Atomfall is a 2025 post-apocalyptic action game from Rebellion Developments that offers a distinctly British alternative to the familiar American wasteland. Xbox and PC Game Pass members have until 30 September 2026 to try it before it leaves the service.
Why Atomfall suits Fallout fans
The game is set in the Lake District, a beautiful region of northern England. Its alternate history begins with the 1957 Windscale fire, the United Kingdom’s worst nuclear accident. The real incident was downplayed by the British government, but radioactive material spread across the UK and Europe. Atomfall imagines a far more severe disaster, adds science-fiction elements and relocates the Windscale site closer to Lake Windermere than its real position near Gosforth.
A compact, choice-driven apocalypse
Atomfall does not match the scale of modern Fallout games, and it is not a conventional role-playing game. There are no experience points or character levels. Instead, its structure is closer to Fallout: New Vegas: decisions shape the experience, while several tightly designed open-world zones are filled with characters, clues and discoveries.
That density makes exploration worthwhile. The game also borrows from detective fiction. Characters bring their own problems, leads and motives, with discoveries recorded in a journal. Quest and waypoint markers are switched off by default to encourage investigation, although they can be enabled when preferred.
Your choices determine the ending
Almost every character can be killed, but a non-lethal approach is possible too. The people you assist influence which of six different endings you receive. The atmosphere can become deeply unsettling, with creepy locations and sudden scares that recall the tension of encountering a feral ghoul in a dark Fallout tunnel.
A very English setting
The game leans into English character without losing sight of its setting. Some humour is deliberately stereotypical: one achievement involves drinking tea and eating a Cornish pasty cake within 30 seconds. However, the depiction avoids the awkwardness that can affect British settings created primarily for an overseas audience. Players familiar with Lake Windermere may find the location especially convincing.
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Play Atomfall before 30 September
Atomfall is available through Game Pass on Xbox and PC until 30 September 2026. Its smaller scale, investigation-focused design, branching outcomes and unmistakably English setting make it a worthwhile choice for players looking for a different kind of post-nuclear adventure. If you are subscribed, this is the time to play it rather than assume it will remain on the service.
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