To mod or not to mod, that is the question.
Fallout 4, Bethesda's post-apocalyptic RPG became the first game on Xbox One to utilize mods on console. Mods are a coup for Xbox One users who want to alter their game, and there are mods for practically everything. There are so many to go through, so it can be hard to know where to start. We've compiled a comprehensive list of the most rewarding, interesting and weird mods available.
Any mods requiring additional content and DLC will say so.
You'll need to a make a Bethesda account to access the mods which you can do from within the game on your Xbox.
See Fallout 4 on the Xbox Store
Note: Achievements are disabled while mods are active.
- Cheat Menu Ultimate Holotape Menu
- The Unofficial Patch
- Improved Maps and Visible Roads
- Full Dialogue Interface
- Green in the Commonwealth
- Stronger Workshop Defenses
- Scrap Everything
- Beantown Interiors Project
- True Storms
- Institute Portal Gun
- Dauntless
- A Cannibal in Concord
- Macho Claws
- Renovated Furniture
- Commonwealth Cuts
- Wasteland Creatures Redone
- Submersible Power Armor
- The Wild Wasteland
- CROSS-Cybernetics
- D.E.C.A.Y Better Ghouls
- Everyone's Best Friend
- Nuka Cola Filling Machine
- Dark Husky Dogmeat
- Real Nights with Real Lights
THE BIG ONE - Cheat Mode Ultimate Holotape Menu
This mod, while tiny in size, is freaking huge in terms of capability. Most people will probably look for this type of thing first. The Cheat Mod Ultimate Holotape offers all the standard things you might expect, God Mode, Unlimited Carry Weight, Infinite Ammo, Max Perk and S.P.E.C.I.A.L points. But it goes so much further than that: extra inventory slots, easy lockpicking and terminal access, add weapons (DLC if installed and base game), spawn enemies or settlers, add crafting materials... AND SO MUCH MORE!
This is the best place to start if you want to power your way through the game with little to stand in your way. It will always be in the top slot of your miscellaneous items menu, and the menu is accessed via your Pip-Boy and at any time. Perfect.
The Unofficial Patch
With a game as large as Fallout 4, there are bound to be hundreds of minor bugs. The Unofficial Fallout 4 Patch irons out as many kinks as could be found. It's a hefty mod, and requires being at the very top of your mod list to activate.
Improved Maps and Visible Roads
The Pip-Boy map can be a bit... gritty. Improved Maps with Visible Roads greatly increases the visibility of everything on the screen by a significant margin. The vibrancy of the lines are much brighter, and roads are now easier to see, making following a path or planning your route much easier.
Full Dialogue Interface
When someone speaks to you in the Commonwealth, you're given options of a couple of words for each dialogue choice. This mod stacks the dialogue options in full, so you can see in advance what your choices are and what the full response will be. This makes the dialogue options more in keeping with how they were in Fallout 3. The mod will also display the 'tone' of the choice, so if you're hoping to give a snappy response, it'll be clearly displayed with a 'tonal inflection'— no more accidental sarcastic responses to people you need to butter up.
Green in the Commonwealth
Green in the Commonwealth adds a boost of much-needed color to the Commonwealth environments. You could argue that after 200 years since the nuclear bombs dropped, at least some of the grass and leaves would probably have grown back in that time.
The Commonwealth is bleak and desolate much of the time, and Green in the Commonwealth adds extra greenery textures; including flowers, lush bushes, and plants. This mod is aesthetic only but certainly does add a level of immensity that some felt was lacking before.
Stronger Workshop Defenses
Stronger Workshop Defenses adds a lot stronger defense items to your workshop menus, and the great thing is, it requires no additional perks. If your survivor bases are suffering, you can throw down some insane turrets which will rip through any raiders that come knocking.
Scrap Everything
It's a little irritating when you're trying to build a settlement for survivors, and there are things that you can't remove to add one more desperately needed power generator. With Scrap Everything you can remove almost everything. If you wanted to strip a settlement to the bare rock and build from the bottom upwards, you can.
Beantown Interiors Project - Requires Far Harbor DLC
This is an interesting mod, in that some abandoned and boarded up buildings around the Commonwealth are now open and available to use. There are currently 12 newly opened buildings in and around the Commonwealth, being situated in Concord, Lexington, Forest Grove Marsh, and Jamaica Plains.
The Beantown Interiors Project concept of opening and using abandoned buildings was also used in Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas.
True Storms - Requires Far Harbor DLC
If you've played Fallout 4, you have probably encountered the weather systems. Radiation storms will ignite the skies with green lightning, causing the player to take radiation damage if they're caught outside. The True Storms mod adds new weather patterns, including radiation rain, dust storms, heavy fog or rain among other things. Interior sound effects for the weather have also been added.
Institue Portal Gun
This gun does exactly what it says on the tin. It's a gun, that you can use to travel to otherwise unreachable areas. Is there something hiding on top of that building? Whip out your Institute Portal Gun, take aim and fire to instantly move to the target. Planning on picking a pocket? Use your gun to create a quick getaway. Being chased by a Randy Savage Deathclaw (see below)? Use the gun for instant evasion! Or maybe you're over-encumbered and you've been looting the abandoned homes of the Commonwealth. Your pockets are full to bursting, and you just can't move. The gun solves this problem too!
