Fallout 5 seems inevitable at this point, with the enormous success of the TV show and the continued legacy of the franchise – even despite Fallout 76’s failings – likely seeing Bethesda already begin preparations for the next game. It will be great to see a new entry in the franchise if only to get a glimpse into how the various next-gen upgrades can benefit the gloriously bleak world of the Fallout series. However, Fallout 5 needs to be careful not to replicate a lot of the series’ staple features, as it runs the risk of feeling stale.

There is a lot that the series should learn from other games, including many features Fallout needs from Starfield, as it has somewhat stagnated with recent entries outside the inclusion of cooperative multiplayer. Fortunately, there is such a rich selection of games for Fallout 5 to take inspiration from when it comes to its worldbuilding, combat, exploration, and even visuals. Importantly, one of 2025’s biggest games offers the perfect blueprint from which Fallout 5 should build, as it shares a lot of the same DNA as Fallout, but is taking it in a fresh new direction.

Fallout’s Setting Is Getting Old

Bleak Wastelands Can Be Interesting For Only So Long

Fallout’s apocalyptic setting, or, more specifically, its trademark brown and beige barren wastelands and shack-riddled cities, is getting old. While it felt novel in the first few entries, as no other game offered something quite as comprehensively designed, Fallout’s setting now feels tired, a dull location that can offer nothing beyond what players have been seeing for decades. That’s not to say that it can’t work at all, but rather, Bethesda’s continued approach to it, and by extension, Obsidian Entertainment’s with New Vegas, has stagnated.

The limitations of the mid-2000s, coupled with the rising trend of sepia-toned video games like Rage, Gears of War, and Call of Duty, excuse the bleak and somewhat boring appearance of Fallout 3 and New Vegas.

Of course, the limitations of the mid-2000s, coupled with the rising trend of sepia-toned video games like Rage, Gears of War, and Call of Duty, excuse the bleak and somewhat boring appearance of Fallout 3 and New Vegas. They’re not without detail, as each environment is filled to the brim with excellent environmental storytelling and horrific sights, but they were nevertheless monotone in their approach to world design. Fallout 4, however, didn’t really share the same excuse, as its change of setting and improved technical capabilities should have seen it offer something a tad more lively.

Unfortunately, while there is more variety in Fallout 4, there isn’t enough to move it significantly away from the series’ trademark bleak wasteland. Even Fallout 76 failed to move the franchise on in any meaningful way, as it stuck to the same visual template it’s had since the first game, albeit with a few more colors and trees thrown into the mix. A lot of this has to do with Bethesda’s limited Creation engine, as well as the fact that Fallout 3 and New Vegas share a lot of the same assets, as do Fallout 4 and 76.

It is one of the many features Fallout 5 should abandon from the main franchise. This issue also extends beyond the visual similarities between each game as, while every location does have its own unique factions, they’re often stuffed with the same assortment of raiders, Brotherhood of Steel, and Enclave. While it offers a cohesive feeling to the series’ worldbuilding, it becomes harder to separate each entry as a result. However, that might be easier to stomach were the location to offer something new, but when it’s all the same each time, it quickly becomes boring.

Fallout 5 Should Take Inspiration From Atomfall

It Has A More Vibrant And Immersive Setting

Of course, it’s easy to defend Fallout’s bleak and bland wastelands due to the fact that they’ve been eviscerated by nuclear bombs in a devastating war. While that is certainly true, and would apply to several locations within America, it’s not hard to imagine a pocket of the world that has perhaps gone untouched or, has, in some way, been uniquely affected by the aftermath. This is why Rebellion’s Fallout-esque Atomfall is such an appealing prospect, as it takes the concept of nuclear fallout and showcases how it affects the still luscious English countryside.

Rather than being set in a gray city or brown wasteland, Atomfall takes players on a journey across the rolling green hills of the Lake District in England. Players will venture to idyllic British villages, come across vibrant forests with sparkling rivers, and, occasionally, stumble across bizarre, twisted, and colorful areas that have been mysteriously affected by the radioactive fallout. It is a gorgeous-looking game, one that takes everything Rebellion has learned from its globe-trotting Sniper Elite series, and applies it to a unique take on the Fallout formula.

Fallout 5 should absolutely take inspiration from Atomfall, a game that has, ironically, quite liberally, taken inspiration from it, by offering a completely new location that will surprise veteran players and appeal to those who have grown tired of, or simply never enjoyed, its barren wastelands. It could still capitalize on the core tenets of its worldbuilding, such as the compellingly mysterious vaults, deeply radioactive areas, and ruined cities while showing how nature has overtaken it all, or how it has become mysteriously corrupted by seemingly otherworldly elements.

Fallout Could Change Countries Like Fallout: London

It Would Be A Refreshing Change

If the Fallout series wanted to keep its trademark monotone setting to maintain its somber worldbuilding, then it could always shift countries. The phenomenal Fallout London conversion mod showcased just how this could work, as it, in many ways, executed the Fallout formula better than Bethesda itself, despite being made by a group of volunteers. Boasting a number of unique factions, all new lore ideas, and, of course, an entirely new setting that’s both fantastical and believable, Fallout London is evidence of how well a Fallout game can work when taken out of the confines of the series’ traditional setting.

As interesting as America is as a backdrop for the Fallout series, it does feel like it’s been mined for everything it has to offer. Getting to see how other countries are dealing with the fallout, as well as how their unique landscapes have been affected by it, is an inherently appealing prospect. That’s why Atomfall works so well, as it showcases an entirely different and frankly ridiculously underused location with plenty of untapped potential. Changing countries also means the potential for new factions in Fallout as well as entirely new enemy types.

There are plenty of options when it comes to diversifying Fallout’s setting, whether that’s by making it visually more vibrant and fantastical, or simply more diverse, or by shifting countries to offer it entirely different landscapes and cultures. It is interesting that Fallout has never ventured beyond the visual and geographical template set out in the very first game, especially when there’s so much more to its world that could be explored. Hopefully, Fallout 5 will break this trend and finally do something new with the franchise.