Atomfall might be going to shock lots of people- it’s significantly better than you assume. Personally, moving into, I totally anticipated a stable recreation, not solely due to Sniper Elite and Zombie Military developer Rebel’s admirably constant monitor file over the past a number of years, however as a result of Atomfall itself has additionally regarded promisingly distinctive and intriguing in all the best methods within the lead-up to its launch. The sport rapidly surpassed even my expectations, nonetheless. Atomfall is healthier designed, extra polished, extra splendidly weird, extra narratively engrossing, and extra mechanically compelling than it has any proper to be.
The alternate historical past dystopian title is ready in Sixties Northern England. Impressed by the 1957 Windscale fireplace, one of many worst main nuclear disasters in world historical past, Atomfall finds you, an amnesiac and silent protagonist, in the midst of a quarantine zone in rural Cumbria. Set 5 years after the nuclear catastrophe, nonetheless, the zone isn’t precisely the image of a typical post-nuclear atmosphere. It’s vibrant, lush, gorgeously vibrant, and splendidly vivid. Thick vegetation, diverse forestry, gorgeous landscapes and ample fauna outline each inch of the zone, and all of it oozes ambiance. In additional methods than one, Atomfall wears its S.T.A.L.Okay.E.R. and Fallout influences on its sleeve, however in its setting, it manages to create one thing that feels extremely distinctive and authentic.
“Atomfall is healthier designed, extra polished, extra splendidly weird, extra narratively engrossing, and extra mechanically compelling than it has any proper to be.”
That setting additionally performs host to a surprisingly charming story. From the very first second, Atomfall succeeds in convincing trend not solely in creating a definite id for itself and its world, but additionally in constructing an engrossing central thriller surrounding the nuclear catastrophe on the atom plant that lies on the coronary heart of the zone, what it was that precipitated the catastrophe, and what results the incident has had on the quarantine zone within the years since then- and boy have there been results.
No, the zone isn’t precisely a nuclear wasteland, but it surely’s nonetheless removed from protected, and far from regular. Trapped in isolation for years, the folks inside its partitions have cut up into totally different factions – common survivors, fascistic troopers, bloodthirsty outlaws, zealot druids – every of whom are totally different sorts of nuts. Each character you meet in Atomfall is a character, to say the very least, with all the things from the writing to the voice appearing coming collectively to bleed life and character into each NPC you meet, irrespective of how vital (or unimportant). Past the folks, there are additionally loads of different inexplicable dangers- mutated humanoid monsters, bizarre fungal growths, auditory hallucinations, and extra. Peeling again the layers of Atomfall’s many mysteries and slowly placing the puzzle items collectively makes for an engrossing expertise. That’s thanks largely to the way through which the sport doles out tantalizing bits of the story, cryptically revealing solely morsels at a time and hanging the right steadiness between holding you hooked and making you are feeling like there’s one thing simply out of attain.
Simply as spectacular is Atomfall’s knack for making you are feeling just like the writer of your individual journey, which it does in several methods. It sprinkles in components of participant alternative, with dialogue selections and the flexibility to kill as many (or as few) folks as you need, whether or not that’s a pure pacifist run or one the place you homicide each single character you meet. Way more vital, nonetheless, is how unguided and hands-off the sport’s overarching construction is. Quests take the type of leads, that are little greater than obscure hints referring folks or areas to merely nudge you in a path, after which it’s fully as much as you whether or not you need to pull on that thread. You by no means fairly understand how vital any lead could possibly be, since even some reasonably unassuming ones can end up to tie into the primary story in shocking methods. Atomfall does a superb job at encouraging you to easily observe your curiosity reasonably than gamifying something with “quests”, to the extent that the very idea of “facet quests” finally ends up shedding that means.
“Peeling again the layers of Atomfall’s many mysteries and slowly placing the puzzle items collectively makes for an engrossing expertise. That’s thanks largely to the way through which the sport doles out tantalizing bits of the story, cryptically revealing solely morsels at a time and hanging the right steadiness between holding you hooked and making you are feeling like there’s one thing simply out of attain.”
