Fallout 4 mods are infinite, transforming Bethesda’s seminal, apocalyptic RPG in myriad large and small ways. You want more realistic blood effects? No problem. Cleaner building and settlement mechanics? Done. Final Fantasy 7’s Midgar, dropped right in the middle of the map? Easy. But for our caps, the best mods are the ones that make subtle but vital improvements to fundamental mechanics – that keep the base game intact, but just make it, well, better. And that’s what we have here, a new Fallout 4 mod that overhauls the whole sneaking and detection systems, and makes the nuclear dystopia feel more like a Dishonored-style stealth game.
Stealth and Enemy Behaviour by Urania is built to address a few very specific — and highly frustrating — issues in Fallout 4’s “sneaking” mechanics. We say “sneaking” because like anyone who’s tried to play Fallout the Metal Gear Solid way, we’ve found ourselves constantly wrong-footed by arbitrary and unfair enemy AI. “If one enemy hears a little noise you make, instantly they all know your exact location”, Urania writes. “With these changes, it’s at least possible to clear enemy areas now, stealthily”.
Take a look at Urania’s demo video and you can see precisely what they mean. Enemy’s eyesight, hearing, search behaviours, and overall alertness have been subtly tweaked, meaning they still present a threat, and will still hunt for you, but no longer seem linked by a single, telepathic hivemind.
Wielding a sword and playing in first-person, Urania quietly stalks through a Raider hideout, slitting throats from behind, and scrambling into cover if they accidentally make too much noise. Swap the rusted ruins for billowing chimneys, and the boxes of Sugar Bombs for whale blubber, and you could be watching Dishonored.
So, if you prefer a switchblade to Grognak’s axe, and a silenced Deliverer to the Fatman, Stealth and Enemy Behaviour is available for free at Nexus Mods.