Summary
Atomfallhas beendescribed as British Fallout by many, and that’s what pulled me into the preview atGamescomthis year. However, after 20 minutes of running around the Northern England countryside, struggling to survive a single combat encounter, I feel that it both is and isn’t BritishFallout. Whatever it is, it shows a lot of promise.
Developed byRebellion, this survival action game takes place five years after the Windscale fire, a real event from 1957. This nuclear disaster is the backdrop for Atomfall, as the player is dropped into a quarantine zone.
Don’t let the radiation fool you - Atomfall sets itself apart from Fallout very quickly. The most glaring difference is the combat, which is far more punishing here. It might feel similar at first, as you run around an open world with a linear map pointing out different landmarks, but that’s where the similarities end. This isn’t a shooter with RPG mechanics, it’s just a shooter. With that, it has far more realism than Fallout concerns itself with.
Here, each bullet counts. I found far less ammo lying around here than I’m used to in the US wasteland, and doing anything with it felt far more significant. If I missed, the enemies would only need to land a couple of good shots to kill me. Even if I dodged their bullets, I’d then have to keep ducking out of the way while I went through a lengthy reload animation - in which time someone else has probably flanked me.
Despite being at the very start of my adventure, I was dropped suddenly and unceremoniously into this very British apocalypse. I couldn’t find any easier enemies to test out the combat on. No molerats to make for easy XP. Just bands of hostile humans who would attack me on sight.
Atomfall Is Punishing, But With Purpose
Without purpose, this would just be an endurance test - difficulty for the sake of it. When I was on my fourth death and already halfway through the demo, I thought that’s what this was, something for those Fallout fans who mod the hell out of their games until every enemy is kicking their ass.
But from what I’ve played so far, thereisa reason that Atomfall is so unforgiving, and it all ties into its setting. When you’re first dropped into the world, the first person you come across is a loner playing the guitar. Unlike most others, he won’t try to kill you, but instead, he will give you a quick rundown of the goings-on in the area. He says he was booted from the nearby village of Wyndham, and warns you that it’s an authoritarian hellhole run by the military. So, a place to avoid, for now.
Fast forward 15 minutes later, and I’m on the run with next-to-no health. Three mercs are on my tail, and one more gunshot will be more than enough to take me out. Then, I see it - Wyndham. And I run into its oppressive arms for dear life, even as the soldiers point their guns at me and say some rubbish about serving queen and country.
In an RPG that is less focused on making its wasteland and unforgiving nightmare, this is probably where I would have been a snarky nuisance and got myself chucked out. But here, I kept my head down, just like everyone else, as I understood why the citizens of Wyndham were willing to put up with martial law - and hulking robots roaming the picturesque streets - just for the semblance of safety.
Another key difference is that there weren’t any nuclear bombs to destroy all of the buildings and vegetation. Atomfall’s environments are lush and eerily familiar to anyone from England.
Unfortunately, this difficulty and my limited time with the game meant that I didn’t have long to explore Wyndham. But in the few minutes I had with the village, I was blown away - and deeply uncomfortable - by the contrast between authoritarianism and rustic countryside living. It’s like the worst elements of British culture (the stiff upper lip, knowing one’s place) were put at the forefront and impossible for a player to ignore, even if it seemed that many residents did.
For many, this might be a high price to pay for ludonarrative consistency. From what I played, Atomfall has no interest in holding your hand, and running into Wyndham was my only reprieve from the fighting - even inventory management was done in real time. But as it’s done with meaning, my Fallout-loving self was very happy to leave preconceptions at the door and appreciate this for what it is: a post-apocalyptic game that takes the brutal storytelling of Fallout, and bleeds that into the gameplay as well.
If the British Fallout label gets some eye on Atomfall, that’s great. But as we see more from the game, I hope it puts its best foot forward and shows what it’s doing differently, as we dive deeper into this very different irradiated setting.
WHERE TO PLAY
A survival-action game inspired by real-life events, Atomfall is set five years after the Windscale nuclear disaster in Northern England.
Explore the fictional quarantine zone, scavenge, craft, barter, fight and talk your way through a British countryside setting filled with bizarre characters, mysticism, cults, and rogue government agencies.
From Rebellion, the studio behind Sniper Elite and Zombie Army, Atomfall will challenge you to solve the dark mystery of what really happened.
Player Driven Mystery: Unravel a tapestry of interwoven narratives through exploration, conversation, investigation, and combat, where every choice you make has consequences.
Explore this Green and Unpleasant Land: The picturesque British countryside, with rolling green hills, lush valleys, and rural villages belie the dangers that await you.
Search, Scavage, Survive: You’ll need to scavenge for supplies, craft weapons and items, and fight desperately to make it out alive!
Desperate Combat: With weapons and ammunition scarce, each frenetic engagement will see you blend marksmanship with vicious hand-to-hand combat. Manage your heart rate to hold a steady aim and ensure you have the energy you need to reach for your cricket bat and land the killer blow.
Green and Unpleasant Land:The picturesque British countryside, with rolling green hills, lush valleys, and rural villages belie the dangers that await you. Navigate cult-controlled ruins, natural caves, nuclear bunkers and more as you explore this dense, foreboding world.
Reimagining Windscale:A fictional reimagining of a real-world event, Atomfall draws from science fiction, folk horror, and Cold War influences to create a world that is eerily familiar yet completely alien.
