Atomfall Review - Survival-lite in the Countryside
I made a mistake when looking up preview information for Atomfall. Part of that is in how we describe games now, where we just liken them to a different title, for expediency’s sake. For me, Atomfall was listed as akin to Fallout, partly due to irradiated similarities, but also due to gameplay. Let me be clear. This isn’t Fallout, and I don’t think it’s trying to be.
Survival horror has zombies as its quintessential old faithful trope. Open world RPGs, though? They’ve got nuclear wastelands. I’m not even sure I could list off the amount of times I’ve traversed some apocalyptic, irradiated hellscape but bugger me – just like zombies I can’t help but love it. Atomfall’s landscape is surprisingly green. Rolling foothills, babbling brooks and sweeping countrysides might confuse you for a place for a lovely little jaunt, but you’d have to overlook the incredibly dangerous flora and fauna, as well as giant robots and religious zealots.
At the core of Atomfall is a pretty decent game, but some rougher elements, such as combat, hold it back. I’ve no issue with the lack of ammunition; this is meant to be a sealed-off area after all. It’s the melee combat. I love using cricket bats and the like as weapons, but what can happen is just consistently getting stunlocked by enemies, which can happen with a good many weapons. As there’s no block or dodge, melee combat comes down to spamming the attack button and just kind of hoping for the best. Guns are super interesting, though conceptually, but it comes down to AI. As ammo is limited, enemies don’t want to use it. They’ll spot you instantly, but as you close in, they’ll warn you to stop. If you aim your weapon at them, they’ll attack, but ultimately, people don’t want to kill you. If you back up, they won’t come for you. I think that’s super cool.
Instead of a full quest journal system, instead, quests are handled via ‘leads’. You’re not going to be led directly to quest objectives, but instead be told that someone might be going to the village or some other point of interest, and you might be able to find more information there. It adds to the sense of exploration, and that’s where Atomfall shines the most. You can align with one of the game’s five factions, and each has its own needs. If you play your cards right, you can walk the line and get all endings in one playthrough. I’m fond of this, even if it does break the game a bit in terms of immersion.
Voice acting is also top-notch. I’m not British, so my opinion might be skewed here, but I found the accents consistent and a bit twee. All of the characters are voiced, and I had fun chatting to villagers around the game, trying to piece together the lore of exactly what’s going on. That’s the crux of the game: to find out what happened with the reactor, and what to do about it. Because the game gives you so much freedom, I decided to experiment a little. Turns out, you can kill any NPC in the game. It’s possible, even if it does kind of ruin things.
There are a few bolted-on systems that I didn’t feel like needed to exist. Hiding in knee-deep grass will put you in stealth, which feels polar opposite to how well enemies spot you in the world. A perk system exists, too, but I didn’t really feel like any of them were very interesting. The crafting system isn’t bad, if a bit basic. Alcohol and cloth make bandages, for example. It’s all basic like that. Weapons can also be upgraded, which is definitely the most interesting part of the system. Things feel like they exist to flesh the game out, but don’t actually commit to making the systems interesting at all.
If we’re looking at vibes, though, the game is immaculate. Cozy little shops and village squares feel like they drip atmosphere, and food and items are all appropriately British. Even the little ‘isms’ in vocalisations are common, where enemies will call me out in all sorts of wild ways. I do hope it’s true to form, rather than an outsider’s experience (something that I find is common with Australian culture), but it’s all good fun.
I want to say the game is short, but it’s not. I finished everything I wanted to do in under thirty hours, and I honestly got my fill. I’d much rather have a smaller, bespoke experience than one that drags on needlessly.
Atomfall is a weird game. It feels experimental in a way that weirdly reminds me of Dragon’s Dogma, and I think it’ll have a cult following in the same way. It didn’t set my pants on fire, but I did have fun. Honestly, that’s enough for me.
Atomfall was reviewed on PC with code kindly supplied by the publisher.
