far that something horrifying reached back".
The dungeon itself features three distinct areas in the Administrative Hub, the Reactor Tunnels, and the basement Bio-Engineering labs, as well as a bespoke quest designed to allow the player to explore the location properly.
Entitled "Crew Expendable", the quest features several puzzles, where you'll have to interact with switches and terminals to power things back on and progress through its dark halls.
Much of the storytelling is done environmentally, with dozens of terminal entries for players to get to grips with. That said, it also features a fully voice acted holo-tape that should set it apart from other similar mods in terms of quality.
If you're wondering how there were so many organisations conducting experiments on people, you don't really need to, as it seems Vault-Tec were also responsible for the more monstrous excesses of this facility as well.
The mod has been developed over five months and is essentially complete at this point, so you won't need to wait to experience its full extent or to get the conclusion to the story.
If you fancy giving it a go, just head over to Nexus Mods and take advantage of the free download.