I’ll give Fallout: London (FOLON) this much—it crashes more gracefully than any Bethesda game I’ve played. Normally, when Fallout 4 or Skyrim hits a snag, my PC practically shuts down, leaving me fumbling in the dark trying to kill the process. Alt-Tab? Nope. Ctrl-Alt-Del? Forget it. And somehow, I end up on LinkedIn instead.
But in the London wasteland, it’s a different story. When FOLON crashes, it does so with an efficiency that’s almost impressive. One moment you’re wandering through Bromley By Bow, and the next, you’re staring at today’s Windows Spotlight wallpaper. No black screen, no error pop-up—just a smooth, almost polite exit.
At first, I thought I’d botched the installation, but after a clean reinstall of my GOG version of Fallout 4 and the mod itself (no high-res textures, and cloud saves disabled), the crashes persisted. Now, every 5 to 15 minutes, my game meets its own mini-apocalypse.
I’m starting my impressions here because these crashes have heavily shaped my experience with FOLON. It’s been a bumpy launch for one of the most ambitious Fallout 4 mods in years. Bug reports are piling up, and the devs are scrambling to patch the most glaring issues. It’s a shame because, despite having one hand glued to the quicksave key, I’ve genuinely enjoyed the moments of playability.
While Fallout has always had a distinctly American flavor, it translates surprisingly well to a British setting. The FOLON team wisely avoided simply draping a Union Jack over the ’50s American optimism of the main series, instead leaning into a Peaky Blinders vibe. It’s all flat caps, Cockney thugs, and razor blades, with weapons that look like they’ve been brought back from the Somme rather than the sleek, futuristic arsenal of regular Fallout games.
When you can find them, that is. The mod starts you off with just your fists and later upgrades you to a butterfly knife, which I clung to for what felt like ages before finally getting my hands on a firearm. This is Britain, after all, where guns and ammo are much scarcer than in the States.
Facing the Isle of Dogs Syndicate in Fallout: London.
This scarcity gives the early hours of FOLON a survival horror feel, rather than the usual Bethesda RPG experience. My meager collection of guns feels like a precious resource, with limited ammo that I have to ration carefully. It’s reminiscent of Metro 2033, especially when trying to navigate the flooded, irradiated tunnels beneath the Thames, which are teeming with ghouls. Honestly, I haven’t managed to cross yet—I just don’t have the ammo, health, or radaway to make it through.
FOLON’s difficulty stands out compared to Bethesda’s games, where it’s rarely a concern. Here, though, it’s a real factor, and I suspect it’s harder than intended. The devs might need to tone it down in the early game, or they risk alienating players who are used to the more forgiving exploration of the main series.
Though FOLON gives you the option to abandon the main quest early on and wander freely, I wouldn’t recommend it. London’s layout is tight and maze-like, and getting anywhere often involves hitting dead ends and running into heavily armed enemy factions. It’s better to stick with allies and follow the main plot, at least at first.
This approach makes FOLON feel more like New Vegas than Fallout 4, despite being built on the latter’s engine. Like New Vegas, which discouraged players from making a beeline for the Strip with cazadors and deathclaws, FOLON subtly pushes you to stay on the main path by making you vulnerable in London’s toughest boroughs.
The New Vegas influence extends to the dialogue. FOLON replaces Fallout 4’s infamous four-option conversation wheel with a classic dialogue box, offering plenty of options to define your character’s personality. The writing, while not New Vegas-level (which is a high bar for any mod), is generally enjoyable. The dialogue can sometimes be a bit wordy or awkward, and I’m still not sure why “mind the gap” keeps popping up—maybe just to remind me I’m in London. But overall, chatting with the game’s quirky NPCs has been a highlight, often more entertaining than Starfield’s dialogue.
The mod also features a wide array of factions, each with its own distinct flavor. I’ve been hanging out with the Vagabonds and their leader, who’s doing his best Tommy Shelby impression, but I’ve also encountered the Redcoat-inspired Jack Tars, the criminal Isle of Dogs Syndicate, and heard rumors of the aristocratic Gentry, mutant Thamesfolk, and the fascist 5th Column. All thoroughly British pastiches, and none of them seem remotely normal.
The only downside? All this is currently marred by the fact that I can only play in 15-minute bursts before the game crashes. My time with Fallout: London suggests the team has created something genuinely impressive—a well-crafted British take on a beloved series. But it needs to be stable, especially for those who don’t have the luxury of a GOG version of Fallout 4 and have to jump through hoops to get it running on Steam.
So, would I recommend playing Fallout: London? Absolutely. But would I recommend playing it right now? Not quite. This mod needs a bit more time in the oven before I can fully endorse it, even if it’s free. It’s almost like a real Bethesda release in that sense.
