A few weeks back, we unveiled our latest trailer for Atomfall, a new game soon to hit the shelves, where you’ll delve into the enigma surrounding the UK’s Windscale nuclear plant incident from the 1950s. This game weaves a fictional narrative around this actual nuclear mishap in Northern England, offering a thrilling ride through an alternate history.
The trailer pulled back the curtain on the game’s chilling folk horror roots, giving players their first taste of Casterfell Woods. This haunting locale teems with eerie elements like a foreboding wicker man and a mysteriously ringing phone booth that demands your attention.
Curious about the inspirations behind Casterfell Woods? We thought it’d be worth sharing how this distinct environment came to be. From the start, our intention was to carve out some truly spine-tingling spaces within the game, areas steeped in folk horror to contrast the more idyllic surroundings. While most environments are lush, vibrant, and quintessentially British, we envisioned Casterfell as a place where you might wonder about the dark secrets lurking in the shadows—mysteries both hidden and ancient. We knew this would be an exhilarating endeavor, so we rolled up our sleeves and got to work.
Our initial aim was to lay down a visual foundation for our sandbox areas, focusing on designing various natural biomes. Once we had that in place, we could begin to sprinkle in thematic twists. Early on, our team embarked on multiple trips to England’s Lake District to gather references and capture photogrammetry content. For those of us on the team less familiar with these landscapes, the experience was nothing short of exotic. The Lake District is a stunning and diverse patchwork of natural beauty, teeming with greenery, crisscrossed by streams and lakes, all crowned by remarkable stone formations. Whether it’s the vibrant ferns or the moss-draped rocks, every corner is bursting with life.
As a newcomer to driving in the UK, navigating those narrow Cumbrian roads was a test of nerves! The combination of slate stone walls lining one side and sheer drops into lakes on the other was both terrifying and thrilling. However, these excursions were invaluable, gifting us a treasure trove of reference points and photogrammetry assets, strengthening our ability to visually root the game in Northern Britain.
With our scene set, we pondered on how to add uniqueness to what could otherwise be just another stunning natural backdrop. We wanted to infuse the game world with an older vibe and distort it somewhat. Drawing inspiration from folk horror tales, sci-fi, and classic British fantasy, we dove into works like The Wicker Man, The Blair Witch Project, Annihilation, and Midsommar. Iconic British series such as Doctor Who, The Prisoner, and The Quatermass Xperiment also stirred our creative juices, alongside John Wyndham’s eerie tales.
We aimed to transport players back to the 1957 aftermath of the Windscale disaster, which, in our game, sparked a quarantine. But how to showcase this historical period within a natural setting posed a creative challenge. After all, trees in the woods might appear the same in 1957, 2024, or even way back in 1066.
We asked ourselves who might be living out there, secluded from village comforts, and how they might eke out an existence without modern conveniences. The answer leaned towards regressing them to timeworn survival methods. We embraced wattle-and-daub construction as our architectural staple, in addition to thatched roofs, woven branches, and dry-stone structures—ancient techniques that feel profoundly foreign yet familiar.
Guided by cultural references and a desire for maximal British flair, we layered on rich symbolic imagery. We incorporated ancient symbols, effigies, and wicker figures amid traditional maypoles and bunting, enveloping players in strong pagan religious influences.
We’re excited for you to explore Casterfell Woods and uncover its secrets when Atomfall launches on March 27 for Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC, available on Game Pass right from day one. We can’t wait for you to dive in and unravel the story.
Atomfall, brought to you by Rebellion—the creative minds behind Sniper Elite and Zombie Army—invites you to a survival-action experience like no other. Set five years after the Windscale disaster in a fictive quarantine zone, the game challenges you to scavenge, barter, fight, and converse your way through a vivid British countryside teeming with mysticism, cults, and renegade agencies. Unravel interwoven tales through exploration and combat, where every decision bears weight, and navigate this lush, treacherous land where danger lurks beneath its serene surface.
