Burning Springs is the latest expansion in Fallout 76, and this time the map has been expanded sideways (to the Northwest, to be specific). And even though the new map is just a jump, skip, and a hop over the river, it's an entirely different vibe.

"The way Jon Rush (creative director) likes to describe it is, our world is like a theme park," lead producer, Bill LaCoste, tells me. "So every area has a defined theme, and we didn't have anything that was very close to that desert kind of Wasteland. So this just made perfect sense for the region that we'd be expanding into, and the reasons why the region is that way. It really fit well with what we had."

This new area of the Wasteland is indeed inspired by the sandy slopes of Fallout: New Vegas and Fallout 3, with the pillars being "desert, deathclaws, and raiders", which also coincidentally ties in with Fallout season 2 on Prime.

"We set this up in a way so this new area goes along with the show a little bit," LaCoste says. "We just wanted to expand in a different direction, you know. And also, I think part of the mystery and mystique behind Ohio is that there's only a handful of references to Ohio in all of the Fallout Lore. There aren't very many, and so that was part of the intrigue."

But before I could even begin to explore any of the sandy dunes, I was cornered into fighting in the Rust King's arena. Kidnapped after trying to help a fake person in need (this is what I get for being nice), I was left in a cage to choose an ally out of two other prisoners: One being slightly more chatty but a little snakey, and the other not wanting anything to do with me.

I can't actually remember who I picked as a partner, but in the end, it didn't matter because they both ended up dying in the arena—I didn't actually think I'd need to babysit them, plus I had a deathclaw on my back as if that wasn't enough to deal with.

After impressing the Rust King with my sick axe moves (I died twice), I was let free, able to roam this new side of the Wasteland, and I can confirm, it's very sandy. "We've said all along, you know, the main character of this game is Appalachia and the surrounding areas now," LaCoste says. "The new areas that we create, the stories that we tell through that environment are really important to our game, and that's what we've continued to do here, even with Burning Springs."

Dotted across the barren land are places of interest like the Ghouls' temporary home in Highway Town, the Starlight Drive-in, or LaCoste's favourite spot, Athens.

"I love what we've done with Athens," LaCoste says. "I wanted to give a real big shout-out to our level design team and environment team for what they did with Athens. It's just such an amazing space to really investigate and run around in. And it just looks great. I mean, all the places of interest look really great—they all have such a distinct look to them as well.

"There's a lot of barren Wasteland in between the points of interest along there. But that was purposeful. Every time you run across something new, there is always something to explore, something to investigate, something to check out. We've done a really good job here of creating an environment that's got a lot of story to it just on its own."

I spent most of my time running across Ohio, venturing from one grunt hunt to another, mostly because Walton Goggins told me to. But this led me to see a whole lot more of the map faster than I usually would.

But it also dropped me in some not-so-safe places. Be warned, Dino Peaks mini golf will lure you in with statues of Brontosaurus or Triceratops, but there's evil in the mud. "The armoured deathclaws now are also a little bit more intimidating, for sure, especially if you go to Dino Peaks mini golf," LaCoste says. "When you pop in there, sometimes you can see three or four deathclaws come out of the ground. You're like, oh, no, I might be in trouble here. But it's a lot of fun." Fun wasn't the first word that came to my mind as I got chased halfway across Ohio by a pack of aggravated deathclaws, but sure, why not?