It additionally helps that its world is a continuing pleasure to discover. The Cumbria quarantine zone is a totally open world map, however cut up into a number of zones separated by load screens (whereas indoor environments and dungeons are additionally normally individually instanced). By way of measurement, it’s considerably smaller than the likes of, say, S.T.A.L.Okay.E.R. or Fallout, but it surely does nonetheless really feel sufficiently large- and extra importantly, it makes use of all of its actual property fairly successfully. Atomfall’s map boasts spectacular selection, from jail camps and chateau ruins to charming hamlets (below terrifying martial regulation), mysterious cave networks, deserted bunkers and amenities, and naturally, loads of bright-red cellphone bins.
Exploring all of it can also be by no means not gratifying or rewarding. That is one other space the place Atomfall adopts a hands-off method, particularly when you play it on default problem (or increased), the place navigation grounds you firmly on the earth and calls for you to really take note of your environment as you attempt to make your means round. The issues that you simply uncover are additionally nearly all the time price it, to various degrees- eccentric characters, intriguing new areas, bits and items of lore and backstory, or rewarding loot, starting from weapons and ammo to crafting assets, recipes, and extra.
A lot of that may be fairly vital, given how harmful Atomfall’s world could be very often. Just like the video games it’s most closely impressed by, the sport options survival mechanics- however definitely to not the diploma of one thing like S.T.A.L.Okay.E.R. You need to handle your well being, standing situations akin to bleeding, and your coronary heart fee, and when you’re not paying consideration or play too recklessly, you’ll doubtless die a fast dying (or at the very least really feel the hostile results clear sufficient to obtain the message). Meaning issues akin to well being gadgets, crafting assets, and weapons and ammo are crucial- to not point out uncommon, which in flip means exploration is all the time inspired, as a result of chances are high you’ll discover one thing helpful.
If there’s one space the place Atomfall feels slightly tough, it’s the fight. A part of me nearly likes how cumbersome and clunky it might really feel at occasions, as a result of that matches fairly nicely with the fixed risks of its dystopian setting and its promise of a survival expertise that received’t child you. Within the second, nonetheless, fight can usually really feel frustratingly tough, particularly while you’re getting up shut and private with enemies, which you’ll be doing usually, given the overall shortage of ammo. Development in Atomfall can also be reasonably restrained and easy, which signifies that fight expertise doesn’t evolve an ideal deal over time. I do, nonetheless, admire the number of ranged and melee weapons on supply and the way totally different they really feel to make use of from one another.
“Atomfall’s world is vibrant, lush, gorgeously vibrant, and splendidly vivid. Thick vegetation, diverse forestry, gorgeous landscapes and ample fauna outline each inch of the zone, and all of it oozes ambiance. In additional methods than one, Atomfall wears its S.T.A.L.Okay.E.R. and Fallout influences on its sleeve, however in its setting, it manages to create one thing that feels extremely distinctive and authentic.”
There’s additionally the truth that fight could be very hardly ever (if ever) pressured upon you. Atomfall permits you to be as stealthy or as murderous as you need. Avoiding enemies is all the time a viable choice, particularly given the truth that environments are all the time designed in a means the place there are normally a number of methods to get round, which isn’t shocking for a recreation coming from the Sniper Elite staff. What is shocking that the stealth – an space the place Rebel normally has experience, to say the least – can really feel a tad clunky at occasions. Don’t get me improper, it’s removed from damaged, and at one of the best of occasions it may be legitimately enjoyable and tense- however AI is usually both too forgetful or too keen-eyed, which implies you might usually end up cheesing the sport (at the very least when you play the way in which I do). That may be enjoyable in its personal methods, after all, but it surely additionally does lend a sense of lack of polish to the moment-to-moment stealth and fight gameplay.
Finally, although, I personally discover Atomfall’s faults fairly simple to forgive, as a result of there’s way more to like right here than there’s to search out problem with. In just about all the things that it does, the sport swings for the fences, and with the overwhelming majority of these swings, it knocks the ball out of the park. Boasting an enchanting setting, engrossing story, oodles of attraction and character, an emphasis on participant company that elevates each a part of the expertise, and unimaginable world design that encourages exploration each step of the way in which, Atomfall is a charming expertise, even with a number of points, and doubtless one of many largest and most nice surprises in latest reminiscence.
This recreation was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.
