As someone who hails from Ireland and knows the UK like the back of my hand, I’ve always had a bone to pick with developers who use the UK as the setting for their games.
It’s always London-centric, with beefeaters running around and the most shallow English stereotypes milked to death.
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So, I am happy to report that Rebellion has put together a game that feels like a breath of fresh air in that regard, offering a northern English,pocket-sized open worldthat is a joy to get lost within.
Weaving a fantastical version of events centered around the Windscale nuclear disaster, players will take to the Lake District, aiming to unpack a mystery that slowly unfolds as you follow new leads and, if you’re like me, headshot a lot of Druids.
In the heart of London, we sat down to play a hearty chunk of this new and exciting immersive sim, and with a pint of Atomfall Ale in hand, I gulped down every last drop. Of the pint, and the sublime content on show. Here’s what we made of Atomfall in our hands-on preview.
Lost In The Spider Web
After the dust settled, and I stepped away from the portion of Atomfall I was treated to, the thing I kept thinking was, ‘Man, I got nothing done there.’
In some cases, this can be a nail in the coffin of an open world that feels like busywork, but in the case of Atomfall, this was a positive feeling linked to its biggest strength.
The game is a very open-ended and emergent experience where you aren’t guided by a mass of map markers, or a glowing line on the floor to your next objective. Instead, you’re dropped into a punishing and enigmatic world that you need to make sense of through exploring and following leads.
These leads can be found in any order, and effectively make up a huge spider web that you can get lost in. One lead might lead you in one direction, only for a gang of druids to push you off course and into a B.A.R.D. bunker where a new lead or nuclear-fuelled terror awaits you.
That’s the beauty of this game. Despite constantly being stimulated by combat, stealth, dialogue, new landmarks, and general points of interest, you can still be left with the feeling that you’re at a loose end in terms of your detective work and need to dig a little deeper.
It means that no one will have the same experience as another, and that’s exactly what you wantfrom an immersive sim such as this.
Sniper Elite For The Common Man
For me, the main draw of the game is the ability to discover the world at your own pace and map out your own path. It’s the overthinking, galaxy-brain gamer’s dream.
However, this would all feel quite dull without some action to punctuate the experience, and that’s where Atomfall’s combat comes into play.
As one would expect, it shares a lot of the sameDNA with the likes of Sniper Elite, offering tight gunplay, a heart rate meter, useful stealth options for all you sneaky types, and a variety of weapons to choose from.
However, unlike Sniper Elite, you can’t shoot an enemy in the balls from a sniper’s nest a mile away. You’re just a normal dude, and as such, the combat has a much more frantic and reactive feel to it.
The developers referred to the combat as a ‘bar brawl’ and that really is accurate, as you feel that one good swing or shot could turn the tide, but that goes equally for the enemies you face.
Plus, you have the Dark Souls-esque staple of a pause menu that doesn’t stop time from ticking on. Which usually leads to you frantically menuing to equip a melee weapon, or use a bandage to stop the bleeding.
There’s no option to tell your enemies to wait while you eat 12 cheese wheels a la Skyrim, and the game is all the better for it.
Yet, unlike the Nazis you face in Sniper Elite, you also have the option to play passively, as every enemy will give you a grace period to back off. Which, again, speaks to the emergent and open-ended nature of the game’s design and how players are given the autonomy to play on their own terms.
Densely Packed, Inherently British
Those that are coming to Atomfall expecting a huge open-world, or ‘the new Fallout’ are barking up the wrong tree. But that’s not to say Rebellion’s open world is any less impressive. It just focuses on utilizing the space available, and provides a map that is all killer, no filler.
This pocket-sized open world is packed to the gills with little points of interest, roaming Druid patrols, and a wealth of distractions that will add further red strings toyour internal detective’s corkboard.Yet, if you want to, you can sprint across the map in a little over five minutes.
