Atomfall might be going to shock lots of people- it’s significantly better than you suppose. Personally, stepping into, I totally anticipated a strong recreation, not solely due to Sniper Elite and Zombie Military developer Rise up’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 appropriate methods within the lead-up to its launch. The sport shortly surpassed even my expectations, nonetheless. Atomfall is best 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 about in Nineteen 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 setting. It’s vibrant, lush, gorgeously vibrant, and splendidly vivid. Thick vegetation, assorted forestry, beautiful landscapes and plentiful fauna outline each inch of the zone, and all of it oozes environment. 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 best 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 fascinating story. From the very first second, Atomfall succeeds in convincing vogue 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 prompted 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, however it’s nonetheless removed from secure, and far from regular. Trapped in isolation for years, the folks inside its partitions have cut up into completely different factions – common survivors, fascistic troopers, bloodthirsty outlaws, zealot druids – every of whom are completely different sorts of nuts. Each character you meet in Atomfall is a persona, to say the very least, with every thing from the writing to the voice appearing coming collectively to bleed life and character into each NPC you meet, irrespective of how necessary (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 by which the sport doles out tantalizing bits of the story, cryptically revealing solely morsels at a time and placing the proper stability between maintaining 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 personal journey, which it does in numerous methods. It sprinkles in parts of participant selection, with dialogue decisions 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. Rather more necessary, 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 places to merely nudge you in a course, after which it’s totally as much as you whether or not you wish to pull on that thread. You by no means fairly know the way necessary any lead may very well be, since even some somewhat unassuming ones can prove to tie into the principle story in stunning methods. Atomfall does a superb job at encouraging you to easily comply with your curiosity somewhat than gamifying something with “quests”, to the extent that the very idea of “facet quests” finally ends up shedding which 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 by which the sport doles out tantalizing bits of the story, cryptically revealing solely morsels at a time and placing the proper stability between maintaining 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). When it comes to dimension, it’s considerably smaller than the likes of, say, S.T.A.L.Okay.E.R. or Fallout, however it 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 telephone bins.
Exploring all of it can be by no means not gratifying or rewarding. That is one other space the place Atomfall adopts a hands-off method, particularly for those who play it on default problem (or greater), the place navigation grounds you firmly on the planet and calls for you to really take note of your environment as you attempt to make your method round. The issues that you simply uncover are additionally virtually at all times price it, to various degrees- eccentric characters, intriguing new places, bits and items of lore and backstory, or rewarding loot, starting from weapons and ammo to crafting sources, recipes, and extra.
A lot of that may be fairly necessary, 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 corresponding to bleeding, and your coronary heart fee, and for those who’re not paying consideration or play too recklessly, you’ll probably die a fast dying (or at the very least really feel the hostile results clear sufficient to obtain the message). Meaning issues corresponding to well being gadgets, crafting sources, and weapons and ammo are crucial- to not point out uncommon, which in flip means exploration is at all times inspired, as a result of chances are high you’ll discover one thing helpful.
If there’s one space the place Atomfall feels a little bit tough, it’s the fight. A part of me virtually likes how cumbersome and clunky it will probably really feel at instances, as a result of that matches fairly properly 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 typically really feel frustratingly tough, particularly if you’re getting up shut and private with enemies, which you’ll be doing typically, given the overall shortage of ammo. Development in Atomfall can be somewhat restrained and easy, which implies 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 completely different they really feel to make use of from one another.
“Atomfall’s world is vibrant, lush, gorgeously vibrant, and splendidly vivid. Thick vegetation, assorted forestry, beautiful landscapes and plentiful fauna outline each inch of the zone, and all of it oozes environment. 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 may be very not often (if ever) compelled upon you. Atomfall enables you to be as stealthy or as murderous as you need. Avoiding enemies is at all times a viable choice, particularly given the truth that environments are at all times designed in a method the place there are normally a number of methods to get round, which isn’t stunning for a recreation coming from the Sniper Elite crew. What is stunning that the stealth – an space the place Rise up normally has experience, to say the least – can really feel a tad clunky at instances. Don’t get me incorrect, it’s removed from damaged, and at one of the best of instances it may be legitimately enjoyable and tense- however AI is usually both too forgetful or too keen-eyed, which implies chances are you’ll typically end up cheesing the sport (at the very least for those who play the way in which I do). That may be enjoyable in its personal methods, in fact, however it 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 much more to like right here than there’s to search out situation with. In just about every thing 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 appeal and persona, 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 fascinating expertise, even with a couple of points, and possibly one of many largest and most nice surprises in current reminiscence.
This recreation was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.
