Fallout New Vegas remains the darling child of the series. Obsidian’s creation might not have quite the bombast and scope of Bethesda’s entries, but its narrative, world-building, and characters make it one of the most beloved RPGs on PC to this day. Even better, play it in 2025 and most of its uneven spots – of which there are quite a few – are smoothed over with mods. Continuing that trend, a new addition to the lineup has just completely overhauled melee combat, making now an ideal time to check in on the fan-favorite game after the success of the Fallout show on Prime.
The magnificent Fallout London is a tremendous reminder of just how talented a lot of the modding community around the series can be, but even more hours have been poured into honing Fallout New Vegas across the 14 years since it was released. Already one of the best RPGs on PC when it first launched, it’s only continued to improve, with the best Fallout New Vegas mods fixing problems and allowing you to expand its many systems in whatever way you desire. Joining the fray as we enter the new year is the ‘Close Quarters Combat’ mod from creator ‘Psychor.’
As you’d expect, this is an overhaul to melee and unarmed combat – and really the best thing to sell it is to see it in action. It affects both you and the NPCs out in the wasteland, with a range of attacks, blocks, shoves, grapples and so on. Enemies in close range to you will now be able to evade your attempts to hit them with ranged weapons, meaning you’ll want to fight physically once you get up close, transforming the whole thing into a very John Wick-style encounter.
Your stats will of course have a bearing on your combat effectiveness. High Strength unlocks moves such as a vicious stomp, while also allowing you to be more resilient against incoming attacks. High Agility will unlock defensive skills and abilities such as a leg sweep, and will also let you knock enemies off-balance for longer. You can also give opponents a hefty shove to try and throw them back, and pushing them into walls will increase the chance it hurts them and causes them to stumble.
Fists and unarmed-style weapons benefit your ability to send your foes ragdolling, while using the likes of blades and heavy melee weapons will open up more special properties and higher-damage attacks. Characters in Power Armor will naturally be immune to moves such as grapples and tackles, and when you’re incredibly close to an opponent you can end up locking into a stalemate grapple, forcing you to create space.
Complementing this, Psychor has also released a separate mod called ‘Harder Humans’ that gives NPCs the ability to evade your line of fire from the Close Quarters Combat mod, but at longer ranges. The creator says this “makes enemies significantly more difficult,” so if you’ve been looking for a bit more challenge, you’ll want to pick it up as well. Conversely, you can make your life a little easier with another option that will make you temporarily immune to incoming gunfire while you’re engaged in CQC.
The Fallout New Vegas Close Quarters Combat mod and Harder Humans mod are both out now. You can find full instructions and the related mods on the download page, so if the Fallout show has invigorated your interest in the games, now is a perfect opportunity to try out one of its finest entries.
We’ve got the latest news on all the biggest upcoming PC games in 2025, so be sure to take a look and see what’s ahead – perhaps we’ll even hear word on a Fallout 5 release date, but don’t hold your breath quite yet.
You can also follow us on Google News for daily PC games news, reviews, and guides, or join our community Discord to stay in the know.