Fallout 4 wasn’t at the cutting edge of graphics when it came out, and over a decade later, it hasn’t aged gracefully. While I still have a certain attachment to the green-soaked landscape of Fallout 3 or even the simplistic models of The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind, Fallout 4 often just looks awkward. Some gorgeous vistas and creative heaps of scrap lie within, but gummy textures and flat lighting often produce results that fall far below the highlights.

Luckily, the modding scene for Fallout 4 is incredibly active, and it’s possible to totally transform the game into something that looks genuinely great. One of the best examples I’ve seen comes courtesy of a 2024 video from the YouTube channel Digital Dreams, which showcases footage with over 300 mods and a ray-tracing shader applied. You might need a beefy PC to run this smoothly — the example footage comes courtesy of an RTX 4090 — but if you’ve got the hardware, you should put it to use.

Tired Of Waiting For Fallout 5?

I’m often skeptical of ray-tracing shaders for older games, as they frequently end up overwriting bespoke lighting choices in favor of flashiness. In Fallout 4‘s case, however, it feels like a pretty straightforward upgrade. From sun-baked streets at noon to neon glowing in the night, even occasional moments of over-tuned effects are hard to complain about here.

This modlist is far from the only solution to upgrading Fallout 4, and the Nexus Mods page warns that it’s out of date and even recommends looking elsewhere. That doesn’t mean it’s unusable, however. Comments from 2025 suggest that it’s still possible to use this setup without issues, although the November release of the Fallout 4 anniversary update might throw another wrench into the works.

Fallout 4 Still Has Plenty Of Life Left

Whether you opt for this setup or a different batch of mods, it’s still possible to get a lot out of Fallout 4 today. Fundamental issues like vague text choices and underwhelming RPG elements can also be at least partially addressed through mods, and after the disappointing release of Starfield, it’s hard to have faith that the next Fallout game won’t just be another step down when it does arrive.

Add in all the overhaul mods with new stories and quests, and Fallout 4 has a seemingly endless supply of content for dedicated players. It may never reach the heights of Fallout: New Vegas‘s narrative or even Fallout 3‘s quest design, but if you want to carve a next-gen Fallout experience out of the games currently on the market, Fallout 4 is the perfect candidate for a makeover.

Systems

Released

November 10, 2015

ESRB

M FOR MATURE: BLOOD AND GORE, INTENSE VIOLENCE, STRONG LANGUAGE, USE OF DRUGS

Engine

Creation

Cross-Platform Play

no

Cross Save

no

Steam Deck Compatibility

yes