Much like games like Outer Wilds and A Short Hike, it does a lot with a little in terms of space, and thanks to the branching paths and interesting narrative plot points, it never feels like you’re getting short-changed here.
It’s the attention to detail in moment-to-moment gameplay that is the most impressive aspect of the game’s design, as the team has gone out of their way to make this a truly anglicized experience.
Many who have seen the marketing material by this point will be aware of the pub and the telephone boxes scattered around the place. But, there’s a lot more to it than that. It’s the rich northern twangs, ranging from Scottish brogue to Lancashire tones.
Not to mention, there’s a wealth of fun Easter eggs and inherently British aspects of this game that are just waiting to be uncovered. Some are more obvious, like the metal detector you carry around with you making a nod to shows like Detectorists, whereas better hidden and more subtle nods to things like Last of the Summer Wine are there for those willing to seek them out.
The best example of how deep this goes is this. I shot an enemy in the head with another druid looking on, to which they exclaimed, ‘Christ on a bike.’ It really doesn’t get more rural England than that.
It’s Not An RPG, Really!
To further separate this game from the Fallout label, this game is not an RPG. Sure, it has some RPG elements, but even how they are presented to the player showcases just how far removed from the traditional map-marker abundant RPGs on the market Atomfall is.
Take the skills on offer in Atomfall. This is presented in a traditional skill tree format, where players will spend skill points to unlock new skills and buffs. Nothing all too new there, I know. But, when you unlock skills, you can’t just keep following that tree’s path.
You see, you need to find manuals in the world that teach you key skills, which, in turn, allow you access to new skills on the tree. So, without exploring and without gathering knowledge about the world around you, there’s no chance you’ll get anywhere.It’s not quite in the realms of a Metroidbrainia, but it’s a stone’s throw away.
But in truth, it’s more like a game that blends the principles of a detective game with a survival hit like STALKER. Players will need to watch their Ps and Qs in dialogue to get the exact outcome they want.
But you will equally need to get out there into the wild, scavenge ammo and recipes for makeshift bombs, and maybe, just maybe, you’ll make it out of a tussle alive. Heck, it even features annoying rat swarms you’ll need to stomp on, akin to STALKER.
I’ll paint you a picture. While fighting my way through the Druid Castle, I ran dangerously low on bullets, and materials for bandages. But, logic and caution be damned, I still went through each section in a gung-ho manner.
This led to a showdown where all I had was a makeshift grenade and an axe. The grenade took out a few, but then left me frantically scrambling to kill the last one, and in a chaotic last-ditch effort for survival, I tossed the axe like a tomahawk. Naturally, I missed, and then proceeded to swing haymakers which, somehow, got the job done.
It’s a game that balances methodical progression, storytelling and planning with these dynamic and pulse-raising moments where you’re living on the edge, and that, in a nutshell, is why you need to play Atomfall.
A Sleeper Hit That Takes Big Swings
In the end, I walked away from what precious little I got to experience of Atomfall, and I had a feeling that I rarely have come over me. I desperately wanted to play this title again, and the wait has been nothing short of agonizing.
I want desperately to know more about this strange setting, and my role in it. I want to find new recipes and locations in this meticulously crafted map, and I want to endure the survival mechanics this game has to offer and come out the other end, battered and bruised.
This feeling is what leads me to believe that Atomfall is one of those games that will creep up on the gaming populous and take the world by storm, by being just too good, and too unique to be ignored.
The game isn’t without some blemishes, like issues with the enemy AI, and some clunky movement at times, but it all feels like minor issues that will be ironed out come the time of release.
The only major hang-up I can see perspective fans having is that the game doesn’t hand-hold at all, and as such, may alienate more casual players. But, if you’re willing to play this game rather than have the game play itself for you, you’ll enjoy a richer experience as a result.
It’s not the new Fallout, it’s not the new Dishonored, and it’s not the new Sniper Elite. Atomfall is an entirely new beast, and one that I cannot wait to immerse myself in fully.
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