Atomfall is the new single-player survival action game from Rebellion, the team most recently known for the Sniper Elite games. It is set in a fictional Northern England in 1957, five years after the Windscale Disaster where a quarantine zone has been set up around the Atom Plant and no-one has been allowed to come in or out. You wake up in a bunker with no idea who you are, or how you got there. It’s up to you to uncover the mystery of what has happened and those responsible.
From the moment you leave the bunker you are unleashed into this world where pretty much everything wants to do you harm. You uncover little breadcrumbs by finding notes in the world and talking to NPC’s. You always have your guard up though, because you’ll meet someone and strike up a working relationship, get a mission off them, and then the next person you meet will cast suspicion on them. It’s a game where decisions really matter and the consequences shape the game and the world around you.
This does a great job of building intrigue and it is complimented perfectly by the superb world design. Instead of one large map, the game is split into five open areas, each with bunkers and other facilities to explore as well. It is similar to how The Outer Worlds and Dead Island 2 approached map design and I’m a big fan of it.
Due to all the areas being adjoined on the map, they can’t differentiate them too much, however they all still managed to feel unique. Wyndham Village was the standout for me, with the level of detail reminding me of Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture. The quaint little English village is just bursting with detail and interesting characters. It is here that you really get the feel for how strange life is for residents of the area as well. There are people going about their daily business, while soldiers patrol the street and mechs are deployed to maintain order.
Your character’s main objective throughout the game is to escape the quarantine zone. Several NPC’s will offer you help with this goal, if you first help them in various ways. It’s here that many stories start to intertwine in interesting ways and sometimes tough choices need to be made. You can’t keep everyone happy and certain decisions will result in supposed allies turning hostile. It’s here that the games agency really shines. You can do all you can to keep as many people on side, or you can be ruthless. You can even just shoot a main quest giver right between the eyes if you want and the game will just pivot and continue on with your remaining options.
Currency isn’t really a thing in Atomfall. Instead it has been replaced with a bartering system. There are several people you can trade with in the game, each offering some unique items. It works by using a set of scales. You select what you want from the trader and then you need to offer goods from your inventory until the scale balances, signalling that the opposite party believes it is a fair trade. Some characters will value weapons, others supplies or special items. So choosing what to trade is key to getting the best deal.
Throughout the world you will collect items such as glue, herbs, cloth, glass and many other things. This will allow you to craft various throwable weapons and healing items. Later on you’ll also be able to upgrade firearms as well. These RPG elements are fairly basic, but I did appreciate their inclusion. There is plenty of scope to expand on this element should the team wish to create another game in a similar vein as well.
There isn’t any fast travel, but the five zones are both big enough to give you that sense of exploration and small enough that travel doesn’t become a chore. They are also manageable enough that you quickly get the lay of the land and start to notice yourself using the map less and less. This was so refreshing as I can’t explain how tired I am of maps being bigger than they need to be. There are also wrinkles to keep those trips back and forth interesting. Collectibles such as magazines and decorative gnomes to punch. Hilariously, the trophy for punching all 10 gnomes is “orna-mental”. You can also get access to a metal detector which helps you uncover caches that people have buried around the world.
You’ll spend a fair bit of time in combat. By default the combat is pretty difficult and you’ll die a lot. I dropped it down a notch, but even then you really need to avoid taking damage. You have both melee weapons and guns, however especially early on the guns you get both don’t hold many bullets and feel sluggish, so unless the enemies you are facing have guns themselves I often found the best approach was to use a crowd control kick to stagger them and then take them out with a melee weapon to the head.
There are stealth options too. If you sneak up behind an enemy you will get a takedown prompt, but this creates noise and usually alerts those nearby. The stealth was more basic than I expected from the team that made Sniper Elite. Don’t get me wrong it is serviceable but I had hoped for something like the ability to whistle and lure enemies in for a silent kill. You also can’t move bodies, leading to other enemies becoming alerted pretty quickly after taking down your first foe.
Overall, Rebellion has built a superb open world and filled it with interesting, layered characters. The freedom you have to tackle things how you see fit is refreshing and kept me gripped throughout my twenty-two hour playtime. Combat could have been more in depth but it services everything else that the game excels in. If you are looking for an intriguing open world that offers you real freedom, I highly recommend checking out Atomfall.
-Craig
