For the perk in the Fallout: New Vegas add-on Lonesome Road of the same name, see Lonesome Road (perk).
“This is your road. When you come, you'll walk it alone.”— Ulysses
Lonesome Road is the fourth and final add-on for Fallout: New Vegas, developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Bethesda Softworks. Originally scheduled for release in July 2011,[1]Lonesome Road was delayed and subsequently announced for an August release.[2] It was later announced that the add-on had been delayed a second time.[3] It was finally released simultaneously on all platforms on September 20, 2011. This concludes the story arc beginning with Dead Money chronologically, finally answering the foreboding clues given in add-ons past.[4]
Lonesome Road brings the Courier's story full circle when you are contacted by the original "Courier Six", a man by the name of Ulysses, a former Frumentarius of Caesar who refused to deliver the Platinum chip at the start of the main storyline in Fallout: New Vegas. In his transmission, Ulysses promises the answer as to why, but only if you take one last job - a job that leads you into the depths of the Divide, a landscape torn apart by frequent earthquakes and violent storms. This is the fabled location of the battle between the Courier and Ulysses.[5] The road to the Divide is a long and treacherous one, and of the few brave enough to walk it, none have ever returned. The first quest in this expansion begins with The Reunion.
Like all major Fallout: New Vegas add-ons, Lonesome Road raises the level cap by 5.[6]
The player's equipment is not stripped at the beginning of the add-on, and the gameplay has a linear structure. See exception below.[7]
The player can leave the Divide at any time during the add-on without having completed it, and can return afterwards, except when they are about to face Ulysses. (The game will ask player to proceed or not before they enter)
The player may also return to the Divide upon completion of the DLC.
Lonesome Road does not extend gameplay past the game's original ending.[8]
Lonesome Road can affect part of the Mojave Wasteland after completing the main quest.[9]
Companions are not allowed into the add-on, as with all the other add-ons in Fallout: New Vegas.[10]
As with each of the quest extending New Vegas add-ons, Lonesome Road features a unique snow globe. This is also the last one in the set.
Unlike the rest of the add-ons, Lonesome Road does not feature an opening narration. Instead ED-E's recorded messages serves as the opening to the add-on's story.
It is implied through the Old World Blues ending that the events of Lonesome Road canonically take place after the three previous add-ons, as the final line spoken is "Only one road yet remained, and it was one the Courier had to walk alone," as the image onscreen is the Old World flag, a symbol often referring to Ulysses, the main focus of Lonesome Road. However, the add-ons can be completed in any order.
Likely due to its close proximity to the Mojave Wasteland, Lonesome Road is the only add-on in which you may listen to both Mojave Music Radio and Radio New Vegas while visiting. As with all other add-ons, The mysterious broadcast may also be heard if Old World Blues is installed.
The graffiti outside the Canyon Wreckage was there since the game's launch, showing that the DLC was planned well ahead of release.
Three holotapes that can be found in Lonesome Road have been released on the Bethesda Website.[11][12]
Lonesome Road is inspired -at least in part- by Samuel Taylor Coleridge's “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” Part VI, stanza 11 which reads “Like one that on a lonesome road / Doth walk in fear and dread, / And having once turned round walks on, / And turns no more his head; / Because he knows a frightful fiend / Doth close behind him tread.” Ulysses plays the part of the “frightful fiend,” the Courier's secret past with the Divide corresponds with “And having once turned round walks on,” and the Lonesome Road itself is homonymous.
Ulysses makes frequent mention of "the Bull and the Bear" when referring to Caesar's Legion and NCR, respectively, in reference to the symbols on their flags.