Atomfall Review - The British Invasion

If Atomfall is anything, it’s a good case study on why the Fallout-style of game design should be used more often outside of its typical American formula. Rebellion has done just that by putting together an all-new survival game with plenty of British flair and hard-earned difficulty that feels both familiar and has been allowed to stand on its own.

There’s quite a lot in Atomfall that leads me to that conclusion, so let’s get to the meat of what we’re working with.

Atomfall begins with a dramatic, potentially world-ending event, which is to say that a nuclear disaster in a place called Windscale in Northern England happened, and there’s a time skip with all the consequences. Fast-forward five years, and the area’s been walled off into a quarantine zone with those within left to their fate.

The protagonist in Atomfall is out of sorts and suffering from amnesia. The whole story will hinge on finding out how they got there and what’s really going on in this now isolated world.

Most of the story takes place in this quarantine zone, and it’s here that many perils and unsavory locals and factions who don’t take kindly to strangers are found. Atomfall leans a lot on the mystery created from these foundations, and a lot of that progression relies on discovering the unknown.

It’s not cinematic, but it gets the job done, and I did enjoy being able to pick at the investigation into what was going on a highlight of the nearly 30-hour experience. A lot of Atomfall’s narrative value is in the bits and pieces you find along the way such as notes and the like, along with a colorful cast of characters who aren’t always as trustworthy as they may seem and have plenty to say.

The British flavor helps a lot too, I felt. There’s something cheeky about sneaking up to a bright red phone booth in the woods as it rings especially for you.

Outside of its story, Atomfall pushes its mystery through gameplay in a lot of ways. You’ve got the standard melee and ranged attacks, and the protagonist can make use of a lot of weapons. Like any survival game, you’ll have to find whatever you want to use. There’s no handholding here, which is something I feel can be frustrating or a benefit, it all depends on your perspective.

With limited inventory space, I found it better to go with an even spread because there’s a good chance that the protagonist can die at any moment. Guns are around, but finding ammo isn’t always a safe bet. There are bows and arrows, too, which I found more useful since there’s at least a chance of recovery once you fire one.

Other useful ranged weapons include throwables like the Molotov cocktail. Melee weapons are useful too to deal heavier damage, although I found the wind-up time on some of them, like the cricket bat, to be a bit too long for my liking. If the protagonist is in a pinch, they can kick out at enemies to stagger them a bit and it does go a long way to get into the habit of using all the abilities at your disposal.

Having to keep an eye on the protagonist’s heart rate during such fights is a bit of a challenge, too, and it’s easy to slip too far and slow down as a consequence, especially when encountering some of the tougher enemies like the infected Ferals.

And again, Atomfall isn’t out here holding your hand. I died, a lot, and much of it ended up being a learning experience on how I could approach enemies, some of which won’t even bother you if they don’t perceive you as a threat. Sometimes the best strategy is to just sneak around and get away, especially because combat can sometimes be unwieldy and difficulty can spike up for no real reason.

Atomfall isn’t always on a knife's edge like that, however. The other core part of gameplay lies in its quests, picking up leads and tracking them, and building up conversations with NPCs through dialogue options. Leads net things like hints on where to go, but it’s important to be mindful because again, it’s hard to trust anyone.

This opens up a lot of Atomfall’s sandbox nature as well. I was really floored just how much freedom you have to explore at your own pace, there’s nothing pressing, and you’re not moving between pre-determined quests.

While Atomfall is the most technically impressive game out there, it does well with the sheer number of assets on display. There’s a lot of greenery and the different locations from the village to the forest, and even a detention center is filled with plenty of interesting things to look at.

Atomfall runs smoothly on PC for the most part, though I did encounter some issues with janky animation and an NPC that got killed by accident and couldn’t respawn without restarting a save.

Overall, though, Atomfall has plenty to keep you busy. If you’re keen on survival games with a bit of mystery, and maybe if you liked the sort of Elden Ring-flavor of gameplay difficulty wrapped up in it, this one’s for you.

While some of the gameplay can be unwieldy, and difficulty can ramp up without reason, Atomfall has enough to keep you going, especially for those who like to seek out multiple endings. It’s clear Rebellion put a lot of love into this game, and the mystery that binds it altogether into a compelling experience worth trying out.

Atomfall was reviewed on PC with a code provided by the publisher. All screenshots were taken during the course of review over 30 hours of gameplay.