Fallout 76 Revisit Review – Is It Worth Revisiting In 2025?

It’s hard to fully quantify Fallout 76′s rise from the dead after its disastrous launch in 2018, but seven years, 23 seasons, six story expansions, and two massive map expansions later it’s hard to deny that Bethesda’s MMO-lite has redeemed itself. Following last year’s horror-themed Skyline Valley expansion, the newest story and map expansion, Burning Springs, takes us to a place more terrifying than anywhere the franchise has gone before – Southeast Ohio.

If you’re not familiar with Fallout 76, it’s best described as a miniscule multiplayer online RPG. That is, it’s an MMORPG where there are only 24 players per server in a world map six times the size of Fallout 4. You’ll frequently play for hours without running into another human player, and when you do it’s kind of an event. Through a gameplay loop of questing, gathering materials, base building, upgrading and crafting weapons and armor, and then questing again you’ll progress through post-apocalyptic Appalachia. There are daily, weekly, and seasonal challenges with rewards for in-game cosmetics of course, but Fallout 76 is actually much more story-focused than its predecessor, Fallout 4. With massive dialogue trees, tons of NPCs, cities, factions, many ways to complete storylines, and lots of in-dialogue skill checks, it’s an experience closer to a Fallout New Vegas online than Fallout 4. 

In the newest expansion, Burning Springs, the world map has been transformed to extend outside of West Virginia and into the dusty foothills of Southeast Ohio.  As has been heavily advertised, this expansion features the addition of The Ghoul, the beloved character from the excellent Fallout TV Series, in his early days as a bounty hunter. Walton Goggins is of course back to voice his immediately iconic character, and my interactions with The Ghoul have already raised some serious lore questions about the nature of ghouls I’m eager to see answered in Season 2 of the show.

You’ll receive a radio broadcast from a woman who’s been trapped by Rust Raiders calling for help, and following that signal will guide you to a Cult of the Mothman camp guarding a bridge across the Ohio River. The new map is seamlessly connected to Applachia, so it feels contiguous to the existing map – new players may not even know it’s an add-on area. You’ll immediately be captured by the Rust King, a Super Mutant warlord who is a little reminiscent of The Master from Fallout 1, and set out to prove your worth in Burning Springs with tests of strength, ferocity, and mettle. Plus, there’s a Blood Dome! You’ll find a new major city, the appropriately named Highway Town, several small settlements, and be trained by The Ghoul to become the best bounty hunter in Ohio.

Like all Fallout 76 expansions, Burning Springs is free and fully integrated into the game, so everyone playing is always playing with the exact same content. Although I love Fallout 76 and it is quite literally the only live service game I’ve kept up with since my college days, I, like most others, dip in for 20 hours or so when a new expansion drops and then wind down until the next one. With a new season every three months that drops dozens of new camp equipment, weapons, armor, it can already feel a bit like a new game every year when I boot it up. With the huge quality of life updates on top of that, doubly so.

Since last year’s Skyline Valley expansion, for instance, Bethesda has changed the health bar from raw numbers of HP to a percentage, which feels like a huge improvement I never thought to ask for. Don’t worry, you still get to see the number 10,345 flying out of a Deathclaw Matriarch when dealing massive damage, but the raw numbers are all calculated behind the scenes to display to you a simple 1-100 scale of HP. Every 20 HP there is a break in the bar, and when damaged you continually heal up to the next break automatically. It’s actually a great system, because it allows for more sustained fights without spamming stimpacks (and purified water bottles to combat stimpack dehydration).

In addition to the new map, new irradiated monsters have made their way into the Fallout canon. The last few years have seen the introduction of Blue Devils (which are a terrifying rendition of werewolves), ouga (a massive alligator snapping turtle on two legs that can earth bend), and new electrical power variants for robots, giant hermit crabs, and feral ghouls. Not to mention the new mechanized Deathclaw variant that wears power armor, or the ultra-aggro Rust Raiders. The shining new addition, which will be familiar to Ohioans, is the Radhog, a disgusting feral hog that weighs in at one ton on a slim day. These local creatures typically move in herds and are extremely aggressive, like their real-world inspirations, and are often led by an Alpha Radhog which sports a genuine Mad Max-esque purple mohawk. It’s just the right blend of silly and terrifying that keeps me coming back to Fallout.

I have so far enjoyed the new Bounty Hunting quests, as the targets often have specific mutations that require you to change up your strategy. For instance, the first target I chased down had the Resilient mutation, so I had to ditch my usual shotgun and fight him with my fists (this went poorly). There’s also ones with camouflage or freezing abilities that keep things from getting too repetitive. While I usually default to a combo of shotguns and grenades for close combat, I also have recently picked up a Marksman Sniper Rifle, and using that to snipe the Radhogs from far away before they can smell me has been a blessing. I’m enjoying the slight pushes to change up the playstyle, which of course also is reflected in the challenges I need to complete to impress The Rust King; rather than the daily and weekly quests I typically gloss over, the story quests to use different weapons and playstyles constantly has been refreshing.

I would say my main issue with Burning Springs is that Highway Town, while large, is not really an exciting city. Especially in comparison to Mosstown, The Foundation, and especially The Crater, it’s pretty lacking in distinctive qualities once you walk inside. There’s a bar, a clinic, a workshop, an inn, etc. The entire city being built on a busted stretch of Highway overpass looks awesome from the exterior, but once inside it has no sense of character. I really have enjoyed most of the cities in Fallout 76, with 2023’s Atlantic City being one of the best in series history. While I really enjoy having Goggins as The Ghoul, his charm also makes it apparent that most of the other NPCs in Burning Springs are lacking. Thankfully, The Rust King is a charismatic enough villain that you’ll be able to look past the waves of faceless raiders that he sends at you.

The most fun I’ve had so far was when I encountered a wild ouga beating two Deathclaws into the ground, and once it killed them it looked up and spotted me. Thankfully, another human player ran by at the same time, and we faced down the monster together before waving goodbye and going our separate ways. I think that’s when Fallout 76 is at its best; you stumble onto another player, team up for a few minutes, coolly acknowledge each other with a tip of the hat, and move on. That’s the law of the Wasteland. I did resub to the Fallout 1st subscription for one month, as I do every year when the expansion drops, but if you can live without the scrapbox you really don’t need it; all the content is included already.

Overall Burning Springs is one of the better Fallout 76 expansions, with its new map being an improvement over Skyline Valley and the bounty hunting storyline feeling fresh and fun. I recommend anyone and everyone jump back into Fallout 76 for Burning Springs, especially to get hype for the second season of the show that’s coming very soon. Getting more background on The Ghoul and his journey from the lovable TV star, Cooper Howard, to a lawless killer has been a great and natural accompaniment to the bounty hunting-based campaign. Bethesda certainly didn’t stuff Goggins’ character in at the last minute – they built the entire expansion around him. You know what they say about us cowpokes; we take it as it comes.

Nirav reviewed Fallout 76 on PC with his own purchased copy. This review is based on the version of the game available at the time of writing and will not be changed.