Atomfall is a game I’ve had my eye on for quite a while now. As a proud resident of Northern England, when I learned the survival-action game would be set within the Lake District (a national park region located in Northwest England), I was pretty much instantly on board.
However, while its uncommon setting and alternative-history spin on the real-life Windscale nuclear disaster had me intrigued, I was less convinced by its gameplay potential. Survival-action experiences are routine these days, and I wondered if Atomfall could do anything original with the now-tiresome loop of scavenging and crafting to set itself apart.
Recently, I was able to go hands-on with Atomfall for around 90 minutes, and while my gameplay concerns weren’t fully alleviated during this session, I came away seriously impressed by one aspect of the game in particular, and most importantly, pretty eager to play a whole lot more.
Welcome to The Quarantine Zone
Atomfall is set in an alternative 1960s England where the Windscale disaster has irradiated much of the surrounding area and resulted in the Lake District in Cumbria being quarantined.
The dangerous, but still pleasantly lush green, area is now appropriately-known as The Quarantine Zone, and it’s this fairly unique setting where Atomfall’s adventure takes place.
Played from a first-person perspective, there’s a familiar feeling to Atomfall. In this demo, I was dropped into The Quarantine Zone, playing as an amnesic protagonist on a quest for answers, and immediately thrust into an encounter. The melee combat was simple but functional. However, my nameless enemies went down quickly with just a few whacks of a bat.
Once I escaped these foes, I spent time rummaging through literally every abandoned building I spotted. Finding the usual assortment of odds and ends that could be turned into more useful items like health-restoring bandages and molotov cocktails. It’s all pretty routine for the survival genre.
But one thing I did appreciate, is that Atomfall does away with the need for food or sleep, instead, it’s just your health and heart rate you must monitor.
The map I was able to explore in this demo, named Casterfell Woods was made up of a dense forest peppered with stone buildings and industrial sites. The world certainly looks pretty (even if its vegetation isn’t as lifelike as in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2), but the location felt a little lacking in life. Sure, I stumbled upon a few enemy camps, and a roving bandit of pagan cultists, but for long periods I didn’t see another soul on my travels.
Exploration is the name of the game
From a mechanical standpoint, Atomfall is pretty predictable, but there was one area of my demo that left me seriously impressed. Unlike some open-world games that have you almost religiously following map makers and detailed quest logs, Atomfall is all about exploration and player freedom.
My demo began in a crumbling railway tunnel, and once I left this starting location, the whole map was completely open to me. I was given a note telling me to seek out a herbalist called Mother Jango, but I didn’t encounter her until almost a third of the way through my play session.
Instead, I happened upon a radio tower with an audio log from somebody called Joyce Tanner, telling me to find her in an underground bunker. And this was just one thread to follow. It was my choice which of these "leads" to pursue and which to put on the back burner. The game didn't mark one as a "main" quest. Instead, each was treated with the same importance.
I also accidentally walked into a cultist ritual site, found a hidden cellar hiding some useful loot, and discovered a classic British red phone box with a voice on the other end telling me not to trust the aforementioned Mother Jango. I also spent a long time exploring a large hydroelectric power station.
Without being reliant on quest markers, Atomfall’s world felt entirely open. It’s still more guided than the likes of Elden Ring — important locations are flagged on your map, and notes give very unsubtle clues about where to head next — but it still manages to convey a joyous sense of discovery.
In fact, I got so distracted by my wandering that I only found the key location of Wyndham Village with less than a third of my allocated time left.
How do you handle your business?
Once I arrived in Wyndham, I got my first proper taste of Atomfall’s intriguing story. I was introduced to the key character of Captain Grant Sims, the leader of a paramilitary group in the area. He gave me the task of investigating the local baker, a resident deemed suspicious by the group.
I quickly located the bakery on Main Street and set about (unsuccessfully) interrogating the baker, known as Iris Baxter. When my attempts to smooth talk her failed, I instead stole a key to her locked upstairs room from the nearby garage (a conveniently placed note told me where to find the key).
I discovered Iris’ husband was infected, and she was keeping him hidden away to prevent the soldiers from expelling him, or even executing him.
At this point, I had a choice: Give Iris over to Captain Grant Sims to be dealt with, or assist her by obtaining a tonic she requested to help sedate her feral husband. Short on time, I took the most violent option and gunned both Iris and her husband down before informing Sims that the problem had been resolved. He was delighted and gave me a new objective in a different region.
I didn’t have time to continue following this thread, but this short quest suggests that Atomfall is going to place a lot of emphasis on player choice.
I could have handled the situation in numerous ways, and the game would have reacted accordingly. Developer Rebellion are promising this ability to shape your own story will be present across Atomfall and if they pull off such a branching experience, this game could be really quite special.
Atomfall is worth keeping an eye on
Atomfall may not have convinced me in the gameplay department. It’s mixed of survival looting and crafting, and action-focused first-person combat gets the job done but feels routine.
However, its open-ended approach to both exploration and mission objectives has me very excited to experience the full game and see just how far things can branch out.
While I’ll need to reserve final judgment until I’ve been able to play the game over a longer period, at this stage, Atomfall has certainly captured my attention. If it can mix a compelling story, rewarding exploration and missions that can be completed in numerous different ways across a longer campaign, it could become one of this year’s most pleasant surprises.
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