Dauntless - Submarine Player Home - Requires Far Harbor DLC
Do you want your own submarine you can use as a base? Of course, you do! Dauntless is not only a player home, but you can drive it around! It's not quite a Winnebago, but a moveable home adds a layer of security to moving around the Commonwealth.
A Cannibal in Concord
Oh my word, this mod is macabre. If you want to inject a creepy and morbid vibe to your game, this mod A Cannibal in Concord adds a horror questline based on real cannibals and serial killers. Lurching off the standard quest path, this mod includes puzzles that will need the player to move things around and search for clues in a creepy basement. Companions are made to wait outside (the mod creator states this is because there isn't room for the player in amongst everything surrounding you) making this mod one of the eeriest and unsettling to play. And it's twisted to boot!
Macho Claws
Deathclaws are the number 1 cause of death in the whole Commonwealth. They're utterly terrifying — the huge jaws, the massive flesh shredding claws... What if we made them a little less scarier? With this mod, you can change the Deathclaws into WWE Superstar Macho Man Randy Savage. It's dumb as hell, but also hilarious. Download Macho Claws here.
Renovated Furniture
Tired of making semi-decent settlements and being disappointed by the threadbare assortment of furniture to kit them out with? Renovated Furniture inserts over 120 new pieces of furniture into the game that don't look like they have been pulled out of the garbage. Cleaner textures for tables, fridges, chairs, bookcases and more are all part of one tiny file. Radiation fallout is so tough to remove from upholstery...
Commonwealth Cuts
I might not be the only person who thinks the default hairstyles in Fallout (in general) are pretty terrible. They're ugly, boring and a crime against Commonwealth fashion. Commonwealth Cuts inserts lots of new hairstyles in the character creation menu. You'll never look back the greasy-looking default hair textures once you get your hands on Commonwealth Cuts.
Wasteland Creatures Redone
Wasteland Creatures Redone is a retexture mod for most of the lesser enemies and monsters found in Fallout 4. It is pretty large, more than 400mb, but it's great if you're bored of staring down the same old Mirelurks and Bloatflies, etc. A full list of the monsters retextured is in the link.
Submersible Power Armor
This power armor, inspired by the Big Daddies in Bioshock is totally kick-ass. It increases your carry weight, boosts your movement speed, and can even go underwater. Further to this, is has a cool lamp that comes in different colors to light up the depths. While there is one Power Armor set, it has different helmets that represent the different types of Daddies in Bioshock. It's a tank in human clothing. Get it here.
The Wild Wasteland
The Wild Wasteland was a trait from Fallout New Vegas that made exploration a little more unpredictable. Remember the 'Indiana Jones Found Dead in a Refridgerator' moment from New Vegas? That was down to The Wild Wasteland trait which brings random encounters and events, as well as odd items and easter eggs. This trait isn't in Fallout 4, but a mod has been made to emulate it.
CROSS_Cybernetics
Power armor brings such huge defense bonuses, but they require Fusion Cores to remain powered, and they're not always in plentiful supply. CROSS_Cybernetics allows you to create and equip a modular set of 'lite power armor' from its Cyber Crafting Bench, which can be added to settlements. The pieces can be individually upgraded and modded and come in a large range of colors. The best thing? No batteries required.
D.E.C.A.Y Better Ghouls
Ghouls are the highly mutated, radiation damaged humanoids that love to launch themselves at you in groups. They're pink, gross and their mouths gape disgustingly, but once you've fought one, you've fought them all. D.E.C.A.Y Better Ghouls adds variety in the ghoul's skin textures. Some will have moldy skin, exposed bones, missing parts and more. Ghouls are already pretty grim, and this mod adds an extra dollop of grossness.
Everyone's Best Friend
Dogmeat is undeniably the best four-legged companion of any game in recent years. Originally, you were going to be able to have Dogmeat in addition to one of the game's other companions, but this was changed before the final release of the game. Everyone's Best Friend mod allows you to have both Dogmeat and another regular companion follow you on your travels. Triple the attack power available, triple the fun, right?!
Nuka Cola Filler Machine
Bottles, bottles everywhere and not a drop to drink. This is a cool and interesting mod. The Commonwealth is stuffed with empty Nuka Cola bottles, and beyond scavenging them for glass materials, they're pretty useless. What if you could fill them back up with that life giving Nuka nectar? Now you can, with the Nuka Cola Filling Machine! Drop it into one of your settlements, ensure it's powered sufficiently, and fill away. The machine takes a bottle and a bottlecap and fills the bottle up with that sweet life giving liquid.
Dark Husky Dogmeat
Dogmeat again, I can't get enough of this pixellated pooch. This time, you can retexture him into a Dark Husky Dogmeat. The mod doesn't do anything else. It just gives him a fresh look!
Real Nights with Real Lights
If you wanted to be even more terrified at night in the Commonwealth, Real Nights with Real Lights is for you. This mod makes nights darker and increases the range of lights. Most natural light sources are turned way down, so if you're out in the wilderness and far from settlements, it's going to be nigh on pitch black.
Did we miss any of your favorite mods? Have you got one you think should be on the list? Let us know in the comments below!