Legendary indie developers Rebellion have been no strangers to history, with their flagshipSniper Eliteseries taking place all throught World War II. For their next game, though, they’re moving on to post-World War II history, specifically the Windscale fire of 1957, one of the world’s worst nuclear accidents. That game would be Atomfall, a new survival-action game inspired by those events. Making its debut at the recent Xbox Games Showcasewith a trailer that you can view at the link here,the game immediately stood out by showing that the aftermath from this version of the Windscale fire led to some…rather fantastic developments, to say the least.
After the Fire
Taking place five years after the fire, Atomfall is set in a fictitious quarantine zone, where its residents clealry haven’t been coping with the isolation well. As seen in the clip, the zone is now filled with flamethrower-equipped robots, people bashing the stuffing out of each other with cricket bats, wicker men, potential mutants, creepy people in hazmat suits, a huge military presence, and much more. It likely raises a lot of questions, which is appropriate, as the main goal of the game is to explore, find answers, and figure out what happened.
To do so, players will have to craft, barter and fight their way through the quarantine zone, putting their survival skills to the test in a world described by CEO Jason Kingsley as blending classic Cold War paranoia with folk horror, and drawing inspiration from classic bits of British sci-fi such as Day of the Triffids and Doctor Who (which would explain the main imagery being of a phone box). “We wanted to take the picturesque British countryside and flip it on its head” said Jason, and it would appear that mission has been accomplished so far.
Reimagine, Refresh, Rejoice: The Resurgence of Rebellion
Further details are scarce right now, though it is said that Atomfall “incorporates single-player gameplay and story elements in ways Rebellion has never attempted before.” So if nothing else, it certainly seems like it’s aiming to be the developer’s most ambitious project yet, which is impressive considering just how long they’ve been around for. The game is currently set for a release in 2025, currently planned to release for PC, XSX, PS5, and XB1 and PS4 as well. The studio will be revealing more info about Atomfall sometime soon, so stay tuned for further updates on this bizarre bit of historical British mayhem.
